EXCERPT
“Oh, don’t you dare
patronise me. I am not your fiancée. I’m not polished or elegant enough to be
considered your wife. According to your family the only reason you would
consider me is if I were pregnant.”
He moved and sat at the
edge of the bed. “Don’t mind my sisters. Their opinions don’t matter.”
“So if I discount your
sisters, what about you?” She waved her hand in the air at him.
“What about me?” His
eyes narrowed as his brows creased.
“I’ve worked with you
for two years and you’ve never even noticed me, never paid me any attention
other than for work. I’m here now because you
need a fake fiancée. Your sisters think we’ve been having sex in the office. If
only they knew you wouldn’t touch me with a barge pole.”
She suddenly had no wish
to hide her emotions about him, as anger bolstered her resolve.
"You think I never
noticed you all these years?" Kamali asked in a gravelly voice that
carried a warning.
Ebun halted before she
reached the door to the bathroom. Heart racing, she folded her arms around her
midriff to hide their trembling and didn't turn to face him.
"When you're deep
in concentration you bite your bottom lip until it turns pink," he
continued, his tone deeper than normal. "When you smile, a dimple appears
on your left cheek ... and when you're excited, your brown eyes sparkle like
gold dust."
So enthralled by his
words, she hadn't heard his approaching footsteps until her back prickled with
his body heat.
"Ebunoluwa, I
notice you every goddamned day."
His candour undid her, and
smashed through defences she’d erected around her. All the while she’d thought
he’d overlooked her, he’d been paying attention. Warmth seeped into her heart
and tingled across her chest.
What could she say to
him? ‘Thank you’ seemed inadequate and inappropriate.
In any case, it wasn’t
gratitude making her pulse accelerate and her body tremble as she turned
around.
Her heart slammed
against her ribs when she met Kamali’s burning gaze.
The intensity of his
stare pinned her to the spot and she couldn’t move.
“Granted, we're here now
because I need your help. But it doesn’t take away the fact that you are a
beautiful woman. There’s no way anybody will not notice you. Trust me.”
Before she could
assimilate his words, his lips descended on her. First it was a light brush
against hers from one edge to the other. But in that heart-stopping moment, her
lips parted as she wanted closer contact, the urge to taste him increasing by
the second.
He didn’t disappoint
her. His tongue delved into her mouth. Plundered and possessed her. She yielded
and opened up. Welcomed the heat, and the intensity.
He unleashed repressed
feelings, allowing passion to reign supreme.
Her fingers clutched his
shirt, clinging on, needing his solidity to keep her standing when her knees
threatened to give way.
He was her anchor keeping her grounded in a
world where she was boneless and about to float away.
He broke the kiss and
whispered against her lips, “Look at what you do to me.”
The deep timbre of his
voice made her heart race as his fingers gripped the nape and tilted her head
back.
“If you knew the
thoughts in my head, the things I want to do to you, to your beautiful body,”
he continued.
She breathed in short
bursts, his words as electrifying as his touch. He thought she had a beautiful
body?
There was no mistaking
the lust in his dark gaze. But there was something else, enthralling and
revealing, all at the same time.
“You want me?” She
couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice. She’d just had the most exhilarating
kiss of her life. Was there a chance for more?
“Yes. Don’t look so
surprised. I’ve wanted you from the first day I met you. But I swore I wouldn’t
touch you.” His thumb stroked the sensitive skin of her neck.
The weight on her chest
fizzled away leaving her lightheaded as her pulse sped up and adrenaline rushed
through her.
“I thought...” Her mouth
had dried out. She licked her lip and swallowed. “I thought you didn’t want me.
Couldn’t want me. Look at me, I’m not pretty.”
“Ebunoluwa,” his voice
suddenly took on a stern, warning tone. “Don’t ever say that. You are beautiful.”
She shook her head. He had
to say it to cheer her up.
How could he describe
her as beautiful? His sisters were beautiful. The woman they’d called Laila was
beautiful.
He gripped her hand and
tugged it down. “Do you need proof of how
beautiful you are, of how much I want you?”
She lowered her gaze to
his groin before he placed her hand on the bulge tenting his trousers. He was
hard and hot under the fabric.
“This is what you do to
me every time I see you.”
“Really?” she asked in a
breathless voice.
“Yes,” his voice sounded
gruff as if he was fighting for control.
Desire burnt away the
last of her inhibitions. Feeling emboldened, she stroked his turgid length
through the linen.
His groan rumbled around
them, his eyes gleaming. “If you keep doing that, I’m going to come. But I’d
rather do it while buried inside you.”
