"I don't understand."
He twirled her again. She didn't back down from what she had to say. "Jennifer warned me that you don't trust easy, but I think she wants you."
"Jennifer is the past and that's it." Belle's brown eyes didn't blink. He swallowed and finished, "She was in my life when I didn't want to feel anything."
“That emotion and I are acquainted.” Her eyebrow lifted. "And now? What’s different in your life?"
Belle seemed like she intended to fight him if he answered wrong. He flashed her a smile. "I’m here, with you, and there is no competition."
Her face softened. He swallowed. At least she didn't demand his allegiance. He might have given it to her. He almost lost his step.
Then she stood on her tip toes, tugged his shoulder closer to her, and whispered in his ear. "Take me home."
He licked his lips. Belle Jordan might be the best or the worst woman in his life at the moment, not that he had anyone else on his radar. She took his breath away. She stared at him like he was an idiot.
He lingered too long. To cover he said, "What did you have in mind?"
She rubbed the base of her neck near her chest. The music stopped. "The wedding is basically over. It's time to go now."
"Of course."
He led her off the dance floor, and they walked in silence to the door. No one stopped them.
As they exited through the glass doors that led to the front of the building and toward the limo, Belle squeezed his arm. "And Peter, one more thing."
He slowed his pace. He swallowed. "What?"
She said, almost in a whisper, "I'll want another kiss. I was jealous."
Outside people spoke on the veranda and waited in groups. He wrapped his arm around her waist to ensure she stayed near, and then said, "No one else will be in the room, mentally or physically, when I kiss you again."
She winked. "Deal."
It might have been her wink. She was charming and forthright and nothing about her seemed false. She was unlike any woman he'd ever met. Luckily the bet was over now, and she would never be hurt.
Chapter Thirteen
The moment the limo door closed, the sound ricocheted through her. Belle folded her hands in her lap. She swallowed as he scooted closer to her. Silence clung in the air until the driver pressed on the gas. She tilted her head and saw how Peter stared at her. Her stomach melted like butter.
She held her hands firmer and asked, "Is what Jennifer said about you true?"
His gaze narrowed. "What did she say about me?"
No holding back. She rubbed the back of her neck. "She told me you have trust issues that keep you from committing."
His eyes widened. "I don't think any woman should want to be with me long term. I'm pretty damaged."
This fit with what she thought, but she held her hands firm on her lap. "How can you think that?"
He nodded. "Most people want the money I can provide for them. If it's not money, it's something else. Everyone has a price."
"I don't believe that." Her price might be that she wanted a night she'd never forget. She licked her lips. "Even if it's true, how does that make you feel?"
He lowered his gaze. "I don't want to talk about me."
Seduction had never been her thing, and they were in a limo. The driver had seemed nice, but he could hear her. She kept her voice soft.
"I do. I'm interested in you, Peter."
"Why?"
He brushed his hand against hers. "'Cause I act different with you. You make me feel something and I like it."
She swallowed and tried to glance away.
Then he asked, "Did you intend to marry Colt because you felt something too?"
Direct hit on his part. Her lips parted. "I almost married Colt because I trusted him. Like you, I don't trust many people, but once people prove themselves as honorable, I open up."
"How can you say that? He left you for another woman?"
"But I knew he loved Victoria before we ever dated."
His hand went on top of hers. Her heartbeat raced as he asked, "And you were okay with that?"
"We thought she was dead."
These questions weren't going to lead her where she wanted to go. She swallowed. It wasn't wrong to want fun tonight and not have expectations.
She massaged her neck and said, "I thought he was grieving for someone he could never have again and that I could help heal him."
His gaze narrowed. "So you tried to fix him?"
She leaned forward and then rubbed his arm that held her. "I guess. I'm clearly not in love with him, if I am here with you."
His Adam's apple bobbed as he asked, "Are you sure?"
Her hands continued to stroke his arms. "During the ceremony, my eyes were glued on you. I don't know how much surer you want me to be. Now I've answered your questions. Can you answer mine?"
His skin grew goose bumps too. She kept that to herself. His gaze lowered, and he stared at her lips.
"What was that?"
Take me, right here, right now begged to be said. She opened her mouth, but then she asked, "How does people using you for money make you feel? Does that make you trust less?"
His face darkened. She swallowed. Serious was not going to get him to go to bed with her tonight.
He then massaged her knee. "We all use each other to get what we want out of life. I happen to be good at getting others to agree with whatever I want, and I get a good price. It was what my father taught me."
A simple brush of his skin on hers sent her into overdrive. "Are you like Scrooge in the old story and willing to let Tiny Tim die?"
"No, I don't want to be heartless and cold." He leaned closer and was only inches from her face. "All my employees are offered full health insurance, even the part timers."
Insurance had never set her on fire before. She sat back and lowered her gaze. "And your last relationship, Jennifer? What did you get from her?"
"It wasn't a relationship. She knew where we stood."
He rubbed his chin as the limo stopped. He got out and held his hand for her to join him. She scooted out the same door and took his offer. He moved her hand to his arm as he led her inside.
"Plus she was Vicki's friend. She was the only one left that knew my sister and checked on me. She was someone I understood and could be safe with."
Everyone had believed Victoria dead. She inhaled, and the sweet scent made her lips water.
She sighed. "Where was John?"
No one stopped them in the lobby. They walked arm-in-arm.
Peter said, "In the FBI. He hated me too."
She tugged on her ear. This was too deep. She'd have to figure out how to ask him to kiss her again. At least she hadn't told him not to, so this time, he might kiss her on his own.
"We don't have to talk about family anymore. I can see it clearly hurts you."
"Nothing hurts me."
Her eyebrows lifted, and a smile widened on her face. "Is that a dare?"
His dimples grew as he pressed the elevator button. "No. You have better aim than most."