Page 179 of Charming Deception

I know it in my gut. And in my heart.

Jameson isn’t being fully honest with me.

About what, I don’t know.

But his brother sure seems to think he’s keeping something from me.

If you think you know him, you haven’t looked hard enough yet.

Damian hinted at it, maybe to try to scare me away.

Maybe to see how I’d react.

To see if I’m really wife material, if I care enough about his brother to probe deeper, or if I’ll just let it slide.

As we get ready for bed, I wonder if I’m freaking crazy to let myself fall in love again.

And with a man like Jameson. So wealthy, so glamorous, so unlike me.

And so damn soon.

I didn’t even have a month of alone time between the end of my last relationship and this one.

My chest feels tender and raw where Jameson’s breathed the life back into my hope for a happy ending.

It’s so fresh, this hope.

I don’t want to suffer another broken heart so soon.

But Jameson’s heart was broken, too, by his parents, and maybe by former lovers.

Maybe he’s guarding his heart, too.

“Why don’t you want to get married?” I ask him when I emerge from the walk-in to find him in bed, waiting for me. He’s sitting up against the headboard, watching me.

“Come here.”

I come around and slide into my side. When I settle down onto the pillow, he slides down to face me.

His expression is serious when he says, “My parents’ marriage wasn’t good. I think… ultimately, I never wanted that.”

“And that’s the only type of marriage you can imagine?” I challenge. Because can’t he picture us together in the future, still enjoying the hell out of each other?

And if not, why not?

“I haven’t really tried to picture another type of marriage,” he says carefully. “I just decided long ago it wasn’t for me.”

“And that’s it?”

Surely he can’t pretend that he never called me my wife in the heat of the moment, or that it meant nothing at all. He’s done it several times now.

He swallows. I can feel his hesitation. Now that this is a serious topic of conversation and we’re not flirting, it’s hard for him to address it. But why?

What is he afraid of?

He said he makes decisions based on fear; that he’s like Wolf that way. But I’ve been living with him for a while now, and I don’t see that in his daily actions.

And really, am I that scary? I’m actually ridiculously loyal, and he must’ve gleaned that by now. I’m hardly the type of girl who cheats. He must realize that. He knows what happened in my last relationship.

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