Page 9 of Pretend Girlfriend

“It was my fault for asking it,” I replied. “But no, it’s fine. It’s totally fine.”

We stared at each other. I felt a little deflated, and he seemed the same way, too.

“Whelp, too bad,” Theo said. “How many points did I get up to?”

“Five,” I said truthfully, though I hoped he thought I was still joking.

“Out of ten? Hey, that’s not bad. Five out of ten is average.”

“I’ve been on a lot of bad dates,” I said. “You’re much better than average.”

“Hey, don’t speak too soon. I’m really bad in bed.” Theo grinned. “I’m extremely selfish. I don’t reciprocate at all.”

I chuckled at the joke. I loved Theo’s attitude, not taking things too seriously the way many men did on a first date. He also wasn’t full of himself, which was a rarity in a big city like Chicago.

But he wants kids, and I don’t think I do. It was a big incompatibility. The kind we could ignore for a little while, but that would eventually hurt in the long-term.

I’d been on enough dates to know when it was best to call it a night and cut your losses. This was that moment. We’d shared two drinks, but hadn’t ordered dinner. Both of us could go our separate ways without any hurt feelings.

“Okay,” I said. “Maybe—”

“I have a suggestion,” Theo said, holding up a finger. “If you’re open to it.”

I cocked my head. “I’m listening.”

“I live forty minutes away, and you said you have an apartment in Elmwood Park, which is just as far away. We could call it a night and go our separate ways. You can go home and watch the Blackhawks game. Or…” He leaned forward on the table, his brown eyes shining in the dim restaurant light. “There’s a hotel two blocks away. I have a million free points with them because it’s close to my office, and sometimes we rent it out to patients visiting the city. We could check into a room there, and get room service in two hours.”

It wasn’t what I expected him to say. It was so… forward. And not in a creepy way. I felt my body come alive under his waiting gaze, heat running through my veins and flushing my skin.

I raised an eyebrow. “Two hours?”

He held my eyes intently. “Maybe three. I was joking about being selfish in bed.”

3

Theo

I had never been that forward with a girl before. I usually danced around the topic, making self-deprecating jokes and pretending to be coy, like we both weren’t sure about what we wanted.

But there was something about Joanna that made me take the leap of faith. Especially after we discovered that we had different opinions on children. We didn’t need to turn this into something serious, or long-term. It was just two people recognizing the chemistry they had and not wanting to waste any more time before getting down to what we really wanted.

And based on the glimmer in Joanna’s big blue eyes? She definitely wanted the same thing.

“I like room service,” she said.

I downed the rest of my martini. “I’ll get the check.”

“Cash is faster.” Joanna slapped some bills down on the table. “We don’t have time to waste.”

“We don’t?” I asked.

Joanna rose and smoothed out her skirt. “Not if we’re going to get our money’s worth out of that hotel room.”

I felt myself grinning. Yeah, this was going to be fun.

As soon as we were outside, I couldn’t contain myself any longer. I spun her around, pushed her up against the brick wall of the bar, and crushed my lips against hers. Joanna tensed with surprise, then immediately melted underneath my hungry touch. Her fingers laced into my hair, and her free hand slowly slid along the edge of my ass.

I reached back and grabbed her hand, then placed it firmly on my cheek. “Grab it like you mean it.”

---