Yesterday was so, so bizarre. Everything with Chad. Then with him and Knox fighting.
Then with Knox and me.
But I’d go through every single moment again and again if I ended up in Knox Vale’s bed.
The realization couldn’t be more dangerous for me.
I’m tumbling headfirst into a deep abyss, and if I’m not careful, I’ll drift away.
This man hasn’t even been in my life for a full month, yet he’s done so much to change me. The problem is, I can’t go back to the way life was before. I don’t want to.
Despite all my efforts to play it safe, I keep rebelling and yielding to a man who has become my favorite mistake.
Chad isn’t even on my mind anymore. To be quite honest, it’s perhaps best to distance myself from him. He seems determined to pick Knox and me apart, and I can’t allow him to discover our biggest secret—the contracted marriage.
It wouldn’t be the end of the world if he did, but it wouldn’t be good, either. I’m sure it would also make him more fixated than ever to win me back. He’ll continue glossing over the fact that I don’t want to be with him and think I’ve been misguided.
I shake my head free of Chad. I don’t want to think about him anymore. I’ve already given himwaytoo much brain space.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed, deciding to get up.
I’ll go downstairs and grab some coffee. Then maybe head out to the beach and stay there until Knox gets back.
I pull my hair back into a ponytail, drag on one of my oversized sweatshirts and a pair of yoga pants. Then I make my way downstairs.
The moment I reach the bottom of the staircase, Knox’s voice carries through the villa.
I gasp. My gosh. He’s here. And it sounds like he’s talking to someone.
His voice pulls me like a magnet. I follow the sound to the living room, my pulse picking up, desperate just toseehim.
I push the door open and freeze.
Before me is a room full of businessmen, who all turn to look at me. They’re five of them, all wearing suits. Laptops are open. Papers are spread out across the coffee table. Sheila’s in the corner taking minutes.
God, this is a business meeting. And Knox stands at the head, staring straight at me like I just walked into his bloodstream.
He doesn’t say a word to me.
We just stare at each other, the room blurring at the edges with everyone and everything inside.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to apologize for barging in, but his stare renders me speechless. The desire in his eyes steals the air right out of my lungs, and the moment stretches between us, thick with electricity.
Last night flickers in his gaze—every touch, every kiss, every moment he was buried inside me.
Heat crawls up my throat.
Then, without looking away from me, he says, “Get out.”
My heart stops. “I—what?” The words scrape out of me.
His jaw flexes. “Not you, love.”
Finally, he tears his gaze away and cuts it toward his team. “I said get out,” he repeats, his voice calm but lethal. “The meeting’s over.”
“But we haven’t talked about the merger yet,” says a bald man in the corner with a wiry moustache.
“It can wait. We’ll deal with it when I’m back in New York,” Knox explains, his gaze drifting back to me. “My wife and I will be busy for the next two weeks.”
