Jaylen greeted them with a cool smile. “How absolutely charming you two are. And don’t you look pretty, Zoe. The years have definitely agreed with you. You must be… what—the big three-five?”

Even as Christian swiveled his head back and forth between the two, Zoe kept her composure and refused to take the bait.

“Thank you, Jaylen. You look nice tonight.”

Jaylen’s icy grey eyes narrowed. “Still working on getting rid of the accent I see.”

“You two know each other?” he asked.

“We were acquaintances while she lived in California. You know how Martha loves for all of us to be one big happy family. And now you really are. Well done, Zoe. I didn’t think you had it in you.” Jaylen touched Zoe’s arm, making her skin crawl.

“You used to live in L.A.?” He scraped a hand through his hair as she nodded. Apparently, he hadn’t gotten to that part of her background check. “With whom?”

Jaylen let out a throaty laugh. “This is too rich. Can’t you see the family resemblance? The fine print of Martha Alfred’s contracts is getting more ridiculous by the year.”

He pierced her with a sharp gaze. Zoe placed a hand on his arm, muscles tightening beneath her palm. “I meant to tell you.”

“Before you ran back home I never got the chance to ask how it felt to not be woman enough to keep him,” Jaylen said, making the guests closest to them shuffle closer.

Zoe stared at the woman, tongue frozen. Jaylen had been her confidant while living in Los Angeles. She’d also been the ultimate frenemy, but Zoe hadn’t known it at the time. In fact she’d poured her heart out to Jaylen about Christian.

“Either leave willingly or I’ll have security escort you out,” Christian said in a deceptively soft voice, sending shivers down Zoe’s spine. She hoped to God he never spoke to her in that tone.

Jaylen smirked. The woman would have been even more beautiful if her soul wasn’t so disgusting. “So good to see you, Zoe. Christian, don't be a stranger.” She glided away.

You tell me how it feels! Of course she’d think of the right thing to say now that Jaylen was gone.

“We need to talk.” He pulled her into an empty workout room, flipping on the lights. “Is what Jaylen said true?”

“Martha Alfred is my mother’s sister.”

“Martha’s your aunt?” His jaw worked. “Zoe Martha Ambrose, makes sense now.”

“Guess you didn’t get that far in your Welcome to Zoe’s World packet.”

He didn’t look remotely amused by her attempt at humor. “Did she put you up to this?”

“Being seen with you or this?” She held up her left hand, wiggling her fingers.

“Either.”

What did he have to be so mad about? “Just to be seen with you at dinner and that’s it. Didn’t you ask me to hang out with you because I wasn’t your usual type?” she reminded him. “And I didn’t set up an elaborate marriage proposal in the middle of the strip either.”

“You have me there,” Christian admitted. He’d chased her all over Vegas, time and time again. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I have to know where and when we met for the first time.”

“The first time I met you was on New Year’s Eve. Right before you really made it big with the Austen remake. We kissed at midnight.”

Over four years ago. Four months after moving to LA. Closing his eyes, he tried to bring back the memory of that night. Unfortunately, all he could remember was blur of colors and bodies writhing against one another. He didn’t remember a damn thing about kissing her.

Shame filling him, he said, “I’m sorry.” Flimsy but it was all he had at the moment. However, from here on out, he would make it up to her.

“Me, too. I shouldn’t have let my pride get in the way of honesty and—”

“Stop beating yourself up over a kiss. The past is the past.” He grabbed her hand, kissing the rings he’d given her. “Everything has worked out as it should have.” He would have been no good for Zoe at that point in his life.

“You think so?”

Wrapping her in his arms, he nuzzled the top of her head. “Yes.”

She remained silent and he continued to hug her, thinking she needed time to collect herself or her thoughts.

“Was that your one time being naughty bit? Kissed me when you had a boyfriend, did you?”

“No, I got caught up in everything.” Her words were muffled by his chest. “I was trying to find a place to hide when you grabbed me again.”

He tilted her face up and smiled down at her. “We all do stupid things. Daring things. In your case scandalous things like marry a man with a scandalous reputation.”

She looked at him with exasperation clearly written on her face. “Formerly scandalous, remember?”

He bent low to nibble on the curve of her ear. “I’m still scandalous, but only with you.” He ran his hands along the curves outlined by her dress. His entire body ached for his wife, but he could be patient. “Let’s join the party, shall we, before I kick everyone out.”

They re-entered the room and Christian surveyed it. The party goers looked firmly entrenched as they drank and mingled.

To hell with waiting.

He craned his head around until he found the man he was looking for and nodded, then swept Zoe up in his arms and headed toward their bedroom. She snuggled against him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Thought you were going to strum a sweet tune, mate?” Sasha called out.

Christian shut the door in his face, then locked it.

“You were going to play guitar?” she asked.

“I’ll play whatever you’d like. Tomorrow.” He dropped her in the middle of the bed. “Either you take off your clothes while I get rid of mine, or I’m going to rip your dress to shreds.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

A marriage underpinned by lies. That’s what she had with Christian.

But he’d said the past was the past, she reminded herself. He’d also said she’d never put him in one of her books. If only he knew the truth, if only she could stop being a coward and tell him. Waiting for the perfect moment would never happen. There was no such thing as the perfect moment to reveal a lover’s betrayal.

Sitting up, she rubbed the heel of her hand over her heart. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

He placed his knee on the bed and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “Can it wait?”

She gazed at his body, shirt undone and unbuttoned pants hanging low on his hips. Her fantasy come to life. The fantasy of many women who only wanted to be real with one. “No.” Her voice cracked over the word.

“We did more than kiss?” Despite his question, he sounded less than shocked. Maybe he’d suspected or assumed they’d done more than kiss all along. After all, what woman held a grudge over a kiss?

Nodding, she made herself look at his face. At the tenderness and desire that made him more handsome than ever. She was such a fraud. “A lot more.”

He pushed the material of her dress up her legs, exposing the tops of her black stockings. His eyes grew dark. “Were you wearing something like this?” He bent, dropping a kiss on one bare thigh then the other.

“Yes.”

Small puffs of hot air scorched her skin. “At the risk of sounding like a complete arse, I think you should let me make love to you like I did that—”

“Night,” she supplied. One lie uncovered, only one more to go.

Sitting up, he placed his in his lap. “I don’t know how else to make it up to you, beyond apologizing and there aren’t enough apologies in the universe to fix it. Allow me to do this, give me this night.”

“Words are overrated.” Giving him a shy smile, she held out her hand. “Give me a man of action.” Tonight could be his and in the morning, she would be a woman of words and actions. Whatever the consequences, she would bear them, because it would be no less than she deserved.

He pulled them to a standing position, then unzipped the side of her dress. It slithered down her body and to the floor, leaving her wearing nothing spiked heels and stockings with a garter belt. She shivered but not from the cold.

Gazing at her in obvious male appreciation, he said, “No damn wonder I had to have you.” He shrugged out of his shirt, his hands going to his pants, pushing them down.

“Wait.” His gaze flew to hers, hands stilling. She flushed. “You kept those on and I should have on my dress, too.”

“Don’t care. It stays on the floor.” Moving closer, he caught her face between his hands and kissed her. “I assume we didn’t have a bed.”

“We had a wall.” Nipping at his lip, she smoothed her hands up his chest. “And you said fuck, not make love.”

Groaning, he dusted his thumb over her mouth. “I’m ashamed and turned on at the same time.” She trailed her hands down his chest, smiling as he gasped and sucked in his stomach at her touch. “Don’t be in such a hurry, love.”

“Want to know what we did first?” She licked his collarbone, then bit him there. He grunted. She’d take that as a yes. “You put your mouth on me.”

He moved to kiss her. “Lower.” Grinning, he headed for her breasts. “Lower.”

With that same grin on his face, he fell to his knees and parted her. “This low enough?” Without waiting for an answer, he began to lick and kiss her there, savoring her like he had the chocolate covered fruits. So choreographed in his movements that she didn’t know whether to be insanely jealous or ecstatic.

The ache between her thighs intensified with each pass of his tongue, her hips moving with him. Her fingers tangled in his hair, pressing him deeper. “Oh God,” she moaned. Her legs trembled, knees threatening to disappear even as her body tightened in on itself, until every nerve seemed to be concentrated in one place.

A finger eased inside of her, then two as he began to pump in and out. Suddenly, he stood and grabbed her waist with his free hand, pulling her to him. Her breasts rubbed against his chest.

“Taste how sweet you are.”

The moment his lips touched hers, she lost control. She went wild, biting and sucking his tongue deep inside her mouth while his fingers continued their tender assault. So close…so close. Her heart pounded, blood rushing and breaths coming so quick and fast that she became dizzy.

“Christian,” she breathed, wanting more. Needing more. She needed him inside of her.

His hand slid down her waist, under her thigh and wrapped her stocking-clad leg around his hip. He leaned her against the nearest wall. “Can’t wait.” His fingers left her, foil ripped and then he pushed himself inside her, stretching her to the point of pain and she loved it.

His arm shot out, banging against the wall. “So tight…so wet.”

“Give me more.” She tilted her hips, grabbing the material of his pants. “Deeper.”

“I can’t, not like this.” He hooked her other leg over his arm and thrust hard. She gasped, closing her eyes. “Look at me.” Her eyes flew open at his command. “I won’t forget this.”

Muscles bunched and flexed beneath her hands as he moved within her, as he rocked inside of her and touched a place so sensitive that she cried out.

He did it again. This time she screamed his name, her orgasm so long and hard that she saw supernovas. His head fell to her neck, his hips pumping relentlessly against her until he thrust deeper than ever and held himself there.

They stayed joined like that for what seemed like hours, when in reality it wasn’t long at all. She flinched as he pulled out of her.

“Zoe,” he whispered against her skin, letting her legs slowly down. “Forgive me.”

Unable to hold back the tears, she could only nod.

“Thank you.” He scooped her up in his arm and carried her to the shower.

***

Christian looked around the room, searching for something that could delay his trip. But all he found was his wife, wrapped in an oversized robe and watching him with her pretty eyes.

The things he had done to her last night…Hell, the things she’d allowed him to do. He couldn’t get the image of his head of her wearing nothing but a skirt with bells on the hem as she danced for him. Or her bare breasts bouncing as he thrust inside of her, teasing her with shallow movements, until she hooked her legs over his arms and tilted her hips.

He’d never forget lying in bed with her afterwards, stroking her back as she snuggled against him. Peace. He was finally at peace.

He smiled, taking in her long dark hair and full lips. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked well-loved. By him. He held his hand out, leading her to the balcony when she took it. “My plane is ready whenever you are. Harlan, the pilot, is excellent.”

A smile wobbled on her lips. “Can he fly me to you?”

He captured her in a hug, bending his head and rubbing the top of hers with his chin. The honeysuckle scent of her silky hair teased him, threatening to bring back the memories of another woman and another goodbye. But it hadn’t been the morning after and it hadn’t been nearly as painful, even when she hadn’t shown up the next day. Hell, it didn’t touch this.

Taking a deep breath, he confessed his soul to her. “I promise to be the man I should be, the man I’m meant to be and the man you deserve.”

“I don’t know that one.”

“No movie line. It’s me; it’s you. You are my muse, my inspiration, my reason for everything,” Christian revealed between kisses. “And I’m completely in love with you.”