Page 61 of Keep Me

We freeze in our spots, him hovering over me. Lifting my fingers, I press them against the muscular planes of his chest. Softly, I touch the chest hair and wait for him to decide this is a terrible idea.

He doesn’t.

He collapses next to me, staring at the ceiling as he catches his breath.

“See?” he mumbles in a quiet drawl. “This could be fun.”

Fun. Fun until he finds out he’s about to lose everything because of me.

“Sure,” I reply softly.

He turns, jumping out of bed and going to the bathroom. I watch him through the darkness as he disappears inside.

“Don’t move,” he barks at me, and I roll my eyes at his order.

“When are you going to learn you can’t just boss me around?” I reply.

He laughs to himself in the bathroom before coming out in a fresh pair of boxers and climbing into the bed next to me.

“You’re still here, aren’t you?”

I turn on my pillow to face him. “It’s warmer in here with you,” I say as an excuse for why I’m still in his bed.

“Sure it is,” he replies sleepily. “Good night, darling.”

“I’m not your darling,” I reply.

“You still hate me, right?” he asks playfully.

“Yes,” I lie. IwishI still hated him, but I have to be honest with myself now. I can’t find a single reason to keep hating him.

“Okay, good,” he says with a yawn. Before long, I hear his breathing change as he falls asleep with me in his arms.

I want nothing more than to sleep, but my mind is reeling. If we do go down this path, could we keep things strictly physical?Sure, I may not hate Killian anymore, but I’m confident I could never come to love him. There are too many things about him I can’t stand. He’s controlling and ignorant, and most of all, I mean nothing to him. Nothing more than a warm body and a means to an end.

Yes, I believe we could keep things strictly physical.

Besides, I don’t have any other choice. When Killian finds out that this marriage was just a scam to steal his house from him, then he’llreallyhate me.

As I lie here, I try to remind myself that I don’t care what happens to him after this. We are not in a real relationship. In nine months, I will be gone from this place, and he will continue to mean nothing to me.

I’ll be ten million dollars richer. I’ll no longer be Mrs. Barclay. And everything will be as it should be.

Chapter Twenty

I finally fall asleep, and when I do, I sleep so deeply that I don’t think I move all night. When I peel my eyes open, I’m almost surprised to see Killian’s room. What a whirlwind the past twenty-four hours have been.

I turn slowly to face him and stare at his sleeping form across the giant bed. He’s lying on his back, his dark-brown hair strewn across the pillow. His beard has grown longer and thicker since I first met him.

For a while, I just lie here and stare at every raw inch of his bare skin as if I’m not normally allowed to see him like this, so I have to sneak my peek when I can. Reaching out, I delicately run my fingers over the muscles of his shoulder and down his bicep.

What is he doing out there in those fields all day that helps him keep this physique? He has the body of a man who I assume frequents the gym, but as far as I know, there’s not one in the house.

My gaze cascades down, over his pecs and abs until his body disappears under the dark green sheet covering his lower half. Last night I got a taste of what he’s hiding in those boxers, and I can’t help but be curious about it now.

Slowly, I lift the sheet and just take a quick peek underneath. All I can see at this angle are his dark boxer briefs and his thick, hair-covered thighs. Dropping the sheet, I find myself smirking.

Killian is really not my type—beefy, broody, and vulgar in every way. So why am I so attracted to him all of a sudden?

---