Page 25 of Fast-Track Fiancé

The idea that she’d seen tonight as a temporary experiment of sorts did nothing to ease his temper. He’d have to set her to rights on that tomorrow. Once he’d cooled off. Maybe even once they’d made love again and he’d shown her exactly how it should have been the first time and how he planned for it to be every time after that for the foreseeable future if he got his way.

With that thought settling with some satisfaction inside his chest, he pulled her sleeping form against his chest and let her delicious scent carry him off into a deep sleep.

Nina didn’t know what a person was expected to feel or say the morning after having sex with a fake fiancé, but after Tristan’s silence the night before she didn’t plan on sticking around until he woke up to find out.

The morning sun was pleasant and warm on her face as she took a long walk through the tree-lined woods that surrounded the castle grounds, letting the effect of gentle exercise in nature smooth out some of the knots that had taken up residence in her muscles. Sex was a more strenuous workout than she’d anticipated, she thought with a small smile as she set about grabbing some coffee and fruit from the long buffet table that the housekeeper had set up for the crew.

She briefly greeted the few who had arrived early to set up the shoots for the day, then decided it was best to keep out of the way until someone told her otherwise. Still, her nerves tightened and she felt more twitchy and uncomfortable with every second she tried to remain calmly seated on the patio that overlooked the pool. Dark sunglasses shielded her sensitive eyes from view at least, so she whiled away some time with a game on her phone until the sound of heavy footsteps grabbed her attention.

Tristan’s powerful form made its way across the flagstones of the pool area, his eyes unmoving from where she sat, like a laser focused upon its target. Nina sat up a little straighter in her seat, resisting the urge to run away and avoid him a little longer. He hadn’t been able to hide his dissatisfaction last night, but she shouldn’t be surprised. Would he be heartbreakingly kind and let her down easy? Would he pretend it never happened? She didn’t know which was worse.

In the end he simply stood and glowered down at her once he reached the opposite end of the low table she sat at. His breath came heavily, as though perhaps he’d run some of the short distance from the villa.

‘Good morning,’ she said, her voice a slight croak when he continued to simply stare down at her without speaking. ‘Did you...um...want some coffee?’

‘What are you doing?’ he said, his voice low and perilously near to a growl.

‘I’m waiting for the photo shoot to begin. I like to be on time.’

His jaw worked for a second, his gaze moving to rove down over her bare legs and feet before he scrubbed a hand over his jaw. ‘Have I woken up in some alternate dimension or did we not make love last night?’

‘We did,’ she said, steeling herself to simply lay it all out there since he seemed hell-bent on doing so. ‘If you’re wondering why I left, I thought perhaps some space might be needed today, to avoid any uncomfortable conversations. As you can see, I’m completely fine and not going to spend the day crying or whatever you might think virgins do in the aftermath of being... deflowered, or whatever they call it now. I don’t regret it and I don’t want you to feel obligated to be kind to me.’

Tristan stared down at her, a muscle ticcing in his jaw. ‘Nina, kindness is the bare minimum I should treat you with. Dios... I was simply taken off guard by your little...deception. But I see now that I wasn’t careful enough with you. I didn’t intend for you to feel you had to run away from me.’

She folded her arms across her chest. ‘Deception? Is that how you view what happened last night?’

‘You weren’t completely honest with me. I could have hurt you, badly. I did hurt you.’

He had no idea how much he was still hurting her, she thought balefully as she felt a lump in her throat. Standing up suddenly, she resisted the urge to run and stood her ground, hands on hips. ‘I may not have proclaimed my virginity from the rooftops, but I was not dishonest and I didn’t deliberately deceive you. I expected someone of your vast experience to be able to read between the lines, that’s all.’

‘Que?’ He paused, dark blond brows rising almost to his hairline. ‘Are you saying that you blame me for what happened?’

Nina picked up her empty coffee cup and bowl, moving swiftly down the steps towards the castle, forcing him to keep pace with her. ‘I don’t see why blame has to be placed anywhere. We are two grown adults who had sex. It was all...perfectly fine and consensual.’

One moment she was racing ahead of him, the next he’d moved to block her way through the archway to the kitchen building with one muscled forearm. She looked up, finding his handsome face staring down at her with abject incredulity.

‘Fine and consensual,’ he echoed, eyes not leaving hers.

‘Exactly.’

‘So if I were to suggest we make it a regular thing, you’d slot me into your schedule?’ He ran a hand along the side of her face, brushing aside an errant lock of hair. ‘Tell me, Nina—which colour-coded category would sex with me fall into? Orange for social events? Or perhaps blue for personal well-being?’

‘I’d probably say red for fitness regimen,’ she snapped, praying he couldn’t hear the rampant hammering of her heart as she tried desperately to appear as calm and controlled as possible.

He bared his teeth in a smile that still didn’t quite meet his eyes. ‘Ah, of course, we worked up quite a sweat, didn’t we, querida? I’m glad I was of service to you, then.’

She blushed, turning her head away in an effort to escape this ridiculous game he was playing with her. He was angry about the whole virginity detail, that much was certain.

‘It’s irrelevant, because you made it perfectly clear from the start that we won’t be making it a regular thing. And for what it’s worth I agree—it’s best not to complicate our arrangement any further. Now, if you’ll let me go, I need to go and have some cold pointy diamonds draped all over me.’ She pushed at his chest to no avail, looking up to find him glaring at her, ice-blue eyes narrowed with tension. He licked his lips and for a moment she thought he might do something utterly ridiculous, like kiss her until she couldn’t stand up. He could—they were still playing the part of blissful lovebirds, after all. But in the end, he simply gritted his jaw and moved aside.

He was being punished.

By whom, he wasn’t quite sure. He had been the one to agree with Astrid that they use Nina for the jewellery campaign while they were here, after all. But as Nina walked back out onto set in the world’s tiniest flesh-coloured two-piece swimming suit, draped in Falco diamonds, he rather felt as though he were being tortured.

Her tanned skin glowed under the late afternoon sun, with summer having finally decided to make an appearance. She didn’t glance his way as she was shown around the set that took up most of the lavish stone courtyard, smiling and nodding as the team discussed the vintage car they’d be using for the day. A model that she was expected to pose upon while draped in Falco diamonds, the director had explained to him only moments before. His gut churned as he recalled the similar photo shoot she’d done in that magazine several years ago, but he forced himself to remain still, to not interfere.

She was not a damsel in need of rescuing, as she’d told him. She had consented to act as a model, knowing full well what it might entail. But as she finally looked up and met his gaze, offering up a small polite wave before turning her back, he fought the urge to growl.

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