Page 36 of Bargaining

His voice was low and calm, but somehow more chilling than when he’d snapped. “That’s what you were looking for? A chance to feel something different?”

Yes. No. Maybe.“Tonight was a lot for me. You didn’t warn me you were going to touch me like that or look at me like that.”

He watched me with a somber expression. “Like what?”

“You know like what.”

He gave an irritable tug of his sleeve. “I made you uncomfortable?”

Yes. But not in the way he was worrying about. “It’s something I’ll have to adjust to. It’s been a long time since a man touched me, if you must know.”

“How long?”

Long enough that my hymen had probably regrown. Looking after Dad hadn’t left much scope for meeting men. “It doesn’t matter.”

He searched my face, his eyes questioning. “You’re not ...? There have been other men?”

I batted my eyelashes with faux innocence. “No, Cole. I’ve been saving myself for you. All these years, I’ve waited.”

His brow arched in concern. “You have?”

I couldn’t help my laugh at the surprise in his eyes. “I’m joking. It’s just been a while, that’s all. I’m not used to ... physical stuff.”

His eyes narrowed. “How many men?”

“You don’t get to ask me that.”

He pierced me with his brooding gaze. I saw it then—a flicker in the inscrutable depths of those beautiful eyes. He wasn’t just angry, he was struggling. He looked like a drowning man fighting an undercurrent. Something was very wrong.What is going on inside that head of yours?An ache speared my chest. Some stupid urge made me want to reach out and touch his face, to comfort him, to throw him a lifeline. But I didn’t dare.

“You’ll need to get used to the physical stuff. It would be a mistake to kiss for the first time again in the church with everyone watching. We should rehearse it so it doesn’t freak you out or look too staged. We need to get it out of the way beforehand,” he said.

I’d told him the touching made me feel weird and his take-home message was to do more? How had we gone from arguing to talking about kissing? My heart thumped. Cole had run away from me once before and broken me. He’d do the same again given half a chance. I had to stick to the contract and keep this a business arrangement. If I played this right, I’d walk out of here with a life-changing amount of money. I could do anything with five million. This man didn’t get to have any sway over my emotions. I had to let him kiss me and have it mean nothing.

“Fine. Kiss me, if that’s what you want.” I rolled my shoulders back in defiance.

He stepped closer, his eyes blazing. “Is it what you want?”

My breathing came too sharp and erratic. “It makes sense.”

“I agree.”

He ripped off his jacket and threw it over the grand piano. Angrily, he removed his cuff links, tossed them next to his jacket, and rolled his crisp white shirtsleeves to the elbows. Dark hair dusted his defined forearms. This man had never done a day’s hard graft in his life, but he had the muscular arms of a laborer. How was it even possible?

His jaw clenched, and his breath was shallow. “Well? How do you want to start?”

I dragged my eyes away from his forearms.Now?Anger made my heart pound, but I couldn’t deny the pull to give in to the tension that bound us so tightly. To give up the fight and melt into him.

“It’s a wedding kiss. That means tasteful and respectful. Just imagine we’ve tied the knot.” I tilted my chin up and adopted a low, solemn voice. “You may now kiss the bride.”

A brief flicker of amusement pulled at his full lips. “Who’s that supposed to be?”

“I don’t know. The celebrant.”

He swept a loose strand of hair from my cheek and propped it behind my ear. “Oh.”

My pulse pounded in my throat. I lifted my chin higher. Every fiber of my being screamed for me to close the gap between us. “Are you going to get on with it, then?”

His eyes dropped to my lips. “I don’t like to be rushed.”