Page 39 of The Match Faker

I was tempted to ask what she was thinking, but didn’t want to get heavy. I liked the Mia from a minute ago. The one who smiled. Like she used to. Before things went to shit between us.

‘To answer your earlier question, I like reading. Mostly non-fiction, but I don’t mind the occasional thriller.’ There was something else I loved, but I’d stopped. I hadn’t shared details of that project with anyone and I wasn’t gonna tell Mia. She’d laugh. ‘I enjoy cooking and baking too.’

‘Baking? Come on! Action hero Liam Stone does not bake!’

‘I do! Not so much these days because I have to watch what I eat, but I enjoy doing it when I can. Who used to help your mum in the kitchen when she was baking for family parties and school fairs? It wasn’t you.’

‘Oh yeah! I forgot about that.’

‘Like I said, I’m pretty much into the same things now as I was then.’

More or less.

There was a time I was kind of into Mia. But not anymore.

‘Okay.’ She held her hands up in surrender. ‘You’ve made your point. Maybe we do know each other a bit more than I thought.’

‘Wanna know how we can get to know each other even better?’

‘Liam! You’re obsessed!’ She rolled her eyes.

‘What?’ I frowned. ‘No! I wasn’t thinking about that! Sounds like you’re the one who’s obsessed! Been a long time, has it?’ I couldn’t resist. It was like she had ‘please wind me up’ stamped on her forehead.

‘What were you thinking, then?’ She raised her eyebrow, deliberately ignoring my question.

‘We’ve just started a relationship, so we need to go out. Properly. So what do you say, Mamma Mia? Wanna go on a date?’

16

Mia

‘Please don’t call me that!’ I snapped, annoyed at the stupid nickname. ‘You know I hate it.’

‘It’s cute! So? Shall we go on a proper date on Friday night? Don’t leave me hanging, sweetheart.’ He clutched his chest, causing my gaze to fall there.

I’d tried (and failed) not to look at his body all evening. His burgundy jumper clung to his defined pecs and I could see the outline of every muscle. Not to mention his toned shoulders and firm arms. I had to get a grip.

I couldn’t believe that he’d remembered all those things about me.

My fear of spiders was something anyone could guess. But remembering how much I disliked lolly sticks and my favourite ice cream flavour? I would’ve thought that had evaporated from his mind years ago.

Of course there was a lot I remembered about him. Like how ticklish he was. Not under his armpits or his feet like a lot of people, but along his ribcage.

And how when he ate a pizza he pushed the edges of the slice together—almost folding it in half before he took a bite.

Yep. All that still lived rent-free in my head. So did the time he promised to be my date for the school dance but then went with Natalie instead. And when he moved to Spain without bothering to say goodbye.

‘That’s a stupid question. You know I’ll go on a date with you. We already agreed to that in our contract. Actually, let me clarify—I’ll go on a fake date. Obviously if this was real, there’s no way I’d accept.’

‘If this was for real, you wouldn’t be able to resist my charms.’ He smiled, flashing his annoyingly cute dimples, then licking his lips.

I watched in a trance as his tongue moved across his mouth for a few seconds before coming to my senses.

‘I’d rather stick pins in my eyes than spend time with you voluntarily. This is just part of the deal. Nothing more. It’s just business.’

‘If you say so, sweetheart.’

‘And stop calling me sweetheart! My name is Mia. Not Mamma Mia, not sweetheart, just Mia.’

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