Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
Dare
I grunt and throw the stylus down next to my computer tablet. Looking at my watch, I find that three hours have passed. Not that I can really claim that I’m surprised or anything.
I drafted memos and read through a lot of the legalese about the specifics of paying for Morgan Drilling’s deep sea mining rights.
It’s familiar work, comfortable in its way. But now that I stand up and stretch, I have a strange feeling.
Usually, I embrace my work. I relish the fact that I’m the only one who can do what I do. But lately, I’ve had the sense that my other life, my quote-unquote "real life," is crowding in around the work life I’ve worked on creating for so long.
It’s odd, that feeling. The guilt that I ought to read just one more brief and write another memo sticks around with me like a speck of glitter that you just can’t manage to get off your skin three days after you visit the strip club.
And still, I am pulled toward the hallway. Curiosity is my main motivation. But if I were to be perfectly honest with myself, I would want to see the work I paid the glam squad to do.
I find Talia in the sunroom, sifting through the rack of clothing. She turns to me with a subtle smile on her face. My mouth opens, but I can’t seem to make my brain form a single whole word. Instead, I stare at her, my expression one of perfect surprise.
I left behind a sad, worried creature with a tendency toward snapping at my hands. But now I am looking at a petite, slender goddess with red hair and flashing blue eyes.
Her toned legs look ridiculously long in the silver minidress I picked out. Her perky tits and tiny waist astound me. She pushes a hand through her hair, which falls below her shoulders in a timeless, effortless-looking hairstyle.
She notices me gawking at her and blushes, but she doesn’t break eye contact. Instead, she turns to the right, posing like a model would at the very end of a runway.
"Holy shit," I exclaim. “I can’t believe you look that good."
She tosses her hair and gives me a pained look. "Gee, Dare. Way to flatter a girl."
My neck heats, but I suck in a breath and refuse to be shamed. "That’s not what I meant. What I meant…" I look her up and down again, more than a little caught off guard. "God damn. You are hot."
“I got a freaking haircut. Chill out.”
I look her up and down. “You are definitely a completely different person from the mousy little girl that I sent stylists in to fix.”
“I know what it is.” Something in her face tightens and shifts. “I think I look more like Daisy and all of the wealthy women you’ve dated than I did before.”
Pursing my lips, I shrug. “I don’t know what the problem is. I don’t see anything wrong with you looking more like women of my echelon.”
Talia snorts.
“I got a makeover to fool all the wealthy people in your orbit. But it seems like you just needed me to dress a certain way and wear my hair just so to think I’m worthy of you.” Her nose wrinkles. “It’s so shallow.”
“It’s shallow to want my fiancée to dress like she has two cents to rub together? Huh, I guess I am what you say I am then.”
She rolls her eyes and wanders closer. From this distance, I can now see that she’s wearing a thick coat of black eyeliner and a shimmery shade of eyeshadow that makes her eyes seem iridescent.
"I came to look for you, but you were working." She crosses her arms, cocking her head to the side as she approaches. "So? Do I pass the test? Am I acceptable to you now?"
Her words are certainly a dig at me. But I don’t even care. I slowly nod my head, smoothing down the front of my suit jacket.
"I don’t think I knew that that dress was so short. But it looks fantastic on you." I squint. "Why would you ever cover yourself up when you look like this?"
Her cheeks redden. But before she can say whatever catty thing comes to her, I hold up a hand.
"Wait. Don’t answer that. Let’s just say that I feel much more comfortable presenting you to people as my wife-to-be.
But more importantly, here’s the question.
Will the glam squad pick out a whole wardrobe for you? "
She rolls her eyes but nods. "Yeah. They’ve already started to fill the closets here, and they’re ready to fill the closets back home too."
My gaze slips down to her breasts, which are accentuated by her tightly crossed arms. She notices my gaze and snaps her fingers, her voice sounding angry. "Hey. I’m up here."
I snort. "Am I not supposed to look? Because damn. If not, it’s going to be a very hard time. And I do mean hard."
I flick my gaze to hers, smirking just a little. She flushes and pulls up the material at her cleavage, looking away. "Get over yourself."
"What, I’m not allowed to compliment you?"
She gives a tiny laugh. "No. That’s not the deal. And I would know because you just made me sign it."
My eyes wander back to her tits and then to her hips.
"Listen, darling girl. My preference is that I usually date the heiresses and models that are looking for a man to spoil them in exchange for my quote, ‘unusual’ sexual needs."
Silently, she shakes her head. "No, no. I don’t want to know. Let’s just skip over that part. I am not the most experienced girl, but I know that I don’t ever want to be one of those women. Just forget it."
I cock my brow. "You know, I sleep naked. And you are going to share my bed. What are you going to do when I undress myself?"
Her chin juts out, and she has that spark in her eyes, rebellious and resistant as ever. "You have to be kidding me. I’m sure you have plenty of bedrooms everywhere you go."
"Yeah, I do. But I expect you to fully commit to the fraud that we are a real couple. I won’t force myself upon you, but if anyone goes sniffing around, they’re going to find us sleeping in the same bed together every night.
Once more, we are going to spend the rest of the weekend getting used to touching each other.
We’re going to rub each other and grope each other, because I want to prove to everyone in my family that you and I are in love with each other and obsessed with each other. ”
She gives a surprised laugh.
I glare at her. "Laugh all you like. But we are going to touch, kiss, and sleep in the same bed. Hell, we might even have sex... As long as you can keep your feelings for me from getting messy and entangled."
"That’s crazy." She shakes her head and turns toward the doorway, moving past me.
I grab her, my hand moving as quick as lightning to grab her wrist. Hauling her around to face me, I grip her arm and pinch her chin between my fingers.
"Where are you going?" I grit out. "We are talking here."
"Having sex is what got me into this whole mess. I don’t ever intend to confuse things between us by having sex with you. No thanks."
I look deep into her eyes, loving the passion and fire that I see. "Okay, let me ask you a question." I raise a brow. "Do you intend to be celibate for our entire relationship?"
She shrugs, trying to slip out of my grip. I refuse to move or let go.
"I don’t know. But I do know one thing: having an affair is explicitly forbidden for both of us in our marriage contract. So, you had better figure something out or you are going to get really lonely."
I release her suddenly, and I glare at her. "What do you mean?"
She gives me a hearty smile. "If you had read the contract before you had me sign it, you would’ve seen that clause. It’s written there in pretty cut-and-dry language. Infidelity is a no-no. It’s one of the only reasons that I can pull out of our marriage without facing financial ruin.”
I sneer. "You know what I hate? Your know-it-all attitude."
"Oh, go ahead. Avoid the question entirely. But let’s not forget that I am carrying the child that will be the golden goose."
Damn. For a minute, I was so wrapped up in arguing with her that I forgot the whole reason we were here in the first place.
Talia is pregnant. I know it intellectually. But now this child, this unknown and unseen figment of my imagination, rises between us.
My gaze drops to her belly, which is currently flat as a pancake.
I have been so wrapped up in my goal to inherit the Morgan empire that I’ve never slowed down enough to think about the actual child. I still can’t quite get a grasp on the reality of the situation. It seems far away, like a problem for future Dare to solve.
Talia lays her palms against her flat stomach while she’s pursing her lips. "I haven’t really spent that much time thinking about the baby," she admits. "But I know that it is at the center of this whole plot."
"I really haven’t put that much thought into it. But I would marry anyone and hold anyone’s child and claim it as my own if it meant that I got a leg up in this competition with my brother."
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, although I thought we were just admitting our feelings.
She glances at me, disapproval echoing in her eyes.
And then she turns away and paces to the window.
I expect some kind of snappy retort to be forthcoming.
But Talia just stares out the window, three quarters of her face hidden from my view.
The part of her face that I can see is smooth and without expression.
Checking the time on my watch, I see that there are still hours left in our day, so I decide to push on with my next objective.
Getting comfortable with Talia isn’t going to be easy.
I don’t understand her on even the most basic level.
And her obvious hatred of everything I stand for has been expressed aloud multiple times.
But if I’m going to close this deal and win this inheritance race, I have to swallow and take my medicine.
"All right. Come on, turn around."
Talia looks at me, turning slowly around, her face puzzled. I gesture to her body, looking her up and down.
"Stand up straight," I say. "Like your parents raised you properly."
Her face turns as red as a beet. She glares at me, seeming humiliated.
"That’s not funny," she hisses.