Duncan got up from his seat. She watched as he grabbed a bowl then ladled himself some soup before joining her again.
“I was surprised. Like I said earlier I reacted appallingly, and I won’t let it affect me again. I want us to put this behind us.”
Tess thought about what he said and agreed with him. They were married. She might as well make the most of it. She wasn’t going anywhere else. Tess sipped the last of her soup wiping up the last remnants around the edges with her last crusty bread. When she was done she moved away to wash her pieces of cutlery. She didn’t like the thought of leaving it for Grace, even though the other woman had said she should. As she went to leave the kitchen, passing Duncan in the process, and his hand caught her around her wrist imprisoning her. Tess stopped waiting for him to let her go.
She gave a slight pull on her wrist to try to release his hold, but he held on. She huffed in frustration then looked at him. She shot him a glare hoping he’d let her go.
“Please, let me go.”
“I want you to stay.”
“Why?”
“I like your company.”
Tess turned to the door yearning to leave. Duncan did too much to her body for her to be comfortable. He made her want things she couldn’t have. Love, life, and a family. He didn’t know how much she craved them.
“Sit with me while I finish.” His voice made it more of a statement than a question. He didn’t let her go.
“Why should I?”She heard the hard edge to her question even though she didn’t feel angry any more. Duncan was working his way under her skin making her feel things she didn’t want to acknowledge. Not only did he make her wants things, Duncan made her want those things with him. She was beginning to like and hate him all at the same time. Grace spoke very fondly of him. There had to be more to him than the corrupt businessman, surely.
“You’re my wife, Tess,” he said.
“That does not require me to sit with you. Besides this marriage is not a real one.” She gave another tug on her wrist, but still he did not release her.
She watched him tense at her words. Why did she have to be a bitch? It wasn’t in her nature to be mean. She cursed at her own lack of control. He cut her off before she got a chance to apologise to him.
“Then consider it the underlining print in the contract. While we’re married I still expect us to be civil to each other. This is a proper marriage, and you’ll behave accordingly.”
She sucked in her breath. “You expect me to behave like the proper, obedient, little wife, and you still get to live your life as if you don’t have a wife?”
“I will not behave like you don’t exist unless you don’t start to behave like a wife should. Now, sit with me. I want to talk to you. Regardless of what you think, I don’t want to argue with you.”
Tess wanted to go back to the confines of her own bedroom. When he was near she couldn’t control herself. She felt unsure around him. His blunt manner and actions always had her heart racing. She could still feel the heat of his cock against her palm. Tess feared the more time she spent with him the more she’d want him.
He gave her such a pleading look with his dark gaze that she found it hard to resist him. Instead of leaving him, she moved to sit beside him. She began to turn her engagement and wedding band to try to distract herself. It would be so easy for her to reach out and touch him.
Would their relationship ever get past arguing? She really hoped so. When she didn’t hate him, she liked him and vice versa. Her emotions confused her.
“Do you like my staff, Gerald and Grace?” he asked. His own thoughts were cut off. She didn’t have a clue what he was thinking.
Duncan was an enigma to her.
“They’re wonderful people,” she said and meant the words. She refused to lie even to Duncan. Grace and Gerald were two of the nicest people she’d ever had the pleasure of meeting. She looked forward to spending more time with each of them, in the kitchen eating meals or in the garden talking about all the wonderful flowers in full bloom.
They’d make this period of her life with Duncan James bearable. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her wild locks still refused to be tamed after all this time.
“I’m pleased you like them. Gerald and Grace have been with me for years. They have helped me through some serious hardships. It’s why I’ve decided to give them some time off. I figured as we won’t be here for some time it would give them some quality time away.”
His words made her giggle. Only moments before she’d thought they’d be able to help her during her marriage with Duncan. Now, he had other plans. Her life couldn’t get any stranger.
Life was moving too fast, and Tess was struggling to keep up.
“Why? Where are you going?” she asked him.
“Where are we going?” He stared at her with a smile. It was one of the first real smiles she’d seen him give. She relished the look on his face. He looked so at ease with everything around him. She licked her lips to try to think. His smile was infectious to her.
“All right, where are we going?” She repeated the question so he was satisfied with a smile of her own.
“I’d like us to have a honeymoon. I know you don’t consider this a real marriage, but I do. I want you to have everything a marriage should have. A honeymoon is part of it. I wanted you to have your dream wedding. I’ve made arrangements to have us flown out to my family villa in Italy tomorrow morning, so we can start our honeymoon and begin our marriage properly.”
He took her hand, running his thumb over her two rings. Duncan had picked out his own ring, and she stared at the simple gold band decorating his finger.
“Why are we going to Italy?” She could have kicked herself. She’d always wanted to go to Italy. It was one of the places she’d dreamt about visiting. She felt so happy. The desire to hug him was strong. Her heart began to beat rapidly in her chest. He wanted to make this marriage between them real. Could this be the beginning of something special?
Don’t get too far ahead of yourself, Tess. This is only the beginning.
“I thought it’d be a nice change. I think we need to talk about our marriage, Tess,” he said.
She nodded her head, her excitement hard to contain.
“I know we’ve never really discussed what would happen during our marriage, and I think we need to take care of it now. What do you think of our marriage?” he asked.
She stared at him opening and closing her mouth a few times. “I don’t know what to think, Duncan. You requested this, and it’s sort of blown up in our faces already.”
“Do you hate me?” he asked.
Tess gasped. Hate was a strong word, and, yes, she’d thought her emotions were on the hate side of the emotional spectrum. She gazed down at her hands where her wedding band lay. “I don’t hate you, but I don’t like you all the time.”
“I wouldn’t like me either,” he said.
She chuckled.
“I want you to get to know me, the man. I don’t want this marriage to be a disaster. I know you’re here for your father, but do you think you could learn to feel something more for me other than dislike?”
More than you know.
“I don’t know how long this marriage is going to last. I’d like for our time together to be enjoyable.”
He leaned forward. “Then open yourself up to me, Tess. Learn to trust me, and we could make this marriage work for real. The chemistry between us is there. We both can feel it, and you can’t deny it. We could make this marriage last. We don’t have to call it quits or think of ending it. Live for the now and not for tomorrow.”
She wouldn’t dream of denying the attraction. Was it so bad to want more? “I’m not going to argue with you. I just want more than attraction or ... sex to be part of a marriage.”
“Being together in Italy will give this marriage a real chance. I like you, Tess, and I think you could learn to like me, too.”
Tess didn’t know where this more reasonable man had appeared, but she liked him a hell of a lot better.
****
Duncan watched her closely. He was satisfied to see the excitement shining in her eyes. His words were not lies. He did want his marriage to work. He also wanted her to like him.
She had such beautiful eyes when she smiled. They were filled with love. He knew it was only a matter of time before all of her love was directed at him.
It seemed paying a quick private visit to her father before the wedding had been worth the time and the awkwardness after all.
Duncan had learned of her passion for Italy from her father. It had been a wonderful coincidence that his family home was in Italy as well. According to Erik, she’d wanted to go to Italy since she was nine years old. Gerald had informed him her favourite colour was yellow, and she loved daffodils, which is why he’d asked Gerald to plant plenty of them throughout the garden.