Page 49 of Boss with Benefits

She shrugged, not wanting to tell him.

He added, “If I wasn’t such a confident guy, I might worry you were laughing at me standing here in my underwear.”

She stood and turned her back to him. “Unzip me.”

He complied without hesitation. His lips sampled the skin he uncovered as he peeled the material from her shoulders. He allowed her dress to drop around her ankles. Kisses burned atrail down the side of her throat to the nape of her neck. “Mmm, you smell incredible.”

She giggled again as she turned in his arms. “Like champagne and embarrassment? I can’t believe I caused a public scene. I am so sorry. I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to take me to dinner after tonight.”

“I told you not to worry. You were perfect. Everyone will think we are a real married couple by tomorrow morning.”

She covered her face with both hands and groaned. “You must really hate being married to me.”

He blinked. “Why do you think that?”

“I’ve been nothing but trouble.” Before he could protest, she rushed ahead. “I know marriage is the last thing you ever wanted, and you only did it to protect my son.”

His Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Not the last thing.”

“Sorry, what?”

“I thought about marriage a few times over the years. Once in a while I see a truly happy couple, and I wonder if I’m missing something. Then I wake up and face reality.”

Her eyes narrowed on his face. “What reality? I don’t get what you’re talking about. Go slower.”

“Maybe happy marriages exist, but I’ll never be a part of one. I can’t have... that.”

“Why not?”

He threw his hands into the air. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Not to me.”

Was she that drunk or was he not making sense?

Instead of explaining it to her, he walked out. Walking away was Brady’s way of handling things he didn’t want to discuss. He simply left. In a sober state, she would have let him go. She would have left him alone and let him pretend this conversation never happened.

Fortunately, she was far from sober at the moment.

She put on a robe before following him to the kitchen where he was preparing a snack. For a moment, she’d forgotten they hadn’t stayed at the restaurant long enough to have dinner. She stood in the background and watched him put together a sandwich. It looked good. He lifted it up and raised an eyebrow, silently offering to make her one.

She shook her head, and he sat at the kitchen table. “Why do you think you can’t have a happy marriage?” she asked.

He rolled his eyes while chewing what was in his mouth. After he swallowed, he explained. “The only marriages I saw close up were awful. My parents hated each other. Their interactions were almost always violent, and everything I learned about being a husband came from watching my father.”

“But you don’t act like him,” Jessica said. “You have been understanding and supportive and—”

“That’s because this isn’t a real marriage. We’re play-acting. Someday your ex will be out of the picture, and someone will yell,Cut. Final scene. We’ll go our separate ways.”

Her heart dropped to her stomach. “What if I don’t want us to go our separate ways?”

He stopped eating and tossed the rest of his sandwich onto the plate. “What do you... what does that mean?”

Maybe this wasn’t the time for a serious conversation. She was drunk, and he was feeling cornered. That much was obvious. Instead of answering his question, she stood behind him and kneaded his shoulders. They both needed to relax.

“Let’s talk in the morning,” she said.

He slowly stood and took her into his arms for a kiss that sucked the breath from her body. She melted against him. Then the world was turning upside-down. It took her a dizzying moment to realize he had swept her off her feet. He carried her back to their bedroom, and they made love with the lights on.

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