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He nods. "You're right, of course. I already went back on what I said."

"Exactly. So maybe you're the one with the issue here and not me. Maybe you're the one who is mad at yourself because when you look at me, all you can think about is me sucking your cock. And honey, I can honestly say that that is the last thing on my mind when I look at you."

"And what's the first thing on your mind?" he asks.

My brain immediately says,"You being inside of me,"but there's no way in hell I'm gonna tell him that. I'm not gonna tell him that, when I stare at his lips, I just wanna kiss him. That when I look into his blue eyes, I just want to melt and swim and be touched by him.

There's something about him that drives me crazy, and I don't even know why. He's the sort of man I could fuck and slap at the same time. He's the sort of man who could turn me on so badly that I would let him do whatever he wanted to me even while I hated him. And the last thing I ever want to do is let him know.

"I think you're thinking too hard about what to say, Miss Franco."

"I actually have nothing to say to you, Mr. Gallagher," I say, shrugging. "I was actually thinking that I'm quite excited to meet my new husband."

"You are?" he says. "Because why?"

"Because hopefully, he won't be a dick like you will live up to the promise."

"What promise?" he asks, tilting his head to the side.

"Of having a big dick. Hopefully." I shrug.

He stares at me for a couple of seconds. "Well, I can't promise that," he says. "I mean, not that I even wanna fucking think about it."

"Oh, now you care that I'm gonna be fucking another man in less than a month?"

"In less than a month?" he says. "How would you know it's less than a month?"

"Because I'm sure my father wants me to get over there soon, and if he owes that much money, he's gonna want me to get married quickly. And I'm sure any man who's paying that much money to marry me is gonna want to put it where the sun doesn’t shine."

"And you speak about that so casually," he says.

He grabs my hand, and I pull away from him. "You don't have to put up a front for me," he says softly. "I know you don't want this."

"You know I don't want what?"

"I know you don’t wanna marry some strange man just to help out your father. And you don't have to," he says. "If you really don't want to, you can tell him no."

"And let him lose his business and his livelihood? Let the rest of my family suffer? It's not like I can provide for them some other way."

I look out the window. "I have to do this. And you're right, I don't want to, and I am putting on a façade. I don't wanna sleep with some man I don't even know. Maybe that's why I thought this trip with you would be like my last hurrah." I stare at him. "But obviously?—"

"But obviously what?" he says softly.

"You just wanna focus on business, so maybe I'll find some local guy who wants to hook up so at least I know my body is my own one last time."

He lets out a long, low sigh. "I would very much like to be the man you have your last hurrah with," he says softly.

"What? You literally were just saying?—"

"I know what I said, and I'm sorry because I was harsh. You probably think I'm bipolar or something for all this back-and-forth, but there's just been a lot on my mind recently, and I've been stressed. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

He gives me a warm smile. "You just do things to me that make me crazy. I don't know how to explain it."

"I don't know what that means," I say sarcastically, but my heart flutters a little bit because he does things to me that make me very crazy, as well. “What are you saying?" I ask him.

He grabs my hands and takes a deep breath. "I'm saying that maybe we do mix business with pleasure. Maybe we have fun and just enjoy the moment, our time together, and then whatever happens, happens."

He stares at me. "It just feels weird to be thinking about you getting engaged and being okay with that, but I'm not okay with it."