Page 23 of Rim Job

I was so fucking not expecting that.I sit in stunned silence.

Has he done the impossible and left me speechless?

“Explain, please.” I try to reign in all the crazy ideas swirling in my head. It's like I'm watching this from the outside. As though I'm having an out of body experience. His lips are moving but none of it makes sense.

He doesn't want an annulment? This should be interesting.

“I was set to fly back home after wrapping up my affairs here and propose to a woman my family approved of. This,” he motions back and forth between us, “keeps me from having to commit to that arrangement.”

I'm certain I'm not hearing him correctly. I've temporarily lost all sanity. He did not just say that.

“Excuse me?” I ask, just a mere whisper, spoken so softly, I'm not even sure I've said it out loud. “You can't be serious?”

I climb to my feet and pace from one side of the room to the other.

Surely, he can’t be serious?

“I'm very serious. I wouldn't joke about such a thing. Please, just consider it, let's discuss this. Please.”

Rim rises and follows as I pace a path through his fancy-ass rug. I can't believe this. Here I thought he was afraid I was out for his fortune when I should have been concerned that the man is bat-shit crazy.

Oh, God, what if he won't let me have an annulment? What the hell am I going to do?

I stop in my tracks, and Rim bumps into my back. His large hands grab onto my hips to stop my forward momentum. He pulls me in against the warm, firm mass of his body. A shiver travels through me. His warm lips caress my ear, his breath fanning across the sensitive flesh. My skin prickles.

“Calm down, love. Listen to me.”

And I do.

His deep voice rumbles in his chest as it presses against my back. My nipples harden instantly.

Bastard Rim Effect.

“It would be temporary. You'd be helping me to stay out of a loveless marriage. I need your help. Just for a few months. You can look at it as a job. Meet the family, attend a few events. Then, I will give you an annulment. Does that sound so bad?”

Yes? No? I'm so confused.

I want an annulment. I do, but to imagine him—or anyone for that matter—imprisoned for life in a loveless marriage doesn't feel right to me. If anything, everyone deserves to marry whom they love.

Can I do this?

What will I tell my family, my friends? What will they think of me?

It would have to seem real. Only my girls can know the real truth. Really, I could use a little adventure. I don't have to plan everything. I can be adventurous, throw caution to the wind, take chances.

“Okay.”

I turn in his arms to face him. His azure eyes sparkle, mixed with confusion and hope.

“Okay? You're in? You're going to help me?”

He clearly didn't expect me to agree to this. And frankly, I can't believe I am either. I need to do this. It's exactly what I normally wouldn't do.

“Yes, but we need rules.”

I'm still me, after all.

12

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