Page 73 of One Wealthy Wedding

“You might be a terrible actress, but you’re good at this,” he says.

I still.

I’m not acting. But Theo is. I scramble off his lap. I can’t do this. In front of people, sure, but alone…he’s too tempting. It’s too much.

“What’s wrong?” He’s sprawled on the couch, confusion written on his face. He looks relaxed, but his cheekbones are red and he’s hard. Oh no. He’s hard. He wants this. Wants me the way I want him.

It’s biology. He had a woman on his lap, so of course he’s hard. He’s probably had a million women on his lap. I’ve seen him with women on his lap. I’m not special.

I never have been.

“We’ve practiced enough,” I say shortly.

“Are you upset with me?”

“Upset? No.” I shake my head. I don’t sound convincing. “Just tired. And hungry.”

“You’ve been eating my last chocolate mousse,” he points out.

I grab it and shove a bite into my mouth to keep myself from asking him for more of whatever the hell that was.

He pushes off the couch, eyes alight. “Give me a bite.”

“Definitely not,” I say through a mouthful of chocolate.

He frowns at me. “You’re not a very loving wife, Catherine.”

“I don’t have to be loving. I’m a warm body.”

“I don’t know, princess. You felt pretty loving on my lap.” He wags his brows.

“I was practicing.”

“You sure about that?” He looks so smug, so cocky. I want to punch him. Or kiss him.

“I hate you,” I mutter.

He laughs and saunters out of the living room. “Keep telling yourself that. Because that didn’t feel like hate.”

24

Cat

Theo is throwing a party tonight. A pool party. He allegedly has a pool on his roof, though I’m not sure how that works in a nineteenth-century mansion. It’s been a week since he taught me how to drive and we practiced touching. A week of breakfasts during which he’s helped me with my homework, and dinners with his investors. Even with our practice, those are still awkward.

I frown at my reflection in the mirror. I’m being foolishly shallow, I know, but I wish I had something better to wear. The Royals hockey team will be here, and I don’t care what they think, but if Theo needs me to play a part tonight, I’m not going to be able to do it in jeans.

Fuck it. I have to study later anyway. I don’t have time to party. All the time spent with Theo means I’m falling behind on my homework, even with his help at breakfast. I smooth my hands down my pants and make my way out of my room to the stairs that lead up to the roof. I can hear music and laughter from here. He’s lucky he doesn’t have neighbors. They’d hate him.

The gym and the roof deck are an addition on the top of the mansion, and the blond wood and large windows are totally at odds with the Gilded Age glamour down below.

A door on the side of the gym leads to a path with planter boxes full of grasses. The late March wind cuts through me, and I shiver. I follow the sound of voices, but Theo finds me first.

“You came.” He smiles at me, and my heart does a funny little flip. “I didn’t think you would.”

He’s painfully handsome, in all black again, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up over his face in a way that makes him look mysterious and dangerous. There’s a smile playing on his lips and a gleam in his eye that says he’s up to no good tonight.

I stop in my tracks when I see the pool. It’s huge, with underwater lights that make it glow, surrounded by lounge chairs and tall plantings to block the wind. There are heat lamps everywhere and little drinks with umbrellas in them. Steam wafts off the top of the water, swirling into the air.

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