Page 11 of Marry Me…Maybe?
‘Why, yes, I am.’
An expression of approval flashed across his face. ‘I like it.’
She leant forward, narrowing her eyes and forcing her lips into a soft pout. ‘I know you do.’
His approval was quickly replaced with a frown. ‘I’m not going to sleep with you, Emily.’
She let her mouth fall open in exaggerated shock, hoping like mad that he hadn’t caught on to the mortified disappointment that had flashed through her at his abrupt rejection.
‘Why ever not? Surely that’s one of the perks of our arrangement?’
He leant back in his chair and crossed his arms. ‘I don’t make it a habit to sleep with women I’ve just met.’
She gave him a scrutinising look, brazening it out despite the unfamiliar turmoil she was struggling to deal with. Surely, she hadn’t lost her touch when it came to charming men? It had never deserted her before. Sex was the one area of her life where she feltshe had absolute control, and she wasn’t about to let him chip into it.
‘You mean with women you don’t trust?’
His expression didn’t flicker, but she could tell he was holding something in. It was there in the rigidity of his jaw.
‘What happened to you?’ she asked.
‘Nothing I want to talk to you about.’ He got up and dumped his coffee mug in the sink.
She stood up too and followed him over to the sink, putting her mug next to his and standing a little closer than was absolutely necessary, just to see if she could get another rise out of him. She was having some trouble holding her nerve in the face of his steely resistance, but there was no way she was backing down from it.
Looking up into his face, she gave him a wry smile. ‘Women, huh? We’re nothing but a bunch of harpies and hangers-on.’
The corner of his mouth twitched – she was sure of it.
Score.
‘What are you afraid of?’ she asked, putting her hand on his arm and feeling his tricep tense.
‘I’m not afraid of anything. I just prefer to get to know someone before I have sex with them. It’s a matter of principle.’
She gave a mock teasing pout. ‘Damn your principles.’
He fixed her with a long, hard stare that made her quiver inside.
‘I’m sure you’ll be able to control yourself. And, while we’re discussing it, I want you to agree not to get involved with anyone else while we’re doing this thing.’
‘What?’
‘If you’re on TV there’s a chance the papers might report on any hook-ups you have. I don’t want my mother to hear about them. It would ruin what we’re trying to do here.’
‘So, I have to promise to be celibate till this thing is over?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you seriously won’t help me out?’
The impulse to push him into submission was too strong to ignore. She needed to win this now, for the sake of her pride. She ran her fingers gently up and down his arm, feeling him tense even more under her touch.
‘You’re going to leave me in a state of sexual frustration? So cruel!’
He grabbed her arm, wrapping his fingers around her wrist and pushing it against her own body, imposing a barrier between them. ‘I’m sure you can find some other way to satisfy your carnal urges. There are tools for every job. Be creative.’
‘It’s not the same.’
