Page 15 of Untamed Billionaire
Chloe looked startled for a moment, then almost deflated. But whatever conversation she was having in her head, she stiffened and nodded, as if finishing the argument. Then she looked at him. “We need to kiss.”
Marco was so shocked by her statement, he wasn’t sure what to say. For a long moment, he simply stared at her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, once again, glancing around to ensure that they weren’t being overheard. “I know that was startling. But we are engaged, and it seems as if both of us agree that we still are okay with going through with the wedding. However, I suspect it would be awkward if our first kiss was at the end of the wedding ceremony.”
She was nervous, he realized and wanted to laugh. Maybe not because she was nervous, but because, he suspected that she actually wanted to kiss him. The excuse about the kiss at the wedding was just that – an excuse. Or maybe the blush lightening her cheeks was his imagination?
He forced a serious expression and nodded. “You’re quite right. Having our first kiss in front of hundreds of people seems like a bad idea. Plus, I suspect that others around town will be watching us. If we don’t appear to be a happily engaged couple, then it might generate gossip and speculation.”
“Exactly!” she replied with an enthusiastic tone, adding a nod for emphasis. “So…perhaps we could…um…try it? Maybe after lunch?”
Hell, Marco wanted to toss his napkin onto the plate, haul her into his arms and kiss her right here in the restaurant. Instead, he nodded his head in agreement. “After lunch, it is.” He nodded to her menu. “What are you in the mood to eat?”
Marco noticed that she seemed much more relaxed now. He, on the other hand, was tense and ready to explode with the need to pull her into his arms and explore every inch of her lovely body! He wanted to kiss her and tease her and hear her moan out his name! Forget food! He wanted Chloe for lunch!
“I’ll just have a salad,” she replied.
“I had the shrimp and grits here about a week ago. It was excellent.” He looked up from the menu at her. “Why don’t you try it?”
She shook her head. “That sounds delicious. However, my mother insisted that I select a wedding dress this afternoon and, until I have legal custody of Emma, I need to appease my mother. She says that, in order to get everything done in a month, I’ll have to be able to fit into a smaller sized dress. So she’s ordered me to lose…”
He touched her fingers, immediately stopping her recitation of her mother’s commands. “Chloe, please don’t lose any more weight. You’re already painfully thin.”
She looked up at him and he saw the surprise in her eyes. “You don’t…think I need to lose weight?”
“Absolutely not! In fact, I don’t understand how you can get enough nutrition with the bits of food you eat now.” The waiter arrived and he ordered the shrimp and grits for himself. However, Chloe ordered a salad, again without the dressing.
They talked during the meal, but the conversation seemed stilted and Marco suspect that they were both thinking about the upcoming kiss.
Thankfully, they didn’t linger over their meal and Marco signed for the meal and took Chloe’s hand. “Let’s find some place private for our next scheduled event,” he teased, hoping to get a smile from her.
Chloe tried to laugh at his joke, but she was just too nervous. She was going to kiss Marco! She was actually going to kiss a man that she was painfully attracted to! Would his kiss be gross and inept like the other men she’d kissed? Daniel was the last man who had tried, and it had been a slobbery mess.
Kissing Marco seemed like a really bad idea now. She’d worried about the man’s lack of sexual interest in her last night. During their previous encounters, Chloe had appreciated his restraint. But last night, while laying in her ridiculous bedroom staring up at the ceiling, she hadn’t been able to stop worrying about the fact that the man hadn’t expressed any interest in her in that way.
Was she unattractive to him? Was she too fat? Too thin? Had he agreed to marry her out of pity?
That last question hurt the most. She didn’t want pity. She’d lived with her mother’s harsh words and her father’s lack of interest in her for too long. She didn’t want pity from her husband.
That’s when she wondered about their marriage. Would this be a marriage of convenience? That thought should have soothed her. After all, her whole point of suggesting marriage to a man like Marco was to try to gain protection for Emma.
And yet, deep down, a private little seed of hope had started to grow inside of her. She’d started to see Marco as a man. As a strong, powerful, attractive male and not just a means to help her save Emma.
So why was she feeling a choking sense of terror now as he finished signing the bill? Dear heaven, he was standing up now! His hand extended and Chloe knew that she should put her hand in his. They would casually stroll out of the restaurant and he would take her…where in the world did one take a fiancée for their first kiss? And how ridiculous was it that they were engaged and hadn’t even shared a kiss?
Dear heaven, what had she done?!
“It’s going to be okay, Chloe,” Marco whispered gently into her ear. “Trust me.”
Chloe nodded, feigning composure as she slipped her arm onto his elbow. She wanted to reply, but she was too nervous. How silly was that? She was a twenty-six year old woman who was literally trembling at the anticipation of kissing a handsome man! Her fiancée, in fact! Although, she admitted that their engagement was a bit different than other engaged couples. Theirs was an agreement based on a mutual interest, not love. Or even friendship! However, she’d very much like to become this man’s friend. Okay, that was a lie. She’d love to be so much more than this man’s friend. She wanted…stupid stuff. Ridiculous possibilities!
Banishing those fantasies from her mind, she walked beside Marco, smiling and nodding towards the various acquaintances dining at the restaurant. She should introduce him to some of them, she realized. Especially Julian Marston! The man owned twenty department stores. Surely Julian would be an excellent person for Marco to get to know.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m falling down on my end of our bargain.”
Marco’s startled eyes looked down at her. “Our bargain?”
She licked her lips, distracted by his mouth for a moment before she recalled that they were walking through a very public, very discreet restaurant. “Yes,” she breathed, surprised when the breath came out sounding like regret. “I should be introducing you to some of the people that are also dining here today.”
