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“Even if they’re horrible?”
“You’re not going to shame me out of this.”
Corinne frowns and picks at the plate of coconut shrimp. “A fake engagement solves my problem, and I know you’d never cave to Parker. Honestly, I came here prepared to say yes. But I need some time before we…”
“Fuck?” I try to shutter my impatience. That long-ago Christmas aside, she’s known me less than forty-eight hours. Not many girls give up their V-card to a guy they barely know. “I can give you a few days, but you have to let me touch you. You have to look used to my hands and my lips on you or we won’t pass public muster.”
“I know.” She sounds rattled.
I soften against my will. “It will be fine. I really will make it good.”
She doesn’t reply, merely nibbles on a shrimp, then closes her eyes with a groaning little sigh that makes my cock twitch. “Hmm, how did you find this place?”
“Like I have everything else on this island, through my siblings and their spouses.”
“It must have been so odd to go from having no family to having a ton of it.”
“Very.” I pop a tasty shrimp in my mouth, too, letting her change of subject slide. “It’s crazy that I’m now an uncle to more than a dozen little ankle biters, with more on the way.”
Corinne tsks. “Ankle biters? That’s horrible. You don’t like kids?”
“Actually, I love them. Family gatherings are insane, and I thought I’d hate having to deal with all the diapers and crying and whatever…but the more time I spend with the kids, the more I enjoy them. By the way, I wouldn’t tell just any woman that. It would devastate my manwhore reputation.”
“My lips are sealed.” She smiles. “Do you want your own kids someday?”
“Yeah. It’s a little terrifying since I didn’t have a dad. What do I know about parenting? But I’ve watched all my brothers and brothers-in-law man up and really be there for their children. They tell me there’s nothing more satisfying.”
“But they have wives, too.”
I shrug like it’s obvious, but I can’t deny they’re all neck-deep in parenting with their soul mate, the person who understands them, will never leave them, and will forever want them for them.
Every woman I meet only wants me for my money, my influence, or my cock.
“There’s no rush. I’m still a few years from thirty. I have time before my biological clock starts ticking.”
She laughs, her tension melting away. I like this carefree Corinne. I like making her smile even more.
“What about you?” I ask. “Kids?”
“Yeah,” she breathes like she can’t wait. “I want at least two and I want them close in age.”
The vision of her round and pregnant kicks my libido into overdrive. It’s all I can do not to drag her across the table, into my lap, lay my lips on hers, work my hand under her dress…and see if I can manually persuade her to say yes to more than my scheme.
Whoa. I need to reel that back. I’m here to get revenge with this woman. Of course I want to fuck her, too. But I’m not actually marrying her. We’re not having babies together.
“Why?” I ask.
“I’d love for my kids to have a totally different relationship than the one I have with Parker. We were born too many years apart to have much in common. I don’t know if it’s because he’s older or because he’s male, but he thinks it’s his right to boss me around.”
“He’s just a standard bully. If you tell him to fuck right off, he’ll back down. He won’t have a choice.”
“I’ve stopped listening to him. He used to help me with rent every so often if I had a lackluster sales month or he’d offer occasionally helpful advice. He negotiated the price of my car, and he fixed my clogged kitchen sink that threatened to overflow at two in the morning because my landlord didn’t answer the phone. But in the last three weeks, after I asked for my inheritance and he refused, we’ve barely spoken.”
“Being seen with me is going to motivate him to pick up the phone fast.”
She grimaces. “It’s been vibrating in my purse for the past ten minutes.”
So he knows. I should be gleeful. The son of a bitch is probably angry and sweating, impotently raging that she’s with me and wondering what I’m doing to her right now. Good…except does Corinne know what she’s in for? It’s not my problem…but I feel compelled to make sure she understands.
“Princess, your brother is going to be furious. Being with me might do irreparable damage to your relationship. If you can’t live with that, you should leave now, because once we start, there’s no going back.” Why the fuck am I warning her away?
“No, he already did the damage when he refused to help my business and insulted my career.”
