Chapter 5
Beth
Three weeks later…
If anyone had told me I’d be stuck in a fake marriage at twenty-six― with a man I couldn’t stand ―I’d tell them they were crazy. I’d never been a foolish romantic who thought fairytales were real, but I at least dreamed of having an actual, loving relationship. I always thought I’d meet a nice guy who I had a lot in common with. He’d court me until I fell madly in love and then he’d propose.
We’d have a nice wedding―nothing too extravagant, but memorable. We’d go on a sweet tropical honeymoon and go on to build our lives together. That was the plan I had for my love life...you know when I actually started having one. Admittedly, I’ve never had much in the name of romance, but I knew what I wanted and I didn’t get it.
Instead, I was sitting in Adam’s bedroom, still in my wedding dress, glaring at him. He sat across the room glaring at me too. He was still in his tux, which I couldn’t deny looked great on him.
“At least we have one thing in common,” I muttered. “We’re both experts at glaring.”
“Two things, Beth. We both want to be anywhere else but here with each other.”
“True.”
We were being forced to spend the night together. Well, we thought it best for the sake of appearing like a real married couple to the guests who would remain at the Thorne mansion for the night. I felt sick to my stomach. I’d just gone through a marriage ceremony and pretended to be happy and madly in love with Adam. We recited our vows before God for goodness sake. I felt like a fraud.
“Chin up,” Adam said, downing his entire glass of whatever he was drinking. It was his third glass since we got here. I guess it was his way of coping with being stuck in this room with me. “We only have to survive this one night. Once we get to my place, you don’t even have to sleep on the same floor as me.”
“Don’t you have staff? They’ll notice and you know how quickly the rumors can spread.”
His low chuckle, as he reached for the crystal decanter he’d been guzzling from, made my stomach muscles clench. The sound was sexy, teasing, so... Adam . “Sounds to me like you want to sleep with me.”
“Not a chance. You’ve passed Adam junior around way too much for me to feel comfortable getting anywhere near it.”
Head thrown back, he roared. Rather than deny, he tipped his glass in my direction and drawled, “ Touché. Want a drink?”
“No thanks.”
“I won't roofie it or anything.”
I rolled my eyes. That never even crossed my mind. As much as we didn’t get along, I knew he wasn’t capable of that. Adam charmed the panties off of women, he didn’t need to resort to underhanded methods.
“I’m not big on alcohol.”
“Hmm. You don’t drink and I can bet you don’t have much sex. That explains so much.”
Heat crept into my cheeks and I glowered. He’d never made it a secret that he thought I was the biggest prude in the universe.
“Your opinion of me has never mattered,” I replied sweetly.
Another of his sensual chuckles filled the room and I swallowed. What was wrong with me? Five minutes alone in a room with Adam and my traitorous body was reacting to him in strange ways.
“How...how do you know I don’t have much sex?” The second the words passed my lips, I mentally facepalmed myself.
His teasing grin made my toes curls in my shoes. “If you did, you probably wouldn’t be sitting like a schoolmarm, looking down your perfect little nose at me.”
I blinked and forced my body to relax. I was indeed sitting with my shoulders steel-rod stiff, back straight, legs pressed tightly together and hands folded in my lap. I was so embarrassed that he was right that I couldn’t find a thing to say.
“Relax Beth. Kick your shoes off, get comfy. It’s going to be a long night.” His voice dropped an octave and his eyes swept over me suggestively. “Slip out of that dress if you want to,” he winked.
I gasped. “Perv.”
“I’m kidding. You’re so easy,” he laughed.
I gritted my teeth. My face was on fire again. I didn’t know why I let him get to me like this all the time. As if he'd be interested in seeing my body when he was accustomed to perfect, stick thin, leggy models with gigantic boobs. A wave of insecurity rose up, which I quickly shoved down. “And you're so disgusting.”
“Obviously, not that disgusting since you stuck your tongue down my throat once. And you enjoyed it,” he purred.
Damn it, I did. Why did he have to bring it up?
“I’m surprised you remember.”
His mocking grin dropped. “I didn’t...I mean, I haven’t thought about it until now.”
“Why did you kiss me?”
Adam shifted and loosened his tie some more. “I told you, to shut you up. I wasn’t thinking clearly that night.”
“Well, I suppose it wasn’t too shabby as far as first-kisses goes.”
Shock registered on his face as he gazed at me.
“ First kiss?
Crap . I could bite my tongue for giving him more ammunition to tease me.
“Not too shabby? You might have had the best first kiss in history.”
“I forgot how full of yourself you are. Thanks for the reminder.”
A grin lit up his face. “You can’t deny my skills. I bet your second kiss didn’t live up to your first. Have you even been kissed at all since that night? I imagine your attitude is a turn off for any man.”
I had kicked off my shoes as he suggested. Now, I wanted to hurl the white stiletto at his head.
“You know Adam, I’m already regretting agreeing to fake a marriage with you.”
His shoulders lifted. “We just have to pull the farce off for two years, then we’ll both be free.”
“If we don’t kill each other in two years.”
“Don’t worry sweetheart. After tonight, I intend to stay far away from you as much as I can.”
Two years of pretending to be in a real marriage in public while skirting around each in private. It sounded exhausting.
“Fantastic,” I sighed, resting my jaw on my hand.
A few minutes of silence passed before Adam said, “I never ask you how you were doing after your father’s funeral. How are you doing?”
My tongue was tied because I wasn’t expecting the soft, sympathetic words. He brought his glass to his lips, eyes fixed on me.
“I feel much better after putting him to rest. I miss him like crazy and I feel guilty about staying away for so long. I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
He nodded. “I’m sure he knew you loved him.”
In the twenty years that Adam and I have been in each other’s lives, I think this was the second civil moment we’ve had. The first was when my mom died when I was ten. A twelve-year-old Adam had given me an awkward pat on the shoulder and murmured his apology. There was no hostility, no teasing, no sarcasm, and I had no idea what to do with that. I cleared my throat and squirmed a bit.
“Uh...thanks.”
The room fell uneasily quiet again. “Hey, Beth.” I looked up. “I was thinking that we could consummate our union, you know so I don’t die of boredom tonight. As bed partners go, I can make do with you for the night.”
Appalled―mostly because I actually thought about sleeping with him―I jumped up with a growl.
“Just when I thought you had a shred of decency.”
His laughter fueled my anger.
“Come on, don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it since we stepped into this room.” His eyes shifted to the California King in the center of the room and back to me. The metallic orbs were too smoldering for my comfort. He swirled the glass in his hand and smirked.
His look alone sent a surge of heat through my system. No one had ever caused such an effect just by looking at me before. It was disturbing. Any kind of attraction to Adam was just dangerous.
Fists balled, I spat, “Not every woman wants to spread their legs for you, you manwhore. If you want somewhere to put your dick, go shove it into an ants nest.” As I stormed to the bathroom, I heard him sputtering. If he choked on his drink it would serve him right. His rumble of laughter only irritated me more.
“Your responses never fail to amuse me.”
I slammed the door shut.
“Beth! You can’t spend the entire night in there. What are you going to do, sleep in the tub? I was just joking around. You really need to lighten up.”
“Just shut up, Adam. If this is going to work without me strangling you, I’m going to need you to just shut up.”
I heard him grunt and then he went quiet. Moments later, I jumped when I heard his voice. It sounded as if he was leaning against the bathroom door just as I was.
“I wasn’t altogether joking. I really would like to get a taste of you in the sack.”
My breath left my lungs in a whoosh. I pressed my ear to the door, waiting for him to start his annoyingly sexy chuckling, and tell me he was messing with me again but I was met with silence. My heart jumped and I slumped further down the wood. Something told me that if I wasn’t careful with Adam, I’d end up in trouble.