Page 18 of It's Not All Fake

He looks at me with a dark, intent gaze, nodding toward the poolside, where a few women are casting envious glances our way. “They all want to be you.”

My stomach flips. He’s impossibly sexy.

“How do you feel about a little more PDA?” he asks, his eyes smoldering with intent.

I swallow hard. “Like what?”

He grins, leaning forward until we’re cheek to cheek. His whisper tickles my ear, sending a thrill down my spine. “Tell me if you want me to stop.”

He pulls back to gauge my reaction. I don’t know what he plans, but I’m caught up in his spell. I don’t want the fantasy to end. My heart hammers in my chest and he’s right—I don’t want to feel comfortable. He makes me feel tingly and alive, and I want more.

I nod, breathless.

Liam leans forward again and I feel his breath on my neck. Suddenly, he kisses the sensitive skin there and I feel a wave of heat, melting me. His arms wrap around me, and his kisses continue. I shiver with pleasure, grasping onto the fabric of his shirt as I feel weak.

His kisses up my neck are slow and wet now, and it’s driving me wild. I want to moan but I hold myself back.

Suddenly, a man’s voice intrudes into our two-person world.

“Okay, get a room, guys,” Bill, Liam’s producer friend, is in front of us and Liam breaks away from me. “I hate to interrupt but we have a deal to discuss.”

“Your timing is awful, Bill,” Liam says, his voice flat and clearly annoyed at the interruption. My stomach flutters, signaling its delight that Liam was enjoying our PDA just as much as I was.

“It’ll just take a minute. People are waiting,” Bill nods to the other side of the terrace.

Liam looks at me as if asking permission.

“Go.” I smile. “I’d like to freshen up anyway,” I reassure him.

A fleeting, curious expression crosses Liam's face before it quickly fades. I suspect that my reasons for wanting to freshen up might have piqued his interest, perhaps leaving him to wonder if he'd affected me that much.

I won’t volunteer that information but—damn. He had an effect.

“I’ll find you in a few minutes then.” Liam tries to straighten his jacket over my shoulders, which is askew after our sexy encounter.

“Here.” I pull the jacket off and hand it back to him. “I’m warm now.” I realize the subtext as it comes out of my mouth, but it’s not untrue. He did warm me up.

A corner of his mouth quirks up. “Good, I’m glad I could help.”

I clutch the edge of the sink. I’m glad I’m the only woman in the glitzy, expansive powder room that’s bigger than my office.

I frown at my reflection in the mirror. What are you doing?

The entire situation with Liam has gone off the rails. I’ve lost control and he knows it. He’s reveling in it.

Part of me is too, which scares me.

I’m fake dating an emotionally unavailable man and I’m crushing on him. There’s no doubt about that now. Not to mention, all my training on professional boundaries has gone out the window. Liam is still my client, in a way, and my feelings are far from professional.

I straighten up as another woman walks into the bathroom. I quickly busy myself by tucking a flyaway hair back into my updo.

The woman disappears into a connecting room with toilet stalls, well, rooms, really.

I look back at my reflection and steel myself, rationalizing that we haven’t blatantly crossed any lines. Our behavior has been completely explainable within the context of our agreement. I didn’t even consider PDA terms when I agreed to this, but it makes sense. I just need to keep my own feelings in check.

This isn’t real, I remind myself.

I stand at the scene of the neck kisses, enjoying the night city view and remembering the feeling of Liam’s lips against my skin.

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