Page 107 of Winning Bid

I loop his neck with my arms. “You don’t mind?”

“You’re not my property, June. You’re my equal. Hell, if you want to come up with a new last name for us, I’d be down for that, too. Although, I do think it might behoove you professionally since Dad had you blackballed.”

“I was thinking the same thing about my professional reputation.”

He kisses the tip of my nose. “See? Great minds and all that.”

I take a breath, happy to be in his arms again. “So, you think the reception will be a good thing?”

“Absolutely not.”

I laugh. “What?”

“It’ll be some overwrought production put on by my mother to impress her friends and our family. You heard about George’s wedding at dinner—what makes you think it will be any better than that?”

“Oh god?—"

“But, you will be there. I will be there. And by our powers combined, we will make things as tolerable as possible.” He pulls me in tight against him. “I have faith that you and I can survive anything this world will throw at us. Including Mom’s choices of canape. And what the hell is a tablescape anyway?”

I snort a laugh and lean against his shoulder. “It’s how you decorate a table for an event.”

“Isn’t that just the decorations?”

“No—there are decorations that can go places other than the tables.”

“I am the luckiest man alive.”

“How’s that?”

His smile is so mischievous that I feel it in my bones. “Because my wife is the smartest woman alive. She knows what a tablescape is.”

“Thank god you set all your standards nice and low. That should make for a wonderful marriage.”

He laughs and kisses me. It’s gentle at first, but gradually, he backs me against the kitchen island. I’m trapped between it and him, and I haven’t felt this good in a while. Maybe ever.

I’m kissing my husband. That realization keeps hitting me. I’m not sure if the thrill of being married to Anderson will ever go away, but for now, I’m happy to be under this spell.

He pulls back and presses his forehead to mine. At this angle, though, that’s not the only part of him pressing on me. His voice is raw with need as he says, “All the reception stuff is just background noise. We can worry about it later. It is my sincere hope, Mrs. West, that you can put that aside and focus on what’s important tonight.”

I lick my lips, hoping this is going where I think it’s going. “And what’s that, Mr. West?”

“Tonight is our wedding night, and I need to make my wife come with my name on her lips.”

I take another sip of the champagne bottle, trying to slow things down. I want tonight to last forever. “Your goals are agreeable upon one condition.”

He grinds his erection against my hip. “Are we negotiating?”

I want to jump him right here and now. But if he can drag this out, so can I. “We are in deep negotiations. I dare say we could be at this all night.”

There’s a look in his eyes that tells me he is barely hanging on by a thread. “What would that condition be, councilor?”

“That you say my name when you come, too.”

Lust fills his eyes as he growls, “I find your terms agreeable.”

52

JUNE

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