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In my efforts to earn another kiss, I’d started wearing sexier outfits in the hope of holding his attention once and for all.
“You gave me that credit card,” I answered innocently, stirring the ice in the mocktail I'd just made with a glass straw. “You told me I could buy whatever I needed, and Hans showed me how to set up the shopping app on my phone.”
A phone Gareth gifted me, even when I told him I had nobody to call. No real friends who wouldn't sell me out for half a dime to my father if I reached out to them. No family that wouldn't do the same. He'd programmed his number into it, anyway, stating I could always text him. And I had. Innocent, get-to-know-you texts that I genuinely lived for.
Gareth grabbed a soda water out of the refrigerator, looking like he was having difficulty taking his eyes off of me. I took that as a win, having chosen a white lacey camisole tank top and another pair of silk white shorts that were trimmed in lace. This was the third night I'd attempted something like this, but it was the first night I'd chosen white again. I thought edgier colors like black or red would be more his style, but he'd managed not to question those, just growling softly while keeping his distance.
“You could have asked me,” he said. “You didn't need to have my butler show you how to set up the app.” He took up a good lean against the kitchen island, leaving at least five feet between us.
I shrugged. “I like Hans,” I said honestly. The butler had been nothing but kind to me, and he was funny too. Unlike my father's staff, Hans was genuine and I almost considered him a friend, but he was nothing if not professional, only approaching me if I asked a question first.
“Is that the only reason you asked him and not me? Were you wanting to keep your new purchases a secret?”
Heat spiraled beneath my skin at the tease of a smile that played across his lips. The genuine, endearing smiles were so rare that I coveted them like precious gemstones. His confident smirk that bordered on wolfish I was used to, but those smiles? I might be delusional, but I felt like they were just for me.
“Isn't that a normal thing?” I asked, my heart racing from the adrenaline coursing through my veins. You’d think I was about to take a plunging drop on a roller coaster instead of having a simple, flirtatious conversation with my husband.
“What? Asking my butler for help?”
“No,” I answered, laughing. “A wife wanting to surprise her husband with some sexy lingerie?” I couldn't even say the words without blushing, and by the way Gareth’s eyes trailed to my cheeks, he noticed.
Another low growl rumbled from his very defined chest, evident underneath the white T-shirt he wore. All that beautiful ink swirled over his muscled arms, and while I'd gotten glimpses of him without his shirt on, I wanted uninterrupted time to study the ink that lay beneath the fabric. I wanted to run my fingertips along the designs and ask him about each one.
“You're playing a dangerous game, angel,” Gareth said.
I couldn't help but laugh. “Out of all the games I’ve played, the one where you’re my partner feels the safest. Am I wrong?”
“No,” he said. “You know that's not what I meant.”
“And you know where I stand on the matter,” I said.
It’d been a month since we got married, and while I cherished the quality time I was getting to spend with him in a platonic way, I knew the only way to truly protect myself was to have Gareth take my virginity. It’s not like I wanted to take advantage of him, but I knew that doing me this favor wouldn't hurt his reputation at all, and it would in all legitimacy save my life.
I knew it. The minute I became a non-sellable object to my father, he would leave us alone forever. Not that he’d made an official move against us, but I knew him. My father would wait until our guard was down and then strike when we least expected it.
And maybe it was a fantasy I was living in, but I also knew the longer we didn't annul this marriage, the better off I'd be. Getting Gareth to sleep with me was hedging my bets, as they say, so often in their poker game.
“Gareth,” I said, letting a little bit of the plea slip in my voice. “I've watched you at poker games, you know?”
“And?”
“And,” I continued. “I know the appetite you have. It's been a month since we took our vows. Unless there's something I'm not seeing, you haven't done anything to satisfy that appetite.” My heart raced in my chest, and I took a deep breath to try to slow it down.
“Are you saying you want to be my snack?” he asked playfully, and desire unfurled beneath my skin. I felt hot and breathless all at the same time. Warmth pooled in my core in a way that begged me to shift my legs.
“I'm a man of my word,” he continued before I could respond. “I meant those vows. There won't be any other women. You don't need to worry about that.”
The relief that fluttered in my chest told me just how worried about that I’d actually been. “And that's fine with you?”
“Of course it is,” he said. “I'm working on making sure we're both out of this before it becomes an issue. Don't worry, I'll find a way to protect you and not ruin you at the same time.”
A sense of urgency washed over me, my eyes widening at his admission of working on actively trying to get us out of this marriage. One that obviously left me alive, but didn't he realize that if he left me the way I was, I’d still be a prime target? I knew he'd been out of the game for a while, but had it been so long that he could be that naïve?
I needed to double my efforts. Operation Seduce Gareth Maxfield was definitely not working so far. Except for the one night I hadn't actually been trying. That night I’d simply been eating ice cream in his kitchen, enjoying the little freedoms I was allowed, and somehow, that had earned me a kiss.
The memory of that kiss stayed with me every second since, and it’d been two weeks. I swear I could still feel the impact his lips made on mine. He’d been gentle at first, explorative, and then he’d been something else altogether. The combination had become this intoxicating thing that I was consumed by. I would happily die inside that kiss and had spent shameless hours living in that memory because it was one of the most exhilarating and happy memories I had to cling to.
And if this was all going to come crashing down in the end, I wanted more. Maybe that made me a selfish human being, but with the way he'd given in to it, the way he'd taken control of it, I didn't think it was one-sided.
