Page 20 of The Reluctant Wife

His forehead furrows. Then he turns to me. "I can’t deny that you are a beautiful woman, and I find you attractive."

"But—?" I fold my arms across my chest and wait.

"ButI will not cross the line between bodyguard and client. If I did, I’d be no good as your protector."

"What do you mean?" I purse my lips.

"Once I’m personally involved, I won’t be able to keep my edge. I won’t be able to make the right decisions when it comes to your safety."

"That sounds…far-fetched."

His eyes grow hard. "It’s not. I need to keep my perspective so I can make the right decision under pressure. When it comes to you, I can’t afford not to, do you understand?”

I scan his features, take in the vehemence in his expression. “Are you this committed to the safety of all your clients?”Or is it just me? Say you’re this protective because it’s me, please?

Instantly, a mask seems to drop over his face. His jaw turns to granite. “I always do my very best to safeguard my assets.”

Disappointment squeezes my chest. “So that’s all I am? An asset?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” He pulls out his phone and begins to swipe across the screen, signaling the discussion is at an end.

I scowl. He’s right, of course, but something tells me he’s lying. He felt that insane chemistry which turned our kiss into a shooting star of flames. It rocked my world and made me realizewhat I’d be missing out on in an arranged marriage. This is the only time I will ever get to feel this way. Is it too much to hope for it to be reciprocated?

"I don’t believe you," I say hotly.

I’m frustrated that we didn’t get a chance to finish what we started, as the constant state of my arousal will testify to. And if I’m being honest, it wouldn’t hurt to know that if there were a chance to have more with me, he’d take it.

He pockets his phone and raises his gaze back to mine. Those green irises of his blaze with something glacial that freezes me in my tracks.

“Don’t mistake what happened at the bar for something more than what it was.” His tone is hard enough to cut glass.

“Oh? And what’s that?”

He clenches his jaw. "A potential one-time shag. In retrospect, it's best it didn’t happen. You’d have wanted more, and that’s something I cannot give you."

I flinch. It’s as if he physically slapped me. "Did you just imply that I’m good for a one-night stand, and nothing more?"

He raises a shoulder. "Take it however you want."

"I… I…" I try to form a complete sentence, but my brain seems to have short-circuited. He’s joking; he has to be. I felt him respond that night when I kissed him. Felt him kiss me back. Felt him deepen the kiss and drink from me like he couldn’t get enough of my taste. And when I kissed him earlier in the car, I felt his heart thunder against mine. He’s lying; I know it. But to hear him speak of it, you’d think it meant nothing.

"Yes, I had a physical response to you, but that’s only to be expected. You’re a beautiful woman, after all. But it didn’t mean anything."

"Sure, it did. You can’t say the response you had to me was something that has happened before.”

“Are you searching for confirmation of your own attractiveness?” he drawls in that reasonable voice that makes me want to punch his beautiful face.

I fold my arms across my chest. “Don’t pretend not to understand what I’m saying. It's not like everyone feels this way when they're attracted to someone else. This is different, isn't it? So why can’t you at least say so aloud?”

"I’m doing it to protect you," he growls.

"Protect me? How?" I shake my head. "You're not making any sense."

"It’s not only the fact that you’re a princess?—"

"And you’re a Davenport. Your family is as wealthy as mine, if not wealthier."

He shoots me a curious glance.

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