Page 39 of Malicious Marriage
I would have done more.
I would have turned that kiss into a feast had we not been disturbed a half-second after I pulled her into my arms by someone hammering on the washroom door because they’d drunk too much champagne and it was an emergency.
So we were forced to pull apart, and that single beautiful moment was over before it could properly begin. We didn’t have a chance to talk about the kiss either as returning to the swell of the gala immediately sucked me into the polite nightly routine of saying goodnight to every guest who was leaving. It was a dance I’d done a thousand times, and as a sea of faces passed mewith congratulations and polite bragging about how much they donated falling from happy lips, the majority of my attention was on Clover.
She hovered nearby with this adorable little smile on her lips and the pink flush refused to fade from those rosy cheeks. The only time she stepped away was when Bobby returned and assured us that scumbag had been escorted off the premises without incident, and the uncertain look on Clover’s face made me want to kiss her all over again. But I couldn’t because such a move would break our supposed agreement.
This is, essentially, business and I crossed a line.
But I wasn’t unhappy about it.
The plush softness of her lips lingered in my mind as I smiled and said goodbye to countless people to the point that my elbow was aching by the time we were able to slip away. But then I was drawn into a lengthy phone call with Don about the current rocky deal with the Russians, which so far had been going as smoothly as I anticipated. However, the Russians are highly sensitive, and what’s fine today could be war-worthy tomorrow.
Clover and I don’t get a real chance to speak until we pull up outside her estate. I hurry from the car and dart round, opening her door and offering my hand to help her out.
“Thank you.” Clover smiles up at me with eyes that sparkle brighter than the stars above, and that pink flush on her cheeks makes her seem so much more alive. It hasn’t faded, and my fingers ache with the urge to reach out and see if she’s as warm as she seems.
“I get the sense that you will try to return this, but please keep the dress. It’s a gift from me to you and a memento of such a lovely evening together.”
“Oh, Dean, I can’t accept?—”
“Ah!” I lightly squeeze her hand as we approach her front door. “I won’t hear it. It’s beautiful on you and I won’t accept any other answer.”
Clover stares at me with her wide green eyes and the flush on her cheeks deepens. “Thank you, Dean. That’s incredibly generous.”
Gravel crunches behind us as Jack and Bobby follow.
“It’s the least I can do. And I…” As much as I don’t want to, it is the polite thing to do. “I want to apologize for kissing you without warning or permission. I don’t exactly know what came over me.” It’s my turn for my cheeks to warm as we reach her front door. “It felt like the absolute thing Ihadto do.”
Clover doesn’t respond immediately. Is she angry? Disappointed? The kiss was so short that I didn’t have a lot of time to read her reaction, but given that she didn’t slap me, I entertain the idea that maybe she enjoyed it.
Clover slides her key into the lock and opens the door, then she turns to face me and a small, warm smile graces her lips. “Do you want to come in?”
My heart stops briefly. Is this an innocent invitation where I’ll learn more about her mysterious ex or is it something more? Am I terrible forwantingit to be something more?
“Jack, now that I think about it,” drifts Bobby’s voice from behind, “I should probably take you around how we check the perimeter after being away. You want to follow me?”
“Sounds good,” comes Jack’s reply, and the crunching of their footsteps slowly fades as they leave us.
“Yes,” I reply with an odd tightness sweeping through my chest. “I’d love to.”
“How do you take your coffee again?”
“Sweet,” I say as I follow her into the kitchen. “Two sugars and a little creamer.”
Clover only turns on one light in the kitchen, then she moves to the coffee machine and starts to work. From where I stand at the island counter, I see that her blush has darkened from pink to red. The glitter on her dress gleams and sparkles with every subtle movement and the shine is impressive with only a single light to illuminate her. As she works, she removes a few pins from her hair and lets her dark hair tumble past her shoulders while a soft, relieved groan escapes her.
I want to touch her again. I want to kiss her again.
Is this the alcohol talking? I didn’t even drink that much. Is it because I saw that man all over her while in my mind, Clover is mine? My possessive streak has always been a quiet demon nestled in the back of my mind, and it rarely rises this fiercely.
Maybe it’s because Clover isn’t really mine but I want her to be. I want more than just a business agreement. Where is the harm in that for one night?
Clover moves two cups around and presses the switch to start the trickle of coffee into the first cup while her back remains facing me.
“Clover.”
“Hmm?” She glances briefly over her shoulder, but when our eyes meet, she pauses and slowly turns to face me. “Dean.”
