rice

ie. He was just in a crisp white shirt, the top two buttons undone, revealing a sliver of his stro

of me. A flicker of surprise, may

didn't wait for an answer, instead moving to the bar and pouri

ice was even, but I clasped my hands together un

d with the glass toward a door on the far side of the

stood up, interrupting him. The wor

owed with impatience. "What did you expect? That

meant to wound. But I couldn't aff

perfection," I said, taking a step toward him. We were on op

e room from his new bride." I let that sink in. "By noon, the story will be all over New York. What will t

lent movement, he slammed the whiskey glass down on the marble-

us shrank. I felt a primal urge to run, but my feet were rooted to the floor. H

ing my air. I could feel the heat radiating from him. His brea

ainst me, don't you?" he rasped,

. My hand braced against the sofa to keep from falling.

protecting our shared interests.

room as his new wife," I pressed on. "How does th

corded. I could see the fury warring with something else in h

was sure he was going to wrap his large hands arou

tened up abruptly, stepping back and putting a foot o

e said, the words

toward the master bedroom. I watched

hirt. "You can have the sofa, or you can sleep on that side of the bed

had forced

l line of his shoulders as he shrugge

se th

ke a mile-wide chasm. I slipped under the cool, crisp she

the mattress as his weight settled on the o

p was impossible. My body

all coldness. I caught a flicker of curio

s the middle