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I shrugged. “Unless you have to work, I mean.”
Bryce seemed to perk up a little. “I can work from bed.” The way he saidworkmade it seem like he didn’t mean…work.
He grabbed my hand and hastily led us from the room. “Let’s go, Mrs. Windsor.”
FOURTEEN
involvements
From our bedroom window,I could see that Noah was still outside with the dog. Two of the female staff were out there with him; the puppy was taking turns running after a tennis ball and rolling on his back. I wondered if Lilly, one of the maids, would bringherpuppy over to play with Boss or if the new dog was too big…
“Hey.” Bryce emerged from the bathroom, towel-drying his hair. “I took another shower. I do that when I’m mad.”
“No wonder you’re so clean,” I teased.
“Ha.” He eyed me, then climbed onto the bed. He wore only sweats, his glorious chest on full display. “Join me?”
“Okay.” I’d changed, too, into shorts and a tank top. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to dress for. Watching Bryce glare as he at his laptop while he worked? Or having him rip my clothes off while he told me it was all a bad idea?
I climbed cautiously onto the bed, and Bryce rolled toward me. “I have an idea while I was in the shower.”
Oh boy.“What’s that?”
“No more talking. I mean, no more talking forme. You can talk as much as you like.”
“Why don’t you want to talk?”
He shrugged against the pillow. “It occurred to me that I always seem to say the wrong thing.”
I sighed. “No… If you’re telling the truth, you’re not saying the wrong thing.”
He brushed the hair back from my face, and for a moment, with his gentle touch, my hurt fell away. “I’m just going to take a vow of silence. But before I do, I have to ask…” He came closer, his face above mine. “We can’t have sex on our date tonight. The photography team will be following us.”
My stomach did a flip. “Were youplanningon having sex?” I hadn’t even known we were planning on having dinner!
“I’ve got lots of plans.”
When I shivered, he ran his fingers up and down my arm. “If we were alone, we could do it on the boat. Or in the woods, if we snuck off from the restaurant…” His gray-blue eyes sparkled; it seemed as though he’d given this some thought.
“But I won’t put you in that position. That being said, what we did earlier?” His gaze burned into mine. “It wasn’t enough. I haven’t had you in weeks. I need more. How do you feel about that?”
My stomach twisted with desire. This was exactly what I wanted to hear from him, at least in part. But I should be mindful of everything else that had happened. Before I threw all my cards on the table, I needed to play it cool. “Remember our contract? I agreed to have sex with you whenever you wanted.”
“What about what you want, Chloe?”
I tried to keep my poise. “I’m here, aren’t I? That should tell you everything you need to know. I’m here because I want to be here.”
“You’re here because of your contract.” He watched me carefully. “Because you want to fulfill the terms.”
“Bryce.” I held very still. “Why are you doing this? You’re the one who hired me to be your wife. You fired me, then you hired me back. I’m not the one who hired a bride so that I could inherit my trust. I’m just the virgin Elena found for you.”
“You make it sound so formal,” he sighed.
“I’m just telling the truth.” Part of it. I’d left out the part where I’d fallen in love with him, and then he’d wrecked me.
“Speaking of being a virgin…” He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. “I know I should stop talking, but fuck it. I have to ask you something.”
He was quiet for so long, I didn’t think he’d continue. “Were you with anyone else back in Boston?” His voice was carefully controlled.
