Page 79 of Charming Deception

However, I don’t want to lie to him. And I won’t lie to myself either. I won’t try to convince myself that things I know to be true are false.

I did that with Troy for so many years, and maybe it was a survival mechanism. But I don’t need to survive him anymore. I learned a long and painful lesson from those mistakes, but I learned.

I’d considered not bringing this up at all, but I don’t want this hot, unsettling thing in the room between us, unacknowledged. That seems not only dishonest but dangerous. I’ve definitely never experienced this kind of molten, magnetic attraction to a man I barely know. And now I’m about to suddenly be living with him, and fake dating him. Honesty, not to mention mutual respect, should be part of the arrangement.

So I scrape my courage together. “There is one thing that I’m fairly concerned about.”

“Then let’s talk about it. I want you be comfortable here, Megan. This is your home now.”

I struggle to swallow that. It’s still hard to digest.

“I find you very attractive,” I blurt. And then I just keep rambling. “That’s very weird to say out loud since you’re not my boyfriend, I’m not trying to pick you up or anything, you’re my brother’s best friend, and we just agreed to get engaged with no strings attached. But it’s the truth. And I thought you should know. Also, I have no game. I haven’t been single since I was seventeen. I’ve been with one guy in my whole life. He’s the only guy I’ve ever kissed, had sex with, lived with. This is going to be a steep learning curve for me. And I’m aware that you could’ve asked another woman who’s at least had more experience with relationships than I have to pretend to be your girl. You’re asking me to act like we’re dating and we’re in love, when I don’t even know what that is. It was so long ago that I felt… that I experienced…” I press my hands to my flushed, hot face. “God. I’m so uncool. Are you sure you want to tell everyone I’m your fiancée?”

I have no idea what he’s thinking, and it’s just making me more nervous. But at least he doesn’t seem revolted by everything I just said.

His blue eyes burn steadily into mine when he says, “Megan. Did it ever occur to you that’s why I chose you?”

I frown, confused. “You knew when you asked me to be your fiancée that I’ve only been with one guy?”

“Not exactly. Cole mentioned that you met him when you were seventeen. But that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“That,” he says gently, nodding at me. “That sweetness in you. That honesty. You’re a good person, and anyone can see that.”

“Oh. Well, thank you. Wait. But I thought your brother chose me.”

He sips his drink, then goes silent for a long, heated moment, as the muscle along his jaw dances.

Then he says, “He did,” with such distaste, it’s pretty clear he resents his brother telling him what to do.

And yet, he did it.

So maybe in a way… he did choose me?

We stare at each other.

As usual, I can feel his raw, potent male energy, his masculine ease and command of everything around him, his dominance choking out the air until I’m almost forgetting how to breathe. He’s elegant and alpha, so exquisitely male, my whole body hums when he’s near.

I feel way out of my depth, just sitting here, alone with him in this room.

No guy cares that much about his best friend’s sister unless he wants to rail her.

Damn. Nicole’s in my head, and I know there’s one more thing I have to ask.

“Um, about that other thing,” I say breathlessly. “You said we wouldn’t be having sex…?”

His eyes darken as he regards me. Is that his pupils enlarging? Like a predator sinking into the shadows on a hunt?

“We won’t be.” His voice is low and smoldering, or maybe it’s just my neglected lady parts hearing things. “For now.”

Okay, I heard that for sure. With my ears. “For now?”

“Why don’t we get to know each other a bit first?”

“That’s a good idea,” I choke out.

Wow. He really is a gentleman.

---