Compromising Kessen (13 page)

“Ya think? Page six and all.”

“I’m not commenting.”

“I didn’t think you would.”

Christian paused as he heard silence on the other end.

“Anyway,” Nick said, breaking the spell, “I’m all set to arrive tomorrow morning. Try to prep her a little before I show up. I’m probably more excited about this whole thing than her father, and that’s saying a lot. Did you know he was playing ‘God Save the Queen’ from his sound system for two days straight when he heard you guys were getting married?”

“The poor neighbors.”

“Poor me! I’m his neighbor! My dog still hasn’t recovered!”

“Sorry, old boy.”

“It’s fine. Look, just don’t let me surprise her too much. I’m wickedly attractive, albeit not as smart as I would like people to believe. Basically, I need my looks. They’re all I have.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Thanks, dude. See you soon.”

“Cheerio.”

Christian snapped the phone shut and sighed, “Americans.” Before he opened the door to the bakery, Kessen was already on her way out, paper bags and drinks in hand.

“Hey, I didn’t know what to get you, so I bought enough carbohydrates and snacks to put you into a food coma. Sound good?”

She looked absolutely flushed and perfect and—he couldn’t even control his own thoughts.

“Christian?” she pressed.

“Um, right. Brilliant, thank you.”

He sounded like his father, and it made him want to jump off a tall building. He hung his head in shame as he strode to her side of the car.

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d want to eat in your car.”

“Why?” His voice cracked. Blast his male hormones!

“There’s frosting, and things flake, and well, you have a nice car…”

“It’s fine,” he snapped, needing to distance himself from her as soon as possible. It was best she had no idea what he was thinking at that moment.

It involved her and frosting.

He threw the thought out of his head and abruptly opened her door. She slid in and smiled, totally unaware of his inner turmoil.

He bit his tongue to keep from saying something he would regret. He probably looked like he was in pain, and quite honestly he was in pain. Everything in his body screamed with unquenched desire.

He nodded hastily and got in on the other side. She handed him a chocolate croissant and tea. When he took the tea from her she seemed to blush. “I didn’t think you’d want coffee.”

He laughed. “You mean you didn’t want to take the risk of bringing me coffee and having me lecture you on the merits of tea?”

“Exactly,” she muttered. “Plus, we don’t have all day for you to lecture me.”

“Pity.” He took a bite out of his croissant.

She shook her head and returned to her own delicious snack. She was careful not to spill anything in her lap; although he noticed she did have a little frosting on her face.

She hadn’t noticed.

He kept staring.

She still hadn’t noticed.

He was going to burn someplace very hot for what he was thinking. Saint Peter was right; it is not good for man to be alone. Ever.

Good thing he was getting married.

Blast it all, why wasn’t she using a napkin? She was so careful not to spill. Everything in him screamed, “Look in a mirror! Stop torturing me!”

Alas, she did nothing but turn towards him with a curious look on her face.

So he devoured her.

In his mind, that is … then he carefully leaned over and licked, yes licked, the tiny fleck of frosting right off of her lip.

The tension in the car was so thick it was hard to breath. His chest constricted as she reached up to touch where his tongue had just been. She touched his face. He closed his eyes, reveling in the feel of it.

A banging on the window jolted both of them in their seats, nearly sending their drinks flying. It was a police officer pointing to a sign that said No Parking.

Christian mouthed they would go. Kessen sank into her seat and closed her eyes in embarrassment.

After a few minutes of maneuvering traffic, they were basically home free. After all, Kent wasn’t all that far away from London. It would be dark by the time they reached the house, but it would be ready for them. It was fully stocked with food and had a few servants who lived on the premises.

Kessen turned to look at him. “I think we should revisit this whole no-touching thing.”

He nearly slammed on the brakes in shock.

Kessen, noticing his inability to drive and talk at the same time, grimaced. “Maybe we should talk when you aren’t in control of a death-mobile.”

“I’m fine. I can talk and drive.”

“That’s yet to be proven,” she said, tensely looking at the road while holding her hand out in front of her, like that would somehow stop the car if they were to crash.

Chapter Fifteen

Kessen didn’t trust herself after ten o’clock at night. Everyone in her family knew of that rule. Nothing good ever happened after ten. Hadn’t she stated as much? Hadn’t it been proven true time and time again? So why she decided to have such a bizarre conversation after ten o’clock was beyond her, yet that’s exactly what was taking place.

Christian turned back toward the road with both hands firmly clenching the wheel. “Perhaps I won’t look at you, but you can talk. I’m sure I could handle it.” He turned quickly to wink at her, though she could tell his confidence was better when he was actually watching where he was going.

“I think we should date.”

Christian swerved; she screamed and covered her eyes.

“Sorry,” he said, throwing her an apologetic grin. “You were saying?”

She exhaled loudly before continuing. “I was saying, before you nearly killed us, that we should date. After all, we are getting married. And people who date, well, they…”

“Touch?” Christian choked.

Kessen put a hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.” His throat sounded raspy.

“Are you sure? You sound like you’re in pain.”

“May God have mercy on my soul,” he whispered.

“What?” she asked, confused. Why was he talking about God? She knew the Vandenbrooks were fiercely religious, which is probably why she was so attracted to the books in the first place. They were known for being terrible flirts but never crossing any lines with the women they seduced. No, the line-crossing always happened after they were married. All bets were off then. She wondered if that’s what Christian meant earlier when—

“You were saying?” he interrupted, voice clear and normal.

“I just think since we’re going to be married, we should at least try to date like normal people, even if it is only for seven days.”

He nodded his head. “I think you’re right, though I loathe putting your name and being correct in the same sentence.”

“Get used to it.”

He chuckled. “That, my dear, will never happen.”

“It’s always easier when you don’t fight it.”

“You’re telling me,” he mumbled.

“I’m sorry.” She turned towards him. “Are we having the same conversation?”

“Of course,” he stuttered.

She glared at him, hoping he could feel the intense burn of her gaze. If he did, he didn’t show it. Instead he seemed oddly more focused on the road than ever. Pity.

“We’ll start tomorrow,” he said, turning towards her. Was it possible for a man to get more attractive by the second? He seemed to be having his own private conversation with himself, and his eyes did not look friendly; they looked fierce.

“Okay, um, well…” She crossed her arms over her chest and faced toward the front of the car again. All she could hear was the heavy beating of her own heart. She silently prayed Christian couldn’t hear it as well. But he seemed to be so busy concentrating on the road, she doubted he could think of anything else except for speed limits and stop signs.

He looked annoyed.

But then again she could be assuming things; maybe he was concentrating on the road. After all, he’d proven his inability to multi-task countless times. She was surprised he hadn’t gotten a ticket yet.

Maybe they were more lenient in Europe?

She took a sip of water and stole another quick glance in his direction. It was hard to ignore how built he was, yet she had never seen him work out. Then again, it wasn’t as if they had been living together; how would she even know?

Her gaze traced down the curve of his triceps and ended at his clenched hands. He truly did take this whole driving thing seriously.

****

Christian felt like he would snap any second.

He was tightly wound, and unfortunately, the reason for his stress was sitting next to him dozing off. She was falling asleep!

How did a person fall asleep at a time like this?

The tension could have been cut with a knife, and she was closing her eyes! Oh, how he wished he could close his eyes and push out the images of her body pressed against his.

One would think that after kissing her on numerous occasions, the desire would fade, but it did nothing but fan the flame. It took every brain cell in his possession to stay focused on the road instead of her.

He turned on the air conditioner, hoping to wake himself from his sensual state. He suddenly realized the error of his ways when the scent of musky perfume floated through the car. Christian contemplated not breathing, but decided death was probably a little extreme at this point.

The perfume was toxic to his body, making him think thoughts he shouldn’t be entertaining. He looked at Kessen and relaxed a bit. At least her eyes weren’t open. He didn’t know how to control himself when she was looking at him the way she so often did.

They would be at his country home within a few minutes. It was getting late; he needed a good night’s sleep and a shot of something strong.

By the time he pulled into the driveway of his house, he had mentally counted every tie in his closet, and recited Job 31:3 (which was the only verse his parents shoved down his throat at a young age); it talked about lusting after things of the flesh, which he thought fit the situation perfectly.

Maybe if he remembered what Job had to go through, he would be able to stop thinking about Kessen. It didn’t work, because somehow in the midst of reciting Job he got to thinking about books, then about how she read the books about his family. He wondered if she wished the two of them could be in a book, and what would happen in such a book if they were in it together … alone.

How would the scenes play out?

Needless to say, that’s when things took a turn for the worse.

He needed to stop role-playing in his mind. He’d never been guilty of day-dreaming before meeting Kessen. Apparently, it was one of her many charms. He felt totally disarmed.

Once he parked, he went around to her side and carefully opened her car door and nudged her to wake up.

She wouldn’t budge; instead, she wrapped her warm hands around his neck and pulled him down to her level.

He swore.

He jerked back suddenly, allowing her to topple to the ground. It was either that or ravish her in his driveway. He thought she would appreciate his choice had he had time to explain himself, which he didn’t.

Instead he was met with a string of expletives which would have made Kessen’s grandma blush. Consequently, it just made him more aroused.

Perfect.

Because that’s just what he needed at this point.

He picked her up off the ground and dusted her off. “Sorry about that. I slipped.”

She glared. “Slipped my—”

He covered her mouth with his hand. “No more swearing. It isn’t ladylike.”

“Neither is dropping someone when they’re in a dead sleep!”

“I said I was sorry!” he barked.

She stuck out her tongue and grabbed her bags. “Aren’t we supposed to be dating? Doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to turn the charm on?”

Christian snickered. “I already have, sweetheart. What, you couldn’t tell?”

She mumbled something under her breath and slammed the door. “Stupid British men, dropping women and seducing them in gardens.”

“I’ll forgive you for your inability to complete actual sentences, considering I did just wake you out of a dead sleep. You’re not at your sarcastic best at this point.”

She sent him a chilly glare. He walked out of the line of fire and opened the door. It smelled like home. He had missed this house immensely. Kessen was sure to love it, considering her unhealthy obsession with his family’s heritage.

A smile began forming as Kessen took in the huge entry. “This is perfect.” Her voice held no previous disdain from being dropped. For some reason it made Christian pause to think, something he hadn’t been doing a lot of lately.

“Does it remind you of home?” he asked.

She turned around to face him. “Actually, it does. Does that seem weird to you?”

He shrugged. “No, I actually did have two purposes for bringing you here. First, you are absolutely obsessed with those stupid books about my family; and second, I knew you probably wanted to get away. We have been mauled by the paparazzi for the past two days. This is the place which came to mind. It’s famous, as you already know. But it’s also very cozy and has a crazy woodland feel to it.”

“It feels like a fairy tale,” she said, doing a little twirl. To say this girl was hard to figure out would be an understatement.

Kessen looked more awake now that she was walking around exploring. He could hear her “ooh” and “ahh” from the entry. He brought the rest of the luggage in and set out to find her.

It wasn’t hard to guess where she’d be. She was sitting in the sun room, which faced the garden where the famous wedding took place in the book series.

She must have sensed his presence, because she started talking.

“What was your childhood like? And please remember I’ve read all the books about your family. Though none of them included you—probably because that story’s yet to be written. Is any of it true? Before you answer, I also feel the need to remind you that you could crush all my dreams in one second by being too truthful.”

Christian let out a chuckle and joined her on the couch. “Actually, you’d be surprised to find out that most of the books are true. Naturally, the author adds details to make the situations more interesting. But the rumors of my family only marrying blue bloods or being oddly religious? All true.”