“It is. Do you like it on me?” She turns, and damn it, those long legs are back on full display. “I found it in your closet.”
“You were in my closet?”
“I was, yes. All those perfectly ironed shirts… just begging to be wrinkled.”
Such a fucking brat.My hand curls into a fist in my pocket. I need to start locking doors in this villa. “You’re not allowed in my rooms.”
“What’s mine is yours, isn’t that right?” She reaches for my collar, and I don’t flinch. I stand still as she straightens my already perfect collar. “That’s what we said, after all. You gained access to my company by marrying me. Is it so bad that I ask for a teeny, tiny suit jacket in return?”
“You scheduled a penis enlargement.”
Her smile widens. It’s an annoyingly dazzling smile, all full lips and white teeth. “I did. Because I care for you.”
“I don’t need it.”
“See, a man with so many cards and houses and cars… I think you’re compensating for something.” She tilts her head. “And I never, ever want to find out if that’s true or not. So I handled it for you.”
“You bought sex toys.”
Her smile widens. “I did. Do you want to see them? I got one specifically for you, now that you’re forced to be celibate.”
“No, I do not.”
“I wanted to scandalize your accountants. Do you think I succeeded?”
I lift an eyebrow. “Remember what I told you. I don’t want to hear a single moan from your bedroom.”
Her fingers drift from my collar to my shoulders. They flatten out against the fabric. “I don’t think I could come,” she says, “if you were within a hundred miles of me.”
My lips curve into a crooked smile. “Is that so?”
“Yeah. That’s hownotattracted I am to you.”
“And yet,” I say, leaning in another inch, “you’re the one touching me, and we don’t have an audience.”
Her hands drop. “I was proving a point.”
“And what’s the point?”
“That I won’t flinch again.”
“Good,” I say, and tilt my head toward the back of the villa. “Because there’s a ready audience out there. Put your bags away and come touch me out there.”
CHAPTER 14
PAIGE
If the dinner at Sylvie’s was scary, this one is downright terrifying.
I don’t recognize most of the faces around the table. But as Rafe introduces me to them all, I realize very quickly that these are some of the most influential people in the business side of luxury.
These are executives with power, and investors, and shareholders. Heads of Maison Valmont’s labels. And they’re all watching me with a mixture of intrigued curiosity and calculated interest.
Abort mission,I think.
I was never meant to be an actress. I played sports in high school and went to college for business and public relations. I love my job, but it includes crafting narratives, notlying.
At least this dinner is scary-movement. I don’t like scary-stillness, when my emotions overwhelm me. They can’t catch me as long as I keep running from them.
