Page 25 of He Falls First

I can’t stop picturing it, though—the way my hands would feel sliding along her skin, tracing the line of her back, pulling her close. It’s wrong, this daydream looping in my mind, and yet I’m mentally drawing up a whole new kind of contract with her as the star. Guilt gnaws at me for even entertaining the thought, but man, does it have a hell of an appeal.

The things I do for business…

“Um, so,” Elizabeth begins, cutting through the awkward silence, “when do we start these dating lessons?”

Her directness gets her another notch of admiration from me.

“First priority is attending a company event together as a couple,” I deflect. My words are gruff. “We’ve got that hotel party at the end of the week. We need to sell this happy couple act there.”

“Of course.” She nods, pen poised over the ridiculous contract. She looks like she’s ready to strategize our fake relationship like it’s any other project. I can see the wheels turning in her head, and damn if it doesn’t make her all the more enticing.

“Let’s focus on making sure everyone buys this charade,” I continue, folding my arms defensively. “Then we’ll tackle your lessons.”

Just mentioning the lessons brings a flush to my face. I hope she mistakes it for exasperation.

“Got it,” she agrees, jotting something down on her notepad. “Priorities, huh?”

“Exactly,” I manage, forcing myself to look anywhere but at her. Priorities. Like remembering this is all pretend. And ignoring how much I don’t want it to be.

“Maybe we should seal the deal with a kiss,” Elizabeth jokes, her voice light and teasing.

I freeze. What is it with her and this damn joke? I barely got through it at the restaurant last time, and now she’s tempting me again.

My heart stutters to a halt as I stare at her mouth, suddenly unable to focus on anything else. Every inch of me locks up, and I swear I can hear the blood roaring in my ears as I stare—no, gape—at those lips, perfectly glossed, curving into a smirk that screams trouble. My brain’s yelling, “Do not engage,” but my body’s got other plans. It’s like she’s flipped some primal switch inside me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop myself now.

“Let’s,” I say, voice more growl than word, and then I’m moving—lunging—across the space between us. Our lips crash together, and for a split second, I forget contracts, company events, and every semblance of professionalism. Oh hell, I forget my own name.

We break apart, breathing ragged, and there’s shock in her blue depths.

“Why did you do that?” Her voice is a half-whisper, betraying a flicker of vulnerability beneath her confident façade.

“Testing the waters,” I say, surprised by how breathless I sound. “Making sure you’re comfortable. With this.” My hand hovers between us, a silent question.

“Oh.”

I’m caught in the crosshairs of her gaze as she closes the gap between us this time. Her lips find mine again, insistent, deeper than the first kiss, and it’s less about comfort now and more about need—a need that’s been simmering since I first laid eyes on her.

“Is this okay?” I ask her when our lips separate. My hands are untamable beasts, sliding over her curves as if they have a will of their own. “Under contract?”

“I’m okay with this,” Elizabeth murmurs against me. “I’m okay with more.”

“More,” I echo, tasting the promise on her lips. I feel our unspoken agreement in the way she presses closer, the way her hands grip my shoulders like she wants to never let go.

We’re about to spiral into a place where contracts no longer matter. But just then, the click of the door handle snaps us back to reality like a splash of ice water. We spring apart just as Matt waltzes in, all easy smile and oblivious charm.

“Everything sorted here?” he asks, eyes darting between us.

“Yep. All set.” Elizabeth’s voice is steady, but her cheeks are painted with a telltale flush as she hastily reaches for the contract.

Matt’s grin widens as he takes in the slightly disheveled scene, his eyebrows doing a little dance of ‘I know nothing, I see nothing.’ But he doesn’t comment—smart man. Elizabeth signs her name with a flourish, passing the pen to me. I watch her, heart hammering a rhythm of ‘what the hell was that?’ as I scrawl my signature beneath hers.

It’s just ink on paper, I tell myself. Just another business deal. But as the ink dries and I hand the contract back to Matt, it feels like I’m sealing away more than just a few weeks of pretense.

Chapter 10

Elizabeth

Iswear the chandelier overhead is sparkly enough to be seen from space, and I’m half-convinced the plush red carpet under my heels was swiped from some royal palace. The lobby of this fancy hotel has me feeling like an extra in a big Hollywood movie, and I keep waiting for someone to figure out I’m just me, not some glitzy movie star.

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