He looked so yummy wearing a sand-colored linen shirt, open at the collar, and a pair of navy pants that showed off his muscular hips and thighs to such perfection. She dragged her gaze back to his eyes to keep from staring. Wow, the thoughts he made race through her brain. She shook her head and raised another piece of the candy to her lips. Delicious.
Jason cleared his throat, and she blinked over at him, surprised again by how the world simply fell away whenever Nick was close enough to touch. Blushing, she turned back toward her ex and dropped a bombshell smile. “Jason, this is my fiancé, Nick Wright.” She looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “Nick, Jason Ward.”
MasterCard priceless. There was no other way to describe the look on her ex’s face. No calculation or analysis could capture the way his smile faltered, the way the color drained from behind his spring tan. The blond highlights. The sexy sundress. The updated eyewear with the perfect amount of bling. All absolutely priceless when compared to the look of shock on her ex-fiancé’s face.
Never a woman who enjoyed another person’s discomfort, a twinge of guilt twisted in her stomach. But then she remembered her hopeful willingness, the satin panties, the dominatrix. Timid. Hopeless. Ice queen. She drew in a wobbly breath. Misplaced guilt would have to wait.
The men spent a minute sizing each other up before Nick extended his hand. “Jason.”
“Nick.” He reached out to accept the handshake, and she noticed how he seemed dwarfed by Nick’s build and presence. “Engaged? Not expected, but congratulations seem to be in order.”
Not expected. Marianne fought an urge to wrinkle her nose at the condescending comment. “And yet, current statistics show that four out of five people fall in love within one year of a breakup.”
Jason gave her a flirtatious wink. “But do statistics show how long that kind of love lasts, Marianne? Or are you simply talking about a rebound relationship?”
Nick smiled easily, letting his fingers rest on her hipbone in a proprietary way that screamed, back off, she’s mine. The caveman move sent a girly thrill racing up her spine and made her want to sneak into the clown’s tent and shimmy out of her sundress.
“I don’t know about you, Jason,” he said in a low voice tinged with warning. “I’m not much of a statistics guy, unless we’re talking quarterback ratings, and yet, I fell for this woman at first glance.” He made a sexy sound of approval in the back of his throat. “One look at her curves in this hot, silvery dress, and I’ll tell you, I was lost.”
Lost.
Yes.
That’s exactly how she’d felt.
He grinned down at her like a man in real love. She took a breath and reminded herself that their engagement was temporary, a six-week run that closed as soon as the show was over. Still, when he looked at her that way, convincing her heart of their short-term status proved to be difficult, especially when it all felt so real. “Funny how that can happen.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Funny.” His fingers fanned out, skimming her hips and upper thigh, and Marianne felt the temperature between them rise into the red zone. Not timid or hopeless or icy. Her gaze moved back to her former fiancé, and she was pleased to find him staring, practically open-mouthed—like a carp. She shifted toward him in that innocent, Marilyn way she’d practiced. “Some loves do last, Jason.”
His gaze raked over her body, seeming to take in how Nick’s palm had drifted south and now rested firmly across her backside. Probably wondering if she let Nick spank her.
“My loss,” he said, pressing his hand to his chest in a mock gesture of pain. “But maybe we can put the past behind us. Get a drink next time I’m in the city.”
Meeting up with Jason didn’t interest her in the least, but she played along. “We’ll have to check the calendar, right, honey?”
Nick nuzzled her cheek in an intimate gesture that was all kinds of possessive, and Marianne felt her breath catch in her throat. She was overheating like a late-night bonfire on Montauk Beach. “Why don’t you call my office?” Nick said.
A small, hopeful smile touched her lips. Was she misreading the situation, or was Nick actually staking his claim? Could he be jealous?
Marianne shook away the notion. He’d agreed to play the charming fiancé, and he was simply doing a bang-up job. The annoyance written on his face at her subtle flirtation, at the mention of an off-the-books date with her ex was all in her imagination. Then he reached for her cardigan and draped it securely over her shoulders. Definitely a caveman move.