Page 92 of An Inconvenient Marriage
Holding it out as a shield, I motioned for Natalie to get out. And fuck me, she was a goddess emerging from the water. White, flowery material clung to her curves, leaving no doubt as to what it was covering. Tiny droplets of water made her skin glisten like diamonds under the midday sun.
She was absolutely gorgeous.
It was such a shame to cover all that up, but the thought of anyone’s eyes but mine on her was even worse. That was why I draped the towel over her shoulders and pulled it up to her neck.
Natalie waited until I was done bundling her up like a mummy before she spoke. “Zach, can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything.” I didn’t like the way my skin tightened with apprehension. “Always.”
“Why are you angry with your brother?”
I licked my lips. “What do you mean?”
“I might not understand Spanish, but I understand tones and postures. You’re not happy he’s here, and I’m worried it’s because of me.” Her throat bobbed with the swallow she worked down. “The other night at the club you didn’t like it when he asked me to dance, and just now you said you wanted to murder him for looking at me… Zach, I don’t want to cause a fight between you and your brother.”
Taking a breath through her nose, she slicked her tongue over her lip. “You might not have said it, but I can tell how much you care for your brother. You share something with him that I’ve only dreamt about. Please don’t ruin it because of me.”
Her gaze bored into mine, and I quickly realized how easy it would be to drown in those blue irises. How the world just seemed like a better place simply because she was in it.
Fuck. I had to stop thinking shit like that.
I knew that, yet I couldn’t keep myself from moving closer to her. “You’re too good for this world.” Lifting my hand, I brushed my thumb along her jaw. “You’re right, I want to murder anyone who dares to look at you, but I promise my disagreement with Javier wasn’t about you.”
“Okay.” Because I wasn’t expecting it, she just about knocked me on my ass when she pushed onto her toes and pressed a kiss against my cheek. “Whatever it is, I hope you can sort it out. Life’s too short to fight with the people you care for.”
23
Zach
“Whatdoyouwant?”I barked as soon as I entered the living room.
Javier was sitting on the couch furthest from the window, a magazine spread open on his lap while his fingers tapped out a tune against the armrest.
Not fazed by the annoyance in my tone, he slowly closed the magazine and set it down on the seat beside him.
“You seem to be enjoying marital bliss.” He flicked his gaze toward the window overlooking the pool, staring at it for far longer than I deemed necessary.
When his attention was back on me, I wanted to smack the grin right off his damn face.
“If I’d known being married was such an exciting adventure, I would have settled down when the first ‘marry me’ poster popped up.”
Fury bubbled through my veins. Balling my fists, I clenched my jaw to the point of pain and gritted out, “Leave. Now.”
I’d barely spun around when my brother jumped in front of me. I didn’t even care how he got up so fast, I just wanted him out of my way. I tried to sidestep him, but he saw it coming and immediately blocked my path. Then again when I moved in the opposite direction.
“Javier, I swear to all things holy, if you don’t get out of my fucking way right now, we’re going to have problems.”
His face fell, and he ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. Not just for my stupid joke just now but for what I said over lunch the other day.” A loud, defeated sigh blew over his lips. “I came to apologize.”
Because I was so furious with him, all I wanted to do was walk away. He could apologize to the damn wall for all I cared. But then Natalie’s words smacked me in the face.
“Life’s too short to fight with the people you care for.”
Shit.
I couldn’t let things like this linger between Javier and me. Swallowing my pride and my anger, I motioned toward the couches. Javier claimed his spot from earlier while I sat directly opposite him.
Balancing my ankle on my knee, I leaned back.
