Her blood was beginning to hum with irritation. It was a welcome feeling compared to the ones she’d been having. “You didn’t seem all that happy, either. I don’t think there was a person in this room who believed either of us wanted to get married, so don’t you go blaming me for your mood.”
“I do blame you, Sheridan. My mood is one of frustration. Because I could smell you beside me and I couldn’t touch you. You’ve told me not to touch you and I won’t. But it frustrates me greatly. A man should be able to touch his wife.”
Her heart skipped. Of all the things she’d thought were bothering him...
The blood rushed wildly through her veins. He was sexually frustrated, not angry. He wanted her. In spite of everything, little bubbles of excitement popped and fizzed in her tummy.
“I thought you said we would have a marriage in name only.” Because he had said so in the car in Savannah, and though they’d already had sex twice, she wanted him to admit he’d changed his mind. Because she wasn’t going to keep having wild encounters with him and then be sent away as if she’d somehow misbehaved.
His eyebrows shot up. “Do you honestly think after this past week that’s going to happen?”
She shrugged. “You tell me. Both times we’ve been together, you couldn’t wait to get away.”
He put his forehead in one palm for a moment, his fingers spanning his temples. And then he was looking at her again.
“It’s not you.”
There was a pinch in her chest. “That’s a cliché, Rashid. It’s not you, it’s me. It’s also what people usually say right before they say something awful, like ‘I think we need to take a break’ or ‘I just can’t love you the way you deserve.’”
As soon as she said the word love she wished she could call it back. It had no place here, and judging by the way he was looking at her now, it never would.
“We are clearly not taking a break. We’ve only just started. And as for love...” His expression grew stony. “I’m not capable of it, Sheridan.”
Sheridan swallowed hard. Why did it hurt to hear him say it? Did she really expect love to enter the equation?
Yes. Yes, she did. Maybe not now, but someday. How could you live with someone, have such undeniable sexual chemistry with them, and not fall in love at some point? It didn’t seem possible. There was more heat between her and Rashid than there’d ever been in both of her other relationships combined.
But maybe that was just her. Maybe Rashid took that kind of response for granted.
Sheridan turned toward the door. “I think I should go now. You clearly have work to do.”
“I’m not trying to hurt you, habibti.” She thought of the way Kadir had said that word to his wife and tears welled behind her eyes.
“Why would I be hurt?” She lifted her chin. “We are nothing to each other, Rashid. Apparently, we’re going to remain that way.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THEY ATE DINNER in Rashid’s private dining room with Kadir and Emily. That was an exercise in torture for Sheridan since those two were so clearly in love that it hurt to watch. Not because she expected Rashid to love her or because she wanted to love him, but when you found yourself pregnant and married without a mention of love, you felt rather cheated over the whole thing.