He stopped talking when Bella walked onto the porch. Not only had she grabbed her purse but she’d also changed her dress. At his curious look, she said, “The dress I was wearing wasn’t suitable for visiting.”
He nodded and decided not to tell her she looked good now and had looked good then. Whatever she put on her body she wore with both grace and style. He met her in the middle of the porch and slipped her hand in his. “You look nice. And I thought we could grab dinner someplace before I bring you back here.”
Her eyes glowed in a way that tightened his stomach and sent sensations rushing through his gut. “I’d like that, Jason.”
IT WAS CLOSE TO TEN AT night when Bella returned home. Jason entered her house and checked around, turning on lights as he went from room to room. It made her feel extra safe when she saw a police patrol car parked near the turnoff to her property.
“Everything looks okay,” Jason said, breaking into her thoughts.
“Thanks. I’ll walk you to the door,” she said quickly, heading back downstairs.
“Trying to rush me out of here, Bella?”
At the moment she didn’t care what he thought. She just needed him gone so she could get her mind straightened out. Being with him for the past eight hours had taken its toll on her mind and body.
She hadn’t known he was so touchy and each time he’d touched her, even by doing something as simple as placing a hand in the center of her back when they’d been walking into the movies, it had done something to her in a way that had her hot and bothered for the rest of the evening.
But she had enjoyed the movies they’d gone to after dinner. She had enjoyed sitting beside him while he held her hand when he wasn’t feeding her popcorn.
“No, I’m not trying to rush you, Jason, but it is late,” she said. “If your goal this evening was to tire me out then you’ve done a good job of it. I plan to take a shower and then go to bed.”
They were standing facing each other and he wrapped his arms around her and took a step closer, almost plastering his body to hers. She could feel all of him from chest to knee; but especially the erect body part in between.
“I’d love to take a shower with you, sweetheart,” he whispered.
She didn’t know what he was trying to do, but he’d been whispering such naughty come-ons to her all evening. And each and every one of them had only added to her torment. “Taking a shower together wouldn’t be right, Jason, and you know it.”
He chuckled. “Trying to send me home to an empty bed isn’t right, either. Why don’t you just accept my proposal? We can get married the same day. No waiting. And then,” he said, leaning closer to begin nibbling around her mouth, “we can sleep under the same roof that night. Just think about that.”
Bella moaned against the onslaught of his mouth on hers. She was thinking about it and could just imagine it. Oh, what a night that would be. But then she also had to think about what would happen if he got tired of her like her father had eventually gotten tired of her mother. The way her mother had gotten tired of her father. What if he approached her about wanting an open marriage? What if he told her after the first year that he wanted a divorce and she’d gotten attached to him? She could just imagine the heartbreak she would feel.
“Bella?”
She glanced up at him. “Yes?”
Jason Westmoreland was such a handsome man that it made her heart ache. And at the same time he made parts of her sizzle in desire so thick you could cut it with a knife. She thought his features were flawless and he had to have the most irresistible pair of lips born to any man. Staring at his mouth pushed her to recall the way their tongues would entangle in his mouth while they mated them like crazy. It didn’t take much to wonder how things would be between them in the bedroom. But she knew as tempting as it was, there was more to a marriage than just great sex. But could she really ask for more from a marriage of convenience?
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay tonight? I could sleep on the sofa.”