Page 98 of Pretend Girlfriend

“Okay, then.”

We ate our food in silence for a minute. Two minutes. It was starting to get awkward.

Then Landon put his arm across the back of the couch behind my head and twisted to face me. “You mean a lot to me, Joanna.”

I blinked. “Really?”

“We have something special,” he said in a deep, confident tone. “Both of us know it. This isn’t just a fling. It’s something more than that.”

My throat tightened. What was happening right now? I was buzzed from the wine, and everything he was saying made sense. It all sounded wonderful to my ears. I found myself leaning toward him slowly, transfixed by his words.

“It’s only been two short months, but I care about you deeply.” He put his hand on my thigh, fingers curling inward. Inches from my panty line. “Tell me you feel the same way too.”

“I…” I swallowed hard. My body was coming alive in a wonderful way. “I… I think I feel the same way, Landon.”

Suddenly he shook his head and his tone completely changed. “No, you need to be more convincing than that. Say it confidently. So people will believe it.”

This was all an act. He was practicing how to appear more romantic as a couple. “Sorry,” I said, giving myself a visible shake. “Okay, how’s this?”

I stared deeply into his eyes and searched within me for what to say.

“I feel the same way. I thought this was just a casual thing, but these past two… months… I’ve grown so much fonder of you. I can see myself falling for you, Landon.”

“Great!” he replied. “That was much better.”

“Good. I’m not a very good actor…”

“It was almost enough to convince me, and I know this is all fake.”

His arm was still across the back of the couch, and his hand lingered on my thigh. My gaze was locked onto his dark eyes, which felt like they were penetrating my soul. Staring into my mind and reading my thoughts.

My pulse raced. What was he thinking? Couldn’t he sense the electricity arcing from his body to mine where our skin touched? Didn’t he know just how badly I wanted him to kiss me right now?

Just when I thought he could read my mind, a knock came at the door.

“Weird. Who’s that?”

I panicked as Landon got up and went to the door. I quickly checked my phone: I had nine texts from Theo. If he randomly showed up at my door, would we be able to pretend like nothing was going on between us?

But when Landon opened the door, it was one of the resort staff with a silver tray of food. “Room service!” she announced cheerfully. “It looks like I have the wrong room, since you already have quite the buffet in here…”

We laughed and told her that she had the right room. And when she was gone and we were alone again, Landon sat a little bit further away from me on the couch.

Whatever moment we had almost shared was gone.

40

Joanna

I spent the rest of the evening drowning my discomfort in wine. The last thing I remembered was falling asleep on the couch, and then Landon helping me to bed.

I woke up before him. The pillow barrier down the middle of the bed had worked well so far, but this morning we were both snuggled up against the pillows. Our foreheads were almost touching, and he had an arm draped across them, his hand resting on my arm.

Rather than recoil from it, I stayed in bed and enjoyed his accidental touch. Despite any awkwardness last night, everything with Landon felt so normal and natural. Like we really had been dating for two months. Or even two years.

Was it possible to fake our relationship so well that we developed actual feelings?

Eventually, Landon snorted and woke up. I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. Just like when I had woken up, he didn’t move at first. His hand remained on my arm, violating the Neutral Pillow Zone. I wanted to open my eyes, but I knew he was watching me. I could practically feel his gaze.

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