I glanced up to where he was staring at me but went right back to the raspberries drowning in thick yogurt. “Dude, it’s fine.”
“Lexi, eyes on me.”
I,um?—
Well—
I looked up at him.
His eyes watched me steadily, not a predatory gaze, and his calm expression kind if a little firm. “That’s my girl. I’m compensating you for your time and good will, and that’sall.”
“Yeah,got it.You don’t have to keep saying it.”
“Lack of consummation is grounds for an annulment, and Ineedan annulment, not merely a divorce.”
My eyes stung like sand was blowing in my face. Neither Nico nor Jimmy nor anyone else would ever want me.I got it.“Yeah, okay. You’re not attracted to me.Message received.”
His gaze was so steady that I didn’t even see him blink. “Is that what you think?”
“You were wasted last night when you picked me out of that crowd. Actually, I was standing on a suitcase,sticking upout of the crowd, so you didn’t evenpickme out of it. You saw thedress.Really, you proposed to a white dress, notme.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“I was wearingmime make-up.It’s not my best look.”
“Granted, but that’s not what I saw. I saw huge dark eyes that looked right through me.”
“You were literally blind drunk.”
“Dead drunk. I wasn’t blind, and I’m not drunk now.”
I eyed his steady hands and level gaze. “Probably not.”
“I remember a few things from last night. I saw you for the first time on my way into the club, and you stuck in my mind.”
“The white pancake makeup is what does it for you, huh?”
“Maybe it was the vodka talking or maybe the alcohol liberated something primal but know this: You are a beautiful woman with absolutely amazing eyes and a body that has tempted me every moment since I met you. Thosecurves.If I hadone ounceless self-control, I would swing you up in my arms, carry you to that bed, and kiss you until you were pliant to absolutelyanythingI wanted.”
Wow,I’d just wanted a wink or maybe a little flirting.
I could barely breathe from the air rushing too fast in my chest, and the folds between my legs felt funny.Puffy.“It didn’t seem like you wanted that last night.”
He looked away and flipped his hand in the air, dismissing the previous night. “I was tired and emotional last night. This year will be torture, married in name only to an absolutely beautiful woman whomI can’t touch,the ultimate forbidden fruit, or else the annulmentthat I needwon’t be possible.”
My breath fluttered right below my throat, above my vibrating heart.
He finally blinked like he’d been released from a spell and shrugged. “Although I’m not sure how the ecclesiastical court would know we hadn’t had relations, other than our word for it.”
“Oh, that’s easy,” I said, shaking my head because my eyes were jittering. The hotel room quivered like we were in an earthquake, and his dizzying words were echoing in my mind. “A doctor could confirm it. I’m a virgin.”
Nico half-stood, banging his knees under the table, rattling the plates and clanging the silverware. “Ibegyour pardon?”
Oh, now Iwasembarrassed, and I resumed studying the fruit capsizing into my yogurt even though I was panting and dizzy. “It’s not weird.”
His furtive glance at the rumpled bed made me feel even worse.
Defending my lack of boinking seemed ridiculous. “Look, I had a boyfriend since my sophomore year of high school, but he went away to college and thought we should wait until we got married because his family is religious. So, we just waited. It’s not weird.”
