Page 9 of Married Into Love

Her pretty eyes widened. “That’s crazy talk! I don’t even know you. I couldn’t possibly move half-way across the country to live with you after meeting you twelvehoursago.”

“Your sister thought youcould.”

She pressed her head back into the pillow and let out a little scream. “Of course she did! I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not. Although marrying me off to a stranger seems a little extreme, evenforher.”

“You might not know me as well as either of us would like, but I’m not a stranger either, beautiful.” I flashed her a sexy grin. “We might have only met fifteen hours ago, but we spent every minute of that time together. If we were a normal couple who’d just started dating, that would mean we’d gone out on at least five datessofar.”

Alessia pushed on my shoulders, and I moved to sit on the edge of the mattress again. I would have preferred to get closer to her instead, but I wanted her comfortable with me as quickly as I could make it happen. Crowding her wouldn’t help withthatgoal.

She sat up, tugging on her hem to try to cover more of her thighs since it’d ridden up her legs. “Five dates? That’s awfullyspecific.”

I tore my gaze away from her legs and explained, “Five dates, three hours each. Fifteen hours total. Or it could be more like seven and a half dates if they were only a couple of hours each. I wasn’t sure so I used a conservativeestimate.”

Her gaze dropped to my chest, and she licked her lips as the green of her eyes darkened with a spark of passion. “You’re hot, rich, and single. I find it hard to believe that you aren’t extremely familiar with exactly how long a date usuallylasts.”

There was a hint of jealousy in her tone, and damn if it didn’t feel good to hear it. “I’m glad you thinkI’mhot.”

“Oh, please. I don’tthinkyou’re hot. I know it, just likeyoudo.”

“I wouldn’t say that I’m rich. I make a good living and don’t have a whole lot of expenses besides my apartment and my car. So I’ve been able to put a lot of my earnings away in savings and investments, like one of my brother’s clubs and a couple of hisrestaurants.”

Her eyes grew wide during my explanation. “Like Isaid.Rich.”

“Fine. I’ll cop to being hot and rich, but not single.” I wiggled the fingers of my left hand at her. “As of last night, I’m officially off themarket.”

“Which doesn’t explain why you’re supposedly unfamiliar with the dating routine for a normal couple,” sheargued.

Our previous sex lives were the last topic I wanted to cover with her this morning, but I was getting the impression that she wasn’t going to let the matter drop. “I was never a relationship kind of guybeforeyou.”

Her green eyes narrowed, and a tiny growl crept up her throat. “Which made you what? A one-night stand kindofguy?”

Fuck, I wanted to kick my own ass for being an idiot over the years. I never stopped to think about how this conversation would go when I found the woman I wanted to spend my life with. “Usually,yeah.”

“And did that happenalot?”

Another answer I didn’t want to give but forced myself to say anyway. If we were going to be a couple, dishonesty didn’t have any place in our relationship—no matter how difficult the conversation was. “In the start of my pro hockey career, more often than I’d like to admit. But notlately.”

“Lately as in single digit days, or closer to doubledigits?”

I did a quick mental calculation and gave silent thanks to Ryan for finding Tamara again when he did. Hitting the clubs by myself screamed desperation, and he’d been the last of my close-knit group of guy friends to fall in love so I’d lost my wingman. It’d put a well-timed damper on my sex life, which allowed me to say, “It’s actually closer to triple digits thandouble.”

“Oh.” Her plump lips parted on a gasp. “That’s longer than I expected you to say. I guess I can’t give you too hardatime.”

“What about you? How long has it been since your last relationship?” I wanted to take back my questions as soon as they left my mouth. As loathe as I was to admit to my sexual past, I was even more reluctant to hearabouthers.

“Let me preface this by saying that I’ve spent a lot of my life taking care of my mom and sister, so I didn’t have a lot of free time to date.” She twirled a lock of blond hair around her finger. “I can’t believe I’m actually admitting this to you, but you could take your almost triple digits and multiple it by a factor of ten or so to make it almost quadrupledigits.”

The timely knock on the door helped me to hide the shit-eating grin that spread across my face at her answer. “Room service,” I explained as I got up and walked towardsthedoor.

With Alessia on my bed in a tiny dress without a bra, I wasn’t willing to let the guy into my room. Instead, I signed the bill and added a hefty tip before rolling the cart inside the roommyself.

“Oh, wow. Is that coffee? Andbreakfast?”

“It is.” I flashed Alessia a grin. “Having someone around to get you what you want before you can ask for it is one of the benefits of having a husband around. Maybe you shouldkeepme.”

Alessia’s startled giggle filled the room, and it was the best sound I’d heard since the last goal I’d scored—other than when she’d said “I do” the nightbefore.

“I’m going to take that asayes.”

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