“I amnotattracted to you,” she protests.
“Sure you’re not.” I cross my arms over my chest. “Whether you are or you aren’t, we’re not alone in this house.”
“You don’t trust your staff?” She smiles a little, like that’s a winning point.
And under normal circumstances, it would be. I’ve always run a tight ship. Most of the people who work close to me and my family have been with me for years. They’re highly paid, highly valued. But after what her uncle pulled this spring, and the leak I found…
Media scrutiny on us is at an all-time high. How easy would it be for someone to snap a picture of her and sell it to the media?
“I don’t trust anyone,” I say instead.
I won’t look away from her gaze. Won’t give her the satisfaction of knowing just how distracting it is to have her in front of me, clad only in sunlight and bikini bottoms.
“God, that sounds depressing.” But she turns around and lies on her stomach on the sun chair. “I’d ask you to do my back, but we both know how you can’tstandtouching me.”
It’s a challenge.
“You’re so obvious,” I say. I reach for the bottle of sunscreen and put a dollop on the center of her back. Her spine curves down to two dimples on her low back. I work my hands over the sun-warm skin and think of spreadsheets. So, so many spreadsheets.
Because it annoys her, I switch to Italian. “Mi fai impazzire, lo sai?E il peggio è che sei bellissima mentre lo fai.”
She turns her face to the side. “Stop arguing with me when I can’t understand it.”
“Non.”
“I heard something that sounded like beautiful,” she says, “so I’m assuming you told me you’re attracted to me. Thank you. I know.”
“No more tanning topless. You promised you’d be a perfect wife from here on out,” I tell her.
“And now I know that doesn’t involve being topless,” she says. “Lesson learned.”
“You knew that already.”
She turns her face to the side. “I suspected. You’re painfully predictable sometimes.”
“Oh, I am?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe it’s because you work so very hard at being unpredictable.”
Her eyes flash up to mine. “It comes naturally.”
“Let’s not lie, darling. I think you love thinking of ways to annoy me. Do you lie awake at night?” I smooth my hands up, over the feathers of her shoulder blades. “Plotting ways to get under my skin, like that would bother me, when I won. Because I did win, Paige. Mather & Wilde is mine. Your uncle is out.” I lean in closer. “So if you want me to admit that I enjoy the view? You’re going to have to work harder.”
“Do I?” she asks. Her eyes close, and a smile spreads across her face. “Because you’re still touching me, and I’m pretty sure there’s no sunscreen left.”
Damn it.
“Well, well,” a new voice says. “This looks cozy.”
It’s West. Up on the terrace, he’s standing next to my sister Nora and his sister Amber. He’s shielding his eyes from the sun and looking at us with a tight expression. But my sister doesn’t say anything. Her eyes are hidden behind a pair of giant sunglasses, but I have no doubt I’ll hear all about it later.
They’ve arrived early.
Fantastic.
CHAPTER 27
