Page 95 of Brutal Vows
But I won’t give her a reason to. I’ll be the opposite of everything her last husband was. I want her to learn that marriage to me isn’t the end of her life.
It’s only the beginning.
“Where are we going?” she says, staring out the window in rising panic.
I’m going to have to make her come again soon. She needs to calm down.
“The Ritz. I booked the honeymoon suite.”
She swallows and moistens her lips. Then she blurts, “Do you snore?”
I have to suppress a laugh at that. “To be honest, I have no idea.”
“Nobody’s ever told you?”
“Who would tell me?”
“Any woman you’ve ever slept with.”
I quirk my lips. “I don’t spend the night.”
She looks startled by that. “What do you mean? You’ve never had a long-term relationship?”
“My relationships can best be described as speedy disasters. Those were few and far between. I haven’t been committed to a woman in more than ten years.”
She examines my face in silence for a moment. I can see the wheels turning and know she wants to grill me for more information, but she doesn’t.
She looks away instead, nervously chewing the inside of her cheek.
“You can ask me anything,” I say, stroking my hand up her arm.
“It might be insulting.”
“As if that would be new.”
“Suit yourself. Here’s the question: did you…” She pauses to rethink it. “How have you been taking care of your needs for the last decade?”
“How have you been taking care of yours?”
“Romance novels and battery-powered devices.”
Her bluntness makes me chuckle. “You can throw them all away. You won’t need them anymore.”
Her cheeks turn pink. She purses her lips.
I love it when she looks at me like she’s a prude old maid.
She says, “Let me just push your ego aside for a sec to mention you haven’t answered my question.”
I hesitate, because I know exactly how bad it will sound outloud. But she was honest with me, so the least I can do is return the favor.
“I paid for it.”
“For sex, you mean.”
“Aye.”
She sits with that in silence for a while, then nods. “Okay. Thank you for the candor. Can I ask a follow-up question?”
