Page 46 of David's Proposal

Maybe later, I’ll find out that this highly aroused man rocking his hips against me has done something way more dangerous than our filthy deal.

He had tied me to him in ways I never thought possible.

But for now, this is it.

I won’t fret over something I don’t know.

I cling to him with all my strength, and he buries his lips in my hair, his breaths fanning over my scalp.

There’s brutal honesty in this, and I love it more than anything so far.

“I’m close,” I say.

“Me too,” he grunts, and we both come.

7

LIZ

“So, what happened?”he asks as I pull up my thong and shrug on my jacket.

I lift my gaze and catch him looking at me in the mirror.

He lifts his stare from the apex of my thighs, straightening his tie knot.

He looks dashing with his suit pants, sleek belt, tailored dress shirt, and sparkling eyes.

His stare digs holes into my face.

“Elizabeth?”

I like how he says my name.Elizabeth.It’s like we’re married.

He’s my husband, and right now, I owe him an explanation.

I’m rarely called my full name.

My whole life I’ve been called Liz, Lizzy, even Izzy, or Easy when Chloe jokes about my girlish ways of handling things.

Whenever someone called me Elizabeth, it was about handling some official business, and it usually sounded bland and dull. It’s not the case with him.

He calls me Elizabeth as if this new Elizabeth is a sophisticated woman with opinions, moods, and a phenomenal inner life that would put to shame her real life.

Every time he calls me that, I feel like a royal.

A grown-up woman who has her shit together and control over her feelings and can live her best life whenever she wants to.

I like him when he calls me that.

My fictional husband, David.

“Baby…” he says, aware of my fleeting moment of distraction.

My musings come to an end.

Calling me ‘baby' in that tender, slightly raspy voice makes my knees soften and my body crave him again.

He turns around and studies my face.

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