Page 14

“Be back,” I tell him.

He nods as he pops the trunk, starts loading her shit in.

I head up the walkway, not liking that Violet is on the ground floor where any asshole can just saunter up to her front door. As I get there, she’s stepping out into the summer sunshine, her purse hanging from her shoulder, a pair of oversized sunglasses perched on her nose, hiding her eyes.

I’m surprised at how much I dislike not being able to see those icy blue depths.

Before that thought really penetrates, she locks the door, turns, and nearly runs into me.

A frustrated huff as she rocks to a halt.

Then her chin comes up and she sidesteps me.

My arm darts out before I can stop myself, catching her around the waist and drawing her against me.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she hisses.

“Relax,” I tell her.

“Let me go,” she grits out.

“Relax,” I say again. “If you can’t even deal with my hand resting on your waist, how the fuck are you going to convince anyone that we’re engaged?”

“We haven’t set boundaries with physical touch yet.”

Why does physical touch make my dick twitch?

“Well, princess”—she tenses beneath my arm and I flash a grin—“why don’t we set them right now?”

I expect her to back down.

Instead, she lifts her chin even higher and slides her sunglasses up onto the top of her head. “This”—a sniff as she glances down at my arm—“is acceptable.” Said like it’s a slug wrapped around her middle. “No fucking. No kissing⁠—”

I scoff. “That’s not going to work.”

Her eyes narrow. “I’m not a prostitute.”

I tighten my arm around her waist. “My family has seen me with women, princess.”

Stiff again, her voice icy cold. “Yes, I’ve figured that out.”

“Which means they know that I don’t hold back when it comes to my woman. They know that I’m possessive and I touch”—I lift my free hand to her cheek, sliding it down to cup her jaw, tilting her head back—“and I make her mine.”

Her lips part and I bend a little lower, until our breaths mingle.

My cock is hard.

Every cell in my body is telling me to forget this is business and to fuck the priss right out of her.

I tighten my hold, mostly so I don’t give in to the urge to muss up her hair. “Do you understand—ow!”

Fuck.

I jerk my hand away from her face, snake it down between us and dislodge her nails from my stomach.

“No. Kissing,” she says frostily.

“That’s not going to work.”