Page 21 of Marry Lies
Just. Go. With. It.I do my best to persuade Luna with my signature glare.
Luna must sense the urgency, because she slowly turns to my bride-to-be. “Of course,” she says quickly. She gives me a look that sayswe are talking about this laterbefore she taps something into the iPad she’s always holding. “Right. I’ll go let Louis know to bring your things up, Ms. Deveraux.” She walks off.
Now it’s Estelle’s turn to look at me with wide eyes. I resist the urge to laugh, grabbing her arm and pulling her close to my side.
“Don’t worry. Separate bedrooms,” I growl, my voice low enough for only the two of us to hear.
She looks up at me with those blue eyes, and something settles low in my gut when I think of her so close.
Estelle pulls out of my grip and turns to face me. “Why is it necessary to share the same quarters as you?”
I huff a laugh as I pull my tie loose. I don’t miss the way Estelle’s eyes travel over my throat, landing on my scars before they dart up to my lips. I’m both hot and cold at once—uncomfortable at the notion of her fascination with my scars, but also so curious about the way she watches me.
Usually, I’m the one watching.
A flash of defensiveness washes over me as I’m assaulted by an unwanted memory of another woman being repulsed by me and my scars.
Why the fuck did I just coerce her into a marriage with me? And why am I flirting with her?
She made it very clear the first time we met that she didn’t want me.
If I’m going to make this work, I need to stay professional. She may be beautiful, but she’s off-limits.
“Because we’re engaged,” I say, frowning. “My employees might ask a lot of questions if we’re living separately.Especiallysince they know I’m not a prude.”
She gives me a rueful smile. “I see. I suppose that makes sense,” she adds, quirking a blonde brow. “You don’t expect me to…” she trails off, looking somewhat uncomfortable.
I clench my jaw. “Of course not. Besides, once you see my quarters, I don’t think you’ll have any complaints.”
I turn and walk to the elevator. She follows me, leaving her bags for Louis. Once inside, she crosses her arms and eyes me suspiciously. The doors close us inside together.
“As I was saying earlier, if we’re going to do this, we need to set some ground rules.”
I press my lips together. “All right.”
“One, we should remain monogamous throughout the entirety of this year—”
I snap my eyes to her. “Seriously?”
She shrugs as the elevator chimes loudly, following me out and down a long hallway to the southern part of the castle.
“Well, I’ve already been humiliated once,” she mumbles. “When you ditched me last week.” I glare at her as she continues. “Plus, you seem like the kind of guy who sleeps around.”
Oh, how wrong you are, Estelle.
“The kind of guy who sleeps around?” I ask. I have to actively stop the anger from tinging my voice.
“Multiple partners. Unsure of what he wants. Afraid of commitment,” she adds, glancing at me with narrowed eyes. “Am I wrong? Need I mention the taxi ride?” I keep my mouth closed. “Plus, there are all the articles I scoured last week.”
“Those magazine stories about me are trash. They’re almost never telling the truth. Just because I have a woman on my arm or lipstick on my cheek doesn’t mean I’m fucking them, Estelle.”
She snorts. “Oh, so the articles about Chase and Miles Ravage breaking hearts all over Crestwood are total rubbish? Highly doubtful.”
I look over at her, watching her smooth movements as she jogs to keep up with my long strides. “Chase is spoken for. He recently started dating someone.”
“Okay, fine. But that doesn’t negate the countless models hanging off your arms just in the last year—” She snaps her mouth closed.
“Jealous, Estelle?” I growl.
