Page 65 of Dex

“Why are you so angry all of a sudden?”I ask quietly.

His jaw tenses.“I’m not angry.I’m just reminding you that this is a ruse.Try not to forget that.”

I try not to gasp.“Didn’t feel like a ruse when you kissed me.”

His lips curl into a slow, infuriating smile.“Oh, sweetheart,” he murmurs, “I’ve charmed the pants off many a woman.”

I don’t like the way he calls me sweetheart.I loved the way he called me “amor” earlier, when he kissed me.It felt like he really meant it.

“You’ve been with women you feel nothing for?”

“It was just sex.I haven’t hidden that from you.”

Just sex.He sounds oddly cruel and cynical.Like he’s a different Dexter.Not the charming, funny, flirtatious guy I just spent the evening with.It frightens me a little, how he can flip so quickly.How his emotions go easily from soft and caring to something cold and clinical.

He stops the car outside the hotel.I go to open the car door, but hesitate.“I guess this will be the last time I see you?”I want to return home tomorrow.I need to be back at home, to be with genuine people, people who love me.

He looks at me, his mouth open like he wants to say something.His fingers grip the steering wheel so hard, the skin across his knuckles is tight.

I wait, anticipating what he wants to say, but as the last second, he turns his head, glaring out the window.

“See you at the wedding.”His voice has that detached tone again.It’s like he’s another person now.The Dexter I met that first night at the soiree.

I get out of the car, heart heavy, and head into the hotel, feeling as if I’ve been on a rollercoaster ride ever since I arrived in New York, not even a week ago.

My life has changed, or is about to change, completely, and I feel like I have no control over my future.

I’m completely deflated.

So much has happened tonight.With Dexter, with Raquel.Everything felt like it was going well … until it wasn’t.

And now, my best friend from childhood has turned up out of nowhere, throwing another layer of chaos into the evening.I don’t know what the night would have looked like if Raquel hadn’t arrived.Maybe things with Dexter would have played out differently.Maybe I would have had a moment to breathe, to process the kiss, to figure out what the hell we’re doing.

But that moment is lost to me forever.My heart sinks when I walk into the hotel lobby only to see Raquel.

“At last!You took your time.”She jumps up and rushes to me.I love her.I really do.She flew all the way here for me, and I know she means well.But I don’t need this right now.

“Hey.”

I throw my arms around her, hugging her tight.Another performance.Another act.I have to pretend I’m happy, even though I feel anything but.

All I want to do is go upstairs, lie down, and think about Paul Knight’s email.

I have ten days.

Ten days to marry Dexter Knight.

But more than that, I want to think about Dexter himself.The way he can be so soft and easy to love one moment, and then cold and distant the next.How the hell am I supposed to survive a year ofthis?

“How did you get here so fast?”I ask, stepping back.

Raquel grimaces.“I couldn’t wait to get out of that car withhim.”

I arch a brow.“Rio?”

“Oh, so now you talk about them like they’re family.”

I hear the sharpness in her tone, the disapproval just beneath the surface.I force another smile.“Well, theywillbe family soon.”

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