Page 222 of By His Rule

“What is this, though, Kian?” Her frustration with the situation is clear in her tone.

“It’s whatever you want it to be,” I say honestly. “Right now, I’m enjoying spending time with you, even when you are trying your hardest to piss me off. Does it need to be anything more than that?”

She shakes her head, sadness seeping into her eyes.

“I don’t want to be anyone’s secret fuck buddy, Kian. Not even yours.”

“When did I say anything about secret? I asked you to date me, babe.”

She balks, and I instantly regret the words.

“Fake date. You asked me to fake it with you to have a break from your fan club. That is not asking to date me, you moron.”

“So then, date me,” I say simply.

A laugh punches from her chest. “No, Kian. I am not dating you.”

She pushes harder against my chest and slips from between me and the wall.

I let her go for a few seconds, giving her a little thinking space before I rush to catch up with her.

“I’m not ashamed of being with you, Lorelei.”

“I never said you were,” she says tersely.

“You did when you called yourself a secret fuck buddy. You deserve more than to be anyone’s secret.”

“But I’m not good enough to be anything but a fake girlfriend.”

Grabbing her wrist, I spin her around to face me.

“I just asked you to date me. Fuck the fake shit. If we have to be officially dating to continue with whatever this is, then so be it.”

Her eyes widen in disbelief. “So be it? So fucking be it? Unbelievable.”

“What?”

“For a smart man, you can be really fucking stupid, Kian Callahan.”

I fall silent.

“It wasn’t meant to come out quite like that,” I confess when I hear the words I just said.

“It doesn’t matter. None of this is happening anyway. Where are we going exactly?” she asks when we come to the end of the street.

Ahead of us is the ocean, and she stares out at it longingly.

The loose tendrils of hair around her face dance in the light ocean breeze, and I lose myself in her beauty.

“Kian?” she snaps as she looks back to find me doing nothing but staring.

“Straight ahead.”

“B-but that’s the beach.”

“And?”

“I doubt there are any five-star restaurants down there.”

---