The Billionaire's Bargain (16 page)

Duncan
got up from his seat. She watched
as he grabbed a bowl then ladled himself some soup before joining her again.

“I was surprised. Like I said
earlier I reacted appallingly, and I won’t let it affect me again. I want us to
put this behind us.”

Tess thought about what he said and
agreed with him. They were married. She might as well make the most of it. She
wasn’t going anywhere else. Tess sipped the last of her soup wiping up the last
remnants around the edges with her last crusty bread. When she was done she
moved away to wash her pieces of cutlery. She didn’t like the thought of
leaving it for Grace, even though the other woman had said she should. As she
went to leave the kitchen, passing
Duncan
in the
process,
and his hand caught her around her
wrist imprisoning her. Tess stopped waiting for him to let her go.

She gave a slight pull on her wrist
to try to release his hold, but he held on. She huffed in frustration then
looked at him. She shot him a glare hoping he’d let her go.

“Please, let me go.”

“I want you to stay.”

“Why?”

“I like your company.”

Tess turned to the door yearning to
leave.
Duncan
did too much to her body for her to be comfortable. He made her want things she
couldn’t have.
Love, life, and a family.
He didn’t
know how much she craved them.
 

“Sit with me while I finish.” His
voice made it more of a statement than a question. He didn’t let her go.
 

“Why should
I?”She
heard the hard edge to her question even though she didn’t feel angry any more.
Duncan
was
working his way under her skin making her feel things she didn’t want to acknowledge.
Not only did he make her wants things,
Duncan
made her want those things with him. She was beginning to like and hate him all
at the same time. Grace spoke very fondly of him. There had to be more to him
than the corrupt businessman, surely.

“You’re my wife, Tess,” he said.

“That does not require me to sit
with you. Besides this marriage is not a real one.” She gave another tug on her
wrist, but still he did not release her.

She watched him tense at her words.
Why did she have to be a bitch? It wasn’t in her nature to be mean. She cursed
at her own lack of control. He cut her off before she got a chance to apologise
to him.
 

“Then consider it the underlining
print in the contract. While we’re married I still expect us to be civil to
each other. This is a proper marriage, and you’ll behave accordingly.”

She sucked in her breath. “You
expect me to behave like the proper, obedient, little wife, and you still get
to live your life as if you don’t have a wife?”

“I will not behave like you don’t
exist unless you don’t start to behave like a wife should. Now, sit with me. I
want to talk to you. Regardless of what you think, I don’t want to argue with
you.”

Tess wanted to go back to the
confines of her own bedroom. When he was near she couldn’t control herself. She
felt unsure around him. His blunt manner and actions always had her heart
racing. She could still feel the heat of his cock against her palm. Tess feared
the more time she spent with him the more she’d want him.

He gave her such a pleading look with
his dark gaze that she found it hard to resist him. Instead of leaving him, she
moved to sit beside him. She began to turn her engagement and wedding band to
try to distract
herself
. It would be so easy for her
to reach out and touch him.
 

Would their relationship ever get
past arguing? She really hoped so. When she didn’t hate him, she liked him and
vice versa. Her emotions confused her.

“Do you like my staff, Gerald and
Grace?” he asked. His own thoughts were cut off. She didn’t have a clue what he
was thinking.

Duncan
was an enigma to her.

“They’re wonderful people,” she said
and meant the words. She refused to lie even to
Duncan
. Grace and Gerald were two of the
nicest people she’d ever had the pleasure of meeting. She looked forward to
spending more time with each of them, in the kitchen eating meals or in the
garden talking about all the wonderful flowers in full bloom.

They’d make this period of her life
with Duncan James bearable. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her
wild locks still refused to be tamed after all this time.

“I’m pleased you like them. Gerald
and Grace have been with me for years. They have helped me through some serious
hardships. It’s why I’ve decided to give them some time off. I figured as we
won’t be here for some time it would give them some quality time away.”
 

His words made her giggle. Only
moments before she’d thought they’d be able to help her during her marriage
with
Duncan
.
Now, he had other plans. Her life couldn’t get any stranger.

Life was moving too fast, and Tess
was struggling to keep up.

“Why? Where are you going?” she
asked him.

“Where are
we
going?” He stared at her with a smile. It was one of the first
real smiles she’d seen him give. She relished the look on his face. He looked
so at ease with everything around him. She licked her lips to try to think. His
smile was infectious to her.

“All right, where are we going?” She
repeated the question so he was satisfied with a smile of her own.
 

“I’d like us to have a honeymoon. I
know you don’t consider this a real marriage, but I do. I want you to have
everything a marriage should have. A honeymoon is part of it. I wanted you to
have your dream wedding. I’ve made arrangements to have us flown out to my
family villa in
Italy
tomorrow morning, so we can start our honeymoon and begin our marriage
properly.”
     

He took her hand, running his thumb
over her two rings.
Duncan
had picked out his own ring, and she stared at the simple gold band decorating
his finger.

“Why are we going to
Italy
?” She could
have kicked herself. She’d always wanted to go to
Italy
. It was one of the places
she’d dreamt about visiting. She felt so happy. The desire to hug him was
strong. Her heart began to beat rapidly in her chest. He wanted to make this
marriage between them real. Could this be the beginning of something special?

Don’t get too far ahead of yourself, Tess. This is only the beginning.

“I thought it’d be a nice change. I
think we need to talk about our marriage, Tess,” he said.

She nodded her head, her excitement
hard to contain.

“I know we’ve never really discussed
what would happen during our marriage, and I think we need to take care of it
now. What do you think of our marriage?” he asked.

She stared at him opening and
closing her mouth a few times. “I don’t know what to think,
Duncan
. You requested this, and it’s sort of
blown up in our faces already.”

“Do you hate me?” he asked.

Tess gasped. Hate was a strong word,
and, yes, she’d thought her emotions were on the hate side of the emotional
spectrum. She gazed down at her hands where her wedding band lay. “I don’t hate
you, but I don’t like you all the time.”

“I wouldn’t like me either,” he
said.

She chuckled.

“I want you to get to know me, the
man. I don’t want this marriage to be a disaster. I know you’re here for your
father, but do you think you could learn to feel something more for me other
than dislike?”

More than you know.

“I don’t know how long this marriage
is going to last. I’d like for our time together to be enjoyable.”

He leaned forward. “Then open
yourself up to me, Tess. Learn to trust me, and we could make this marriage
work for real. The chemistry between us is there. We both can feel it, and you
can’t deny it. We could make this marriage last. We don’t have to call it quits
or think of ending it. Live for the now and not for tomorrow.”

She wouldn’t dream of denying the
attraction. Was it so bad to want more? “I’m not going to argue with you. I
just want more than attraction or ... sex to be part of a marriage.”

“Being together in
Italy
will give
this marriage a real chance. I like you, Tess, and I think you could learn to
like me, too.”

Tess didn’t know where this more
reasonable man had appeared, but she liked him a hell of a lot better.

****

Duncan
watched her closely. He was satisfied
to see the excitement shining in her eyes. His words were not lies. He did want
his marriage to work. He also wanted her to like him.

She had such beautiful eyes when she
smiled. They were filled with love. He knew it was only a matter of time before
all of her love was directed at him.

It seemed paying a quick private
visit to her father before the wedding had been worth the time and the
awkwardness after all.

Duncan
had learned of her passion for
Italy
from her
father. It had been a wonderful coincidence that his family home was in
Italy
as well.
According to Erik, she’d wanted to go to
Italy
since she was nine years old.
Gerald had informed him her favourite colour was yellow, and she loved
daffodils, which is why he’d asked Gerald to plant plenty of them throughout
the garden.

She took his bowl. Her whole face
was animated.
Duncan
wanted to see that smile on her face more often.

You’re falling for her.

You’re falling in love with your wife.

He didn’t care how he felt as long
as he got what he wanted. The feelings wouldn’t last long. They never did.
 
She came back to him wiping her hands on a
towel.

“What about your work though? You’re
a businessman. Won’t you be needed here?” she asked, her smile disappearing.

He didn’t like to see her eyes dim.

“Will I have to go on my own?”

Duncan
saw the disappointment in her eyes,
and that gave him hope. She looked so sad when she thought he wouldn’t be able
to go with her. His spirits lifted at her expression. She might think she
disliked him, but her mind wanted to be in his company no matter what she tried
to make him think.

There was hope for him. His plan
began to look more promising. He chuckled, feeling happier about their
situation.
 

“All taken care
of.
I’m the
boss, so I can take any time off I like; but I have put in place some back up
to make sure if any problems occur during my absence they can be in touch
straight away.” The light brightened within her depths. It was like watching a
child at Christmas time.

“This is going to be amazing. Thank
you so much.”

He liked seeing her smile.
Duncan
liked seeing her
happy. The feelings were a first for him. What shocked him the most was how
much he liked the fact he was the man to put the smile on her face.

She stood close to him, her honey
and vanilla scent invading his senses. The jeans and white shirt she wore
emphasised her curves to perfection. He’d been right in the size of clothes to
get her.

He recalled all of her softness
against his own body.

Soon, she’ll be in your arms, and then you can wipe all memory of last
night from her mind.

Duncan
wanted to give her a night to
remember where he worshipped all of her body all night long.

“Don’t worry about packing either. I
hate packing, and I’ve sorted everything so that anything we need will be ready
and waiting for us tomorrow.”

Duncan
took another chunk of bread from
the stand, popping it into his mouth. His soup was long gone, but his hunger
for her was still present. He stood ready to leave. If he stayed longer in her
company he couldn’t be held accountable for his actions. She made him yearn for
her in ways he’d thought long gone in his teenage years. When he was around her
he felt like a horny teenage boy.

Before he got chance to leave Tess
did something really taking him by surprise. She came up close to his body and
wrapped her arms around his neck. He curled his hand around her waist
supporting her as she brought her face close to his. His heart pounded inside
his chest. Staring down into her innocent face did things inside him he didn’t
understand.