We stepped into the church, side-by-side, with his hand on my waist. If the entire congregation didn’t turn to stare at us, at least ninety-five percent of it did. The heat of all their stares lit my skin. And then the whispering began.
Elena’s eyes went wide as we passed. And Ace, with an arm resting on the back of the pew, only raised a brow in amusement.
“Should we close out that bet now?” Val leaned in to ask, after we took a seat beside her and Ricardo.
“No,” I bit out stubbornly.
She laughed.
Christian’s jaw tightened, though he didn’t say a word.
During the service, he rested a hand on the bare sliver of skin between my dress and thigh-high boots.
I thought I loved that, too.
Afterward, the ladies stood around to gossip for a while, while the men drifted outside to do the same.
“I’ll be outside, malyshka,” he said in my ear. And then he turned my face and kissed me on the lips. It was short and sweet but possessive, letting everyone know Christian Allister was screwing me nine ways to Sunday.
I thought I heard someone gasp.
“Wow,” Valentina breathed, fanning herself with her Bible and watching his retreating form. “Tell me everything.”
My face burned while stuck in a state of disbelief that he’d actually done that. Maybe—just maybe—I could have passed off our presence here together as a generous deed of me showing a bad man the Lord, but that was completely off the table now.
“It was supposed to be just sex,” I complained.
Val nodded. “A lot of people bring their fuck buddies to church.”
“Could you please control your sarcasm today?” I rubbed my temple. “I think I’m getting the flu.” It felt like
I’d been about to catch it for over a week now. Must be a persistent stomach bug.
“Okay, let’s back it up a little. Just whose idea was this just sex relationship?”
“His! I have no self-respect, so, of course, I agreed. But now, he’s taking me to dinner parties, making me sleep in his bed but not even having sex with me, and next,”—my voice rose—“he’s kissing me at church!”
“Honey,” she laughed. “I’m sure you’ve just been blinded by the incredibly beautiful man he is, but I’m here to tell you, he has never wanted just sex from you. All anyone has to do is look at him when you’re in the room to know he’s obsessed with you.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, he’s obviously tricked you into a relationship.”
“He, what? He wouldn’t—” I cut myself off because, yeah, he would. “But, why?”
“Who knows why men do things? He probably thought you would turn him down.”
I chewed my cheek. “I would have.”
I’d panicked when he’d proposed a relationship on the plane, and now, I knew he’d noticed. I hadn’t been ready for anything serious at the time. And I still wasn’t . . . right? Indecision slid down my spine. I didn’t want to give up what we had—in fact, the idea of ending it made me feel sick—but I was also uneasy to think about what he wanted from me in the end.
“What should I do?” I whispered.
“Well, he’s certainly a man capable of knocking you up.” She pursed her lips, looking at my body. “If you aren’t already.” I rolled my eyes. I’d had my period not long ago. “So, there’s that issue. And I’ll be honest and say he’s so intense he scares me a little. He wouldn’t hit you, would he?”
“No.” I was suddenly never surer of anything.
“Do you like him?”