The words are as effective as a cold bucket of water. I shove against his chest, forcing him away from me.

“I want out of the car. Now.”

Lucas blinks and at least has the good grace to look confused. He peers out the tinted windows.

“We’re in a bad part of town.”

“I don’t care. Anyone or anything I encounter out there has got to be better than your company. Let me out of the car now.”

Lucas keys the intercom on and issues a command in his native tongue. The car drifts to the curb and stops.

I reach for the door handle but Lucas leans across from me and captures my hand in his.

“Please wait.”

“Why, so you can insult me some more. Fat chance.”

I jerk my arm but can’t break his grip. “Word of advice,” I growl, feeling unaccountably slighted. “The next time you ask a woman to marry you just so you can win a bet, try more romance and less honesty. You’ll get further.”

“Alexis, I’m sorry.”

“So the fact I’m available and you have a deadline hanging over your head had nothing to do with your sudden desire to marry me.”

“It’s true, all of it – that you’re available and that I really want to win this bet.”

I take a deep breath in preparation for letting him know my thoughts, but he places a gentle finger on my lips and stares deep into my eyes, silencing me.

“But there’s lots of available women. Before you appeared at the castle, I’d made up my mind to marry my mother’s assistant.”

“I think I remember her. Tall chick, looks like she lives by eating paper rather than real food. Is surgically attached to her phone?”

And a drop dead, stunning beauty. I don’t say that bit, of course. But it preys on my mind.

“She would have said yes. What’s that saying you American’s use…” Lucas snaps his fingers.

“A New York minute. Yes, that’s it. She’d have agreed in a New York minute and had a complete royal wedding arranged within an hour or two.”

“So why didn’t you ask her to marry you?” I mutter sourly. “I’m sure you’d both be very happy together.”

“Because since meeting you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about any other woman. You fill my thoughts. All day long, I’ve can’t stop wondering about what you taste like, what you look like under this beautiful dress. How you’ll feel when you surround my cock. There’s something about you. I want to make you mine in ways that I’ve never wanted before. I don’t just want to sleep with you, it’s deeper than that. I want you to burn for me.”

Holy Crap!

Heat burns my face. I require all my resolve to remain passive beneath his steady gaze. No one has ever said anything like that to me before. I’m not the kind of person who inspires that kind of reaction.

I spit out the first thought that comes to mind. “Do you know what the difference is between an "Oooh!" and an "Aaah!"?

Lucas shakes his head but his expression doesn’t change. Not even a trace of humor or spark of curiosity.

“Just three inches.”

“Well then,” he takes my hand and guides it to his lap. “You won’t be disappointed.”

His pants do nothing to hide his size or his desire. Moving on their own violation, my fingers stroke his length, measuring it. Lucas closes his eyes and groans. Beneath the material, I feel it pulse and grow beneath my touch.

My body responds with a fresh wave of heat. My muscles soften and a touch of dampness soaks my panties in an instant.

“I do this to you?”

“Mmm,” Lucas confirms between ground teeth.

I run my fingers up and down his cock, thrilling each time it twitches. It’s strange, I can’t explain it, but knowing I have this effect on him makes me feel powerful.

Primal.

Lucas' head rests against the back of the limo seat and his free hand is clenched in a tight fist. His nostrils flare and his mouth is parted. He’s enjoying this.

“What would it be like?”

His eyes open and he looks at me, confused. “Pardon.”

“Our … marriage. What would it be like?”

I can’t believe I’m considering this.

“Oh,” Lucas take a few deep breaths. “I haven’t thought about that and,” he removes my hand from his lap and clasps it between both of his. His fingers stroke my skin, the touch rocketing through my entire body, “I can’t think with your hand there.”

He releases my hand and reaches for the liquor cabinet. He mixes my drink before pouring himself a large scotch.

“To fulfill the terms of the bet, it must last six months. During that time, you’ll attend formal functions as my wife. You can spend the rest of the time working on my mother’s museum.”

“Oh.” I say, settling back into the leather seat with a touch of – I don’t know – perhaps disappointment.

Lucas tosses back his drink and turns to look directly into my eyes. “You should know that although there’s a timeline, while we’re married, I expect this to be a real marriage. You’ll share my bed.”

My body hums at the thought, though I suppose that could be a result of the vodka. “Okay.”

“And you have my word that I’ll remain true for as long as we’re married. I’ll invite no other woman to my bed. I won’t so much as think of another woman.”

What would it be like, I wonder, to have this man all to myself. Yes, he is infuriating and frustrating beyond all measure. And yes, I’d probably spend most of the time wanting to strangle him.

But there would also be passion and glamour, and a chance to further my career. I doubt we’ll ever fall in love. We’re too fundamentally different for that, but maybe, if I try really hard, I can teach him how to laugh.

At least, that’s the lie I tell myself. That logic is driving this. That I’m thinking about this rationally. That my brain is in charge, instead of…

Something else.

“Okay.”

Lucas floats a brow. “Okay?”

“Okay, let’s do it. Let’s get married.”