“Diana, you are beautiful,” he praised, his voice thick. Beautiful wasn’t even close to how she looked.
She blushed, her eyelashes fluttering. “You look handsome,” she said, her gaze taking him in, from the black bow tie at his throat, to the perfectly shined black shoes on his feet. “Very handsome,” she murmured, her throat working.
Ah…so his goddess found him acceptable. Good.
Before he could say ‘the hell with it’ and take her back upstairs, he placed a hand on the small of her back and directed her toward the lobby doors.
“Shall we?” he drawled, thankful he was regaining some of his control.
She nodded. “Absolutely,” she chirped, turning a deeper shade of pink. Heavens, but her nervousness was adorable. If she even knew a tenth of what he was thinking about her, she’d run screaming.
And he’d chase her, capture her, and make her scream for a wholly different reason.
Goddamn, the man was a Greek god in a tuxedo, how the hell was she supposed to spend the night beside him without jumping on him and begging him to fuck her. Pregnancy hormones were a bitch, especially the ones making her hornier than a teenaged boy in the Playboy Mansion. Since the beginning of the month, she’d awaken sweaty, trembling, her panties soaking wet, her pussy aching, her thoughts squarely on one man’s enormous, thick, veiny cock, and what he could do with it. What she wanted him to do with it, again, and again, and again.
As the Escalade pulled away from the curb, Diana nearly came out of her skin at the sound of David’s voice.
“Your next OB appointment is on Monday,” he intoned, his accent pronounced.
He knew that? Her shock at his knowledge allowed for her first brain fart of the night. “Yes…would you like to come?” God, had she actually asked that? What if he said no? What if he said yes? Then she’d have to go through the embarrassment of the pelvic exam with David in the room.
It’s not like he hasn’t seen and touched and licked it all before.
“Yes. Yes, I would. Very much.”
She grinned, her heart floating. “It’s a date, then.”
Suddenly, David’s expression shut down, his charming and scorching demeanor from the lobby all but gone. Had she said the wrong thing? Damn, she hated now knowing what to say or do with him.
“A date, yes,” he finally replied before looking out the window at the city passing by.
The silence dragged on, the elation she’d felt earlier dissipating. What she wouldn’t give to know what the hell was going on in his head. Since moving in to the Incantata, her life—her future—was one big guessing game. She had nothing solid on which to build her plans, and she hated that.
You could just ask! What happened to the pragmatic, practical, and driven professional woman she was before she met David?
She got fucked and then fucked up.
Damn it! “You know…we haven’t actually talked about, you know, what will happen after the babies are born.”
He stiffened, his face hardening. He didn’t turn to her before he answered, “I’d like you to stay with me.”
Her breath lodged in her chest. “Stay with you?”
He nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Yes. You and the babies will stay with me. You will have your own room, right next to the nursery, so you will always be close to them.”
The mention of her own room dashed the fledging hope that she and David would…
What? Be sleeping together? The man hasn’t touched you in weeks. You’re the carrier for his babies, not his girlfriend. He got what he wanted from you and now he will get what he needs from someone else. Someone skinny and pretty and tall and rich. He’ll probably meet her tonight, then ditch you to get his rocks off while you head back to your cage and await his summons once again.
He turned to her, and she wondered if he could read her thoughts through her expression.
“We are partners, are we not? We will raise the babies together,” David’s tone was questioning, but there was also an uncertainty, as if he wasn’t completely sure of her commitment to their cold, detached partnership.
Well, it wasn’t what she really wanted—he couldn’t give her that, but for the sake of her children, she’d take what she could.
“Partners. Of course, David.” Her voice sounded solid enough, but it had taken concentrated effort to keep it from breaking.
As the Escalade pulled up in front of the large circular museum complex, Diana felt the hairs on the back of her head stand on end. This was it. Tonight she would stride into David’s world, a world of the see and be seen, a world she knew nothing about. But…she wasn’t alone. David would be there beside her, guiding her, right?
The door opened and David slid out first before turning and extending a hand for her to take. She did, swinging her legs out the door before standing. The flashing lights were blinding and the cacophony of voices trying to outdo one another was deafening. She couldn’t see, couldn’t think, but David was right there, leading her through the throng of paparazzi, up the red carpet, and into the building.
Once inside, she sucked in a deep breath, her gaze unfocused.
“Breathe, darling. Those vultures aren’t allowed in the building,” David murmured, his hand making slow circles between her shoulder blades. Immediately, she felt both comforted and turned on.
She tensed, pulling her shoulders back and meeting his gaze. The concern there nearly made her heart trip. She sighed. “Are they always like that?” she quipped.
He grinned, his smile lopsided. “Yes, but you get used to them.”
“I’d rather not,” she remarked, turning her head to finally take in the room. She been in the Guggenheim before as a visitor, but never at night when the space was done up for a fancy charity party. It was
