Page 11 of Untamed Billionaire's Innocent Bride
“You are aware that a kiss is a sexual act, are you not?”
“I’ve kissed before,” Lauren said, and even shook her head at him, wrinkling up her nose as if he was...silly. Him. Silly. “I experimented with kissing when I was at university. As you do. That’s how I know that it isn’t for me.”
“You experimented,” he repeated as if that would make sense of what she was saying with such astonishing confidence—though, again, when he looked closer he was almost sure it was an act. Did he merely want it to be? “With kissing.”
“As I said, there are all sorts. Not everyone is consumed with the urge to flail about naked. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but some of us have other things to think about.” Her expression turned virtuous and Dominik was sure, then, that while she might believe what she was saying, he’d...rocked her foundations. She was overselling it. “More important things.”
“And what, dare I ask, is it that consumes your thoughts if not...flailing?”
“You’ve made quite a few references to my being at Mr. Combe’s bidding, but I take my job very seriously. It requires dedication. Focus and energy. I couldn’t possibly siphon all of that off into all that trawling about from pub to pub every night, all to...”
“Flail. Naked.”
“Exactly.”
Dominik knew two things then as surely as he knew himself, his own capabilities and the fact she was lying about her own sexuality. One, if he wasn’t misunderstanding what she was telling him, his sharp, majestically shoed and caramel-eyed blonde was a virgin. And two, that possibility made him hard.
Very nearly desperately so.
Because he already knew how she tasted. He’d heard the noises she’d made when he kissed her, and no matter what she told herself and was trying to tell him now, he did not believe that she had been unaffected.
He knew otherwise, in fact, as surely as he knew his own name.
“I can see how you’re looking at me,” Lauren said. She was still entirely too relaxed, to his way of thinking, leaning back in the leather chair as if she owned it. Clearly certain that she was in total control of this conversation. And him. “I don’t understand why men take this as such a challenge.”
Dominik’s mouth curved. “Do you not?”
It was her turn to shrug. “I’m perfectly comfortable with who I am.”
“Obviously.” He settled back against his chair until he mirrored her. And for a long moment, every second of which he could feel in the place where he was hardest, he simply...studied her. Until her smile faded and she looked a whole lot less certain. “For reference, little red, people who are perfectly comfortable with themselves rarely mentioned their sexuality at all, much less bludgeon others over the head with it.”
“Oh, I see.” Her smile was bland again, and this time, distinctly pitying besides, though he could see the uncertainty she tried to hide. “You’re upset because you think I’m saying this because I didn’t like your kiss. Don’t worry, Mr. James. I don’t like any kissing. Not just yours.”
“Of the two of us sitting here, Lauren,” he said, enjoying the taste of her name in his mouth and the faint tremor in her sweet lower lip that told him the truths she couldn’t, “I am the one who is actually comfortable with himself. Not to mention fully aware. I know exactly how much you liked my kiss without you needing to tell me all these stories.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Her chin tipped up again, her eyes flashing as if that could hide the glint of doubt there. “I’ve seen this a thousand times before, you know. First, you will proposition me. Then you’ll throw a temper tantrum when I decline your kind offer to see what I’m missing, with you as selfless guide. It’s always the same old story.”
“Is it? Why don’t you tell it to me?”
She waved that hand of hers again. “You will want to kiss me, certain that a mere touch of your lips will awaken me to the joys of the flesh. It won’t work, it’s already failed to awaken me to anything, but you won’t believe me. I can see you already don’t believe me.” She had the gall to try to look bored. “And if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather fast-forward straight through that same old song and dance. It’s tedious.”
“If you insist.” He found himself stroking his jaw with his fingers, because he knew that if he reached over to put them on her, she would take it as evidence of this theory of hers. This song and dance. No matter how much she liked it. “And what is on the other side? Once we’re finished with all this fast-forwarding?”
“Why, business, of course. What else?”
“But in this case, little red, your business and mine are the same. Aren’t you here to tempt me out of my humble cabin and into the great, wide world?”
“I am. All you need to do is name your price.”
And Dominik was not an impulsive man. Not anymore. He had learned his lesson, time and again, in his misspent youth.
But there was something about this woman that got to him. She was still smiling at him in that pitying way when he’d already tasted her. When he knew better. He couldn’t tell if she was lying to herself as well as him, but try as he might, he couldn’t think of a single good reason to deny himself.
Not when Lauren Clarke was the most entertainment he’d had in ages.
And Dominik was no longer in the army. He no longer ran his security company. If he wanted to live his life in pursuit of his own amusement, he could now.
Even if it meant involving himself with the blood relations he had located when he was still in the army, but had never seen any reason to contact.