Page 24 of Indulge
My cheeks blush, giving me away.
“Kissing, hand holding, bum smacking.” I grin.
He nods and runs his hand over his stubble.
“So sex without kissing and you tied up?”
I roll my eyes.
“No, Irish. Sex makes this whole deal complicated. You might fall in love with your defiant British Princess. And I can’t have my brothers blaming me for this alliance falling apart because your heartbroken ass sends me back home. Can we?” I say with a sweet smile.
He takes a breath.
“If I fell in love with you, I wouldn’t let you break my heart. I wouldn’t let you leave.” His stare burns into me.
He’s got cute amber flecks in his dark brown eyes.
“But, that’s never gonna happen. I don’t fall in love. I fuck. That’s it.”
A beat of silence passes where we just look into each other’s eyes. And everything crackles around us. I don’t know what my plan really was, but this was not it.
“Ditto.”
“You never been in love, Princess?”
Ugh. I swallow back the hurt, and I nod.
“Yeah. And I’ve been heartbroken. So, it won’t ever happen again,” I say quietly.
He leans in closer, his strong aftershave wafting up my nose.
“Trick is, if you don’t let them in close enough, they can never hurt you,” he whispers.
“Got it. Very philosophical, Irish. I’ll stay a man hater.”
He chuckles.
“Yeah. Whatever you need to do. But, I promise, we ain’t all like whatever prick broke your heart.”
I’m not even sure my heart ever belonged to Xander. I was young and naive. I believed it was love. I thought letting him own me was love. That sharing me with his friends was what I was meant to do. But it turns out, he was just a sick fuck who got off on hurting me.
“You alright?” Reggie asks, shaking me back to my present.
At least with this arrangement I know what I’m in for. A loveless marriage. But there’s no risk of me being hurt here, I suppose.
“Yeah. I’m tired. Can you show me my room?”
I finish the rest of my coffee, and he sighs.
“Yes.”
I look up at him with a smile.
“So I do have my own room?”
He rolls his eyes.
“Do I look like the kinda man who does nighttime snuggles?”
