Page 78 of Four Steps to the Perfect Fake Date

He’d neveractuallysaid that he wanted something beyond the vow renewal. What if he was just running out the clock on their attraction too?

But as the tension wound her tighter every day, Daphne wondered if he was simply responding to her cues, and if that’s what her family had done her whole life. Did they treat her like the Good One because that’s all she showed them? Was Calvin handing her the reins because he could tell that’s what she needed to feel safe?

“Barela’s quote was different,” she told Flint almost two weeks after they’d discovered Bobby Troy’s involvement, on a Monday evening, when the contractor had finally responded with the documents. “Nearly twenty percent lower than what the department ended up paying for the renovations.”

Calvin glanced at the papers she presented him, laying them out on his desk side by side. Daphne had ditched the crutches over the weekend, her ankle now able to bear her weight with the help of a soft wrapping. Still, it was a relief to sit down across from him as she watched him study the two documents.

“Renovations that never happened,” he said, knitting his dark brows. The sun had set only a half hour ago. The days were getting longer. The fluorescent lights above cast Calvin’s face in harsh shadow, but he still looked like the most handsome man Daphne had ever seen.

The sheriff lifted his gaze to Daphne’s. “What does this mean?” He pointed to the documents.

She blinked down at what she’d found. “My theory is that the company, BDT, acted as a middleman. Money goes to the business, they skim some off the top, and the rest goes to the contractor. I don’t know why they never paid Barela. If they had, and the renovations had been completed as planned, I never would have caught it.”

Calvin rubbed his jaw, a long exhale slipping through his nose. Daphne wanted to lean across the desk and run her thumb down his furrowed brow to ease the worry from his expression. The urge to touch him had only gotten worse in the days that had passed. Theyate together, drove to work together, spent their evenings together. But since she’d shied away from him the day she’d tried on his mother’s dress, Calvin hadn’t pressed her.

And she hated it.

She wanted his hands on her body. Wanted his kiss. Wanted his cock. The longer they danced around each other, the more unbearable it became to not have the right to be with him. Trulybewith him.

But how could she think that, when what they had was based on fakery? Sleeping with him would complicate everything. It was better to keep her distance, to focus on doing her job, and get this vow renewal out of the way. She was only Daphne Davis. She wasn’t the one who was chosen in the end. She wasn’t good enough, or exciting enough, or spontaneous enough.

She was only good at doing what she was meant to do. Work. Save. Plan for retirement. Make good decisions that somehow never ended up as good as they were supposed to be.

Except . . .

There was Calvin, who looked at her with eyes that said she was special. He made her laugh. Made her feel like she’d discovered none of life’s secrets before he showed them to her. When he watched her the way he was watching her now, Daphne saw the world brighten. His focus was all she needed to feel beautiful and important and worthy.

It was folly. Of course it was. He was just a man, and she was just Daphne. They’d struck this stupid deal, and she hadn’t told him the truth about the heirloom she’d decided to retrieve from his mother’s house, if it even existed. But they’d worked together, eaten together, lived together, and Daphne felt like so much more than she’d been before.

She was sick of holding back.

The change within her happened quietly. One moment, she was terrified of letting him get too close. Then he glanced up, and the frown on his brow cleared. His eyes went soft the way they sometimes didwhen he looked at her, and Daphne wondered how she’d ever managed to hold out this long.

This man was everything she’d ever wanted. She’d be a fool to let him go.

“You have a funny look in your eyes,” he said.

Her throat was dry. “I think I want to go home now.”

Eyes flickering, he licked his lips. “Your home or mine?”

He was giving her an out. Leaving her the space she’d requested, even though the desire was written plainly on his face. She knew that if she told him she wanted to go back to her sad little apartment, he’d offer to drive her there. And it would be the end of something they hadn’t ever defined. They’d go to the vow renewal—and? Then what?

Despite everything that had happened over the past few weeks, Daphne was tempted. The big slice of her that wanted to curl up in her shell where she was safe and warm begged her to take the lifeline he offered. She could be responsible. She could do what was best in the long run.

Finish her work here. Find a new job. Start her life. Work. Save. Meet and marry an accountant or an actuary who understood her need for fail-safes and safety nets.

The urge to keep herself small and safe was an anchor chain wrapped around her waist, dragging her down below the surface. The longer she spent in Calvin’s presence, the more her shell felt like a prison.

She’d been punched, tackled, and challenged. She’d taken a risk on agreeing to the date. And she’d survived. She’dbelonged. For the first time in her life, Daphne didn’t feel overshadowed by the people around her. She didn’t feel like the square peg. Her sharp edges were being worn down, and shefit.

She fit—with him.

“Your home,” she croaked.

Calvin didn’t leap out of his chair. He didn’t vault over the desk and ravish her where she sat. He hardly moved at all. But a slight tensionstole over his shoulders for a moment. His eyes grew sharper as he watched her. Then he nodded and stood.

Extending a hand toward her, Calvin helped her out of her chair. His fingers stroked the inside of her wrist and sent delicate shivers racing over her skin. He stood half a foot away from her and let his gaze drop to her lips, and Daphne trembled with the need for him to kiss her.

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