Page 25 of Mafia Shade's Reluctant Bride
I smirked, masking the way my pulse quickened. “Only if you don’t leave me at the altar this time.”
She rolled her eyes. “No promises.”
Maria walked beside me with her arms crossed. She had a deadpan expression. That, of course, wasn’t unusual.
“So,” Maria started, exhaling sharply. “We’re really doing this.”
“Apparently.”
“We need a plan.” She turned to face me with her chin lifted in that stubborn way that told me she had already decided how this would go. “Public dates, couple interviews, the works. If we’re going to sell this, we have to make them believe we’re crazy about each other.”
I smirked. “That shouldn’t be too hard. I’ve always been irresistible.”
She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Right. That’s why I left you at the altar.”
A muscle in my jaw twitched, but I let the comment slide. “So, we wine and dine in public, smile at the cameras, maybe hold hands here and there. Simple.”
Her lips pressed together. “And what about…intimacy?”
I blinked. “What about it?”
She hesitated, and for the first time, she looked almost shy—a rare sight.
“The media expects a couple to act like one,” she continued, clearing her throat. “Are we kissing in public? Or, I don’t know, are we—”
I arched a brow, enjoying this a little too much. “Are we what, Maria?”
She shifted on her feet, looking anywhere but at me. “You know.”
“I really don’t.”
She let out an exasperated breath. “Are we going to…sleep together?”
Silence.
I hadn’t thought that far. Or maybe I had, and I just didn’t want to admit it. I took a step closer, watching as she stiffened slightly but didn’t move away. “Are you asking if we should?”
Her eyes snapped up to mine. “I’m asking if it’s part of the arrangement.”
I let the silence stretch, just to see her squirm. Then, I smirked. “We’ll share a kiss or two in public, nothing more. Unless, of course, you’d like to negotiate that term?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Immensely.”
She huffed. “And if we get married? Are we sharing a bed?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Her lips parted like she had something to say, but then she just nodded. “Fine.”
I expected her to change the subject, maybe storm off the way she always did when something didn’t go her way, but instead, she squared her shoulders with her gaze sharp.
“I would also want to learn how to run the kind of business we do from you. You have a similar business, right?”
I blinked. “What?”
“My inheritance, my father’s properties. If I’m going to fight for them, I need to know how to manage them. I want you to teach me how to run it.”
