Page 160 of By His Rule

Why did I tell her all this? I should have known her opinion wouldn’t be helpful.

“He didn’t want anyone else to see you. Full stop. He wants you, Lor, and he doesn’t want any other man in that office to lay eyes on you.

My stupid romantic heart flutters wildly. “That’s ridiculous,” I state, trying to ignore my true feelings about her explanation. “He just knew I’d outrun him and make him look weak.”

“Kian Callahan might be a lot of things, but weak isn’t one of them.”

I huff, because what else can I say? She’s right. Obviously.

“Soooo…I feel like there’s more.”

“Fuck’s sake, Tate,” I mutter, reaching for my wine and taking a massive gulp.

“I know when you’re hiding things. You get shifty and weird. You fucked him, didn’t you?”

I almost spray my screen with wine. “No,” I cry, after thankfully managing to swallow it. “Christ, Tate. I’m not a whore.”

“Never said you were. Rumor has it, though, that Kian is a freak between the sheets, and I know you could use a little bit of that in your life right now.”

“Dude, you need to stop meddling. First Ryder and now Kian.” I shake my head.

“You can thank me anytime,” she says with a wide smile.

“I’ll give you Ryder. He’s…easy, in more ways than one. But I’m not fucking my boss.” I’m actively trying not to let that happen.

But that kiss earlier…

Fuck. That was hot as hell. I can only imagine how good things could have been if I hadn’t pushed him away.

“So, what are you hiding? And don’t try to tell me that it’s nothing.”

“Ugh, you’re a pain in my ass, Tatum Grace Warner-Callahan.”

She glares at me, silently demanding the information I’m holding back.

“Fine. Kian suggested we fake date so that he can lose his stage-five clingers for a bit and I have a reason for Matt to leave me the fuck alone.” I say it in such a rush that I’m not sure any of it was intelligible. But it’s out.

Silence follows my confession, so I can only assume she heard me loud and clear and is trying to process.

“Okay,” Tate says, holding her hand up to the screen. “Let me get this straight.” I roll my eyes and take another sip of wine. “Kian Callahan—the Kian Callahan, CFO of Callahan Enterprises— who has never dated anyone for more than a few hours, has asked you, my best friend, his assistant, to be his first girlfriend.”

“Fake, Tate. Fake girlfriend.”

“Oh my god, we’re going to be sisters-in-law.”

“Okay, now you’ve lost it. I shouldn’t have said anything,” I mutter, regretting this whole conversation.

“No, no, you absolutely should have. This is fucking epic, Lor.”

“It’s fake, Tate. There is nothing worthy of anything even close to epic. It’s a means to an end to give us both a breather from the exhausting dating world.”

“So you’re seriously telling me that if the opportunity presented itself, you wouldn’t screw his nerdy numbers brain out?”

I swallow thickly, praying that this is one instance where she can’t read every single one of my thoughts.

“Knew it. I fucking knew it.” She laughs, a wide smile splitting her face.

“I’m not screwing his brain out. We’re just…”

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