Page 30 of Wild Promises

This was going over better than I thought. I suspected I'd need to convince him, but he was on the same page as me. We both felt the pressure to move forward with this plan and prove to everyone that we were in Telluride to stay.

"It's a little crazy that we have to go to these extremes to prove to everyone we're serious about working in our families' businesses."

"You broke your father's trust, and I've never been particularly serious about anything." He placed quotes around the word serious.

I always thought Xander was big-hearted, someone who'd do anything for anyone. I never thought of him as irresponsible. But his brothers never gave him much responsibility, or maybe that was his parents. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy. He rose or fell to their expectations. I reached across the table and covered his hand with mine. "You deserve to work in your family's business. You love working with people and at the resort."

"If only my brothers saw it that way."

"They have to." Xander was such a good person. I hated that he was struggling with his family. I squeezed his hand before pulling away. "We'll make this convincing."

"Thanks for doing this."

I shrugged as I cut the turkey into smaller pieces. "This is a mutually beneficial relationship. We both get something out of it."

We ate in silence for a few minutes. "I can't believe this all started because of the pact we made as kids. Who knew it would bring us here? Living together, pretending to date."

"If we're pretend dating, you won't be able to meet anyone else before our thirtieth birthdays."

I laughed but without any humor. "Then we'll just have to abide by the pact." I felt hot, then cold all over. I was having trouble being his roommate. I'd never survive it if we were sleeping in the same bed. Surely, it would only heighten my awareness of him.

We finished eating and then cleaned up. Xander went into the living room and put on the football game. I hovered in the doorway, unsure of what I should do. We'd already discussed our arrangement. There was nothing for me to do.

Xander waved me over to the couch. "We need to practice this relationship thing if we want it to be believable."

My heart rate kicked up. "What did you have in mind?"

He patted the cushion next to him. "Sit next to me."

I sat gingerly on the edge of the cushion, and Xander said, "Scoot back. I won't bite."

That sent a shiver down my spine. I complied, and when I moved, the couch naturally tipped me in Xander's direction. I ended up pressed against his side, and his arm came around me. I was enveloped with his scent and by his hard body.

"That's better," Xander said, his voice cool and unaffected while my heart was thumping hard. Could he hear it? Could he feel my pulse pounding through my veins?

I couldn't relax even though he'd put on a football game.

His entire body shook when he laughed at one of the commercials. I couldn't bring myself to focus on anything but his thigh, which was pressed against mine, and the heavy weight of his arm over my shoulder.

Eventually, he looked down at me. "You don't like this one?"

I attempted to smile. I thought he was talking about the movie. "It's fine."

"If you're not okay with this, we can back out. Any time. I don't mind. I'll figure something else out."

I shook my head, realizing he meant the touching. "We have to do this."

He frowned. "What if it's too much?"

"It's weird because we've always been friends. It'll take some time to get used to the change. We just have to do this more often." How many more nights could I sit next to him on the couch and pretend that his proximity didn't affect me? My skin felt too tight.

His gaze fell to my lips, and my heart raced in my chest. Was he going to suggest that we practice kissing? I couldn't take any more advances tonight. I was already in over my head.

"More nights like this one. I can do that." His voice was soft, but I felt it everywhere. Then he nodded toward the TV. "This is the best part. They almost kiss."

My cheeks flamed as I turned my attention to the TV. This time, I couldn't look away as the main characters danced to the music, moving closer and closer, until their lips were almost touching. Then someone interrupted them, and they pulled back. It was almost worse watching this play out on the screen. It only made me more aware of how close we were sitting. Ididn't think Xander even realized it, but his fingers were playing absentmindedly with the ends of my hair.

Each time he moved a finger through my hair, a tingle ran down my neck. My nipples hardened under the lace material of my bra. We were too close. It felt like there was a heavy weight on my chest, and I couldn't draw in a deep breath.

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