Page 51 of Counterfeit Boyfriend
My lungs tightened at the next slicing thought…Not my girl.
I’d slipped and flirted with her—hell, more than flirted. I’d come on to her. I was sending so many confusing signals I might as well be a broken stoplight. Even as the red flashed to try to stop me, I was all green, all the time.
The ride to the resort was quiet. Too quiet, especially for Gwen, with nothing but the occasional “turn here”, “right at the next street.”
We checked in at the front desk, the bellhop took our luggage to be delivered to our rooms, and then we drove around to the other side of the resort where the ceremony was being held.
“This is it,” she said, and the nervousness that’d been in her expression earlier crept back in.
I reached across the console and folded her hand in mine. “I’m right here.”
“Are you?” she asked, her big hazel eyes turning to me, and the words lanced my heart.
Three or four seconds ground out in the air as I tried to figure out what to say. How to explain. Once again, I debated coming clean, but right now, when she was already nervous and needed me by her side?
At the ten or so second mark, she withdrew her hand and pushed out of the car. Through the windshield, I saw her smooth down her dress and then lift her chin, determination setting in.
She’d leave my dumbass here if she had to, and while she should, I couldn’t let her. At the beginning of this whole ruse, I never would’ve guessed how strongly the guilt would eat at me, gnawing until I didn’t think there’d be anything left to rip apart.
If I didn’t care so much about her…
But I did, and the repercussions of how long this had gone on sent another caustic wave of agony and regret through me. It killed me that I wouldn’t be the guy there for her in the long run, and for the first time in my life, I was sure that was what I wanted. Gwen by my side for real. Talking and laughing, and saying my actual name.
But since I didn’t have a genie to grant me a big enough wish to send me back in time for a do-over—one where there weren’t lies between us and I met her before my brother ever did—I exited the Camaro and rushed to catch up to the redhead who had both my head and heart in a tangled knot.
At my approach, she cast me the quickest, most emotionless glance ever.
“Gwen, I’m here. I’m sorry. My mind’s just…” I raked a hand through my hair. “It’s a bit of a mess.”
“Well, not to sound like a selfish bitch, but it’s my turn to be a mess. And I know, I’m a mess a lot of the time, but usually not an emotional wreck of one, and this is going to be hard, and if you’re going to add to the rollercoaster…” She huffed out a frustrated exhale. “I made it clear I don’t like rollercoaster rides, right?”
“You’d like one better with me by your side, though, right?” If anyone was being selfish tonight, it was me.
She pursed her lips and tilted her head. Then she glanced around before looking back at me. “Was it meeting my parents? Does it feel like we’re moving too fast?”
No, it didn’t, and that was almost scarier than the other option. I wanted to reach for her so fucking bad, but I kept my hands in fists at my side. “It’s a lot of things.”
“Great. Now that you’ve explained, I feel so much better.” She renewed her clipped pace toward the crowd of dressed-up people filing into chairs, and I stretched out my arm and caught her arm, just above her elbow. I pulled harder than I meant to, and she wobbled in her heels. On reflex, I wrapped my free arm around her waist to keep her steady, bringing her back flush against my chest.
“Sorry,” I said in her ear, my heart mimicking a battering ram with her this close. Clearly it wanted to leave me behind and go with her.
A shuttered breath spilled from Gwen’s lips, but without facial cues to go off, I couldn’t tell if it was desire or anger. “For the tripping, or for being so cryptic?”
“Yes,” I said with a chuckle. It’d slipped out, and fire blazed through her eyes as she glanced over her shoulder at me. “Sorry.” Apologizing only seemed to fuel her anger. “What I mean is, let’s get through this wedding. I guess I’ve just been thinking more about my future.”And how much I want it to include you.“But I’m here now. From right now till the end of this shindig, I’ll be the perfect attentive boyfriend. I promise.”
Each second that ticked by added another layer of panic. I’d already screwed it up. It was over before I got my last kiss.Damn, I wished I’d known it’d been my last.
With a sigh, Gwen finally melted into my embrace, and relief flooded my body, along with a healthy dose of desire—the ass I’d been admiring was pressed against my crotch and I really shouldn’t think about that right now.
“Oh, shit, there they are.” Gwen spun to face me, her hands gripping the lapels of my suit coat. “I told myself I’d be okay, but I think I’m having a heart attack. My heart’s definitely beating too hard and my knees are shaky and do you remember how I said I wanted an-all expenses paid brain vacation? Why didn’t I do a shot before we—”
I cut off her rambling with a kiss, and like that first morning, the instant our mouths touched, heat flooded my veins. Every other thought besides her lips, her body, and all things Gwen were incinerated as the kiss blazed through me.
Her whimper spurred me on, and I slid my fingers into her hair and gave her fiery strands a slight tug so I could tip her head back and plunge my tongue in to tangle with hers.
When we came up for air, our chests were rising and falling together, our ragged breaths filling the space between us.
“Damn.” She reached up and touched her lower lip with a glazed-over look that made me want to throw her over my shoulder and carry her away, caveman style. “I was kinda worried we wouldn’t get any more of those.”
