The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 24

Chapter 23-2

“Debatable.”

“Not really.”

Clean

I laugh again, and God, it feels good. The kind of good that hurts a little, because it reminds me how long it’s been since I enjoyed talking to someone, since someone paid attention because they cared, not because they wanted something from me.

And I’m so aware of Locke. Too aware.

Of the line of his jeaned thigh beside mine, almost touching. Of the steady rise and fall of his breathing. Of the way his presence fills the space without crowding it.

I’m thinking about the way his arms felt around me. About how easily my body responded to it. How quickly, how completely.

All this after three years of… nothing.

Three years of marriage that never became real, never crossed that invisible line between obligation and intimacy. Where a husband’s touch is more than a formality, more than a polite gesture offered in front of witnesses and then quietly withdrawn when the doors close.

Knox kissed my cheek on our wedding day. That was the beginning… and the end.

I told myself it didn’t matter, that I could live inside that space, that love – whatever I thought it was then – could exist without the rest of it. Without heat or the quiet intimacy of a hand finding you in the dark.

I was wrong. I didn’t realize how wrong until right now. Because sitting here beside Locke, feeling the steady heat of him only inches away, I realize how hungry I’ve been.

Not for sex, or at least not only. For connection, for attention, for somebody who notices when I’m hurting.

My thigh brushes his, accidentally. At least that’s what I tell myself. The contact is small, barely anything. and yet my entire body notices. So does his, and I can feel it.

Outside in the bar, music pulses faintly, somebody laughs, a bottle breaks. In here, it feels like the world has narrowed to the cramped space between us.

“You’re thinking too hard.” Locke’s voice is quiet. “If you keep doing that, you’re going to miss what’s happening.”

My breath catches – because I know exactly what he means.

His eyes drop briefly to my mouth, then return to mine. Locke’s gaze stays steady and unreadable in the way powerful men often are when they’re fighting something they refuse to show, but I see it anyway.

The effort, the restraint. Like he’s hanging onto his control by a thread. And God help me, I think I like that.

“You’re making this difficult,” he says.

My pulse stumbles. “What?”

1/3

<Chapter 23-2

A-humourless smile touches the corner of his mouth. “You heard me, baby.”

Heat climbs my neck immediately. “Maybe you’re imagining things.”

That earns me a look, the kind that makes every nerve ending in my body wake up at once.

“Right,” he says. “It’s all in my head, huh?”

“Well,” I say. “You do look like a man with a very active imagination.”

Claim

Locke studies me for another long second before exhaling slowly and dragging one hand through his hair. The movement looks almost frustrated.

“You have any idea how hard you’re making this?”

The question lands like a match on gasoline, but not because of what it means. Because of the way he says it. Rough, and honest, and like the words escaped before he could stop them.

And suddenly I’m not the only one standing on dangerous ground anymore.

“Maybe,” I say softly. “And maybe I don’t care.”

Slowly, his hand lifts. Not quite touching me, not yet. Giving me every opportunity to stop this.

I don’t.

His fingers brush my jaw, and my breath leaves me. His thumb slides lightly along my cheek, so careful, so curious. Like he’s memorizing something.

My eyes drift closed for half a second before opening again. He’s closer now. Close enough that I can see every shade of gray in those amazing eyes. Close enough that I can feel the warmth of his breath.

Neither of us says a word. Neither of us needs to.

Slowly, impossibly slowly, he leans in. And this time, so do I.

The distance between us disappears.

An inch.

Half an inch.

His gaze drops to my mouth.

And God –

The door flies open and my Dad strides in.

“Zara?”

I jerk back so fast I nearly pull something. Locke closes his eyes briefly.

And for the second time tonight, the sexy, dangerous man looks like he’s considering homicide.