I’d be the embarrassed former virgin who’d tremble with awe in his presence. He’d have another think coming.
Despite my parents nagging calls for me to come downstairs to greet Mr. Chanler, I waited for the sound of the bell before I left my room. I walked slowly, even as the familiar deep voice drifted up. On the highest point of the staircase, I stopped, giving Mr. Chanler, who greeted my parents, time to notice me. The moment his eyes locked on me, I strode down the staircase as elegantly as I could, my head held high.
He looked ridiculously handsome in slacks and a tight white shirt that accentuated his muscular body. The shadow of a beard showed on his face, giving him a slightly rugged appearance that had a surprisingly pleasant effect on me.
“Mr. Chanler,” I droned. I didn’t hold out my hand like last time and instead stood on my tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. Surprise and appreciation flickered in his eyes.
“Gigi,” he said.
I didn’t react to his use of my nickname, even though my parents exchanged confused looks.
“I’m here to inquire about your decision.”
I smiled pleasantly. “Why don’t we take a stroll in the gardens?”
I didn’t wait for his reply and headed for the French doors. His steps sounded behind me. When I opened the door, he was so close behind me a little shiver shot down my back.
I stepped outside and followed the narrow pathway meandering through our garden until I arrived in a clearing surrounded by bushes and trees, hidden from view. A little stone bench stood in its center.
Mr. Chanler’s hand curled around my wrist and pulled me against him for a passionate kiss. I almost lost myself in him, but stubbornness won, and I finally tore away, my lips still tingling.
“You can’t just kiss me.”
He smirked. “Tell me, Gigi, are you sore?”
I shrugged. “A little.”
He came closer again but I stood my ground. “But you want to be fucked like that again, don’t you?”
Absolutely. “I’m confident I can keep myself otherwise entertained like I’ve done the past few years.”
Lust flared up in his eyes. Did it turn him on to think of me pleasuring myself?
“I told you I need time to consider your offer, and yet you are here not giving me the time I require,” I brought our conversation back to a safer topic.
“Don’t pretend last night didn’t change your mind. I’m fairly sure you have the answer to my question.” His blatant confidence—arrogance even—fired up my anger. Last night may have been mind-blowing, but I still thought with my brain and not the pounding place between my thighs. Problem was my brain voted for Mr. Chanler as well. Only my heart was still confused.
“Nothing changed,” I muttered.
Mr. Chanler grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Everything changed, because you allowed yourself to see me without preconceptions, and you liked what you saw.”
“I saw a trickster, Mr. Chanler.”
“Peyton.”
I sighed. “Trickery isn’t a good start for a marriage.”
“You could have realized it was me, but you enjoyed your anonymous night of revelry too much, Jean, admit it.”
“I did,” I said and then I voiced the question that had been bothering me for a while. “Why do you even want to marry me? What’s in it for you? And don’t tell me my beauty. I’m not blind. There are plenty of pretty fish in the ocean and they don’t have a broke family as an added bonus.”
“Apart from a lifetime of my cock in your pretty mouth, ass, and pussy?”
I narrowed my eyes. “The truth.”
“That’s the truth.” His lips twitched, and a dimple appeared in his right cheek. Of course he had to have a cute dimple. “Part of the truth anyway…You know, originally this was all to show you your place. Maybe you don’t remember but we met before. Three years ago, at a party. I asked you to dance, and you were an arrogant, spoiled little brat telling me I wasn’t on the list of important names you needed to dance with.”
I racked my brain, then a hazy memory formed. “My parents had been shoving possible suitors at me for hours. My feet were numb from dancing and my lips cracked from chitchat. I knew my mother would have a coronary if I refused anyone she considered of importance, that’s why I checked your name. I just wanted to catch my breath before the next old money bachelor stepped on my toes.” I tilted my head. “You