Page 65 of All Bets Are Off

“Yes, and there’s no reason to torture ourselves either,” he said. “The truth is, I think we’re mature enough that we can have sex for a year and not develop feelings. Well, other than feelings of friendship. At the end of the year, we’ll get our divorce, and we’ll still be friends.”

I tried to picture what that would look like. Would I really be able to smile and wave him off as he fell in love with some statuesque blonde who would be perfectly happy raising his kids and living in a casino? Probably not.

The alternative wasn’t something I could fathom either. We were stuck in this arrangement, for better or worse, so we might as well try to make it as comfortable as possible. “Either one of us can pull the plug if it becomes too much?” I challenged.

He nodded. “I think that’s a necessity.”

I tilted my head. “And we don’t tell Rex.”

“Definitely not.”

“What about Tallulah?”

He hesitated. “I’m going to leave that up to your discretion. We have to be careful who knows what, though.”

I nodded. “Okay, let’s give it a shot.”

Relief flooded Zach’s features before he recovered. “Awesome. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

16

SIXTEEN

“Ihave to go.”

Olivia had a firm grip on my tie and no intention of letting me leave. It had been a week since we’d changed the parameters of our relationship, and all thrusters were still firing … to the point where I was taking lunches in the penthouse. And by taking lunches, I mean I stripped the second I walked through the door and met Olivia in my bedroom.

It was still technically my bedroom—she had her space and I had mine—but we hadn’t slept apart since the night at the rooftop bar. It used to be that I thought I needed privacy to sleep well. Turns out, that was a bunch of crap. When she was next to me, I slept hard and deep. I’d never slept so well.

Still, our “lunchies” as we called them were currently my favorite.

“Come on.” Olivia made a whining noise in my ear that had me responding like Pavlov’s dog, Zach Junior standing up and saluting. Whenever I heard that edge to her voice, I knew what came next. “You can call in sick for the rest of the afternoon.”

She was in her robe because she’d put it on to follow me to the door. That didn’t mean it was staying shut.

“Baby, I have to go to work.” I slipped my hands beneath the robe and started rubbing them across her soft skin. “You’re killing me,” I complained. “Absolutely, positively, killing me.” My mouth covered hers before she could respond, and I sucked all the oxygen out of her lungs. I was gasping in tandem with her when I pulled back. “We have to come up with a compromise.” I gave her a serious look as I forced distance between us.

Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “I don’t want a compromise.” She made the whining noise again. “We can be quick.”

If it had been another day, another meeting, I would’ve taken her up on the offer without a second’s hesitation. That was not a possibility today. “Livvie, my meeting is with my father.”

She stopped pulling on my tie and instead slid far enough back to meet my gaze. “Oh.” She lessened her grip.

“Ah, Ryder Stone,” I drawled. “The quickest way to create a desert in my wife’s panties.”

Olivia made a face. “That was both gross and kind of clever. I don’t know whether to be impressed or horrified.”

“Welcome to my world.” I gave her a hard and fast kiss because I couldn’t seem to stop myself. Now that I could kiss her whenever I wanted—well, as long as we were secured away from the public in our penthouse—I indulged myself as often as possible.

I knew romance had flown out the window when Olivia straightened and tightened the sash on her robe. “What does Ryder want?” She held up her hand to stop me from responding before I could get a word out. “Wait. Let me guess. He wants to bus in dancers from Indonesia so he can pay them pennies on the dollar.”

I leveled a “don’t even go there” look on her. “First off, we agreed to keep our interests separate regarding your new stripper career.”

Her hands landed on her hips, and she gave me the saucy look I loved so much. “What did I say?”

“Fine. Dancer.”

She extended a warning finger in my face. “Don’t push it.”

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