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“Okay,” I agreed with a sunny smile. The corners of my lips barely twitched with strain.
I could endure this lifestyle for a few short years. I could bear the isolation at the apartment and live in George’s protective shadow when I did venture out into the world. Eventually, he would get his promotion, and then we could truly start out lives together in Albuquerque. I could endure anything for him. He was my whole world, and I was utterly devoted to his happiness.
Glossy black curls caught my attention, and I turned my head to search for the man’s stunning eyes before I could stop myself.
But it was just the vendor at the flower stall, a tall, clean-shaven man who was several years older than the handsome stranger who’d captivated my attention.
Guilt nipped at me again, and I forced all thoughts of him from my mind. I was totally devoted to George, and I wouldn’t allow myself to betray him even in my own mind.
I tucked myself beneath his strong arm and followed him to the food truck. If my fiancé was hungry, I wouldn’t dawdle and delay. His contentment meant everything to me, and I would never do anything to jeopardize that.
I resolved not to think of the stunning stranger with the striking eyes ever again.
Soft lips brushed over my cheek, a tender kiss that made my skin flush. Warmth flooded my body in a slow wave, undulating through me to reach my fingers and toes. A deeper heat gathered at my core, throbbing to the point of aching.
The world was hazy, and I strained to make out his perfect features. The high cheekbones and sharp jaw wavered, as though I was peering at him through a wall of water. But his stunning eyes pierced me nonetheless, the silvery glint cutting right into my heart. It pounded in time with the throb between my legs.
I tried to reach for him, but I couldn’t move. A soft whine of need caught in my throat, and his sensual lips twisted into an arrogant smirk.
He leaned into me, gliding toward me in slow motion. As he neared, I still couldn’t quite make out the finer details of his face, but his eyes commanded my full focus.
Then those sensuous lips caressed mine, and heat surged through my body, turning my core molten. My tongue traced the shape of his soft mouth, and my sensitive nerve endings tingled with carnal awareness I’d never known before. I was hungry for more, desperate. The ache between my thighs tormented me, and I tried to press myself against his massive frame to seek some relief.
I remained stuck in place, unable to touch him. All I could do was submit to his scorching kiss, melting as he thoroughly claimed my mouth.
I’d never experienced anything like the decadent sensation of those beautiful lips caressing mine. No kiss had ever come close to this one.
Not even with George…
I jolted awake with a gasp, my stomach twisting with guilt. I glanced over at my fiancé, and relief washed through me when I realized I hadn’t roused him. He’d slept peacefully beside me while I’d dreamed of another man, the stunning stranger I’d seen in the market.
My cheeks flamed, and I touched my fingertips to my lips, as though I could brush away the phantom tingle of the sensual kiss.
It was just a dream, I reasoned. It wasn’t as though I’d been unfaithful.
Still, guilt gnawed at my gut, chasing away the last of the strange heat that’d filled my belly.
I squeezed my eyes shut and resolved never to dream of the beautiful man again.
Chapter 8
Evelyn
Ifinally took the last sip of the beer I’d been nursing for over an hour. Even though George was just at the other end of the bar, I was still too jumpy to allow myself to get tipsy. I didn’t intend to dull my wits, even if my social anxiety was strong enough to make my fingers tremble. I tightened them around the empty bottle and fixed my face in a practiced, serene expression.
George was networking with his colleagues, so I would give him space. I was just grateful to be out of the apartment. Even if I was still somehow apart from the people around me, at least I wasn’t completely isolated. I was accustomed to being an outsider, a quiet observer. I’d never quite fit in anywhere—George was the only person who’d ever really understood and accepted me. He was the only man who’d bothered to break through the protective walls around my heart and earn my trust.
He might be distant at the moment while he focused on his career, but he was devoted to work for both of us, for the future he’d planned.
I took a quick breath and tried to dispel the worst of the tension from my shoulders. To prevent myself from picking at the label on my beer bottle, I set it down on the bar behind me and focused my attention on Sara, the vibrant, chatty woman who was married to one of George’s coworkers. She gushed on about her steamy love life, completely oblivious to my distraction. I smiled and forced a giggle at an appropriate time in her salacious story.
In truth, I was deeply uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. My sex life with George was private. He wouldn’t appreciate it if I casually gossiped about him.
“So, what about you?” she asked, brown eyes twinkling as they flicked to George and back to me. “Is your fiancé keeping you satisfied?” Her blonde curls swayed around her flushed cheeks as she let out a conspiratorial laugh. “He always seems so uptight. Is he a total control freak in the bedroom too?”
Heat flooded my entire body, and I was sure even my ears had gone pink with embarrassment.
The memory of my illicit dream arose, unbidden. For a moment, I remembered the caress of sensual lips on mine and the ache between my legs. I hadn’t been able to move; all I’d been able to do was submit to his scorching kiss.
