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“I didn’t know you owned any clothes that aren’t brown or gray,” he commented, his voice deep with a color that had only recently become a thing.
She liked it when he let her see that she affected him. It bolstered her confidence in a way nothing else could have in that moment. “Surprise.”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around,” he said wryly. “Which is why I shouldn’t be so shocked that you actually showed up after avoiding me all day and then receiving an unwelcome guest in a place that should have been sacred.”
There was a half second when she considered lying, or at least downplaying what he’d already guessed, but in the spirit of the evening’s apparent theme, she surprised herself by nodding. “Me, too. I didn’t know what to say after leading you on, so it seemed easier to stay away from you.”
His brows lifted but he schooled his expression quickly. “You didn’t lead me on. I went too far with that kiss and you have every right to call a halt to something that was making you uncomfortable.”
That was so much the opposite of what she’d expected him to say that she blinked.
“But I asked you to kiss me.” And oh, God, had she wanted him to.
“I don’t care if you asked me to strip you naked and put my tongue between your legs. You’re allowed to say stop at any time. I will always honor that.”
Her eyelids fluttered shut as she internalized the absurdity of a notion like asking him to stop if he was between her legs pleasuring her with that wicked tongue. Uncomfortable and achy all over again, she sank into one of the seats and crossed her arms in hopes that he couldn’t, in fact, see how hard and pointy her nipples were through the sheer bra and thin T-shirt.
“Thank you for that,” she said and, yes, she meant for both the carnal image he’d put into her head and his promise. What else was she supposed to say at this point? Might as well get this crucifixion over with. “You wanted to talk.”
“How are you?” he asked out of the blue, instead diving right into a litany of her sins. His open gaze roved over her face and held nothing of the censure she’d been expecting. “I…missed you today.”
“You, um…what?” Her heart tumbled over itself in an effort to beat and swoon at the same time. Except she shouldn’t be swooning over pretty, bewildering words.
“Honest conversation,” he reminded her somewhat ruefully, which was also unexpected. “I wasn’t kidding about being straight with you.”
Yeah, apparently not. “I was under the impression the honesty you were after was mine.”
“Why would you think that?”
His brows scrunched together in confusion and it was a testament to her utter befuddlement that she was watching his nuances so carefully. This was where things would take an ugly turn, when she wasn’t paying attention. When she let her guard down. Which was why she needed to stay in control of the conversation and not let it get away from her into subjects better left out of the mix.
“Because you ordered me to appear straight away after you saw my underwear. You must feel deceived.”
“That’s…” He shook his head. Hard. “No, I didn’t order you. I said please. It was a request. I’m screwing this up.”
That’s when he did the most surprising thing of all. He knelt by her chair and took one of her hands into his, holding it against his thigh gently as his dark gaze latched onto hers, thoroughly capturing her. It should have been easy to break away if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to, all at once. The sheer beauty of so much masculinity at her feet, particularly when the most commanding man she’d ever met was encased inside, overwhelmed her.
Speechless, she stared at him as he swept her into his orbit without moving at all.
“Tilda, the honesty that needs to be happening is on my side. The marriage was one hundred percent conceived with the intent of keeping you in the country. I want you to believe that. But I was…attracted to you before that.”
He paused to let that bombshell sink in, and when it had reached optimal depth, that’s when he detonated it.
“Now that I’ve kissed you,” he continued, his voice dropping a few smoky degrees, “and seen exactly what I’m missing out on under your clothes, I’m afraid I can’t go back to thinking of you as only an employee. It’s impossible. I’m sorry.”
“You’re, um…what? Did you just apologize?”
She was the one who should be apologizing, and he hadn’t even gotten to the part where it was disingenuous of her to pretend to be a staid matronly type while hiding centerfold wantonness underneath. Bryan had made it clear how men felt about a woman who wanted to express her sexuality. At odd times, in her head, she still heard the names he’d called her.
