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‘Whatever, it’s beautiful and you know it.’

‘Turn the other way,’ he said softly. ‘Look through my room.’

Heat swept through her—stupidly—this wasn’t an intimate invitation, and yet—

‘Oh.’ She gazed through his bedroom, amazed to see another wall of glass at the back, another balcony, this time facing the open sea. There was a lone ship at anchor, all lit up.

‘It’s waiting till morning to head into the port.’

She was deeply conscious that Alex had moved to stand right beside her. ‘Did you tunnel all the way through?’

‘Didn’t need to. The architect utilised a cavern that already existed.’

‘It is incredible.’ Turning, she realised he really was too close. ‘No wonder you love it here.’

He stared down at her. ‘Uh-huh.’

There was a moment of stillness as she realised the heat rising within her had nothing to do with the whisky. No. This was Alex. She hated him. Breaking the intense eye contact, she glanced down and caught the gleam of the gold on her finger. ‘Do you want your signet ring back?’

He sipped his whisky and exhaled with a hiss. ‘Not yet. But if it’s uncomfortable I could get you something else—’

‘That wouldn’t be right.’

‘It’s important we fake this in front of everyone—even the few staff here.’

‘They’re loyal, they wouldn’t say anything—’

‘Because I threaten financially crippling lawsuits if they break their NDA.’

‘Some have been with you for a decade—stop trying to act as if you don’t have a decent bone in your body.’

‘Stop trying to turn me into some hero. You know I fool around, Princess.’

‘Not while married to me.’

He lowered his glass. ‘Excuse me?’

‘You won’t sleep with any other women while we’re married.’ She gripped her glass tightly. ‘I’m sure even you can handle a couple of weeks of celibacy.’

In the flickering lights she watched a slow smile she didn’t trust spread over his face, but it felt good to lay down a few rules of her own. ‘I hadn’t considered the impact of this on your private life, but—’

‘If I currently had a lover I wouldn’t have married you,’ he said. ‘Unlike your AI avatar, I have only one lover at a time.’

She flushed at the reminder of that awful video. ‘So I was wrong about you being knee-deep?’

‘Not wrong about knees…’ He suddenly laughed. ‘How come it’s dark and I can still see you blushing?’

‘How come you’re always so aggravating?’

He laughed more. ‘I like you more when you snipe at me.’

‘You’re a masochist?’ She wasn’t warmed by the suggestion that he might like her more than not at all.

‘Is it masochistic to like honest and open conversation? I’d rather someone tell me their wants and needs directly than have to mind-read my way through sullen silence.’

He shredded her oversensitive nerves. ‘I think you don’t want me to like you.’

‘Do you think I care what you think of me?’