Page 57 of The Enemy of My Enemy Is… My Fake Boyfriend?

Our lips fit perfectly together, and for a moment, time seemed to stand still and I forgot where I was. All that existed was Ethan's lips moving against mine, his hand in my hair, the taste of him intoxicating.

He slanted his head, and my lips parted, an invitation that I wasn't sure he'd take. But he did. His tongue swept into my mouth, searching, demanding, and I didn't hesitate to do thesame thing back. His answering groan told me he liked it, and that noise almost did me in, my knees going weak like a starlet in an old Hollywood movie.

I clasped onto his shoulders and he grabbed me right back, our bodies colliding with full force, my breasts crushed against his hard chest. He turned us, the sheer strength of him grinding into me, the stones of the wall now at my back.

Everything felt so good, and most of all, I felt alive, awareness and desire surging through me as he alternated between sweet and gentle, then a fierceness that left me breathless.

When he finally pulled away, our breaths mingling as we both caught up on oxygen, he stared into my eyes, his expression inscrutable as I studied him, a bit dazed and dazzled myself.

"What's the smile for, Stratton?" he asked, his voice deep and low.

"Um, uh, just a word of the day I thought of."

"I kiss you and you're thinking about vocabulary words?"

"It wasn't until after," I admitted. "Besides, the kiss was all for show, right?"

"Right. Of course. I made some phone calls earlier so someone would be sure to catch us here tonight."

God, the disappointment that swept through me pierced deep. So it really had been all fake. What was wrong with me that I would let myself get confused like this?

I wasn't cut out for all this pretense. My precious feelings and heart were getting so tangled up in the lie, it was ridiculous.

The words of caution and skepticism from my sister burst into my head. Her warnings had been about other aspects of this fake relationship, more like the repercussions of getting caught and found out, probably because she never would have imagined me starting to fall for Ethan to begin with, but still.

Steeling myself, I took a steadying breath and finally answered Ethan. "Well, good. So it wasn't for nothing then. Because that kiss was just kind of okay anyway."

His eyes widened, and I knew I'd hit him where it hurt. "Just kind of okay?" he echoed.

"Uh-huh."

He threw his head back and laughed. "You're full of shit."

I pushed off the wall, creating more space between us.

"Because that kiss was everything," he said.

Was Ethan Locke intentionally messing with my head now?

Grabbing my hand, he led me away like he hadn't just left me spinning. "Hey, what was the word?" he asked.

"What word?"

"The big word of the day you were thinking of?"

"Oh. It was inscrutable."

"Ah, so in other words, you think I'm deep, dark, and mysterious?"

I bumped into him with my hip. "You're so full of yourself."

All he did was laugh in response as we walked past the tower, deeper into the heart of Paris, the cobblestone streets under the soft glow of street lamps doing nothing to soothe the strangeness stirring in my soul.

We passed a few sidewalk cafes, the aroma of food making my stomach growl and mouth water. "Where are we going now?" I asked Ethan. "And will there be food involved?"

"You'll see."

"Inscrutable," I muttered under my breath. "Exasperating, vexatious."

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