Page 36 of The Fake Family Deal

I can’t deny her for another second, or myself. I scramble for a condom in the drawer by the bed, then roll it on before returning to her. I carefully position myself above her, lining myself up with her entrance.

Her chest rises and falls in anticipation. “You ready?” I ask, and she nods, her face flushed with the exertion, her mouth round and open as she draws breath.

I savor the moment for another second, then sink into her — and it’s the most glorious warmth I’ve ever felt. She clenches around me and moans, and I start thrusting, finding a gentle, long pace, one that makes her move beneath me, reacting to my touch, her hands digging into my back, her hips rolling as pleasure crashes over us in waves, like an ocean.

It is one of the most sublime feelings I have ever experienced.

I don’t stop until we both reach climax, our arms wrapped tight around each other as we melt into one, nothing mattering except the electricity passing between our bodies, the magnetism binding us both together with a force so strong that neither of us would even think about escaping it.

Later, in the dark of the evening, after we have showered and settled, we lie in my bed together, Marina nestled into my arms, our fingers twined like they have always meant to be. And we don’t say a word.

There is nothing more to say. She fits perfectly into the curve of my body.

I listen to her breathing grow steady and deep until I too succumb to a blissful sleep.

CHAPTER 18

MARINA

Suddenly, everything that’s been so annoying about Ellis for weeks seems not to matter anymore. It’s not that he’s no longer irritating. Heisand he knows it. He acts like he’s the center of the world and like he’s never seen a kid before. He’s strange and grumpy, but he’s kind, caring in his own way.

And he’s stopped pretending he doesn’t want to smile. He’s stopped pretending that he has no interest in me.

It also helps that, every night, once the crew have gone home, we’ve put Lila to bed and done the same, falling into his bed like teenagers and having really great sex. Likereallygreat. Like the way you imagine it’s meant to feel.

Not disappointing like I’ve always found it before.

With Ellis, something is blooming inside me and I can’t make it stop.

Suddenly, at two and a half weeks in, we’re finally acting like the married couple we were always supposed to be.

And, to the delight of the director, we manage to do some successful talking heads about our day-to-day lives. “Great job, guys,” he says as we wrap. He even smiles.

That’s how we know we really made it.

“Next time can westartlike this, though? This is great, where we’re at now, but two weeks to get to this point is just way too many. I mean, we are on a schedule, you know?”

“Believe me,” says Ellis with a deep frown, “there is not going to be anext time. I will never, ever be on television again.”

Simon raises both eyebrows disbelievingly, but says nothing else. Clearly he can see what everyone else can too — that Ellis loves attention more than anything.

We get thanked again, and as Simon drifts away, Ellis takes my hand and pulls me aside, dipping us into the corridor so he can press me against the wall out of view of the rest of the crew.

I grin at him and hiss, “We’re not supposed to be doing this.”

“Who cares? We are supposed to be married, aren’t we?”

“Yes, but everyone also thinks we hate each other.”

“And that’s not true, is it?”

I purse my lips, trying to hold in the smile. “No, it’s not.” He grins victoriously, and I shake my head with the least conviction possible. “Won’t it be suspicious if we’re seen cavorting like this?”

“Nah,” says Ellis, pulling me in for another kiss. I can’t do anything except melt. “You know, I think maybe we should go out for dinner tonight after the crew go home.”

“Dinner? But what about Lila? It’ll be nearly her bedtime.”

“I can get a babysitter, no problem.”

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