Page 11 of The Billionaire's Last-Minute Marriage
‘The facts?’ She struggled to process his words, still slightly reeling at the effect the simple idea of his touch was having on her.
‘We have worked in very close proximity together for months. Long days lead to long nights. We’ll just let them put together the rest for themselves. I have always valued my privacy, and that won’t change.’
‘Privacy sounds good,’ she breathed, hardly believing the rasp of her own voice.
‘Once we are married and the inheritance matter is settled, everything will become much simpler. But right now I cannot give the board any more ammunition to use against me in this war. They already want to get rid of me. I need to take control of the narrative surrounding yesterday’s disaster and this whirlwind romance is the best thing I can think of in so little time. We can’t leave this room and have a single person question this union. The future of the entire company rests on it. Do you understand?’
He stepped closer, reaching down to take one of her hands in his. He pulled a small black box from his coat pocket, opening it up to show a simple platinum-and-diamond solitaire ring.
Pandora froze, remembering another small box she had organised to be delivered to Priya only the week before. Dread churned in her stomach as she looked once then twice at the small silk interior of the box, assessing the contents.
She sighed in relief. It was a different ring. She wasn’t sure why, but that small detail...mattered to her somehow.
‘May I?’ The request was surprisingly gentle, coming from a man from whom she had witnessed nothing but ruthless demands in the boardroom.
She nodded once but tensed as he went to slide the band slowly onto her finger.
Unable to tolerate the sensation his light touch provoked, she pulled her hand away quickly, then cursed herself as she saw his expression harden, his eyes narrowing on her briefly before he held out the ring for her to take and slide on herself.
The silence that followed was harsh and uncomfortable, tightening her already fraught nerves to what felt like snapping point. Unable to think of anything else to say, she simply stared at the beautiful glittering diamond and pondered the monumental shift in her reality that it represented. No more quiet evenings in her tiny apartment. No more morning coffee runs. No more predictable routine. Well, not for a year, anyway.
‘Quinn, could you manage to look slightly less miserable?’
She snapped back to attention. ‘Sorry.’
‘I need you to act like you can’t get enough of me. I’m going to have to touch you, maybe even kiss you on occasion. Can you handle that?’
Pandora inhaled, attractively choking on her own saliva for a split second before she recovered. God, if only he knew the terrible truth in his words. She had been entranced by Xander Mytikas before he had even spoken to her. It was just a surface attraction, of course; once she had realised how demanding he was to work for it had been a little easier to tone down her crush.
But kissing him... That was another matter entirely. Had she imagined kissing him? Sure, countless times. Had she ever intended to make that fantasy a reality? Goodness, no. She had barely survived her first attempts at kissing back in school, which had always been an utter disaster. She’d forced herself to kiss her ex-boyfriend because it was what was expected. But even Cormac had eventually agreed that she just wasn’t very good at it.
She had grown comfortable in the quiet monotony of single life and now a Greek billionaire with luminous skin and perfect hair was calmly asking if he could touch her for the foreseeable future. They would play the part of man and wife and be forced to act as blissful newly-weds with all the physical displays of affection that entailed.
It was a recipe for disaster.
She was so used to living in this new life where no one knew who she was or what her life had once looked like back home in Ireland. Of the difficulties she’d grown up with, the difficulties she still managed now as an adult.
Here, she was just Pandora. But it was unfair to keep Xander in the dark, and there was no way she could keep that side of herself hidden away without sending herself into a spiral of exhaustion. It would be unfair to Xander but, mostly, it would be both unfair and self-destructive for her.
Biting her lower lip, she closed her eyes and took a deep fortifying breath.
‘Xander, wait.’ She waited a beat, until he was facing her, his deep blue eyes sincere and rapt with attention. He would hopefully be understanding, although not all people were, of course. But still, a little part of her shrank back and braced for impact.
‘If we are going to do this, there are some things you should know. Things about me.’
‘I don’t mean to flinch at your touch... I’m just not used to interacting with you this way.’ She spoke the words on a rush, her cheeks flushed and pink. She was...embarrassed, Xander realised. She was apologising. And of course, he was acting like a prize bastard.
‘This is all just happening very fast,’ she added, awkwardly studying the buttons at the top of his shirt rather than meeting his eyes.
‘Neither of us were ready for this, Pandora. But we will have to be seen together eventually. We need to get a handle on this.’
She looked up quickly, surprise transforming her grey eyes to luminous silver.
‘You used my first name again.’ She grimaced. ‘That just feels...weird coming from you.’
Had he been using her first name? He supposed he had. It wasn’t something he’d begun doing intentionally, it had just kind of happened.
‘Quinn.’He emphasised her surname purposefully. ‘If this dislike of physical intimacy is going to continue, we’re going to have a big problem on our hands.’
