Page 73 of Hard to Fake

I haven’t seen him since his road trip, and he looks good with scruff on his face. His cheek bones are sharper, his eyes brighter.

“This is Hannah. One of my sorority sisters,” I emphasize.

“How’s it going.” He offers a nod to both of them.

His expression betrays nothing.

“We need to get on the same page.”

My heart accelerates. Did he listen to his voicemail?

If so, this entire plan is about to go sideways. Hannah will find out Miles isn’t going to be my date and everyone will think I made it up.

I cut a desperate look toward Hannah and Matt. Whatever she witnesses is going to spread through the reunion in a hot second. I’ll be humiliated before I even pick up my name tag at registration, and my future is already on the line.

“I have your back, Brooke Ellis. That hasn’t changed.” He closes the distance between us. “Your problems are absolutely my business. If you got the sense I don’t care about you, then you need to get your eyes checked, Princess.”

Miles’s cold, bare fingers latch onto my neck.

“What are you doing?” I demand.

“Giving you something new to get worked up about,” he murmurs.

I'm dragged upward by the force as his mouth crushes down on mine.

He kisses me as though he's proving a point either to me or both of us.

As though he’s tired of being the good guy.

The air is crisp and cool, but his lips arehot and silky.He smells like fresh leaves, and desire curls low in my stomach.

Heat and craving and desperation twine together in my chest, warming me against the cold.

My hands fist in the soft wool of his coat.

I'm lost in how much it feels like he wants this, in how much I do.

When he finally releases me, my heart is galloping at breakneck speed, my knuckles white where they clutch his jacket.

Miles pulls back another inch. His lashes are dark spikes fluttering across my cheeks.

Hannah clears her throat. “Careful next weekend. The resort is built from logs. You two might burn the place down."With a quick admiring smile, she grabs her husband’s hand and hurries in the other direction.

18

BROOKE

“OMG! Is it really you?!”

“I haven’t seen you since Easthampton.”

“No, it was Tahoe. Since when are you a brunette?!”

Two women run toward one another across the road to embrace, dodging suitcases and foot traffic.

There's nothing like a massive group of women descending on a mountain tourist town.

The streets are lined with small shops and markets with everything from skiing gear to T-shirts to après-ski outfits. Food vendors and restaurants accommodate the incoming tourists.

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