Priceless Treasure(22)

Interesting.

“I wanted to talk last night. I didn’t mean to stay, but I … um … drank a bit too much and then somehow found myself right here,” he told her. That sounded pretty good, didn’t it?

“You shouldn’t be in here, Ashton,” she squeaked, looking down at his exposed chest.

When had his shirt come off? He didn’t remember removing any of his clothes. Reaching below the covers he’d somehow managed to get beneath, he felt for his pants and was relieved when he found them still in place and still zipped up. He’d probably never know how the shirt had disappeared. But the appreciative light in her eyes while looking at his pecs made him glad it had.#p#分页标题#e#

“I know I shouldn’t,” he said. “But …”

“So go,” she told him as if speaking to a child.

“One problem — I really don’t want to.”

She gasped and looked back into his eyes, but the look she was giving him suggested she was trying to figure out how many heads he had. Her attraction to him had gone south, and that wasn’t exactly what he wanted from a woman he was sharing a bed with — well, unless south meant the region of his body getting harder by the second.

“I don’t care if you want to or not,” she said, her eyes narrowing dangerously. “This is my bed and I want you out of it. Now.”

“Technically, doll, it’s my bed.”

She opened her mouth and gaped at him like a fish out of water. Or even a fish in water — a hungry fish? A fish who was really hungry but didn’t want to admit it? Damn. He had to stop thinking like this. She’d be after his balls soon, and not in a good way.

“Really, Ashton? So you can just show up any time you please?”

“No. I probably shouldn’t have climbed into bed with you, but now that I’m here, I have to admit that it’s quite cozy and warm, and it smells great,” he said with an exaggerated leer. He must have spent years practicing his eyebrow waggles.

Ashton hadn’t planned to have feelings for this woman — feelings other than basic down-and-dirty lust — but as he sat beside her, enjoying the pink in her cheeks, the moistness of her lips, and the fire sparking from her eyes, he was enjoying himself immensely, and he actually liked her.

That was unexpected.

He wouldn’t mind waking up like this every single morning.

Oh, sh … oot. That thought terrified him. Maybe it really was time to go. So why wasn’t he moving? Hmmmm.

“I think your fiancée would be quite upset about this,” Savvy said primly. “Or maybe the two of you have an open relationship. I assure you, however, that I want no part of something as sickening as that.”

Scooting just a bit closer so his leg brushed hers, Ashton decided shocking and outraging this woman could become a favorite pastime.

“I’m going to break up with Kalli.” That hadn’t been at all what he’d meant to say. That hadn’t been his grand plan. And he needed the trophy wife, so he opened his mouth to correct himself, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“That’s contemptible, Ashton. Let me understand this. You haven’t even ended things, let alone taken any time to let your sheets cool off before you leap into bed with someone else. Do you think you’re so appealing that I’ll jump for joy and then jump you?”

“Well, kind of, yeah,” he said. Maybe that wasn’t so smart. Her eyes were blazing. Damn, if she were a comic-book superhero, he’d be fried right now. No comedy in that.

“No way that’s happening. I can guarantee it. And I feel sorry for this woman.”

“Why? The engagement is nothing more than a convenience for both of us.” Ashton really wanted to tell himself to shut up. But that only seemed to be happening when he didn’t want it to happen.

“How can you be so casual about breaking someone’s heart? Are you that cold?”

“Breaking her heart? Did you not meet Kalli?”

“She obviously loves you, Ashton. You’re engaged.”

“You think love has anything to do with it? Don’t you remember that old Tina Turner song? That’s really precious. You are so naïve when it comes to the ways of the real world.”#p#分页标题#e#

“You sound a little cynical.”

“I’m a lot cynical, Savvy.”

“But … but the only reason to marry is love,” she insisted.

“There’s companionship, financial security, arm candy,” he told her, which made her cute little lips part again.

“That’s awful, Ashton. How can you say such horrible things?”