Page 76 of Ruined Vows
“Exactly. And then... he kissed me. Not planned. Not polite. Justhappened.Like he knew he was going to get one all along.”
“And?”
“And Ilethim.”
Joanne exhales as if she has just heard a proposal. “Bianca.”
“Don’t. I know.”
“What are you going to do?”
My coffee machine finishes, and I pick up the cup, sipping the caffeine I need desperately to keep my head from cracking. I reach into the fridge and pull out a bottle of water. I’m sure Ineed to hydrate. So I do my version of a speedball—caffeine followed by water.
“Hide,” I say after a pause. “Rebuild my emotional fortress. Remember, I’m supposed to ruinhim.”
“You’re not doing a great job so far.”
“No,” I whisper. “I’m really not.” Damn it. I can’t let him win. What am I doing? This was supposed to be over with the first date. Or the third. Now we’re cruising toward date six.
And that kiss? It wasn’t like when the others kissed me. It wasn’t just heat. Or power. Or games.
It felt like a middle ground. Common ground. And that’s the most dangerous place of all.
This entire situation could go either way.
What the fuck am I going to do?
The man is a fortress. Unbreakable.
How did I miss it?
Is he immune to my charm? Granted, he’s had a hard cock at the end of every date, but still….He’s not tried to fuck me, not really.
What is his endgame?
“Well, just to let you know, I want all the details on the next date, and I’m gonna listen to it as I sit eating a bucket of popcorn,” Joanne teases.
I inwardly groan. This endeavor isn’t going as I had planned. I might need a bucket myself.
20
VUKAN
THE FIRE AND THE FUSE
The estate is quiet this morning—eerily so. The sun is bleeding in through tall windows, and there is the smell of strong coffee. Thank god for Irina. I am slightly dehydrated from the tequila, but other than that, I’m fine.
Well, if fine means I’m lusting after a woman who is determined to ruin me—kind of fine.
My phone is buzzing with half a dozen updates I haven’t opened. And all I can think about… isBianca.
She will be the death of me, one way or another, but I’ll die a happy man. The way she laughed when I missed the bullseye by a hair. The way she leaned into me when she threw her winning dart. The way she tasted when she met me halfway and kissed me like she’d been waiting for an excuse.
I can still feel it and taste it.
My God, her hands were on my chest. I have no idea how I refrained from fucking her in the backseat of the Bentley. And the way she pulled back with swollen lips and a smug little smile? Well, it’s as if sheknewI’d be thinking about that kiss ever since I dropped her off—and she’d be right.
I sip my coffee, phone finally in hand, but my messagesblur. Not because I’m hungover, but because my brain isn’t on the threats rising inside the ranks.
