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“The kiss or losing control?” Pia deet the iainst her belly? Had that been part of the pretense too? When he opened hisbefore you say soive”
Eyes flaring, he looked away In profile, his face was tight with control His impressive chest rose and fell
“Are you all right?”
“No I’ht” She wished she could lie, but as the point? Just as she couldn’t becoames either
Oh, why had she involved hiht she’d somehow resist her attraction to hi such a co her up in knots—and that hen he wasn’t kissing her “I don’t kiss a man as if my life depends on it, and then coolly wipe it from my mind”
When he reached for her hands, Pia shied them away A tic beat violently under his jaw
He didn’t want to have kissed her, yet he didn’t like it if she turned away from his touch What did he want from her?
“You have to I won’t let it spiral like that, but if we have to keep this pretense up some intimacy will be required”
Understanding da trails his body had left across hers This was how he usually had his affairs Except she hadn’t followed the script “I can’t just separate it like you do I can’t turn it off when it’s inconvenient”
His eyes flared “Convenient? Nothing about my life has been convenient since you decided to stor over theet to you Then, he puts you in his in this whole thing Do I worry about the threatsabout Alyssa or do I worry about which man’s trap you’ll fall into next? My whole life has been turned upside down because of your presence Damn Gio and damn…”
Pia flinched at the vehemence in his words Did he really resent her presence in his life so much? Tears prickled at the back of her eyes and she shut them away
Perhaps sensing how she’d retreated from him, he took a deep breath, ran a hand over his eyes Whatever he claimed, it was clear that the kiss hadn’t left him unaffected
He reached her and traced a finger against her jawline The tenderness in the gesture stole her breath just asthat he clearly wasn’t going to give “You kissyour life upside down, and then you touch me as if I’m precious I don’t understand you, Raphael”