Sylvia turned on her shiny, black pumps to look at us. "Nice? Is that all?"
"It'sverynice," Knox amended.
"Super nice," I agreed with cheeky seriousness.
Sylvia looked unconvinced but turned around again to finish walking the length of the enormous ballroom. "I'm sure you're both eager to begin your lives together," she said with a glance over her shoulder at us. "And eager to have the house in your names. Let's book the room for the soonest availability. Yes?"
Knox and I exchanged wary looks. This was what we wanted, but why did it feel like we were being played? It wasn't like I would actually be forced to marry Knox in this gaudy place. I gave him an uncertain glance.Right?
With Sylvia out of earshot, I whispered, “Is she actually gifting you the house?”
“It’s hard to say,” he said, frowning and tossing a glance his mother’s way. “We can play this out and see if she does. She believes we’re getting married. She might hand it over.”
“I mean, I guess it’s worth it to try,” I agreed reluctantly.
His expression gentled. “Only if you want to. We can find another way.”
“What? Tricking her into saying something incriminating? She won’t shut up about the wedding.”
He exhaled, and his resigned expression told me he agreed. “We can see where it goes… for now.”
Knox looked absurdly handsome today. Maybe it was because I was used to seeing him in corporate clothing, but his casualoutfit looked downright sexy and snuggly. He was wearing a soft, heather gray sweatshirt, casual, dark pants, and squeaky clean, white sneakers, and he looked equally as likely to go to the gym as he was to go home with me and pull me into a comforting hug. I wanted to curl up next to him and watch a movie. Or give him a handy.
We'd had sex again last night, and it had only made me want him more. He was a drug. A tall, sculpted, blue-eyed drug I wanted to inhale and stay high on.
Knox shifted a look my way, and his mouth curled up into a smile that melted my insides. I bit my lip before mouthing, "I want—" I made a crude hand job gesture "—to do you."
He grabbed my hand again and yanked me to his side with a hard expression. Bending down, he whispered in my ear, "Are you trying to get punished, Gemma Daise?"
I winked. "Now what kind of deviant would want that?"
"Mhm," he hummed, kissing my temple before straightening again and leading me to follow his Kraken of a parent. We went out a glass side door to the gardens, and although the wind and a slight drizzle were making the day unhospitable, we followed the venue employee through the manicured gardens while she told us about the ideal locations for an outdoor wedding. I shivered under my yellow peacoat, and Knox tucked my hand into the pocket of his hoodie where he rubbed soothing circles along my skin. I could swear he never actually stopped touching me now. He hadn't been exaggerating—once he started, he didn't intend to stop.
And I loved it. I shouldn't have, and I knew that somewhat logically. It was a chronic weakness of mine to fall for men way too quickly. It didn't take much kindness to win me over. I already loved love—I orchestrated it for a living. But even in my personal life, the little moments, the kindnesses, the caring gestures, they all seeped right into the dry sponge I called myheart. It felt like I could never get enough. And Knox was giving me so much, I feared I would start to actually crave him for real. What if I actually fell for this man? It was a dangerous prospect.
Mentally steeling myself, I gave him a grateful smile and then tried to focus on what the employee was saying about sunset photography opportunities. By the time we made it back to the well-lit foyer, my hair was damp from the misty rain, my nose had frozen, and my patience was barely hanging on by a shredded piece of floss. The employee, a smartly dressed, middle-aged woman in a charcoal skirt suit, gave us her brightest smile. "So, what do we think?"
"Oh, we must have it," Sylvia gushed. To the employee's credit, she did glance our way uncertainly, but what were we going to say? "This isn't real, so I mean, whatever…?" Instead, Knox just nodded once, and Sylvia clapped her leather-gloved hands together once. "What's your soonest availability?"
My intestines tangled together like bad balloon art. That sounded ominous. Surely, they couldn't have anything too soo—
"Actually, we did have a cancellation yesterday," the employee said with a knowing smile. "It's a bit rushed, though. January."
Sylvia said, "We'll take it," at the exact moment that Knox rumbled, "No."
The employee looked between the two of them nervously. "Oh… should I…?"
Sylvia rounded a merciless glower our way that would have curled my nose hairs if I hadn't just waxed them. "We can make the timeline work if we hurry. And we'll gift the house as an engagement present. What do you think?" She paused, her gaze on Knox sharpening with a lethal glint. "Youdowant to be married, don't you?"
What a snarling bitch. I'd never had much of a poker face. I let my features coil into irritation, but Knox wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a reassuring squeeze. “Andwhy would you gift us the house? Is there some reason we couldn’t stay in it as is?”
Knox had been trying all day to get Sylvia to admit she’d written an unethical and lawfully dubious clause into our lease agreement, but no luck.
She saw through him immediately. “Why, for your finances. It’s so much smarter to own.”
Knox looked like he was out of patience, too. “January, it is.”
Sylvia’s smile was oil slick. "Now, shall we celebrate with lunch?"
