Page 18 of An Inevitable Marriage

Holding her gaze, I poked my tongue in my cheek. “Just like that, huh?”

“Yes.”

With a low “Hmm,” I jerked my head toward Rafe. “How much has he told you?”

Snow—Everlee—licked her lips. “Enough for me to know we’ll be stuck together for at least five years.”

A snort sounded from the back of my throat. I’d intended to make some smart-ass remark about her being excited to bestuck with me, but that wasn’t what came out when I opened my mouth.

“Five years, Snow. That’s a long time. You expect me to believe you’re perfectly fine with putting your life on hold for such an extended period?”

She crossed her arms in front of her, the action lifting her breasts a few inches. As desperately as I tried not to look, I couldn’t keep myself from stealing a peek. And shit, it was scary how one tiny glimpse had my fingers itching to touch.

The fuck is wrong with me?

“What exactly would I be putting on hold?” Snow’s voice pulled me back from a place I had no business being. “Please tell me you don’t expect me to stay home and become some horrid trophy wife.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Grinding my teeth together, I held her gaze until realization finally dawned.

A flash of something—sadness, maybe?—washed over her face, but it was gone again before I took my next breath. In its place, nothing but determination.

“I think the better question is, are you?”

I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

She nodded once, but I didn’t miss the skepticism burning in those irises. If she only knew… But she wouldn’t. She’d never know. No one would.

“Our living arrange—”

“We’ll live here,” I quickly interrupted. I had no desire to leave my home.

“In separate rooms.”

Not a question but rather a statement. A very matter-of-fact one that piqued my interest. Slowly raising my brow, I cocked my head. “Separate rooms? What would the cleaning staff think if my wife and I don’t sleep in the same bed?”

It was supposed to be a joke. I had no desire to share my bed with anyone, and yet, I stood there staring at her, waiting for her answer with bated breath.

Snow took a deep, staggering inhalation and lifted her chin defiantly. “Maybe they’ll think you snore. I don’t care. Iwill notshare your room or your bed. That’s not part of the deal.”

Everything about this woman, about this day, confused the shit out of me. I ran a hand through my hair and didn’t miss the way her eyes followed the movement or how her gaze slipped from my face to my chest.

She was subtle, or at least trying to be, but there was no mistake that she was checking me out. My skin prickled in an unfamiliar way.

“Any other demands?” The words came out all low and gravelly.

Snow’s eyes immediately snapped to mine, and the slightest pink tinged her cheeks. “What?”

The right thing would have been to repeat myself, but I for reasons I had no hope of understanding, I immensely enjoyed seeing her a bit flustered.

And watching her cheeks go from pink to red while she rolled her bottom lip over her teeth was without a doubt the highlight of my day.

“Demands?” she mumbled to herself. “No, I don’t think so.”

“In that case, Rafe what—”

“Wait,” she interrupted. “Yes. There is one thing.” Pushing her inky locks behind her ear, she shook her head. From my vantage point it was impossible to miss the way her throat worked down a swallow. “When I’m here, you can’t walk around like”—pushing her hand between us, she waved her open palm at me—“that.”