Page 28 of Flirting With My Brother's Billionaire Best Friend

“It would probably be a good idea if we’re doing this whole … um, relationship thing.” I can tell he was about to say “fake relationship” but stopped himself so no one would overhear.

“Of course. We need to show Amanda right off the bat that we’re together and madly in love.”

I drop my hand from his arm. “Oh, so now you agree to being in love?”

He laughs and shushes me. “Of course.” He lowers his voice and leans toward me. “And keep your voice down. I just saw someone walking around a minute ago. The last thing we need is for someone to overhear what we’re saying.”

He’s standing so close to me, near enough that I can see a ring of green around his pupil. His eyes are even more beautiful up close.

The next thing I know, I’m being nudged from behind, and I fall into Langston’s arms. “Oof.” What was that?

Langston encircles me into his embrace as he steadies me. “Marshmallow, what was that for?”

I turn to see Marshmallow innocently munching on hay. “Was that him?”

“I saw him do it. He pushed you right into my arms.”

I step back from Langston and can’t help but laugh. “That crazy horse.”

But once again, Marshmallow nudges me in the back, into Langston’s arms again. This time Langston’s more prepared. I look up into his eyes, and my breath catches. His arms are warm and strong around me. We’re frozen like this for a moment, and time stands still. My gaze trails down to his lips where they linger. What would it be like to kiss him? I can’t help but wonder. Is he good at it? There’s no way this guy is a terrible kisser. I don’t get that vibe from him. But how can I really know without trying it out?

Langston’s watching me, and he leans down. The moment before his lips touch mine, Raul, the stable manager, comes around the corner.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to interrupt you two.”

I pull away from Langston, heat creeping across my cheeks. My breath is coming out ragged and short, and I turn and steady my gaze onto Marshmallow. Raul has the worst timing out of anyone on the planet.

“Your horse is quite the matchmaker,” Langston says to me, his voice low and husky.

It sends a chill down my spine to hear him speak to me so intimately, like it’s our little secret.

I step away from him and shake off the haze that seems to have settled itself comfortably in my brain. “Marshmallow, you troublemaker.”

Langston pulls me toward him with Raul in plain view. “He doesn’t seem like he’s causing trouble to me.”

Langston is putting on a show, right? None of this is real. It’s almost like I imagined the fact that he almost kissed me. I play along with the act and put my head on his shoulder and pretend not to notice how muscled and hard it is. “Should we get going with our morning ride? I have to get to work in about an hour.”

“Of course. Let’s get going.”

I open Marshmallow’s stall and lead him out so I can have some room to mount him. I often ride in the mornings, as does Langston, but we haven’t really ridden together like this before.

We take the trail that leads back to his property, talking about work and some of the drama with other employees treating him badly because he’s the boss’s son.

“I know the feeling well.” I twist the reins in my hands as we head down the trail, side by side. “I’ve had to work much harder than those around me to prove that I’m not just winning favors from my dad. It doesn’t help that I’m a girl either. People always assume I’m a little behind the curve because of it. There are a lot of arrogant men in this industry.”

“Kaison told me Ariana has dealt with that a lot too. Maybe you could talk to her about it sometime,” Langston suggests.

“Oh, we’ve talked about it plenty. Believe me. She’s told me all about how when she was first hired at Keith Enterprises to revamp the entire department, some jerk wanted to put her office in a closet instead of a regular office.” Just because she’s a woman. It’s even worse in some ways being the owner’s daughter. A lot of people in the office resent me for it and assume I’m just a spoiled princess with everything handed to me.

“I heard Kaison ended up giving her the jerk’s office.” A branch brushes against Langston’s shoulder.

“And then they ended up together. Sounds like that decision paid off for him.”

Another branch comes along and knocks his hat right off his head.

“I think you’re missing something there,” I say.

Langston reaches up to pat his bare head and then twists to look behind him where his hat is floating in a mud puddle. “Shoot. That’s my favorite hat, and now it’s going to be all muddy.”

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