Best. Decision. Ever.

“You can move the towel, you know,” I inform her as she reaches the base of my spine. For a split second, she freezes, and then sets back to work, grinding the pads of her fingers in deeper. “I’m not wearing any underwear, in case you were wondering,” I continue. I probably shouldn’t, but I can’t stop goading her. Reading her reaction is more entertaining than watching television.

“I wasn’t,” she snaps then, much to my disappointment, she removes her hands and steps away. “You’re done.”

I’m done. I hear the truth behind her words and it bothers me because I’m not even close to being finished here. Pressing my hands into the table, I sit up, allowing the towel around my hips to split open before closing the gap. Accident? Maybe. Maybe not. Vista’s eyes flare and dart away and I smirk, knowing she caught a glimpse of my package.

“What’s wrong, princess?” I ask innocently as I set my feet on the floor. “You’re looking a little flushed.”

“It’s hot in here,” she says with a dismissive flick of her hand. She works fast, shoving her oils back into the designated pockets of the bag before retreating toward the kitchen. “How are you feeling?” she asks distractedly as she pours herself a glass of water from the sink and gulps it down.

Rolling my shoulders, I don’t feel the usual pinches and aches I’ve grown used to, which is impressive. Being active takes a toll on the body. “Like a fool for not hiring you sooner,” I say honestly. “Where’d you learn to use your hands like that?” It’s a rhetorical question, but she snorts in amusement.

“I went to college, remember?”

“Physical therapy, right?” I seem to recall my father mentioning something about it over the phone, but I wasn’t really listening. I am now, though. For some reason, I want to learn more about the woman standing in front of me.

“That’s right.”

Entering the kitchen, I close the distance, taking satisfaction in the way her body stiffens. Drawing back her curtain of copper colored hair, I intend to get a rise out of her, but the way my own body reacts to the slender slope of her exposed neck distracts me. My body hums as I lean in to inhale the soft, sweet scent of her perfume. “Does that mean you’re well versed in anatomy?”

“Stop it, Levi. I know what you’re doing.”

“What am I doing, princess?” She smells so sweet, the delicate rose scent calling me, and I can’t resist. Skimming my nose along her smooth, creamy skin, I take her into my lungs at the same time I press my growing erection into her back.

“You’re trying to get a rise out of me.” Her chest lifts and falls heavily, and even though I think she meant her words to be an accusation, they float off her tongue almost breathlessly.

“It’s only fair,” I drawl, lightly running a finger down the length of her spine. “Considering you’ve been giving me a rise since you got here.”

Sucking in a scandalized breath, Vista jerks away from me. Her angry eyes shoot daggers as she stares me down. “I’m not doing this again, Levi. That’s not appropriate. I don’t want you talking to me that way anymore.”

Leaning back against the countertop, I fold my arms across my chest and feel a smirk slide into place. “What way, princess?”

“Like that! Telling me I give you erections. It’s sick.”

I laugh, because it can’t be helped. “If it’s so ‘sick,’ then why does it turn you on? I’m only speaking the truth. It’s not my problem if you’re too uptight to own it.”

“Own it?” she shouts, throwing her arms out to her sides. “Our parents are married, Levi. Married. What part of your ‘truth’ makes it okay to do...this?” Her hand waves frantically back and forth between us.

She’s right. I know she is, because I was the one that ended “this” four years ago. The problem is, every minute I’m around her, I’m questioning the wisdom of that decision. Because you weren’t the one who made it. Instantly, memories of the past come rushing back.

I pull on my shoes, buttoning my pants as I sneak toward the door, careful not to wake her. I can’t risk anyone finding out we’ve been together. It would ruin my father’s business. Ruin the family name he’s worked his whole life to build. The Blacks run this city. If word got out what happened here tonight...

Well, it won’t. That’s why I’m leaving, while everyone is still asleep.

Opening the bedroom door, I can’t help myself from looking back. After spending hours together, wrapped up in each other’s body, she’s passed out cold. I should feel ashamed for what’s happened between us, but I don’t. It’s been coming since the moment I laid eyes on her, and I can’t make myself feel guilty for something that doesn’t feel wrong.

What I do feel guilty about, however, is sneaking off without a word. I feel like a criminal in my own home, but I have to go, and I don’t have the heart to wake her up. Not when she looks so peaceful. Tomorrow, we’ll talk. This wedding? It can’t happen. I won’t let it.

What I feel for her means more than this farce of a marriage my father and her mother are entering into. We’ll tell them the truth, tell them everything, and they’ll see. My father will put me, his son, ahead of himself for once. In my heart, I know it’s a stretch. My father has never done an unselfish thing in his life, but I have to believe that this time will be different.

Crossing the hallway in total silence, I carefully turn the doorknob and push open the door to my bedroom...and freeze.

There, sitting on my bed, with his head hanging down on his shoulders and his hands clasped between his knees, is my father. He’s still dressed in the suit and tie he left for work in this morning, his dark hair slicked back off his forehead, and the smell of his Ralph Lauren cologne permeating the air.

At the sound of me entering the room, he lifts his head and the predatory look in his stark blue eyes causes my voice to lodge in my throat.

“You’ll end this now, and that’s the last I’ll hear of it.” He waits for me to nod my head before he pushes to his full height. Crossing the room, he pauses in front of me, staring me straight in the eyes with an eerie silence. At eighteen, I’m as tall as he is, for all intents and purposes a grown man, but the intensity in his eyes makes me shrink back.

A satisfied smile curls one side of his mouth up, and finally, without a word spoken, he moves around me and out the door. I exhale a shuddering breath, my legs trembling as I force myself to walk over to my bed, seating myself on blankets that still harbor my father’s body heat.

What the hell am I going to do?

“Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?” Vista’s hand waves in front of my face, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“I’m fine,” I croak. Jesus, I sound like I’ve been crying or some shit.

Her brows pull together in a frown and she tilts her head to the side, studying me. “Where did you go just now?”

Shaking my head clear, I force a smile onto my face and search my mind for something to distract her. “Nowhere, princess. I’ve been here the whole time.” My legs feel shaky, so I walk back into the living room and drop down on the couch.

“So, I’m assuming sex is off the table now?” I ask, striving to lighten the mood and create a distraction.

“Completely.” Cautiously, Vista joins me, seating herself in a chair opposite me.

I tip my head in acknowledgement. “For now, I’ll agree to disagree with you on that subject. In the meantime, you’re going to be servicing me,” I continue, relishing the sound of her aggravated growl. “So, we need to get you better acquainted with my work schedule.”

“That’s the second time you’ve used that word,” she muses as she relaxes back into the chair and curls her legs beneath her.

The position makes her appear small, fragile. It makes me want to go to her, pick her up, and carry her to my bed, caveman style. It takes all my self-control to curb the urge she inspires in me. “What, work?” I ask. Firing up my tablet, I pull up my schedule and shift it so she can see.