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“It’s a deal.” I held out my hand.
Vivian eyed it with a flicker of surprise, then wariness, before she took it.
Her breath escaped in a small gasp when I grasped her tighter and pulled her to me.
“Have to keep up appearances,” I murmured.
I inclined my head to our right, where at least a dozen guests were sneaking peeks at us.
My inbox had exploded after news of my engagement broke. No one believed I was engaged until they saw it with their own eyes, and I bet dozens of candid shots of me and Vivian would hit the internet later that night, if they haven’t already.
I trailed my free hand up her spine and curled it around the back of her neck before I lowered my mouth to her ear. “Welcome to the truce,mia cara.”
My breath fanned across her cheek.
She stiffened, her own breaths taking on an uneven rhythm.
I smiled.
This was going to be fun.
CHAPTER11
Vivian
Icouldn’t sleep.
I’d collapsed into bed three hours ago, my body exhausted but my mind racing like I’d injected it with a dozen shots of espresso.
I’d tried counting sheep, fantasizing about Asher Donovan, and listening to my alarm clock’s built-in white noise feature, but none of it worked.
Every time I closed my eyes, images from the engagement party played on a broken loop.
Dante’s hand around my wrist.
The graze of his fingers along my spine.
The low rumble of his voice in my ear.
Welcome to the truce,miacara.
Tingles erupted over every inch of my body.
I groaned and turned on my side, hoping the change in position would shake the persistent memory of Dante’s touch and rough velvet voice.
It didn’t.
Honestly, I was surprised he’d agreed so readily to the truce. We hadn’t exchanged more than a dozen words since I left him on the sidewalk bench after our engagement shoot, but actively ignoring him was more draining than I’d expected.
The penthouse was massive, yet we somehow ran into each other multiple times a day—him coming out of his bedroom while I walked to mine, me catching a breath of fresh air while he took a call on the balcony, us sneaking into the screening room for a late-night movie at the same time.
One of us always left when we saw the other, but I couldn’t turn the corner without my heart rate jumping in anticipation of colliding with Dante.
The truce was the best option for my sanity and blood pressure.
Plus, the one unguarded conversation we’d had so far had been…nice. Unexpected, but nice. There was a heart somewhere beneath Dante’s grumpy, scowly exterior. It may be black and shriveled, but it was there.
The numbers on my clock flipped from 12:02 a.m. to 12:03 a.m. My stomach emitted an angry growl at the same time.
