Page 87 of Married to the Frenemy

He presses his lips back against mine, kissing me like I’m oxygen and he’s been struggling to breathe for too long. One thing is certain. This isn’t just a kiss. It’s a dangerous combination of hunger and longing that could ruin a person.

That could ruin me.

But I don’t have a chance to protest before he lines himself up at my entrance and eases inside with agonizing slowness.

There are no harsh drives. No wanton grunts. No carnal declarations of how good I take his cock.

Instead, the room is distressingly silent as our bodies fuse together in madness and ecstasy.

“Please, Beckham,” I beg, overcome with emotion. “Faster.” I wrap my legs around his waist, attempting to encourage him to increase his rhythm.

“No, Haley. Like this.” He sensually circles his hips, his motions slower than they were minutes ago. But they’re even more fulfilling.

Even more dangerous.

“Let me have you like this,” he rasps as he buries his head in the crook of my neck. “Let me love you like this.”

“Beckham,” I whimper.

I don’t have it in me to remind him that this is just supposed to be sex. It would never just be sex between us. Our connection has always been too intense. Too palpable.

Too explosive.

Instead, as I surrender to him, I have no choice but to face the awful truth that I broke the one rule I swore I wouldn’t.

I’ve fallen in love with my husband.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

BECKHAM

The stairs creak under my feet as I drag myself up to the second floor of the tasting room building, my stomach heavy with what I’m about to do.

A few months ago, I wouldn’t have given up the opportunity to buy the vineyard for anything. Hell, I got married just to do it. Now, I’m ready to walk away just to keep Haley and Maggie from ever having to deal with her ex. If I don’t do this, I’ll never be able to live with myself. Even if it means losing Haley.

And that’s the part I struggle with.

It’s not losing the vineyard that makes me feel like my heart’s been ripped from my chest.

It’s that Haley will no longer have a reason to be married to me once I do this.

Like I told Jude, it’s for the best. I’ve already done enough damage. The sooner we end this farce of a marriage, the better.

At least for her and Maggie.

Approaching the door to Grady’s office, I draw in a deep breath and peek my head inside. “You got a minute?”

He snaps his head up from the paperwork covering the surface. “Beckham.” He waves me in. “What brings you to the big house? I suppose you should get used to it, considering you’ll be running the show in a couple of months.”

“That’s actually what I’d like to talk to you about.”

He eyes me suspiciously, then gestures to the chair across from his desk. “What’s on your mind, son?”

I sit, rubbing my hands along my jeans. “You know I love you like I do my own father. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know where I’d be today.”

“You’d be right here, Beckham. You’re a good man. Always have been.”

A pang of guilt shoots through me, his words making me feel even worse about all the lies I’ve told him over the past few months, especially considering everything he did for me after I got out of prison.

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