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Nick took several surreptitious breaths, willing his pulse to slow and his heart to stop pounding. At this rate, he'd collapse if it kept thumping with such ferocity.
'You came back.'
Her tentative smile had him gripping the door to stop from striding across the bathroom and sweeping her out of the bath.
Thankfully, he could only see her head, the rest of her delectable body submerged under a bubble cover that threatened to spill out onto the black-and-white-tiled floor. Not that the bubbles hampered his imagination. He could picture exactly what delights were hidden beneath those bubbles and the images weren't helping his heart rate.
He shrugged, feigning nonchalance. ‘Yeah, I couldn't stay away.'
'I'm glad.'
Her tongue flicked out to moisten her bottom lip in a totally innocuous gesture that slammed into his conscious like a bull ramming a gate in mating season.
'Are you?'
He was too old to play guessing games, too wound up to figure out why the turnaround. He'd come back because this was his wedding night and, while lust might’ve temporarily blinded him to the real reason behind this marriage, the sight of more international guests checking into the hotel had alerted him to the fact he needed to make this marriage look real for investors to accept him as one of their own.
It was the reason he'd come up with this crazy scheme in the first place, but somewhere along the line—probably around the time he'd first set eyes on his beautiful bride—his motivation had blurred until all he could see was Britt.
She nodded, gathering more bubbles with her hands on the surface and bringing them towards her chest. Damn, what he'd give for a fan now.
'I didn't like how things ended before. Why don't you let me finish up in here and we can talk?'
Talk? She wanted to talk?
With that coy smile curving her lips, droplets clinging to her eyelashes, and her hair falling in tendrils around her face, talk was the furthest thing from his mind.
The corners of her mouth twitched as if she knew exactly what he was thinking and he quickly thrust his hands in his pockets and backpedalled a few steps.
'Fine. We’ll talk.’
'Give me five minutes and I'll be out.'
Her smile could've fogged up the mirror a lot more than the fragrant steam rising from the water and he managed a terse nod before backing out and closing the door.
Damn it, why hadn't she closed the door in the first place? Didn't she know the effect she had on him?
Of course she did. Then why the thought that insinuated its way into his lust-hazed brain, making him see sense in her behaviour. Since she'd arrived, she hadn't shown much interest in him as a man. Sure, she'd teased him, but that was nothing new, she'd always done that. The teasing often included flirting but that came naturally too.
He'd been the one to kiss her when she'd first arrived home.
He'd wanted to kiss her after dinner at his place and she'd pulled away.
He'd wanted to share a room tonight; by her reaction earlier it was pretty obvious she didn't.
She'd responded to his kisses, but maybe that had been for old times' sake? Giving in to him not to antagonise him, not to jeopardise their deal and her precious promotion? Made sense.
In reality, how far did he want to take this?
She'd be gone once her business here finished, back to her high life in London, and he'd be left behind again, pretending he had a modern marriage where two busy business people lived on opposite sides of the planet.
He'd let her walk away last time, hadn't told her the truth. What would be different now?
Shaking his head, he took off his tux, pulled a T-shirt over his head, stepped into jeans, ran a comb through his hair, and added a splash of aftershave. He would've loved a shower but the thought of using the bathroom so soon after Britt vacated it, her scent lingering everywhere, evidence of her presence all over, would be too much.
She wanted to talk. That was a sure-fire libido-killer. In his experience, when women wanted to 'talk' they wanted to lay down the law.
Whatever she had to say, he'd deal with it. Just as he'd deal with this crazy, one-sided obsession to make their marriage real.
