The Reluctant Bride (Arranged Marriage #1)(16)

Fuck it.

“Maybe you won’t have to marry me. Or we could annul it quickly, I don’t know. Just—if we can figure out a way to get me out of the house before the wedding, then I can make my escape. I’ll run away from you, not him.” She actually smiles. “That’s not a bad idea, is it?”

“What are you suggesting? We live together before the wedding?”

“Maybe.” She shrugs.

“No way.” I shake my head. I like my freedom. I don’t need some strange woman living with me, asking me where I’m going or what I’m doing.

Forget it.

“It’ll be temporary,” she says. “Just for a little while. Nothing will really change.”

“We’ll have to move. Everything will change. For me and for you,” I say.

“Our location is the only thing that we’ll be switching up,” she says, her voice light. Like this is no big deal.

“We’ll need separate bedrooms,” I tell her. “Separate everything. I’m not interested in you like that.”

Lies. All lies. I’d fuck her all night long if she’d let me.

But then I’d have to look into her eyes the next day. And the next day after that. So…

Nah.

Can’t do it.

“I’m not interested in you like that either,” she says, her voice low and downright threatening. By the look on her face, I’d guess my not interested remark insulted her. Good. That’ll keep her away from me. “If we were to actually get married, it would be a complete disaster.”

“Hell yes,” I agree.

“We’re not compatible.”

It takes everything I’ve got not to blatantly check her out. I could be compatible with her. That’s not the issue.

“Our mothers would eventually want children,” she continues. “Yours in particular will want little baby Constantines to carry on the family name.”

“According to you, you’ll run away from me and that won’t happen,” I remind her.

“It probably will though,” she whispers, fear filling her eyes. “We might not have a choice.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” I say, removing my hand from the wall to skim my fingers along her jawline. She flinches away from my touch, and I drop my hand. “It might not be so bad.”

Why am I saying this? It would be awful. Marrying a stranger is not what I would consider a good time.

“It will be terrible,” she says, an obvious shiver stealing over her. Like the idea of me touching her is disgusting. Why? What happened to her to make her so fearful? “I can’t imagine.”

“You really think it’ll be that bad?” All those angry little virgin remarks return to the forefront of my brain, screaming at me that’s exactly what I’m dealing with. I decide to handle her with a different approach. “It’s okay, baby. I can be gentle.”

Her frown is so deep I’m afraid it’s going to give her permanent wrinkles. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’ve got you all figured out.” I smile at her, dropping my voice an octave. “You don’t have to be scared.”

She laughs, but it sounds nervous. “You think I’m scared of you?”

“Maybe you’re just scared of men in general.” For some unknown reason I want to touch her so damn bad. Just to reassure her, I tell myself, which I know deep down is a crock of shit.

But from the fierce look on her face, I’m afraid she’ll just slap me for making another attempt, and I don’t want to risk it.

I keep my hands to myself.

“You do realize I grew up with three brothers.” She crosses her arms in front of her, which only plumps up those tits we were just talking about. “And every one of them is an asshole. Even my baby brother.”

“I’ve heard,” I say dryly. “I’m guessing they aren’t very overprotective of you, then? Because if they were, they’d be here tonight, ready to defend their sister and pummel my face in.”

Something flickers in her gaze when she looks away from me for a beat. Her lips tremble and she rubs them together, a little sniff sounding before she returns her gaze to mine. Her demeanor has completely shifted, all the fight seemingly draining out of her. “No man scares me, Perry Constantine. Not even you. And before you start with all those ridiculous promises again, I’ll have you know that I’m not some scared little virgin, no matter what you believe.”

It’s my turn to blink at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean what I say. I’ve had sex with other men. You’re nothing special.” The smirk on her face is almost evil. Just like that, and all the fight has come back into her with a vengeance. “I wasn’t saving myself for marriage, so you don’t get to take my virginity, you perv.”

She’s either a fantastic bluffer or she’s telling the truth. “For some reason, you can’t stop calling me a pervert. I think you like it.”

“I don’t. And I don’t like you either. Now get away from me.” She shoves at my chest this time, so hard I do take a stumbling step backwards. She gains her advantage and slips away from me, heading for her mother who is about to climb into the back seat of a sleek black town car.