Page 66 of Perfectly Wedded

“He always thought I was,” I reply, my body cocooned into him like he’s my safe space to admit this. “He saw my ADHD as a liability—saw me as too unfocused and scattered instead of seeing the good parts. The way it helped me take risks. When I had the car accident, he couldn’t accept the fact that I might not heal. That this might be the death of my success and reflect poorly on him.”

“If anyone is unworthy, it’s him,” Vale mutters, his hand sliding up my back protectively.

“I know that now,” I say with a sigh. “He never supported me in my dreams. Never loved me for who I was. He’s probably so relieved to be free of me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Vale says. He pulls back just enough to see me with his darkened pupils. “If he’s so glad to not be with you, then why is he watching you with me, looking like his last hope just died?”

“What?” I swallow and turn my head toward where Anthony is standing, expecting to see him chatting it up with his rich clients.

Instead, he’s leaning against the railing, body turned toward me, his brow furrowed, his hands sunk into his pockets.

“But he has Demetria. He never really wanted me,” I say, more as a reminder to myself than Vale. I don’t want Anthonyback, but I never believed there was a chance. Never believed hecouldwant me. From there, I began to believe no one could want me.

“You think she has anything on you?” Vale lets out a low rumble of a laugh. “Right now he feels like the smallest man who ever lived. Because he knows what he lost and he can never get it back.”

His words drill through me, send a seismic quake through every part of me.

Vale leans close to my ear. “If you want, we can take it to the next level. Give him the kiss of a lifetime.” His lips are so close to mine, I can smell the sugar-sweet tiramisu in his breath, a hint of spice on his lips.

My heart is a drumbeat in my ears, adding to the confusion in my body. I’m not sure if I want to make Anthony regret letting me go, or if this ache is because I wantthis man next to me.

If none of this is real, the possibility of this kiss shouldn’t mean anything. It shouldn’t affect me this way.

But it does affect me. Because I want him. All of him.

I don’t even think about my decision.

I melt into him and drink in his lips. He responds to me instantly, sliding a hand to my jaw, arching it toward him for a better angle, then consuming my lips.

My body curves into him, wanting to be closer,closer.His hand slides into my hair, tangling into it, like he can’t get enough, and I respond by knotting my fist into his shirt, pulling him toward me, feeling the heat under his jacket. He bends me backward, almost a dip but not quite, and continues to drag kisses on every inch of my cheek, neck, earlobe.

I don’t want to stop. I won’t. But I’m nearly breathless. The dance floor is spinning. I feel consumed by him.

When the sax stops playing, everyone claps, and a few people whistle. That’s when I realize most of them are smiling at our very intimate public kiss.

Except for Anthony, who’s gone.

Heat is still pulsating over every inch of my skin, so I step away from Vale, just enough to catch my breath and stop the dizzy feeling. That’s when I realize the boat is swaying, tipping dangerously.

“Is there something wrong with this boat?” I ask, blinking, glancing around, suddenly feeling like the world is madly spinning.

“No, why?” Vale looks at me, his brow furrowing. There’s a look of intense concern, then panic as he grabs my arms.

“Sloan, no!”

And then everything goes black.

TWENTY-TWO

Vale

It’s only the second time she’s fainted on me. The first happened at home, when she overexerted herself cooking dinner for the team. I should’ve known that today, despite how incredibly exciting it was, would be just as exhausting.

Seeing her idiot ex only made her feel worse, because that’s what people who bring you down do. They remind you of all the ways you don’t measure up, even though in my world, she is the standard against which I measure all women.

That kiss only made my ache for her worse.

But thinking of kissing her doesn’t solve my problem now. Ever since the car accident, overexertion makes her prone to fainting. The doctor said that might never go away, even with medicine. It’s something I’ll have to expect, to plan for by building in time for rest. I should’ve given her more breaks, not pushed so hard. Her capacity to jump into things wholeheartedly will have to be curbed until we know what she can handle.

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