Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“Yet you fell in love with me despite my apparent surliness,” he pointed out, and she glared at him, hating that he was right about that. It was hard to remember why she’d fallen in love with him when he was such a difficult man to love. Now she wondered if the man she’d once believed herself in love with had ever existed, if he’d only ever been this cold and calculating man instead of the warm, giving, considerate man she’d thought him to be. The man she’d been convinced she caught glimpses of beneath all that reserve.
“Are you ready to order dessert?” Ryan, their handsome young waiter with the twangy Australian accent saved her from responding to Ben’s last humiliating comment and she graced him with a warm smile.
Ryan flushed and Lilah sensed Ben’s glare boring into her face, but she refused to acknowledge his look, keeping her focus on the waiter.
The last thing Lilah wanted was to drag this nightmare out even longer with dessert and she was about to refuse, when Ben surprised her by replying, “Definitely. My wife has a sweet tooth. She never passes on dessert. Isn’t that right, cupcake?”
He released the stem of his wine glass and reached over to cover one of her hands with his. It took everything in Lilah not to flinch at the unexpected contact and not to jerk back her hand immediately. His grip tightened over her hand, as if he sensed her reaction. His eyes were dark with warning.
Her own eyes widened speculatively and she swallowed back an irreverent giggle at the thought of ultra-powerful Ben feeling threatened by a friendly waiter. He must have seen the amusement in her eyes because his mouth thinned for a brief moment before his eyes sparked with purpose and he turned her hand over in his and lifted it to press a hot kiss in the middle of her sensitive palm.
Lilah’s breath hitched in her chest when his lips lingered and she suppressed a squeak when his tongue darted out to scorch a brand onto her soft skin. His smoldering, intent gaze burned into hers the entire time, and Lilah was powerless to look away. Her eyes held captive by his.
She finally released her breath on a shuddering sigh when he lowered her hand, but his thumb continued to soothingly stroke the surface of her palm, as if he was aware of the burning imprint his mouth had left there and wanted to ease the discomfort. Only, his touch did nothing to set her at ease. Instead, it merely stoked the flames that he’d lit.
Ryan looked uncomfortable and shifted from foot to foot.
“I, uh… I could come back if you’re not ready to order?”
“I’ll have the mango and coconut pannacotta,” Ben said. “My wife will have citrus and passionfruit cheesecake.”
He’d never presumed to order for her before. It was a bold power move, which instantly raised her hackles, while simultaneously shocking her with his on-the-nose choice. She’d been thinking about that cheesecake since Ryan had handed them the menus and to protest or contradict the order would merely serve to cut off her nose to spite her face.
She gritted her teeth and held her silence, keeping a sweet, wholly fake smile plastered to her face while Ryan reconfirmed their order.
“Don’t ever do that again,” she said after the waiter had left and he gave her a bland smile, lifting his hand from hers to go back to twirling the stem of his wineglass.
“What?”
“All of that. The touching and kissing and speaking for me.”
He made a noncommittal sound, quite unconcerned by her anger.
“I got the order right, though,” he said.
“I wanted the chocolate fondant,” she lied. “But I chose not to make a fuss.”
He chuckled beneath his breath and shook his head almost indulgently. “No, you didn’t. You can’t resist a fruity cheesecake.”
He had her there and again it startled her that he knew her so well.
She kept her mouth shut and avoided his eyes, restlessly perusing the crowd instead. Everybody looked so happy, and it merely served to highlight her own hollow misery. She blinked the uncomfortable sting from her eyes and willed back the threatening tears.
“Is it really so terrible?” His voice was gentle and she hated the sympathy she could hear in the undertone.
“Yes.” She didn’t pretend not to understand what he meant. “And it’s going to get worse.”
“Lilah… I don’t wa—” He was interrupted by the soft chime of his phone. He frowned and fished the device out of one of the many pockets in his black cargo pants. “Sorry, I’d normally ignore it, but it’s Lucille’s ringtone.”
Lucille was her grandfather’s personal assistant, and the concern in Ben’s voice immediately made Lilah sit up and pay attention as well. There was nothing odd about Lucille calling him at—she checked her watch—four p.m. South African time. Her grandfather was semi-retired but he still had his finger in quite a few pies. It wasn’t entirely impossible that Lucille would be calling about business at this time on a Wednesday afternoon.