Page 103 of Charming Deception

“I’m sorry, that was rude of me.” His voice is tight. “I don’t mean to flirt.”

So, a while, then.

Great.

Bra in place, I slip the straps of my dress back up onto my shoulders. What am I doing? I’m no seductress. “You couldn’t have told me sooner?”

He swallows thickly. “It was distracting. My brain wasn’t working.”

I fasten the little buttons on the bodice of my dress and take a breath, confused by all his mixed signals.

No flirting. Okay.

But my boobs are killing his brain functioning. Okay?

He’s attracted to me.

But he doesn’t want to be?

Or something.

I clear my throat, grasping for something to say. Make a joke? Deflect? Apologize for my slutty breakfast attire?

I go with “I guess I’ll need to be more careful. You know, when we’re in public.”

He finally looks at me again, like he’s afraid I’ll be sitting here naked. His gaze flicks down to my now-contained breasts and back up. “We won’t be in public a lot. But when we are, yes, it’ll be different from what you’re used to.”

“I’ll try not to let a nipple pop out.”

His jaw flexes. I suppose he didn’t find that funny.

“People will come after you, try to get photos, ask you questions. That gets worse if you start showing off your… body.” His eyes drop briefly to my cleavage again, like he can’t help himself.

“And how do I deal with those people coming after me?”

“You don’t,” he says gruffly. “My security team will take care of it. Locke is the head of my team, and that kind of thing is now his concern, not yours. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“So, Clara and your security guys and Chef, they’ll really all think we’re engaged?”

“Of course.” He searches my face. “Does that bother you?”

“No. I guess not. But I won’t lie to Cole. Since his little sister is now engaged to his best friend, and he introduced us so recently, I feel like we both owe him the respect of telling him the truth.”

“Of course. I already told Cole.”

“What?” I almost choke on my coffee.

“Just now. While you were in the shower.” He sips his coffee and seems to misinterpret my shock when he says, “Don’t worry. Cole will honor our privacy. So will my staff. They all sign nondisclosures, so even if they gleaned that the engagement was fake, they wouldn’t talk.”

“Right. Okay. But we could’ve told Cole together.”

His eyes sharpen as he studies me. I’m not sure if he’s irritated by my tone or what. That black look is back, and it seems half hot and half cold.

But then he nods. “You’re right. I apologize. Next time, we’ll do that. But if we want this to work, I think it’s best we keep the circle of people who know the details very small.”

I consider that. “So, I shouldn’t tell my friends or my mom?”

“I think it’s best if you don’t. But I’ll leave that up to your discretion. What’s the point of any relationship at all if we can’t trust each other?”

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