Page 44 of The Temporary Roomie: Extended Edition

I shrug, not wanting to tip him off too early. “Okay, so you don’t like your dates to be affectionate—got it. I won’t give you a hickey at the table.”

His eyes narrow. “I like affection, for the record. Just not quite so much in the middle of a conversation with a colleague.”

“It’s okay to not like affection. Some people aren’t good at it, and that’s fine.” Why am I goading him like this?

His eyes flare and he steps so close the tips of his shoes touch the tips of mine. Also, my belly is grazing the front of his suit jacket, and somehow that feels incredibly intimate. “I’m perfectly good at showing affection. No—actually I’mgreatat it. If I wanted to”—his eyes drop to my mouth—“I could show you the best damn affection of your life.”

Show me!

No . . . don’t show me.

SHOW ME.

“I don’t know. You seem awfully defensive to me.”

He looks down at me and smiles—a wolf dressed in a designer suit. “You’re taunting me right now. Why is that, Jessica?” Hishand rises to land on the wall behind me, pinning me in place. I sink my teeth into my bottom lip and tell myself,Do not give in, woman.“Almost seems like you’re playing a game with me right now. What’s the outcome you’re hoping for?”

I angle my chin up like a dagger even though all I want is to melt against him. “I don’t know . . . what do you think it should be?”

He’s quiet for three breaths, and because he’s so close, I can feel all three of them against my lips. The tension between us is tangible and humming through every inch of me. I want to grab the front of Drew’s shirt and pull his face down that last inch, but instead I keep my hands splayed out against the bathroom wall, willing them to stay put.

“Why did you let Susan think this is my child?”

The question shakes me momentarily, and I hope he doesn’t see it on my face. “I—I thought that was what you wanted. Really sells the devoted girlfriend story.”

“Is that the real reason?”

No.The real reason is because I want to tangle him in a lie so tight that when he finally has to get out of it, he will be humiliated. That’s the real reason. It’s step one.

. . . isn’t it?

“Mm-hmm,” I hum, still not fully able to keep myself from glancing up at his mouth, unwilling to stop myself from imagining what a kiss from him would be like. Firm? Sweet? Tender? Harsh?

No. Bad, Jessie.

Drew’s lips curve upward because I’ve been staring and he knows why. One of his hands lowers to my hip, and I feel his fingers press into my side. I can’t let this happen. It would ruin everything I’m trying to achieve, and yet . . .

Maybe one kiss won’t hurt anything.

Unfortunately, a knock on the bathroom door startles both of us. Drew bites his lips against a smile as he holds my eyes for one more second before shaking his head and shrugging back down the cuffs of his suit jacket.Good. Perfect. No kisses tonight. Staying right on track.

But as he raises a single eyebrow and holds out his arm for me to take, I waver in my plan of retaliation. I planned it before I came to really know Drew, before we became friends . . . now, I wonder if it’s worth it. I wonder if maybe I could let myself enjoy this night as his pretend girlfriend . . . if I could let myself fall for Drew.

No.

I don’t want to.

Drew Marshall is about to be pranked harder than he’s ever been pranked in his life.

CHAPTER 24

Drew

We are seated at the table, waiting for dinner to be served, and Jessie is fondling my ear. Not in a sensual way—although it probably looks like it’s intended to be; it feels more like an annoying gnat pestering my face. My hands itch to swat hers away. Everyone at the table is staring at us like they are deeply disturbed, and honestly, I don’t blame them.

I realize this is my fault though. Jessie thinks I don’t like PDA because of all the gagging I do around Lucy and Cooper, so naturally she’s going to climb all over me in public because of this unspoken tit-for-tat game we have going on between us. It’s like a human version of Battleship.

I smile tightly and twitch my shoulder, trying to push Jessie’s hand away without the whole table realizing what I’m doing. But it’s a big round table, and they are all staring. Now I’m just shoulder-hugging her hand, which makes me look even more lovesick and disgusting. I take a more direct approach and cover her pesky little hand with mine, then lower it down to her lap, holding it tightly there.

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