Page 24 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 5-8

Lifting the spoon from the dessert he hadn’t touched—because the last damn thing he needed right now was a sugar rush—he rapped it against the gold rim of his plate in a vain attempt to distract from the heat in his gut.

One thing was for sure, he should have made more of an effort to control this reaction before today.

Why hadn’t he taken the edge off in the past two months as he’d planned?

He’d known their chemistry was going to be a major issue, ever since that kiss in Sariyelva.

The memory of her livewire reaction had consumed him ever since. Enough that he hadn’t been able to face the thought of hooking up with any of his old dates since having his mouth on Isabelle—even though he was now staring down the barrel of twelve months of enforced celibacy.

And how exactly had he gotten suckered into their weird semi-sexting conversation in the past eight weeks too, which had somehow upped the ante even more?

He still didn’t know what had possessed him to send that first text to her private number. But she’d replied. And he’d begun to prise open the box of polite reserve she wore like a shield to uncover the smart, witty, forthright girl beneath... He hadn’t been able to resist pushing and poking at her for a whole lot more. Until she’d shot the bolt and sent him a middle-finger emoji.

The desire he’d been struggling to control ever since he’d turned to see her walking towards him this morning kicked him in the gut again.

He placed a hand on his own knee to stop the incessant foot tapping as the Androvian prime minister continued to drone on about ‘the wonderful new union between our two countries’.

But then the words Isabelle had whispered to him at the altar shimmered across his consciousness.

‘You lose. I’m wearing a corset.’

And the insistent foot tapping began again.

Damn it, Lord. Time to make a break for it.

He needed to get out of here. Before he got any more fixated on all the ways he wanted to seduce his fake wife on their non-wedding night.

Reaching under the table, he placed his hand on Isabelle’s knee and squeezed. She jolted, and her head swung towards him. The shudder of awareness did nothing to control the pain in his groin... But the delicious blush sprinting across her features—which had only become more vivid as the endless day wore on—was some consolation.

At least he wasn’t the only one suffering.

He leant close to whisper in her ear. ‘I need to leave now, or I’m going to throttle your PM and ruin the wonderful new union between our two countries.’

‘But the schedule is not finished...’ she began—but he could feel her jolt of shock as he rode his hand up her thigh. ‘There is still dancing.’

‘No buts, Belle. And definitely no dancing,’ he added.

‘Why not?’ she asked, her thigh trembling, even as her eyes widened.

Was she really that clueless about what her nearness was doing to him? Surely she couldn’t be? But when she continued to stare at him, her full attention on him for the first time since they’d been at the altar, he decided there was no harm in being straight with her.

They were both adults after all. And while he’d made a deal and intended to stick to it, ever sincethatkiss, the thought of suggesting a compromise—so they could both work this chemistry out of their systems—was starting to make a lot more sense. They were due to be spending ten nights alone together in Colorado. If he’d been frustrated sitting next to her for eight hours, how the hell was he going to handle a week and a half?

‘I can’t dance, Belle,’ he said, pressing his lips to her ear. Her delicate shudder fuelled his resolve to stop avoiding the obvious. ‘Because I’ve been hard on and off ever since that damn corset comment.’

A hot blush scalded her cheeks, but he could also see the flash of panic in her eyes.

Okay, what now?

Why did she look so shocked? She’d kissed him back that day, and hadn’t they been flirting—after a fashion—for eight weeks via text message?

‘I see,’ she said, biting into her bottom lip—the thought of which had been driving him wild for months, too. ‘I’m sorry... I don’t know why I mentioned that.’

‘Hey.’ He squeezed her thigh then let her go. ‘Don’t apologise.’

He’d thought they’d been on the same page. But maybe they hadn’t been, because she still had that surprised look on her face.

‘It’s not that big a deal,’ he said, even though it was getting bigger by the second. ‘But I want to split now, before I explode.’

---