Page 18 of Just One Fake Date

“It’s outside the terms of our deal. And I need to get home.” She turned and headed for the door, fighting her impulse to tackle him instead and go for another round.

“Tomorrow then?”

Shannyn spun to face him, again one hand on her hip. Surprise flickered in his expression, a sign that people didn’t challenge him often. She was up for changing those stats. “Why do you want to go for dinner?”

“I thought it would be nice....”

“Nice? No, you have a plan,” she said, interrupting him. That surprised him, too. “You have anagenda. And having an agenda is a mutually exclusive condition to being nice. Being nice means doing things for people without any hope of benefit.”

“Wait a minute...” Tyler strode around the end of the counter, ready to argue.

Shannyn held up a finger and he stopped cold. “Why exactly are you asking me to go for dinner?”

“Because you might be hungry.”

Her stomach rumbled and his eyes lit, but Shannyn shook her head. “That’s not the real reason.”

“Okay, I’m hungry.” He smiled, but his gaze didn’t soften.

“Closer.”

Tyler folded his arms across his chest, which made him look formidable. There was no doubt that Shannyn had his undivided attention, and she couldn’t pretend, even to herself, that she didn’t like it. This man could get to her, and he would, if she let him.

And then he’d toss her away and leave her heartbroken.

Been there, done that.

“I thought we could get to know each other better, so that it’s more plausible that we’re dating,” he spoke with resolve.

“Aha! So, you’re adding a condition to our agreement, but trying to slide it in under cover of biological need.” She wagged a scolding finger at him, guessing it would annoy him to be accused of anything underhanded. “That’s sneaky, not nice.”

His eyes flashed. “I amnotsneaky.”

“And I’m not interested in going for dinner, thanks.”

Tyler couldn’t completely disguise that he was annoyed with her. “How exactly is this deal going to work then?”

“You’ll tell me the date, the location and the time of the wedding. I’ll meet you there.”

“No, that’s not going to work.” He took the last two steps between them and glared down at her as if he could change her mind by force of will.

Shannyn held his gaze even as her heart did a somersault.

Damn, he was hot. She hadn’t counted on him being more sexy when he was pissed off. It was his self-control that was a game-changer. He was seething and she knew it, but he showed such restraint that she wanted to push him over the edge.

She wanted to find out what it took to make him completely lose control.

She wanted to peer into the heart of the volcano when he did.

No, she wanted to be naked with him when he did. That was when it would be hard and fast, a sure sign that he had surrendered to temptation, and it would be awesome. She licked her lips without meaning to do so, and Tyler’s gaze dropped hungrily to her mouth. She saw him catch his breath. Could they possibly be thinking the same thing?

“We. Need. To. Study.” He bit off the words with precision.

She stepped closer so that they were toe-to-toe and glared up at him. “We. Do. Not.”

His eyes flashed again. “This is only going to be credible if we know details about each other.” He punctuated that with a scorching look. “Alotof details. I need your phone number and there should be a cute picture of you on my phone. I havesisters. They’re going to look.”

“No.”

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