Page 7 of Big and Bold
My mouth drops. The more we talk, the more I realize how much I’ve screwed up. I’m not sure what I need to do to fix this, but I’m going to make it happen. “Give me thirty days.”
I blurt it out, and her eyes widen. She laughs like I’m joking or something. “Excuse me? What?”
I nod. I stand up, step around the coffee table, and walk across the room. I don’t stop until I’m standing right in front of her. She hitches her breath, and I lean down, cupping her face in my hands. “Give me thirty days, Annie.”
She stares up at me. “Thirty days? Thirty days for what?”
I take a step toward her and press my body against hers. I know I’m not playing fair, but I don’t care. Instantly, I’m hard, and a groan leaves me because I’m barely hanging on. I don’t just want her. She’s like air to me. I need her.
She stutters, “Dustin… thirty days for what?”
I lean down until our lips are inches apart. “Spend the next thirty days with me, and if you still want a divorce after that, I’ll sign the papers.”
It’s a lie. I’ll never sign, but I’m grasping at straws here. I can’t let her go, and maybe if she gives me thirty days, I can fix this. I have to.
CHAPTER 6
ANNIE
I put my hands on Dustin’s chest, and I’m not sure if I’m trying to push him away or bring him closer. I can’t think clearly with him close to me like this. “Dustin…” I whisper.
His breath catches, and he leans even farther into me. For a second, I consider sliding my hands up his chest, hooking them around his neck, and asking him to take me home with him. He has to see or feel my indecision because he lifts his hips, letting me feel his desire against my belly. My nipples pebble, and I can feel myself melting into him. He’s so hard to resist, but I step out from under his arm and move across the room. “Why? Why do you want thirty days?”
He leans against the wall I just stepped away from. “Because you may be ready to throw away our marriage, but I’m not.”
I grind my teeth. Does he not realize how hard I’ve tried? How badly I’ve wanted this to work? I would have given anything for this man to love me and for me to be enough for him. “I didn’t give up.”
He blurts out a laugh. “Right, well, give me thirty days and then I’ll sign.”
I cross my arms over my chest and tap my foot. “I’m not going to sleep with you.”
He growls. He literally snarls his nose at me. “You’re my wife.”
I blurt out a laugh. “That doesn’t mean I’m going to sleep with you.”
He shrugs. “Fine. You don’t want to have sex with me, that’s your right. But for this deal, you will sleep next to me in my bed for the next thirty nights.”
“This is ridiculous,” I argue.
He just stares at me, and my internal debate starts. There’s no doubt I love Dustin Clay. I have since the day I met him. And the truth is, I would give anything to spend the next thirty days with him as his wife. I shift my stance as I mentally try to talk myself out of it. I know me, and I know if I’m in his bed, I’m going to want to sleep with him. “I’m not sleeping with you,” I tell him again.
He just stares at me.
I clear my throat. “And if I do this, you’ll sign the papers in thirty days.”
He gives me a small, tight nod.
“My job?—”
He shakes his head. “Violet will understand.”
I wave my hand around the room. “The apartment?—”
He grunts. “Did you sign a lease?”
I shake my head, and he shrugs. “It’s fine. I’ll take care of it. I’ll pay it if I need to.”
I sit down on the couch, suddenly feeling exhausted. “Why are you doing this, Dustin? I don’t get it. For the last year, you never noticed me, and now you’re chasing me down, demanding that I move back into your house?—”
