She tasted like mint, and coffee, and addiction. Her lips were soft, but she kissed me back with a hunger I wanted to believe wasn’t just acting. Her little squeak vibrated against my mouth, and I had to pull away because the urge to kiss her harder, to part her lips and taste her properly, was so tempting.
“Good morning,” I murmured, my thumbs sliding over her cheekbones. There was a hint of pink on them, and that satisfied me far more than it should have.
“It’s definitely good now,” she replied, breathless, irises darkening. She dragged her plump bottom lip between her teeth. “You really missed me?”
A smile lifted my cheeks. “I told you I was missing you last night.”
Her blush deepened. “You told me a lot of things last night.”
I swallowed. Telling her I meant every word would help no one—not here, not now. What she needed was a visa. Not me.
Clearing my throat, I stepped back, only then registering the giggling, staring employees and the whooped, “Get a room!” that came from Atlas, who must have followed me out from his office.
“Oh, we will be,” Irina purred with a wink. My heart danced in my chest despite me firmly reminding myself that she was playing the part. I forced myself to turn from her, taking her hand and walking her around the bullpen, introducing her to the team. A few of the younger blokes flushed crimson when she greeted them, and I wondered if they had watched her content.
Who was I kidding? Of course they had. They’d all seen the TechRaker articles. They all knew her Tickle handle. They all had access to the system.
My stomach churned, but I forced my envious thoughts aside as I hurried her through the rest of the team, finally, reluctantly bringing her to Atlas. “And this is my business partner, Atlas.”
His smug expression as he extended a hand in her direction made my fists clench. “It’s lovely tofinallymeet you, Irina.”
She smiled that brilliant, achingly beautiful smile at him, but I noticed how her eyes remained hard. “And you. It’s such a shame you’ve been out of the country so much lately that we haven’t had a chance to meet before today. But it must be busy for you, doing all those deals in California.”
Atlas blinked, smirk faltering for a second before he hitched it right back up. “I’m pretty sure that even if I’d been around, Henry would have kept you his little secret.” He winked at her, as if to remind her that he was in on the whole scheme.
“Well, I suppose the cat’s out of the bag now!” she replied breezily,letting out a big, gusting sigh. “I can’t tell you how hard it’s been to keep our marriage under wraps while you got all your very important business thingamajigs settled!”
The sarcasm in her tone had me hiding a smile behind my hand. Atlas, brows furrowed, hadn’t missed it. Behind him, even Lucian’s stony face softened a bit.
“Henry, don’t forget your brunch reservation!” Liv called out, and I could have hugged her for leaping in to save me from having to find a way out of a conversation with Atlas that could have devolved very quickly. He’d always had a bit of a tendency to get nasty if he thought someone was making fun of him.
“We’ve got to head out now, Catnip,” I said with a squeeze of her hand. She sidled closer to me, the warmth of her seeping from her jeans and cropped T-shirt, through the layers of my trousers and polo and into my skin. And deeper.
“I’m starving,” she confessed, grabbing my other hand and pressing it to her stomach. Her belly growled under my palm. Hot and bothered, I moved my hand away.
“Well, I can’t let my wife remain ravenous for too long,” I murmured, my cheeks reflecting the heat unfurling in my abdomen as she beamed up at me.
“Seriously. Get a room,” Atlas muttered as he turned, walking stiffly away with his hands in his pockets.
“Bye, Atlas!” Irina called, her voice sickly sweet. Lucian rolled his eyes, but as he turned away, I thought I caught a hint of a smile. Maybe he really was warming to her.
That would make the next two years of cohabitation so much easier, I thought as I led her to the elevators. I tried to ignore the heavy feeling that dropped into my stomach when I thought about how this deal of ours had a two-year expiry date, if everything went right.
And I wanted it to go right. I really did.
But I wasn’t sure two years would be enough.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The Idea of ‘Us’
IRINA
“What’s your dream, Ri?” Henry asked seriously, punctuating the loaded question with a sip of his coffee. I lifted my own to my lips, unsure how to answer.
“What do you mean?” I asked when I set my cup down and leaned my elbows on the table.
“I mean, if the world was your oyster, what would be the pearl?”
