Page 32 of Under My Skin

Not that he could have heard my response over the shouting of the half-dozen people who were snapping pictures and firing questions at us.

“Braden, who’s Dani?”

“Where’d you meet this girl?”

“Braden, what’s happening with the Dragons this year?”

“What do you have to say about the rumor that Harold Reeves is benching you?”

Once again, Braden groaned at the mention of his career, and then he took a deep breath, like he was trying to stop himself from snapping at the jerk. And honestly, I wouldn’t have blamedhim for it. Professional football players kept playing after way worse infractions than he’d committed, butthiswas what the gossip rags wanted to focus on? Had it just been an exceptionally slow news month or something?

As we approached his Escalade, Braden turned to me and tucked some hair behind my ear as he leaned forward slightly.

“I wasn’t going to do this tonight, but…is it okay if I kiss you?” he whispered. “I just want them to start talking about something other than Jeff fucking Hollister. But I won’t do it yet if you don’t want me to.”

A knot started to form in my stomach as I let out a shaky exhale.

Ididn’twant him to kiss me. Ever. But I’d already made my deal with the devil. Kissing him was going to be part of my job description at some point in the very near future. What difference did it make whether it was now or in two weeks? It wouldn’t change how I felt about doing it.

“You can kiss me.” The words trembled out of my mouth, like they were as hesitant to be spoken as I was to voice them.

He gave me a nervous smile as he cupped my face in his palm and rubbed his thumb over my cheek, making my skin tingle, unbidden, where he’d touched it. Sending sparks of electricity all the way through me as my whole body tensed in anticipation of what was about to happen. Then he closed the gap between us and lightly brushed his lips over mine once, twice, three times.

As I played my part, kissing him back, that damn knot in my stomach – the hesitation, fear, and fury I’d been holding onto – betrayed me and turned into butterflies. I felt this featherlight connection all the way down to my bones, once again starting to chip away at the fortress of fury I’d built up around my heart.

And, for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why. I wasn’t built like this. I didn’t getbutterflies in my stomach from akiss. Icouldn’tfeel physical attraction to someone without a connection.

So why did I feel this way about a man I wouldn’t have pissed on if he was on fire?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BRADEN

How wasit possible that a simple chaste kiss was making my whole body spark like a livewire? And why were my lips actually tingling as I pulled back? This hadneverhappened to me before.

I could see a whole storm of emotions brewing behind Dani’s eyes as I gazed into them: nerves, shock, and something else I couldn’t put a name to. Like she was also struggling to make sense of the sudden electricity that was buzzing between us.

But what I wasn’t prepared for was the hope that started to spring up inside me. Because if she had feelings that strong…well, maybe whatever the hell I was feeling wasn’t completely one-sided.

Whywas I hoping for that? The whole reason we even had this arrangement was because Ididn’twant an actual relationship. I was just playing a part for the press to get them off my back.

Wasn’t I?

“You okay, sweetheart?” I asked quietly.

She nodded timidly, casting her eyes downward. “I’m fine.”

“Come on, let’s get you home.”

I opened her car door, then waited for her to climb inside before closing it and walking around to the driver’s side. WhenI turned the car on and started to pull out of the parking lot, my favorite variety radio station blared to life just as Jessie J’s “Domino” started to play. Dani’s whole face lit up as she started to quietly sing along.

My heart felt like it was physically expanding in my chest as I watched her get lost in the music, and in this moment, there was nothing I wanted more than to see her this happy and carefree all the time. I couldn’t explain why. Maybe because I knew how much she was struggling right now and that these moments of joy were few and far between for her. And I knew I needed to make sure the next time we went out, it would be somewhere she could let loose and just be herself.

“So, when can we do this again?” I asked with a chuckle as I pulled up in front of her apartment building.

My breath hitched in anticipation, and some part of me was actually afraid that she’d tell me she had a great time, but this was the end of the line for us. Even though we had a signed contract saying shehadto see me again.

Fuck, if the lines were already blurring this much in my head, what was going to happen once we really got to know each other? If I wasn’t careful, I’d end up catching real feelings for my fake girlfriend. And that would spell disaster.

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