Fake-Married to My Billionaire Boss

Chapter 52 : Confrontation

"I don't give a damn." I take her hand and pull her firmly to the middle of the room where couples were slow dancing to a familiar pop tune played in a strings arrangement.

Kate and I danced once before. It was at a wedding of one of the senior managers at work and neither of us brought a date. She insisted she didn't dance but I promised her it would be fun to give it a try. It was the rumba, and she managed to keep up for almost an entire song.

Sometimes I wondered if she ever went dancing again.

"Stop staring down my dress," she says.

I nearly miss a step. Suppressing a laugh, I say, "Sorry. You look beautiful."

"Thank you." She moves her hand from my shoulder to run it down my jacket collar. Her fingers graze my neck, and the casual touch makes me suck in a breath. "You look nice too."

"I, uh.." I swallow. "I'm sorry I'm late."

She tilts her head as she looks up at me. "You've been busy."

Her tone holds no accusation, only a casual statement of fact. Our marriage isn't conventional, yet I can't help feeling guilty. "Mary tells me the week has been ... uneventful."

"You're making my security detail work overtime. Maybe you were just being paranoid."

"I was worried, querida. And..." I sigh. "And I couldn't be around."

"I can take care of myself, Raul." Her hand is now resting on the back of my neck. Her fingers play with a lock of my hair. "You've missed your hair appointment."

The touch of her skin against mine sends heat humming through me. Dios mio. My arm tightens involuntarily around her waist. "Kate..."

"I'll call the salon to reschedule."

"Kate." I let out a breath of exasperation. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know what you mean." She grinned. "I thought you wanted to dance."

"What I want is for you to forgive me. I'm trying to make things right."

She averts her gaze. "I know."

"Nico is still with Yandra. Maybe things will still work out." I expect they're staying together to save face, as news of the engagement has already been announced in the society blogs. Nico still avoids me so I couldn't ask him.

"Maybe." She smiles. "I still think he deserves better. No offense."

"I agree with you, believe me." I sigh. "Kate, I was hoping things would work out between us too."

"Raul, we're fine. I'm not going anywhere. I agreed to the terms of our marriage, I don't expect anything more. I'll be your wife as far as your family is concerned but I won't ask you with whom you've been spending your nights."

I clench my jaw. "That's not what I want. Do you really think I want to be with anyone else?"

She frowns. "Why not? We're not in love. We did this so you wouldn't lose your job."

"Kate—"

"I didn't want to do this here, but I want you to know that I forgive you. For that whole business with Nico and Yandra. I think I just had a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that you're still the same man you were before I married you. I respected you then, I still do now."

I don't know what to say to that. Before I could reply, she pulls away from my arms. "Thank you for the dance, Raul. But if you don't mind, I'm going to go get a drink."

***

Katelin

I sneak out the party, exiting through the west-facing French doors to an empty patio. The cold night air is a soothing balm to my frazzled nerves. I'm hardly a social butterfly. Most parties I've been to were work-related, and I learned a long time ago that if I compartmentalized social activities that had to do with my job, I would be fine.