Page 18 of Billionaire's Accidental Marriage
I shrugged. “You were in my care at the time. I wasn’t going to let anyone hassle you, no matter who they were or what they meant to you.”
She furrowed her brow. “Really?”
I refilled our wine glasses. “Really, really.”
We kept talking and reminiscing, and after three glasses of wine, I started seeing Maggie in a different light. Gone was the girlish appeal and gone were the predispositions I had about her regarding our past. All that remained was a desire I couldn’t mute toward a woman I couldn’t take my eyes away from.
“Mike? You okay?”
I set down my wine glass and leaned forward. “Pardon my bluntness, but you’ve grown into an intelligent, capable, beautiful woman, Maggie.”
She blushed furiously. “That’s nice to hear. Thank you. Sometimes I wonder if I’m turning out okay. You know my father was never big on compliments.”
I chuckled before I let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, mine either. Must be a ‘toxic masculinity businessman’ type of vibe that was popular during their era.”
She snorted. “Gives you a model of something not to turn into, huh?”
For the second time since starting this arrangement between the two of us, I watched her eyes fall to my lips. Only this time, her gaze held there, and it gave me time to study her. Her eyes grew glassy, almost as if she were deep in thought. And when my stare finally fell away from her face, they traced the line of her neck before dropping to her puckered nipples I could see through her shirt.
Then, she cleared her throat and quickly stood. “Jesus, where in the world is our food?”
I shot to my feet and grabbed her arm, preventing her from walking away. “Maggie.”
She looked up at me. “Yes?”
I slowly pulled her toward me. “Why were you—?”
Her eyes danced between mine. “Why was I… what?”
I pulled her close to me until her body was flush against my own. “Why…?”
The sounds of Vegas outside faded into the background. I felt her heart beating against me as my hand fell away from her arm. I reached up, cupping her cheek just to test the waters. Just to see how she’d react.
And when I saw her eyes flutter closed, I took a chance by softly pressing my lips against hers.
5
Maggie
When his lips touched mine, I expected to freak. I watched as his face approached, and I thought I’d weirded out. And when his tongue pressed itself into the depths of my mouth, I expected to push him away.
But none of those things happened.
Instead, fireworks ricocheted off the corners of my mind. My eyes fell closed, and his taste transported me into another dimension where all that mattered was the fact that his hands had cloaked my back. I collapsed against him, my knees giving way in a shaking sort of weakness that could have only come from one source.
My desire for him.
As my tongue wrapped around his, I tried to figure out when it was that I had started to want to kiss him. When it was that I had wanted to have him so close to me. And while I couldn’t come up with the answer, I also didn’t care because now that it was happening, I wanted nothing more in life.
His arms held me tightly as his hands splayed across my back. I groaned down the back of his throat, our teeth clattering together with the mounting fury of our connection. My thighs warmed. My toes curled. And when his hands began exploring my body, I felt sensations come alive that I hadn’t felt in months. Years, even.
Then, his hands gripped my waist.
“Mmm, oh!”
He chuckled. “Up we go.”
As if I weighed nothing to him, he picked me up and placed me on the edge of the marble kitchen island. His lips dragged down my neck, teasing my pulse point as my flats fell away from my feet. I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him closer, causing him to growl against my skin.
