Page 48 of VOGUEish

She added a time and a place to her response and hit send. And sighed. Her gut told her if the date happened, it wouldn’t end in sex. Somewhere between them deciding they’d have two occasional trifecta nights and just now, he’d changed his mind.

The realization settled like a rock in her stomach.

Sure, her reason not to date him was valid. And, if she was reading between the lines correctly, he had his own valid reasons not to want to date her.

What were the odds she could convince him they could continue to have clandestine hookups? She didn’t care how bad the odds were, she would give it her best shot.

After all, it would be a crime to allow that kind of sex to be a one and done event without a fight. Discreet rendezvous could be hot. Not to mention, they would allow her to have her cake, eat it, and not get caught.

Occasional trifectas were the ultimate fun choice option.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Isabella dressed with care for dinner with her parents. Not to impress them but to wow Chandler.

She needed to be sexy enough to remind him of why he should want to have a dirty, hot fling with her. Which was probably overkill, because of course he’d want to do as she suggested. It was a hell of an offer.

With that in mind, Isabella had settled on a short black sweater dress that hugged her curves and showed off the length of her legs. She paired the dress with sweet cheetah print booties.

Isabella arrived at the restaurant on time and placed her name on the wait list. The tiny bistro was a favorite of locals but not well-known by others. She took a seat at the bar and ordered craft beers for her and Chandler.

He showed up late—maybe because he was too cool to be on time, maybe because he didn’t want to get there first and startle her into breaking another heel. She refused to consider any other maybes. He wore a sports coat, black T-shirt, and dark colored jeans. Late or not, he looked freaking fabulous. The guy had cornered the market on male hotness.

“You look gorgeous,” he drawled huskily, coming to a stop next to where she sat at the bar.

The tizzy in her head moved to her girly parts. “You’re looking quite non-Grinchlike yourself.”

“I was thinking….” He paused, his Adam’s apple bobbing as if the words he wanted to say were suddenly stuck.

“And?” she prompted.

He pulled out a chair and took a seat. “I could stay and play the part of your new boyfriend tonight.”

Her pulse accelerated. It was a sweet offer. Something’s off. There were a lot of things she associated with Chandler, but sweet wasn’t one of them. Sexy, yes. Grumpy, absolutely. Sweet, no. “Why would you do that?” She pushed a beer toward him.

Instead of reaching for the bottle, he reached forward and ran a finger down the side of her face, causing her pulse to skip erratically. “Because, for reasons I’d prefer not to analyze, the thought of Nonna setting you up with the intent of marrying you off makes me want to punch something.”

Had he just offered her more than their agreed up two nights at most? As in public dating? Out of the dark, dating?

Which was exactly what Nonna would demand of him if he vetoed his godmother’s setting up of Isabella with Prince Charming candidates.

Why else would he mention her upcoming dates if he wasn’t asking for more?

Flats. His silence hadn’t been because he didn’t want more sex, it had been because he wanted her in public. He didn’t want to be her dirty fling.

She slapped away the small voice in her head that said don’t dismiss the idea without thought. She couldn’t publicly date Chandler if she hoped to be accepted at Naked Runway. And hope she did. Like on a list of what was important to her, it would come in second. One would be a successful comeback moment. Two would be being adored by her coworkers at the magazine. Three would be rocking her New Year’s resolution to have fun by saying yes to more. The timing was all wrong for her and Chandler to be anything but booty-call friends. “It’s not about what you like,” she said primly. “I have a contract to uphold. One that requires me to legitimately attempt to find my billionaire Prince Charming.”

He scowled. “I know that, but if you date one of my close friends, we can’t repeat what we did last night.”

Isabella took a sip of her beer to hide the smirk that had to be on her face. He’d liked the sex as well. It hadn’t been just her. Good to know. “I see.” And she did. Future or no future, she wouldn’t want him to start dating one of her friends. “Let’s say, for argument’s sake, I don’t date one of your buddies. What are you suggesting?”

His Adam’s apple convulsed. “Fuck. Forget I said anything.”

Nope. She was not letting him off the hook. “Since you’re all tongue-tied and shy, let me offer my idea.” While she preferred to not have a public date with Chandler, it had been part of Nonna’s stipulations.

Here’s to praying no one from Naked Runway saw them tonight.

“You act the part of my boyfriend tonight with my parents, and you act the part of my fiancé at my reunion—of course, you’ll be incognito at my reunion. Those two occasions will satisfy what you owe Nonna in the favor department.”

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