Page 15 of At His Wife's Behest

Kellen’s mouth went dry. From the look on Connor’s face, intimacy wasn’t off the table. Starving, Connor’s mouth dried. He wanted to belly up to that table. With gusto.

Connor looked down at his feet. “Though, that’s not something I do often. I simply like spending time with interesting people.”

Kellan was sure it was more than that. Money made the world go round. “Are they all interesting?”I’m sure not.

“Not always,” Connor murmured, smiling. He frowned at the same time. “I have a rule that I don’t cross the line with parents, so I’m a bit dazed right now. I’m not sure what I should do here.”

“Ahh… that’s why.”

Connor frowned. “That’s why… what?”

Heat filled Kellan’s cheeks. “Oh… um. You mentioned you would’ve said no if you’d known it was me. I assumed that meant you wouldn’t want to be in my company.”

“That’s not it at all.” Connor licked his lips, giving Kellan the once over. “Not at all.”

Kellan swallowed the lump in his throat. “Well, as you said, sex isn’t a requirement for your role, so no line has to be crossed. You’ve already come a very long way. Might as well stay and see Italy while you’re here.”

The smile that spread on Connor’s face nearly brought a moan to his lips. Kellan cleared his throat, attempting to hide the desire slamming into him. “Wh-who hired you?” He lifted a hand. “Never mind. I know who it was.” Kellan sighed. Emma. It had to be. “My wife?”

“Yessir.”

He snuck another glance at Connor’s hard body. “I need to grab my luggage. I left it out front when I couldn’t find the key.”

“Let me,” Connor offered, reaching the front door before him.

He grabbed the bags before Kellan could, muscles bunching.

“Follow me,” Connor called, heading back into the house.

Kellan trailed behind, at a loss for words. Likely due to the perfectly formed ass in a tiny Speedo at eye level. Connor opened the doors to the main bedroom and lowered the suitcases. “I hope you don’t mind. I eyeballed the place before you got here. It’s amazing.”

He glanced around the bedroom. “This was my mother and father-in-law’s bedroom when I was last here.”

“Is it theirs? The house?”

“Was,” Kellan murmured. “My wife’s father recently passed, not long after her mother. Now my wife owns it—and she plans to sell. That’s why she asked me here. She was busy and needed someone to discuss things with the agent.”Was that just a ruse?“Or rather, that was her reason for getting me here.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Connor said. “About your in-laws.”

“I’m not,” Kellan said. His face warmed.“Oh, god,did I just say that out loud?”

Connor smirked, taking a step forward. “You sure did.”

“Let’s just say—they were not nice people. How my wife turned out as well-adjusted as she did, heaven knows.” Nannies? That was his theory.

“I understand that you’re soon divorced?”

Kellan winced, noticing that Connor had moved a bit closer. “Yes.”

“It’s nice that you and she are on such good terms that you’d come here to help her put this place on the market. Not all couples going through a divorce would be so kind.”

“She’s my best friend. Always will be.” Kellan smiled. When he met Connor’s gaze, more came tumbling out. “We married to hide from our families.”

Why did I just say that? Shit.

Connor closed the gap between them, standing only inches away. “Hide what from your families?”

Kellan swallowed the lump in his throat. “I, um—” He took a deep breath. He’d never said the words before to anyone but Emma, and that had been twenty years before. “I’m?—”

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