Filed to story: My Gorgeous Wife is an Ex-Convict Novel by Anastasia Marie
Grace’s face was still red but she stared at Jason in astonishment.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“You’re…joking with me.” She smiled thoughtfully. “I keep feeling that you’re… uh, slightly different from before. And when I get to see this lighter side of you, I know something’s different.”
He was stunned, as if he had also just been made aware of his transformation.
“You have changed me,” he said softly.
He stared fixedly at her and then suddenly leaned forward, his lips inches away from hers.
“Ah!” she shrieked. She subconsciously wanted to take a step back but had forgotten that she was having difficulty moving.
His hand caught her waist in time and he pulled her even deeper into his embrace.
She dazedly studied him. With his face so close to hers, she could see the flecks of gold in his dark eyes and the perfect lines of his brows and lips. His eyes really were breathtakingly beautiful, even his lashes were long and curved to draw all attention to that part of his face.
She was so close she could see herself reflected in his pupils.
“Sister, do you like my past self or my current self?” Only when his voice suddenly rang out by her ear did she abruptly snap out of her trance.
At that moment, both of their faces were very close, and the tips of their noses were almost touching each other. If they were any closer, their lips… would touch.
His breath fanned against her mouth and his arms tightened around her. It … it was as if they were about to kiss!
Grace opened her eyes wide and felt as if her brain was short-circuiting.
“Sister?” His voice resounded once again.
“Ah, of course your current self… is slightly better. It feels as if we’re closer,” Grace hurriedly explained. “Uh… Jay, please let go of me, I won’t fall down. We’re a little too close right now.”
She could almost hear her heart beating wildly.
His lips curved seductively. “Is it bad to be close?” he retorted as he drew closer still.
Grace tried so hard to control the direction of her thoughts. She had been the one to call him brother, to relegate him to such a role. Why would she think he would want to kiss her? Why would someone so handsome and so valiant want her in such a way?
“Do you want me to move?” he asked with his lips a hair’s breadth away from hers.
Was he asking her to move toward her or away? And what if this wasn’t what he wanted? Would that ruin everything between them?
“Hmm,” he murmured and it was as if the vibration crossed the short distance between them. She felt it. And her whole body hummed with it. “You don’t know what you want.” He shrugged and stepped away.
Sensing she’d offended him in some way, she tried to explain, “It, uh, feels weird standing too close,” Grace said. And it was true. After the last few years, she had not been intimate with anyone. She’d kept everyone at a distance. Having him so close to her… it unnerved her.
“All right then,” Jason said easily and removed his hand. He took a step back and tidied up the things on the table.
She let out a sigh of relief and stroked her own cheeks, which felt warm.
“By the way, Sister, just now when we were standing that close, did you want to kiss me?” he asked unexpectedly,
stunning her.
Grace blinked owlishly and blushed. Had he read her mind? Was he gauging her reaction because he’d felt it too?
“Uh,” she sputtered.
“Is it a very hard question to answer?” he asked with a slightly arched brow.
“I… I, of course…”
“If it were you, I would allow it,” he replied, cutting off her sentence. “I don’t like other women kissing me, but if it were you, it would be okay.”
Sunlight shone into the room through the narrow glass window and landed on him.
This man was everything she’d ever wanted or needed. And she longed for him.
And was he admitting that he wanted her too? At least for a kiss?
Her hand went to her mouth, and touching her lips, they felt swollen, overly sensitive. As if just thinking about his mouth on hers had made her body physically anticipate it.
She knew she should tell him no, that they were as brother and sister, and that what they had was good. She shouldn’t risk their relationship by talking about kisses. But the words stuck in her throat and as she continued to stare at him, she caught herself nodding at what he’d said instead.
In the afternoon, Grace had nothing to do and swiped through her phone, coming across news relating to Zoe. The news stated that Zoe had been brought to the hospital late last night. She had allegedly offended someone who had ordered one of her legs to be fractured. Once it healed, there was no guarantee that there would be no residual effects.
Therefore, it appeared as if Zoe would be absent from the engagement dinner between the Stevens and Atkinson families, which was to be held in several days’ time.
The paparazzi who had published the news had not discovered who Zoe had offended. However, the Stevens
Family’s position on the attack was vague and they refused to comment on it. The reporter also went on to say that they had not reported the incident to the police, which some speculated to mean that they accepted this event.
Then the reporter took it one step further, suggesting that the person who Zoe had offended was from a more influential background than the Stevens Family. Which was really saying something, because everyone knew the Stevens Family was not shy about airing their grievances.
Grace skimmed through the news feed, seeing the articles running on multiple sites. Then she unconsciously raised her head to glance at Jay. When she was injured, he’d said that Zoe should pay the price.
But she couldn’t believe that Zoe would actually face any consequences.
And yet she did. Her right leg was broken. And someone had leaked the photos from her ride in the ambulance with her leg elevated on a splint.
Was this a coincidence? Or perhaps…
“Sister, why are you looking at me like that?” Jason asked as he suddenly lifted his gaze to look at Grace.
She shook her head.