Page 22 of Under My Skin

My eyes went wide. La Terrasse had opened here in Orlando last year, and after getting glowing reviews by a couple of well-known food critics, it was now one of the most famous restaurants in the country. On any given night, you were almost guaranteed to find at least one A-list celebrity dining there.

“You’re…you’re serious?” I stammered.

Braden chuckled. “Yeah. I am. I’ve been looking for an excuse to try it anyway, and this seemed like the perfect one.”

“I guess. If you’re sure,” I mumbled.

He was already being beyond generous with our arrangement for some reason I couldn’t figure out. It felt weird accepting things like meals at five-star restaurants on top of that.

“This might be just for show, but youaregoing to be pretending to date a pro football player. You might as well get used to being spoiled when we’re together,” he said with an adorably awkward smile.

Stop it, Dani, I scolded myself.Nothing about this man is even remotely adorable. He’s a dick, remember?

But I couldn’t help it. I smiled too.

Damn him for making me forget. Not just about what he’d done to my sister, but about how miserable my life was. Damn him for giving me something to look forward to and making me feel like I could breathe a little easier.

Why did it have to be him? Of all the people in the whole world, why washethe one who had to offer me a solution to my financial problems?

Braden took a deep breath. “So, listen, my lawyer’s writing up a non-disclosure agreement and a contract for this arrangement, and I’m going to need you to sign them before we go out next week. I feel like a dick doing that, but Vicki’s insisting on it so the press doesn’t get wind of this.”

“It’s fine. I get it. Do you want me to come back here to sign it, or…”

“I think he’s going to want to meet with us at his office. What’s your class schedule like?”

“Um, I have Tuesday and Thursday mornings free until eleven. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are super busy until four.”

“Let me call him and figure out when he can meet with us, and I’ll text and let you know. Speaking of which, let me give you my number, and then you can text me so I have yours.”

I pulled my phone out of my purse and started a contact profile for him, then handed it to him so he could type his number in. After he handed it back to me, I sent him a one-word text so he could save my number to his phone, then texted Morgan to let her know I was ready to go.

A minute later, she was coming down the stairs with Isaac’s carrier – which had a blanket draped over it – and she hurried toward the front door. I stood up and walked over to her, opening my mouth to say something, but she put a finger to her lips.

“Everything okay?” Braden asked.

“Yep,” Morgan said quietly. “Isaac was fussing pretty much the whole time you two were talking. I just got him back to sleep, so I don’t want to wake him.”

“Okay,” he whispered. “I can meet him another time.”

Then he turned to me, leaning in and brushing his lips against my cheek. It was just a whisper of a kiss, barely even there, but I still felt warmth spreading through my whole body. I couldn’t explain it. I’d never had such an intense and visceral reaction to another person before, so why was I reacting like this toBraden fucking Hicks?

But just as quickly, a wave of guilt and devastation crashed over me so hard that it was all I could do not to double over from the anguish.

“It was nice meeting you, Dani,” he murmured. “I’ll text as soon as I hear back from my lawyer.”

I just nodded, unable to form a single word.

As we walked out the door, bile rose in my throat, and it took everything I had to swallow it down so I wouldn’t puke in the middle of Braden Hicks’s driveway. I felt like I’d just sold my soul to Satan.

I’m sorry, Mar,I prayed, hoping like hell that she could somehow hear me.I’m so sorry. But I don’t have another choice. I’m doing this for Isaac.

CHAPTER NINE

BRADEN

Why the helldid Dani look so familiar?

And why was I so drawn to her? I’d never experienced this kind of pull to another person before. It was like the second we met, a switch flipped inside me. Even though she’d made it clear that this arrangement was just for show, I knew I needed to get to know her better.

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