Before I can respond, he’s grabbed the wet things and left the room.
I leave the shower to perch on the edge of the counter and dry myself.
Lord. What have I done? How will I ever turn him down now?
When Ty returns, he’s got his own towel around his waist.
He leans in for a sweet kiss on my forehead.
I close my eyes. “So, that was you convincing me, eh?”
His sly smile returns and he pulls me into his arms. “Well, you seemed like you might say no. I had to up the ante.”
He takes a step backward and drops to one knee.
He holds a small blue box up on the flattened palm of his hand.
Oh, good grief. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
His eyes sparkle. “Josephina Jordan, say you’ll marry me.”
I swallow hard.
And again.
His gaze doesn’t leave mine as his stare turns more intense, as though willing me to do his bidding.
There was a time I’d have done anything for Tyson Masters, anything at all.
Hell, who am I kidding? I’m not too far removed from that teen-aged girl with a crush the size of Texas on the boy next door—a boy who never saw her…not really.
But I have to protect myself. I have to keep in mind that he only sees me as a means to an end, his ticket to getting what he wants.
I can’t fall for the one-knee proposal as anything but what it is—a ridiculous half-joke. The first of many falsities that will make up this marriage.
No. I won’t have it. Amazing oral sex aside.
I hold up a finger. “On one condition.”
For a moment, surprise lights his face, but then the cocky Tyson I’ve always known is back, his grin spreading as he stands, taking the shiny rock from where it nestles in its velvet bed. “Name it.”
“No more kissing. No romancing. Strictly roommates.”
“No kissing? No showers? None of that sweet cream?” His brow furrows.
“And no sex either.” I poke him in the middle of his pecs. “If you can’t go without, then for God’s sake, be discreet. Don’t humiliate me.”
He has the audacity to look injured as he lays the ring on the counter and takes a step back, holding up his hands in surrender. “I would never—”
I place my finger over his lips and shake my head. “I understand that you need this marriage to look real to the outside world, but I mean it. When it’s just you and me, nothing fake.”
SIX
The screech of packing tape as it’s stretched over the box grates my ears.
I stack this one on the pile of crates and bins all ready to be loaded into the moving truck Tyson hired.
In the living room, Stevie flirts with the three guys who came with the truck. “You’re so strong, but the sofa doesn’t go. It’s mine. I’m staying. Single. Unattached. Just sayin’.”
Ty leans around the doorframe. “Hey, love, you about ready for them to take down your bed?”
I whisper, “Terms of endearment are for people who love each other.”
His eyes sparkle as he shrugs. “Just trying out different things to get comfortable for when we head to the JP’s office next week.”
“Practice in the bathroom mirror if you must, but don’t use that crap on me.”
“I like love, I think it embodies the spirit of what we’re trying to convey.”
I shove a box into his chest. “I’d prefer you use Jo, if it’s all the same to you.”
“I prefer JoJo over Jo, love.” He winks.
I glare. “We agreed that when we’re alone—”
He hooks his thumb over his shoulder. “But we aren’t.”
I lean out to check the hall. Sure enough, one of the movers is coming our way. As I brush by Tyson, his arm snakes out and pulls me to him.
His lips capture mine for a moment before he lets loose.
The flutter in my lungs pushes me to say, “You know what I meant when I said—”
The burly guy smiles. “Excuse me.”
Ty steps back, pulling me with him out of the way, and with a nip to my earlobe, he whispers, “I like the way you taste, and you can bet your pretty little ass that I’m going to enjoy your flavor every chance I get.”
My face heats.
I like the way he tastes too.
I whip away from him, shoving my hands into the pockets of my shorts to keep from grabbing Ty and yanking him back to me. “I don’t care what you like. Stick to the rules.”
I’m almost to the living room before he calls after me, “I’ve never really been a rule follower, JoJo. I thought you knew that.”
Mountains of boxes huddle against the walls and packing paper is strewn across the floors of my new temporary home.
Shawn, the head guy in charge of the movers, hands a clipboard to Ty. “If you can just sign that, we’ll get out of your way.”