Page 33 of Wed to the Devil
Pulling my hand off of her knee, I direct my attention back to the three clients. “Should I order a round of gin martinis for the table?”
“Damn right,” Jamal says. “Let’s toast how well our two companies are doing right now.”
“The market is literally ravenous for our products,” agrees Gus. “It’s a beautiful time to be young and ambitious. It seems like the sky's the limit. Hell, maybe I should get my own woman.” He wiggles his eyebrows at Talia. “Do they have more of your model at the store where Dare bought you?”
Talia’s smile vanishes. Her mouth bunches up and for a second, I think she’s about to expose Gus to her razor-sharp tongue. But she just looks at me, scooting toward me.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try to find the lavatory.”
I stand up, offering her my hand. Talia ignores the gesture and struts off toward the bar. As she walks away, her ass looks amazing in her little black dress.
“Jesus, man. All that red hair. She must be a real firecracker in the bedroom,” Jamal says.
My lips tip upward. “You have no idea.”
Talia is gone for quite a while. I sip my martini and try to pay attention as the men take turns telling crazy stories of going clubbing and hooking up with wannabe-models. After a while, I see Talia heading out of the restaurant, putting her head down in a failed attempt not to attract any attention.
I fold up my napkin and excuse myself from the table. Weaving my way between patrons and waiters, I catch up with Talia just as she slips out the door. Snaring her hand, I pull her to a stop just outside the restaurant.
“Talia.”
She looks back at me and pulls her hand free of my grip, exasperated. “What?”
I can feel my neck growing hot. “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.” She tosses her head, her jaw locking. “Away from this macho ‘I own the world’ bullshit. It’s gross.”
I snort. “Just because the guys are a little douchey—”
“They areawful.” Talia crosses her arms, shivering against the cold night air. “And the fact that you expect me to sit there like a complacent sex doll while you all talk about how much money you have… It’s totally immature.”
My mouth falls open. This was not the reaction I expected her to have. I don’t know exactly why I brought her; her feelings were an afterthought.
Talia looks at me, shaking her head. “Honestly, Dare. I expected more of you.”
“You expected more of me? That’s a ridiculous thing to say. You didn’t marry me because I’m perfectly respectable. You married me because I could pay your bills. And I married you because you are pretty enough, meek enough, and you happen to be carrying a child with my DNA.”
She clenches her jaw, eyes flashing. “I’m not some pretty trinket that you bought. You can’t just bring me out on special occasions to amuse your friends. I’m a person, Dare. I can hearandI have feelings.”
I open my mouth to defend myself, but she holds up a finger.
“I really hate that you think of me as meek. You have some old-fashioned notions of a biddable, quiet little wifey. And I’m here to tell you that I’m not going to fit into that mold.”
I grab Talia by the shoulders, snaking one hand up behind her head, and shut her up by sealing my mouth over hers. At first, she makes a muffled noise, protesting as I kiss her. Then she opens her mouth to me, her tongue sliding against mine. She tastes so fucking sweet that I growl into her mouth.
But she wrenches herself away from me, her chest heaving. Her eyes are sparking like bottled lightning.
“No.” She wipes at her lips as she drags in a breath, her color high. “You don’t even know me, Dare. How can you kiss me? How can you act like you want to fuck me?”
“You’re my wife,” I grit out. My hands clench the fabric of her dress at her waist. “How can I pretend that I don’t want to rip your dress off and—”
She pushes at my chest with such force that it almost hurts. “Let me go, Dare.”
She looks disgusted with me. I clench the fabric of her dress in my hands tightly for a second. Then I ease my grip and allow her to wriggle free.
“You’re handsome. I’m sure you know that. But you know what else you are?” She pulls up the hem of her top. “You’re not a good human being, Dare.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” I ask.