Page 20 of An Inevitable Marriage

Which also meant he was screwing Fiona.

Ugh.

With that unsavory realization, I had to ask myself yet again:What the hell did I do?

This would not be some quick one-and-done. I had to give this man five years of my life. Five freaking years.

When Rafe and I talked about it almost a week ago, it had sounded so easy—fun even.

Yeah, until I met the man I was supposed to marry.

The freaking CEO of Nouvelle Femme, one of the biggest cosmetics companies in the world.

To be fair, my sudden aversion to exchanging vows with the man had nothing to do with his job title. I honestly couldn’t care less what he did for a living. I could even—somewhat—forgive him for having a hand in me losing my job.

But the sudden rush of attraction I’d felt when I’d first seen a half-naked Liam Maxwell? That should have been enough to send me running for the damn hills.

Talk about knocking the air from my lungs.

One look at his bare—and very toned—chest, and I’d promptly forgotten how to take a proper breath. Add to that the messy blond strands brushing his shoulders and the jeans he couldn’t have bothered to button up…

And the accent. Oh gosh, the accent.

“What now?”

Liam’s deep, gravelly voice and said British accent rolled over my skin, effectively snapping me back to the present.

Lifting my gaze to his, I was relieved to find him looking at Rafe instead of me. I’d taken just about all I could handle from his deep-blue stare.

If only he’d get dressed.

“First thing tomorrow, you’ll apply for a marriage license.” Rafe looked between Liam and me. “You’ll both have to be at the clerk’s office to receive the license.”

A deep hum rumbled from Liam’s chest. “We’re considered married when we have the license?”

Rafe shook his head. “No.”

My future husband parked a hand on his hip, and because I apparently had no control over my actions anymore, I couldn’t keep my eyes from drifting to the spot. It would have been perfectly fine if I hadn’t caught sight of the smattering of hair trailing from below his belly button down the front of his jeans.

His very low-slung jeans, since they weren’t properly closed. And, oh gosh, was he not wearing underwear? My heart instantly jackhammered against my ribs, sending a wild rush of heat flooding through my veins.

“You think you could maybe put some clothes on?”

Shit! I’d just blurted it out.

Fighting the urge to crawl beneath the counter and hide, I straightened my spine and prepared for those eyes to connect with mine.

It took two seconds.

And just like the first time his eyes met mine, my belly flipped over on itself.

Holding my gaze, Liam licked his lips before slowly lifting one corner of his mouth. “Oh, Snow, why are you so insistent I cover myself up?”

Impossible as it may have seemed, the man stepped even closer, driving my already racing heart into overdrive.

“Are you that uncomfortable?”

Yes. “No. It’s strange to talk about the terms and conditions of our marriage contract while you look like you just rolled out of freaking bed.” I sucked in a much-needed breath and bit my tongue to keep more word vomit from spilling out.