Page 54 of Bridesmaid By Chance
“But none of them are because you’re not attracted to me.”
His jaw clenches, but his eyes never falter as they stay locked on mine.
“Interesting,” I say. “Well, good to know where you stand. Now if you don’t mind, I think I might use my vibrator now.” I turn and reach for it when his hand quickly wraps around my waist and stops me. He pulls me in close to his body, my back to his heated chest.
He whispers into my ear and says, “Don’t even fucking think about it.”
I can feel my heartbeat in my throat.
He’s so close, my body pressed against his.
His lips nearly tickling my ear.
His hand splayed across my stomach.
“You’re…you’re not being a very good husband,” I say, my voice shaking. “Happy wife, happy life.”
“You’re not being a very good wife, tempting your husband like this.”
“Maybe if my husband weren’t such a stuck-up snob, I wouldn’t need to tempt him.”
“What do you want from me?” he asks, his thumb gliding over my stomach. The intensity in his voice is anything but teasing.
Hell, I feel like if I say the wrong thing, I very well might get spanked. Although that’s not a bad thing.
“I want you to not be an asshole,” I answer.
“I’m not trying to be an asshole. I’m under a great deal of stress.”
“And I’ve told you, let me help you ease that stress,” I say, shifting my ass so I press directly into his crotch.
“Don’t,” he says, his grip on me growing tighter. “Just…fuck, don’t.” And there it is—a microcrack in his otherwise strong facade.
That break in his voice.
That stutter in his sentence.
A part of me wants to push him, to see how far he’d let me go, but the other part of me, the one where I see this man struggling, knows that maybe if I push too far, he’ll shut down altogether. And I don’t want that. He’s already teetering on barely talking to me. I don’t want to make it worse.
So I let out a deep breath and quietly say, “Sorry.”
Then I lift his arm off me and scoot away, toward my side of the bed. I keep my back toward him to avoid any awkwardness. And for a moment, as I get comfortable, I half expect him to pull me back toward him, to wrap his arm around me, but when he doesn’t and just turns away, I know it’s for the best.
This isn’t over though. I need to find a way to make that connection with him. Because if we’re going to sell this marriage, then I need to be more comfortable with him than just on the physical side. I need to be mentally there too.
Chapter Nine
SLOANE
“Shouldn’t you be with your husband right now?” Stacey says as she opens the door to our house.
“He has a meeting,” I say, lumbering into the living room, my purse hanging off my shoulder.
“Why does it seem like you’re no longer living in wedded bliss?”
I flop on the couch and drop my purse to the floor. “I was never living in wedded bliss. Ever since this ring has been slipped on my finger, I’ve been living in purgatory.”
“That seems awfully harsh,” Stacey says as she takes a seat next to me. “It can’t be that bad. You’re living with a billionaire.”
