Between You and Me

“Hey, if we’re going into something like we’re about to go into? It’s a big deal. We need to be open and honest. Have each other’s back. That’s how I see it, anyway.”

She looked at him with bright eyes, nodding in agreement. “I like that. A lot, actually. You mean, like a team?”

“Yeah, sure. I mean . . .” He shifted in his seat, scooted a bit closer. “You’re trusting me with the biggest thing you could. I’m trusting you with lying to my mom to make her happy, which is a big deal to me. We’ve both got a lot to lose if it went sideways. So yeah, we need to be a team.” He wasn’t sure, but the look on her face seemed like she was kind of in awe, and delighted, and even excited. She took his hand in hers, and he welcomed the return of her soft skin, the warmth of it. A swell of something strong washed through him.

She slid along the cushions, edging closer. “We better come up with a story together. Because the thing is, if we’re going to sell this to her, you’ll have to sell it to the other people in your life too. You realize that, right? If I’m your girlfriend . . .”

He swore under his breath. “Hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

She caressed his hand, echoing the tenderness of his earlier gesture. “We’re a team now, right? We can do this. It might even be fun.”

He stilled. Her words sank in . . . What he’d asked her to do sank in. “Why are you so willing to do this, to lie for me?” he asked.

“Because I know you,” she said. “Besides, the bottom line is, if you can do something so huge for me, this is the least I can do for you.”

He gazed at her, reached out with his free hand to brush a stray curl back from her eyes. “You’re one of the most generous people I’ve ever met,” he murmured.

“I could say the same for you right now,” she replied. “And you’re making me feel so assured about all this . . . You’re an honorable man.”

“I don’t know about that. Some of the thoughts I’m having this second aren’t very honorable.” Lust zipped through him as he stared at her. Her beautiful face, her alluring presence . . . Christ almighty, she cast spells on him, he was convinced of it.

Her eyes, so blue, took on a new light. She looked at him from beneath her long lashes, the look of a siren. “You know . . . this arrangement . . . if I’m going to be your fake girlfriend, we’ll have to kiss and stuff.” Her thin brow lifted, a sassy look if he ever saw one. It made his skin heat. “Maybe we should practice.”

His blood seared through him, racing south. “Jesus,” he half growled.

“Haven’t you thought about that?” She scooted another inch closer, tempting him, enticing him.

“Truth? Yeah, it crossed my mind. More than once.”

“We do have chemistry,” she murmured as he moved closer. “Don’t we?”

“Yeah, we do. Maybe we should start that practicing . . .” His heart was close to bursting out of his damn chest, but he managed to look right into her eyes. His blood pulsed through his body. God, he wanted her right there, right then. She was so close, he could smell her light scent, some musky perfume, vanilla maybe? Something that drugged him. She was staring at his mouth now . . . The air was thick with sexual tension.

Yet they both hesitated. “Kissing on demand is a little different than getting lost in the moment, huh.”

She breathed out a tiny huff of a laugh, her disbelief pretty clear, at how things had turned. She licked her lips and said, “I was just thinking that. Suddenly we both got shy. What’s up with that?”

Grinning, her fingers inched forward to touch his knee, and his cock throbbed. Jesus, he was so turned on already, and all she’d done was move in close and lightly touch his knee.

“I mean,” she continued, “if we’re going to be a fake couple . . . we’ll need to spend a little time together. And the more we get to know each other, the more real it’s going to seem. Right?”

“Right.” He intertwined his fingers with hers. “Well. This just got even more interesting, huh?” They laughed together, breaking the tension a little. But his body was on fire, and he had to calm it down. “Or, maybe I should go now,” he said.