“Get in the car, please.”
After getting into the black Rolls-Royce, she looked at him preemptively.
“I know you still don’t trust me,” she started after a beat of silence. “I get it because I don’t fully trust you either.”
Nicolas’s neck could’ve broken with how quickly he faced her. The lines at the center of his forehead folded inward, forming a crease. Oddly enough, Emily’s fingers twitched to even them out.
“I want to say thank you though. For…you know…agreeing to marry me.” She watched said lines fade like ripples smoothing out across sand. “If you need anything from me in return, let me know. I’ll try my best to meet your demands, provided they are within reasonable bounds.”
His lips curled. She couldn’t help but shift in her seat.
Emily wished she could hide how affected she was, but her face burned bright. Her uncontrollable tendency to blush was always a dead giveaway.
His eyes flicked to her dusted cheeks then to her gaze. “You’re tellingme…to askyoufor favors?”
He said it as though it was the most ridiculous thing.
“Yes,” she affirmed. “Considering the entire reason you got married is to appear as a businessman who values commitment. If you need me to do anything to confirm our status, I will. Thatisa sub-clause in the contract we signed.”
Did he not read all of it?
“I’ll keep that in mind.” His tone didn’t match the words. “Do you have anything else to say other than offering me favors?”
She looked at him, confused.
What more is he expecting from me?
Her heart lurched in her throat as he slid closer, the expensive scent of him filling her nostrils.
God, I need him to stop smelling so good.
“Nothing with regards to…intimacy?” he murmured, trailing a finger along her arm, goose bumps rising in its wake.
This was the first time he’d touched her. And as quickly as he did, his finger was gone, but it had been enough to cause her body to run hot.
There was a dare in his eyes. Nicolas obviously knew he was toeing the edge of something dangerous, but he pushed for it anyway.
She couldn’t react properly. “Um…”
Red alerts went off in her mind. Intimacy was something that had been an oversight on her part in the clauses. He must have noticed it and said nothing.
Sly bastard.
“Since we’re married, people will expect us to act like we’re in love, you know? What’s your limit? Hand-holding? Kissing? Further?”
Emily couldn’t deny that there was a certain closeness people might expect from a husband and wife, but this was all fake. She couldn’t accept the possibility of anything happening between them.
Her anxious thoughts caused a shutdown. It rarely happened, but when it did, it was a full system overload. She couldn’t have stopped it even if she’d tried, and shewas certain there was that look on her face again. Thatgoneone.
A finger snapped in front of her. “Hello?”
She blinked, a deep frown forming. “Snapping your fingers is rude you know.”
“So is zoning out in the middle of a conversation.”
Touché.
“And as promised, I’ll give you some time to address the current issues you’re facing with your ex-fiancé.”
