Page 42 of Fake It for Christmas

I furrowed my brow. “Shane, I’m right here,” I said. “And I’m not going anywhere. I’ll do the interview with you, and we’re going to rock it.”

He looked like he might be about to cry. “I don’t deserve you. Or this.”

I reached over and gently took his coffee from him, setting it down on the table. “Hey. What do you think your grandma would have said? Right now, if she were here, looking at this email?”

Shane gave me a look that was the exact middle between joy and grief—I could see, all in one moment, how deeply he wished she reallywerehere.

But at the same time, a slow smile started to spread over his face. Something lightened in him, and as he spoke, I could sense a calm in him that hadn’t been there before.

“She’d say that they were going to love me,” he explained. “That I should write back, accept the interview, and knock it out of the park.”

“She sounds like she was a very smart woman.”

He puffed out a laugh, drawing in a long breath afterward. “She was. She would have liked you a lot, too. I’m sure you guys could talk about Alexander the Great or King Henry or whatever other things history buffs know about.”

“I would have liked her, too.”

Shane had a glimmer in his eye. “Meanwhile, I would have been paying more attention to the type of hardwood Shawn and Nathan on Fixer Brothers were using.”

“All while drinking out of anI Love Lucycup.”

God. There it was again.

That weird feeling in my chest. Like my heart was doing a little flip every time he looked at me. Why was I so drawn to him?

Maybe I didn’t need a reason.

Maybe I was under some wintertime spell every time I met his eyes, and maybe for anyone else—any otherman—it would have been crazy.

But maybe I also didn’t give a damn if it was crazy when I wanted him this much.

I leaned over him on the couch, grabbing his hip as I moved in to claim his mouth in a kiss. He made a little surprised gasp as our lips met, and something about that sound only made me crave him more. My cock stirred, and suddenly I had an intense desire to get all of my clothes off, sooner rather than later.

“It’s pretty fun being your fake boyfriend,” I said, moving lower and kissing the spot on his neck behind his ear.. “I’m starting to think it’s probably pretty great dating you for real, too.”

He hummed, arching a little under my touch. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“What? Why not?” I asked, pushing back a stray piece of his hair. I kissed further down his neck, wanting to touch every inch of him.

“Because I’m kind of a needy boyfriend,” Shane murmured as I sucked a slow kiss against his neck. “Fuck, that feels good.”

“Maybe I like needy,” I said, running my palm up the front of his shirt. “Maybe I’m a little needy, too.”

I felt him get goosebumps all over the soft skin of his chest.

Truthfully, I neverwasneedy, in the past. I’d always been more of a lone wolf when it came to things like relationships.

But when it came to Shane… I was needier than I’d ever been.

“Fuck,” he whispered as I brushed my fingertips across his nipple under his shirt. As I leaned further toward him I felt his cock rut up against my leg and realized he was just as hard as I was, and there was no hiding it now.

“Get these clothes off,” I said, dragging my free hand downward and pushing against his erection.

“If this is what you meant by needy, then I think I’m okay with that,” he said.

“See? Needy is fuckinggood, Shane. Tell me what you want.”

I groaned as he moved forward to crush his lips to mine. He was taking the lead, this time, kissing me like he wanted to show me exactly what he meant byneedy.

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