Page 24 of His Fake Wife

“Don’t be embarrassed. I stopped the second you told me you hadn’t been with anyone because I knew that you’d been waiting for someone special.”

Our gazes clashed and I hoped she saw my sincerity. Despite what Beth had always thought of me, I had my moments of being considerate.

“I’m not the right guy. I wouldn’t want to ruin things for any real relationship you might have after our...arrangement. Instead of letting you know that I behaved like a jerk.”

A pink-cheeked Beth gave me a sly smile. “Wow, could it be that you’re not the asshole I thought you were? Friends can still take a few digs at each other right? I couldn’t help myself.”

My low chuckle mingling with her giggles floated around the room.

“In all honesty, I’m shocked,” she shared. “I didn’t know you’d have that depth of consideration towards me.”

“I confess, I’ve deliberately been a jerk to you all these years because I live for the tongue-lashes you give me. They’ve gotten more stimulating over the years.”

Her laughter continued. She assumed I was joking but I was serious. As we got older the desire to pull her close and kiss her during each argument had gotten stronger. “I wouldn’t mind being your first by the way. I realized that after?”

In the process of taking another sip, she gasped and began to cough. I plucked the glass from her fingers and patted her back gently. “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” she breathed. “You just caught me off guard.”

Swallowing my smile, I shrugged, “As you said, you wouldn’t get clingy with the likes of me. That has always been my fear of being a woman’s first, bad experience.”

“You’ve gotten into your fair share of scandals over the years. Anyone that I know?”

“No one ever heard about that particular incident, but she was institutionalized after.”

Her jaw-dropped. “Oh, my God! Do you sleep with just anyone?”

“Hey, I had no idea she was crazy at the time. We’re supposed to be friends now remember? No more judgment.”

“You’re a piece of work, Adam Thorne.” Her smirk turned into a chuckle. “Look at us being civil, I believe we’ve just hit the adulthood milestone in our relationship.”

“We do have a habit of behaving like two preteens around each other.” I was just late to realize that it was pent up sexual frustration on my part.

“Adam, if I hadn’t been a pain in your ass since we were kids and you just met me...would you…”

“Be attracted to you? Who says there’s no attraction now?”

Being friends with Beth might be harder than I had thought. If we were going to sit so closely and chat like best buds often, there would be a lot of cold showers and jacking off in my future. Her eyes flew to mine and my brows lifted in challenge. I didn’t see the need to pretend that she wasn’t attractive anymore. The body on the woman could bring any man to his knees and I’d gotten a taste of her. I wanted more but she probably wouldn’t be willing to give it another go after the way I’d behaved.

“Oh. In that case, I won’t feel too weird admitting this.”

I waited expectantly. It seemed it was an evening for sharing secrets with enemies turned friends.

“I’ve changed my mind about waiting for the right guy. It’s a stupid notion nowadays anyway.”

“It’s not. I think it’s romantic.”

“You have no idea how strange those words sound coming from you,” she laughed.

“I’m a reformed rake so expect the unexpected.”

That made her laugh harder. I tried not to blatantly stare but the way her face lit up was captivating. Something was changing between us, I could feel it happening.

Beth sobered and began twiddling her thumbs. Her gaze was locked on the carpet and her face was flushed.

“The thing is, life is short. I don’t know if I’ll ever find Prince Charming. Maybe he doesn’t exist. I don’t want to die a virgin, Adam.”

It was my turn to choke on my drink and my laughter. It was good to know she was still amusing when we weren’t fighting.

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