Page 113 of The Arrangement

Her scarred arm lifted as an explanation. The low plunge in the back of the dress would show some of the scarring over her right shoulder. Thankfully makeup had all but made the deep slice above her eyebrow disappear.

“I know the doctor said it might take a couple of years for the discoloration to go away, but still,” Viviana said, frowning. “I’m the bride, right? Everyone’s going to be looking at me.”

“Everyone looks at you anyway; you’re beautiful.”

Yes, but Viviana could wear long sleeves to hide the burns. She didn’t even have a sheer cover-up to put on today. There were over sixty guests starting to arrive downstairs with their respective plus ones, so that was more people putting her in the spotlight all at once than she’d had in a long time.

Her stomach was rolling again.

Sasha seemed to pick up on that right away. “Okay, you sit tight. I’ll be right back.”

Viviana didn’t argue.

Not ten minutes later, her hotel room was opening, but the person who slipped in certainly wasn’t who she’d been expecting.

“You can’t be in here!”

“I wasn’t supposed to be in your bed this morning, either, but somehow I was. We’re not traditional, and we’re never going to be, so get over it, baby.”

“But … still,” she sputtered, trying horribly to cover the dress that lay on the bed.

Anton cocked a brow and crossed his arms. Something delicious and heated washed through her body at the sight of him half dressed, his shirt still unbuttoned and hanging loosely open while he stood in nothing more than white boxer-briefs. It did the most terribly naughty things to her insides, turning them all out and around, making her sex turn wetter with every rise of his chest.

She couldn’t even think straight.

And it always slammed down on her like that every damned time.

Stupid fucking pregnancy hormones.

“What’s wrong, Vine?”

“Can’t think,” she managed to whisper, a blush crawling over her cheeks and neck.

Anton smirked as he glanced up at the ceiling. She wanted to hit him for being so smug about her sudden lustful tendencies. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so sudden, given how often they fucked before she got pregnant, but now it was a whole different ballgame.

Now, every time he touched her, even in the most innocent of ways, her body lit up like fireworks. Electricity burned through her blood just as much as her mind. Sex wasn’t just physical, no, it was downright fucking expressive. Suddenly there were nerves in places she didn’t know existed, and he seemed to find every one without having a lick of trouble.

And oh God, licking …

She squeaked a noise under her breath.

The pretty white lace panties, trimmed with silk bows, she wore under her sweat pants were likely ruined.

“Vine, that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I mean, we could do that, but we might be a little late. So, ceremony starts in forty-five minutes. I need to be down there in thirty. Again, what’s wrong?”

Viviana stuck the lollipop back in her mouth, hoping the taste would distract her mind enough to speak. Instead, her words just came out mumbled around the disgusting candy.

“I’m going to look horrible.”

“Because of your arm?”

She shrugged an explanation. What else?

“Okay, does that sound as vain to you as it did to me?” she asked quietly.