Page 148 of By His Vow

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to seduce me, Mr. Callahan.”

I chuckle. It’s breathy and full of desperation.

“I’m not sure any trying is necessary,” I confess.

She gasps at the insinuation.

“I’ll have you know that I’m?—”

I lean in, letting my lips graze her cheek before getting to her ear.

“Soaking fucking wet for me,” I whisper, loving the way she shudders against me.

“For you? Never.”

“Such a pretty little liar,” I muse before dropping my lips to the sweet spot beneath her ear.

“Oh my god,” she moans as I gently suck on the sweet patch of skin. She sags against me, letting me know that my previous words are more than true.

I lick her skin, tasting her before forcing myself to step back.

“Would you like a drink?”

It takes her a moment to respond, and I can’t stop the cocky smirk that spreads across her lips as she watches me stalk toward the kitchen for two glasses of champagne.

She’s going to say yes.

She has to say yes. We can’t go another night without doing something about this tension between us. It’s at its boiling point, and I can’t wait to discover just how explosive it is when we finally let it bubble over.

She lets out a little shriek when I pop the cork on the bottle of fizz. I pour us both a glass before walking back over to her and handing her one.

“Are we celebrating?” she asks, studying the bubbles before glancing back up at me.

“Us.”

“King, there is no?—”

“To our future. Our union.”

“Do you celebrate all your business deals like this?” she asks, her eyes bouncing between mine, silently begging for me to tell her no.

“I’ve never had a business deal quite this important before. I’m flying by the seat of my pants right now.”

“Well, I can assure you, you’re doing a fantastic job.”

My chest puffs out at her praise. Never before have I cared about a woman’s opinion of me outside of my skills in the bedroom. But suddenly, I want Tatum to think that everything I touch turns to gold, that I’m so much more than I truly am.

37

TATUM

Kingston is nervous.

I was suspicious of him the second I stepped out of the bedroom and saw the set of his shoulders as he stared out of the window, the way his entire body flinched when I first spoke. But the second he turned around and I saw the slight frown on his brow and the unease in his eyes, I knew.

It made my stomach bottom out.

If a man as powerful and sure of himself as Kingston Callahan is nervous, what the hell does that mean for me?

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