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“I’m just wondering how much physical demonstration is going to be required.”
“Some, Anna, but I’m not going to force you.”
“I know that.” Her gaze swung back around, narrowed and almost irritated. “I would never think that of you, Antonio.” She blew out a breath. “It’s probably just me, then. Our parting was an embarrassing experience for me. I feel like it’s lingering on the edge of my interactions with you.”
He shrugged. “You were seventeen, Anna. You were young and you had a crush.”
He waited for her to correct him. Rationally knew that when she didn’t correct his use of the wordhad, he should be relieved.
Except he wasn’t. The sting of knowing she no longer cared about him was poetic justice for the pain he’d inflicted on her. It would make it easier for him to carry out the pretense of being in a relationship.
“So we’ll leave tomorrow. We’ll have lunch. Then...two weeks?”
“Yes.” Two weeks was good. Two weeks was enough time to sell the idea of a couple escaping to a romantic hideaway, followed by a few weeks of them disappearing off the media radar following the wedding. Gradually, the interest would die down. Anna and he would part ways, he without a bull’s-eye on his back from the media and she with newfound attention on her designs.
Neat, planned-out and detailed. Just the way it should be.
She nodded once. “Two weeks. Got it.” She glanced around. “Are there sheets or something for the couch?”
“You’re not sleeping on the couch.”
“I’m not taking your bed.”
He leaned forward. “It’s not a request. I will take the couch, and if you try to take it, I’ll dump you on the floor.”
Her mouth dropped open. “That sounds like the exact opposite of the chivalrous act of offering me your bed to sleep in.”
“Take it or leave it. I shoved you into the pool how many times? Rolling you onto the floor is nothing.”
The reminder of their old camaraderie made her smile despite her best efforts to keep glowering at him.
“Fine. Tonight. But we’ll rotate. I’m not going to have you pretend to be my boyfriend and give up your bed the whole time we’re doing this.”
She stood and walked past him toward the balcony, leaving that damned floral scent in her wake. He sat back in his chair and scrubbed a hand over his face. It was going to be a very long two weeks.
CHAPTER TEN
ANTONIOGLANCEDATthe form reclining on the balcony for about the sixth time since she’d walked outside and lowered her incredible body onto the chaise longue. Knowing that she had no comprehension of how sensual she looked, dark hair spread over the pillow and the skirt of that damned sundress riding up to expose a hint of her thighs, made it even more erotic.
He refocused on his laptop, his fingers tapping out a rhythm across the keys. The latest reports on two of his three properties were positive. The third, his resort in the Caribbean, was in need of a new manager after his last had made the unfortunate decision to sleep with the wife of a powerful guest. The first and last time he had trusted someone other than himself to make a critical hiring decision. Fortunately, the guest was also a longtime friend and had agreed to keep the matter quiet, especially in light of how his divorce had become a public spectacle.
Yet another example of why marriage had never been on his radar. As a youth, his parents’ union had been unappealing at best, no matter how much Isabella had tried to portray their marriage as a love match. The few times their father, Javier, had mentioned heirs to inherit the Cabrera business empire, Alejandro had reminded Antonio that that lovely duty fell to the oldest.
Antonio smirked. Funny how his wayward brother had fallen victim to the trap of matrimony and parenthood. The way he talked about his new bride, as if she were God’s gift to womanhood, was in stark contrast to this time last year when he’d been running through girlfriends faster than Antonio could blink.
Although, both he and Adrian had seemed very happy the last time he’d seen them at Fox Vineyards in New York following Adrian’s wedding to Everleigh. Even though he hadn’t been emotionally close with his brothers in years, ever since he’d graduated from college and taken hold of Cabrera Properties, he’d formed a bond with Adrian and Alejandro built on respect and their shared successes. But instead of discussing strategies, Adrian and Alejandro had talked of pregnancy symptoms, first-anniversary gift plans and the years-long wait for an exclusive preschool.
His brothers had both been averse to marriage. What had changed their minds so drastically?
Anna shifted onto her side, propping her body up on one elbow as she thumbed through a book. The new position made the bodice of her top gape.
He punched out a sentence on his computer, focusing on the clicking of the keys and not the delectable body of the woman just a few dozen feet away. His phone dinged. A screenshot from Adrian of the news story and a single-character text message:?
Trust Adrian to keep his communication abrupt and to the point.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. It wasn’t just the temptation Anna presented that had him questioning what he’d set in motion. In his mind, he’d estimated entertaining this fake relationship for no more than two weeks. Long enough to give the illusion that he was seeing someone exclusively, followed by a few months of him lying low, and the media would go after someone else.
Yet what would happen when Adrian’s and Alejandro’s wives gave birth? When the media realized that he and Anna were no longer an “item”?
