"Hello pot, meet kettle."
She laughs. "Agreed. Still, I dropped everything and came when you called, didn’t I?"
I sober. "I can’t thank you enough for that. I was panicking when I called last night."
"You did sound like you had a lot on your mind."
"It was so good of Summer’s husband to let you borrow his jet."
She waves her hand in the air. "He’s a gazillionaire; he can afford it. Though I was surprised you invited Solene on to come."
“I wanted Amelie to come along, but she had work to wrap up before she could make it. Also, just between us, I think she preferred to come with Weston on a later flight. Summer asked if she could bring Solene. I figured it would be good to have her—safety in numbers, you know?”
"Surprised Declan let her come on her own." She refers to Solene’s fiancé who’s also an up-and-coming movie star.
"He’s shooting in the Caribbean, but he’ll be here the first chance he gets."
"Also surprised Liam’s letting you out of his sight," she murmurs.
I open my mouth, then close it. "Oh, no, no, no, don’t think for one second you can trap me into revealing something I shouldn’t by your smooth questioning technique."
"Damn it," she says lightly. "And here I thought I could use my court-tested cross examination technique on you with success. Seriously, though..." She chugs down more water from her bottle then caps it. "There are enough sparks between the two of you to light wet kindling."
"Umm, okay?" What else am I supposed to say? That what she senses between us is an illusion? Because it’s not. Try as I might, I can't deny it. What happened last night was real. And I’m the one who started it… And it was everything I’d hoped for, and so much more. His touch, the feel of his skin on mine, his fingers inside me, his tongue fucking me, his eyelashes grazing mine, his lips on mine, his teeth biting into the curve of my neck, his cock in my most forbidden place. And yet, he didn’t come inside me. Was that by accident or design?
He was in me, he made me come, and then he had enough self-control left to pull out and take me the other way. Is that strange, or is it simply him being kinky? Come to think of it, I don’t know much about this man who’s going to be my—fake—husband, at all. And do I want to find out more about him? Considering our relationship is a farce? I’m not sure.
He intrigues me. He has as many contradictions as I do. And secrets like I do. At least, that’s what I sense. In that way, we match—each of us having something we don’t want the rest of the world to find out about. He feels like a kindred spirit. Like someone who, if I spent more time with him, I wouldn’t be able to resist. Who am I kidding? I’m past that stage already. I thought I hated him. But maybe what I’d been feeling was actually attraction. The kind that is so intense you want to deny it right away. The kind that is so potent you shrink away from it. The kind that melts your panties and liquifies your brain cells so you can’t think coherently.
Is that why I told Lila not to marry him? Is that why, when she asked me, I decided to tell her the truth? Because I knew, even then, I was attracted to him?
No, that’s not possible. I did truly hate him, and I was acting in Lila's best interests when I could see he didn’t love her. It was obvious to me, even then, that he was looking at the wedding as a business arrangement, and I truly thought I was acting in her best interest. Only now, I’m not sure if my subconscious mind urged me to tell her the truth, knowing what the outcome would be. Hoping for the outcome...
"Earth to Isla, hello!"
I blink and look into Zara’s worried face.
"You okay, babe?" She frowns.
"Of course I am." I plop the towel over my shoulder. "I also owe you a thanks for bringing over my wedding dress."
"It’s a Karma WS original. Of course I was going to bring it along. Especially since she’s also designing the bridesmaids’ dresses." Zara smirks.
"I can’t believe she agreed to do it. Especially since it’s so last-minute."
"She’s your friend, why wouldn’t she do this for you?" Zara steps off her treadmill. She pats her forehead, even though she’s hardly broken a sweat. This, despite the fact that her treadmill was set at double, if not triple, the speed I set my own. The woman’s an overachiever in every way. Still holding my phone, I stretch out my leg and begin to cool down.
“You’re right, I’ve known Karma for many years, but she’s a successful designer and her time is stretched. I’m fortunate she could see me for a quick dress-fitting before Liam surprised me by bringing me here early," I reply.
"You mean, he let you out of his sight long enough for that?"
I narrow my gaze on her. "It really isn’t like that with Liam and me."
She scoffs. "Oh, please. You agreed to marry the guy, knowing the media shitstorm it was going to leave in its wake. And you are the most risk-averse person I know. Also, the way he looks at you—like he’d rather have you for breakfast, lunch and dinner, than eat food. I mean, when he walked into the kitchen and saw us, I thought for sure he’d tell the rest of us to leave so he could have his way with you. I was so surprised when he didn’t."
"Your point being?"
"You wanted your friends around, and he was happy to oblige. Despite the fact he, clearly, wanted more one-on-one time with you."