Last Name - Dr. Rebecca Sharp Page 0,24
to murder the person responsible.
It was a strange sensation considering I hadn’t felt that kind of protective reaction even when my father died… even when I found out about Lynn.
Her lips disappeared into a straight line before she grumbled, “Just because we’re married, doesn’t mean I have to tell you everything.”
My jaw clenched. “No, it doesn’t. Just like I didn’t have to tell you that I’m banned from every casino on the Strip that wasn’t newly-built in the last eight years. I told you because you’re here with me… with my family…” I sighed. “And even if we’re only in this together in order to get out of it, I’d like to know because I’d like to know you.”
I cleared my throat and glare at the fire, wondering why I’d said so much. It was obvious that she wanted nothing more to do with me and our one night in Vegas, no matter how attracted to me she might be. Yet, here I was, telling her I still wanted to get to know her.
“He cheated on me with his secretary,” she said with a voice so quiet that if the information hadn’t felt like a bomb going off in my brain, I would’ve questioned I heard her at all.
“Does he own a casino?” I growled. “Because I will gladly card-count him out of home and house if so.”
It was a joke, but it wasn’t. It was a poor attempt to hold back my offer to strangle the man while he slept.
But when I caught the brief smile that creased her face, it dulled my anger enough to fully restrain it.
“Thank you,” she replied ruefully. “But no, he doesn’t.”
“Damn.”
“It’s okay.” Her eyes slid to mine. “It made me realize just how little I knew him, and how glad I’d found that out before we were married—”
She broke off with a small gasp, realizing the unintended implication of what she’d said.
That she’d still wound up married to a man she didn’t know.
I gave her a half-cocked grin. “And now you’re married to me—a man you just met.”
Her teeth sank into her lower lip and a jolt of lust seared straight to my groin. The heat in my body no longer came from the external source but from the internal flame of desire for this woman that refused to be doused.
She didn’t respond, only looked back at the orange and yellow dance of the fire.
“It’s okay to talk about it, you know. It’s not like they’ll refuse the annulment because you admit to being married—if you admit to being Mrs. Arden,” I told her with a hint of amusement. “In fact, I think it’s a requirement of the annulment to admit to being married.”
Her eyes rolled like dice weighted against me.
“I know it’s okay to talk about it,” she retorted.
“Oh, yeah?” I arched an eyebrow. “Then say it.”
Her sharp glare met mine, both pulsing with desire shrouded by a denial we were forced to keep in place.
Just because we were married and weren’t supposed to be didn’t change that we desired each other.
And that was the problem.
Especially for Carrie.
She didn’t want a husband, but she wanted me. And the fact that we were one and the same caused a rift inside her I watched her fight to navigate.
How did you want someone that you were actively trying to break up with?
Her lips stayed firm, the intermittent crackle of the fire the only sound between us. Like the click of a chess clock. I’d made my move and pushed my timer.
It was her turn.
“We. Are. Married,” she bit out succinctly. “Happy?”
Even though she said it with spunk, everything changed between us. The air shifted like the changing of the tide. One minute, it was pulling us back from each other and now, it was pushing us closer.
My head dropped slowly toward her, drawn to the tart curves of her lips, wanting to taste them again. Wanting to taste her again.
I didn’t know how to navigate this either, but I knew the direction I wanted to go in led me to her.
“I think we could be,” I rasped, the words feeling like hot coals in my throat as my mouth inched toward hers.
She swayed toward me and my hands gripped the sides of her arms. I fought the urge to yank her against me—to claim what I’d tasted in Vegas. I fought against the throbbing ache in my cock that wanted to consummate our mistake—our marriage—again.
I fought against the burning instinct I had to turn