Page 62 of Pretend Wife
A throat clearing made Danielle pull back, or at least try to. I kept my hand on her waist, preventing her from going far.
“Hayden, this is Ian. He works for Sam and played my chauffeur for a while when I first moved to Boston.”
“Nice to meet you,” the kid said with an easy smile.
I nodded curtly.
“Well, I should probably get back home.”
“Already?” Danielle asked.
“I don’t want to be late. Don’t be a stranger. You’re always welcome at the club.”
My jaw clenched at his words.
“Good luck with Daphne,” Danielle called after him as he slipped out of our penthouse.
As soon as he was gone, she turned and swatted my shoulder. “You scared away my guest.”
I shrugged. “I just made sure he knew you were taken.”
“Right, because he easily could have missed the ring.” Danielle rolled her eyes.
“The ring could be a symbol of a fake marriage.”
“So could a kiss.”
“Did that kissfeelfake, Sunday School?”
Her lips parted, and a light flush spread across her cheeks. “Hayden…”
“Yes?”
“I honestly don’t even know what to say to you right now.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“More like exasperated.”
“I didn’t like the way he was looking at you.”
“He wasn’t looking at me in any way. He was asking me for advice on how to propose to his girlfriend, who is the only girl he has looked at since before I met him. You’re being unreasonable.”
“I’m sorry?” I wasn’t, but I was willing to pretend for Danielle’s sake.
“No you’re not.” She shook her head, but she was smiling. “What are you even doing home right now?”
“I missed you.” I tightened my hold, pulling her more firmly against my chest. It was like she’d been made to fit against me perfectly. I was an idiot to let this woman go and think that I would simply be able to forget her. Danielle was as forgettable as the sun.
It had beenthree days since my revelation that I loved Danielle, and I had yet to convince her to move out of the guest room at the end of the hall and into my room.
It wasn’t like sharing a bed was a new concept for us. Besides our couple of nights at my parents’ beach house, I used to spend nights with Danielle all the time when we’d been together. I was capable of sleeping beside herwithout breaking her no-sex rule, and she knew it. So her refusing to move rooms was wholly due to her stubbornness.
I refused to entertain the idea that she didn’t want me as much as I wanted her. If that were the case, she wouldn’t lean into my touch or kiss me back like she couldn’t get enough. She wouldn’t stay up late with me every night, talking about everything and nothing before disappearing into her room.
But I’d change her mind somehow. Or I’d eventually throw her over my shoulder and carry her to my room caveman-style, something I wouldn’t have ever considered before this woman came into my life.
“Sunday School?” I called through the closed door of her room. “Are you ready to go?” We had yet another gala tonight where other people would try to steal the time we had together. Possibly worse was all the time Danielle spent holed up in her bedroom getting ready.
