He shot her a quick sideways glance. The explanation was out of character for her. Was she nervous? Of him? The situation?
Not right. “Plates for Chinese takeout? Not necessary. What do you like? There’s beef and broccoli, chow mein, some stir-fried veggies…”
“I haven’t had Chinese in so long, I don’t remember what I like,” she admitted.
“We order it every week.”
She made a scoffing noise. “I’m thirty-four, not twenty anymore. I have to be more careful.”
After a comment like that, how could he resist casting an assessing eye over her slim body? He focused back on the cartons, opening the rice. “I think you’ll be okay, even with a few indulgences,” he said, gruff. “Here, we can share everything.” He handed her a pair of chopsticks, which she took warily.
“Thanks.”
He didn’t blame her for being wary. He would eradicate that. He glanced around and dragged the chair facing the desk closer to the table. He sat down, casual as possible, and picked up the nearest container, uncaring of what it was.
She sat more slowly and did the same. They ate in silence for long moments, Akira picking at a couple of the containers. “We’re going to be spending all this time in each other’s company.”
“Yes.” Torture. Joy. Apprehension.
Worth it.
“There’s an elephant in the room, Jacob.”
He swallowed the bite he had taken, finding his mouth dry of saliva. He had carefully focused on maneuvering her into accepting his impulsive deal, eyes on the prize of her forgiveness.
Of course there was an elephant in the room. It had taken all his concentration to not let his mind stray to visions of her naked. Pleasured.
He clenched his thighs, fighting his body’s natural reaction. “I know.”
“Are we going to talk about it?” Her fingers toyed with the chopsticks. “What we did?”
Unbidden, his eyes slid over to the rug. “What we did here?”
“Here. And in that storage room.”
Talk about the storage room? He wanted to reenact what they had done in the storage room. Only this time, he would be the one between her thighs, making those cries fall from her sweet, lush mouth, cries he wouldn’t stifle, let the whole party hear what he did to her…
Jacob shifted, his cock thickening despite his best efforts. No, no, no.Too soon.He wasn’t here for this.
Their truce was so fragile. “Probably best not to,” he finally said, as matter-of-fact as he was capable of being. “Not yet.”
Her beautiful dark eyes gave nothing away. “So when?”
“I’ll let you know.”
She took another bite from her carton and squinted at him. “So. Now what?”
From one difficult question to the next. It was becoming rapidly apparent he hadn’t thought this through. What could he talk about with a woman he’d spent fourteen years alternately avoiding and pining over? “Now we pretend to be normal people.”
“Hell.” Akira set down the carton. “We’re doomed.”
Chapter Eleven
Akira’s doorbell was far too loud.
Or perhaps her home was simply too large, the sound echoing over the massive foyer, up through the unused bedrooms.
She stared at the double doors, her fingers drumming against her knee. She should get up off the stairs where she sat and answer it, but the fact that she wanted so very badly to kept her seated, counting to one hundred.
