“Just because we live in the same house doesn’t mean we can’t go out on dates. Maybe we fool around if the mood strikes, the way a dating couple would.”
Her brows drew together. “Sex is a line in the sand for me in this relationship.”
“It doesn’t have to be sex.” He took another small step closer. “Holding hands. Making out. Just like if we were any other dating couple. And we see how it goes. If it’s making things messier, we haul it back again.”
She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth as she considered and he watched, mesmerized. He’d kissed that plump lip. What he wouldn’t give to be able to kiss it again right now. To pull it into his mouth and gently bite down...
She released her lip and blew out a breath. “If we keep crossing that line and then retreating, the line is going to get completely blurred.”
“It comes down to one question.” He took her other hand as well and brought them together—all four of their hands in one grip. “Harper, do you want to do this?”
She closed her eyes tight, as if in pain, before opening them and meeting his gaze head-on. “Of course I want to. That was never in question.”
“Then let’s give it a try. We’re both well aware of the potential pitfalls, which means we’ll be on our guard for them. Let’s just give it a try.”
She opened her mouth to say something, hesitated, swallowed hard, then nodded. “Sure. Okay. But it needs to be a trial, just to see how it goes.”
He wanted to haul her against him and hold her, but he knew the only way forward was cautiously, so instead he just said, “Deal.”
But inside he was smiling.
* * *
The next day, Harper was unwrapping a sandwich at her desk so she could work through her lunch break when she thought she heard Nick’s voice float through her open door. She glanced through the plate-glass walls of her office to the open-plan area outside. Sure enough, Nick was wending his way through the desks, heading for her. Her heart stuttered to a stop at the sight of him, and when it kicked back in, it beat faster than before. Oh, the way that man moved—prowled—was a sight to behold, and the movement of each step pulled his clothes against his body, hinting at a physique toned by his daily workouts. She only just managed to restrain a sigh of appreciation.
A few people greeted him as Malcolm, and, not bothering to correct them, he said a casual “Hey” and kept moving.
She shook her head. The idea of mixing the two men up was ludicrous. They might look the same, but Malcolm was a warm, sunny day to Nick’s dark, brooding night. Of course if she hadn’t recognized that he wasn’t Malcolm on the night of the masked ball, she couldn’t expect that people who were only seeing him pass by to realize it. Besides, Nick was the silent partner—there were probably a few people working here who didn’t even realize Malcolm had a twin who owned half the company. Still...
He reached the desk just outside her office, and her assistant, Tom, glanced up to check if she was available then waved through the man he obviously thought was Malcolm. Nick barely seemed to notice that he was being given permission—his gaze was firmly locked on her. A delicious shiver of anticipation raced down her spine at the sparking intensity in his eyes.
Tom must have noticed something was a little off—perhaps since Nick hadn’t slowed to greet him the way Malcolm normally would have—so he turned and watched as Nick entered her office.
He gave her a lopsided grin and said, “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.” She stood and rounded her desk. “This is a surprise.”
“Since we started dating, I thought I’d drop by and take you to lunch. You know. On a date.”
“I was expecting we’d do things at night or on the weekends.” And, to be honest, she hadn’t expected anything quite so soon.
He took her hand and linked their fingers. “It wouldn’t have been much of a surprise that way.”
She coughed out a laugh. “I guess not.”
Over his shoulder, she noticed there was something of a scene unfolding on the other side of the plate-glass walls. Several people had dropped by Tom’s desk—some had taken the time to grab some paperwork so they could at least pretend they had a legitimate reason to be watching the events unfold, but others weren’t bothering with trying to be subtle. Of course, office life at Tate Armor was normally fairly routine and boring, so an event like the man they thought was the CEO walking into the company attorney’s office and holding her hand would be an interesting diversion, and word spread fast.
Normally she was a private person and would cringe at being the center of a scene. But with Nick smiling at her, she couldn’t bring herself to care. Instead, she looked back to him and murmured, “We have an audience.”
She looked down at their linked fingers and wanted to just focus on this new feeling of being courted by her husband, but she couldn’t completely ignore her coworkers, so finally she glanced up at Nick again.
“I haven’t told anyone here yet.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “About the babies, about the wedding or about me?”
“Any of it,” she admitted, trying not to wince but probably failing. A couple of times she’d almost told Tom but had changed her mind each time. She’d never shared much personal information before, so she hadn’t known how to start.
Nick raised an eyebrow. “No one noticed the wedding band?”