Page 19 of Seductive Hearts

What a surprise. He pretended like I never spoke. “Notice the way he brought up the fundraiser? That he wanted me to be there?”

“Because he wants your money.” I sighed.

He waved a hand like it wasn’t important. “Obviously. He also wants me there to see how great things are going for him. He’s showing off. He’ll be the star of the show, and having me there will boost his ego.”

“I think your ego is the problem right now.” And I was being kind. “He’s got it all, but you think he’s jealous of you?”

“Have it your way. I could be handing you a shortcut to the man of your dreams. All you have to do is take advantage of this offer.” He lifted an eyebrow, challenging me, unlocking every competitive impulse I possessed. “Can you swallow your pride long enough? Do you have it in you to let somebody think you’re slumming with Colton Black?”

He was still snickering when I waved my hands and shook my head in a weak attempt to shut this down, no matter how tempting it sounded. “We would never get away with it. Somebody from one of our families would find out, and then we would have to explain it.”

“Aren’t we working together?” he countered. “So what if we were seen together somewhere? What if we were having dinner with an up-and-coming politician? After all, he’s an old friend of mine. Or so he thinks,” he snidely added.

He made a point. No one could have been more surprised than I was about it, but he made a point. Landon was an old friend of Colton’s from school. Nobody would think twice about us being seen in public at Landon’s fundraiser. We could easily explain it away. “But he just saw us out there,” I murmured, biting my lip. “And we clearly aren’t dating.”

“You asked him for coffee to talk about his campaign. That’s all. Nothing about that excludes us from being a couple. He’s already run into us together,” he added as if that helped. “Believe me. He won’t give it much thought. All he’ll care about is the two of us being together, which will make you much more fuckable in his eyes.”

“Wow. You really know how to charm a woman.”

He narrowed his eyes like a snake, though a snake might’ve made me feel safer than he did. “Believe me,” he countered in a low voice full of sinful promise. “If I wanted to charm you out of your panties here and now, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

It was the perfect time for the final obstacle to occur to me. Otherwise, I might have proven him right. “What am I thinking?” I slapped a trembling hand to my forehead. “Nobody’s going to believe we’re together. We would never convince him.”

He cocked his head to the side before growling. “You don’t think so?” Pushing away from the pillar in one smooth movement, he began to advance. His eyes focused on me. All at once, my mouth went dry, and my heart took off like a scared rabbit being chased by a wolf.

In fact, that was what was happening.

“You don’t give yourself enough credit,” he continued, shaking his head and clicking his tongue in mock sympathy while his eyes pinned me in place. I held my ground as long as I could, but soon, he was too close for comfort. I backed away, afraid to breathe, until my back hit the pillar behind me.

Damn, he was fast. On me in a heartbeat, one arm to either side of my body.

Too close.

Too much.

Could he hear my heart pounding from where he stood?

Somehow, I pulled in enough breath to whisper, “That’ll do it. I think you’ve made your point.” It was supposed to come out sounding strong, sure of myself, but it was more like the sound a person makes when they didn’t mean a word they were saying.

“Have I?” I went stiff when he leaned closer, so warm and strong. He smelled so damn good, like musk, tobacco, and leather.

The heat from his breath stirred a yearning in me. I knew I wanted him. That was no big surprise.

But this?

This went deeper.

I needed him.

He lowered his head and brushed his lips against my ear, and I shuddered against him. There was no way to fight it. “That’s enough,” I rasped, squirming a little, hoping to get him to back off. All it did was make my taut nipples brush against his chest, sending a ripple of sensations racing through me. He hadn’t laid a finger on me, but that didn’t keep my pussy from going hot and wet all at once.

“Maybe we ought to practice,” he growled out, letting his cheek brush against mine, light as a feather but hot enough to singe. He moved his head, angling it until our eyes met. I was undone by them and the promise of unspeakable pleasure in those dark depths.

I gave my head the tiniest shake, my gaze darting to his lips and back up again. “I don’t think so.” Even as I said it, my back arched, my body betraying me. I needed the touch of his body. I needed it even more than I needed him to stop this before it was too late.

“How else could we make it believable? You do want him to believe us, right?” His mouth was inches from mine, our breath mingling between us, and it would have been so easy to lean forward and catch his lips.

Just to see what they tasted like.

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