Page 18 of Never Fake Date the Financier
“I disagree,” he says as he stands up, sliding around the table and sitting in the seat next to mine. There goes what little barrier I had as I’m enveloped by his presence once again. His scent. It’s overwhelmingly masculine. Spicy. Woodsy. Warm like his gaze as it skims across my neckline. “I think you’ll find I can be quite persuasive.”
I swallow as I glance at his lips and then up to his eyes, ablaze as they bore into me. “I think the term you used before is convincing.”
He nods. Smiles, briefly. And again, I feel my chest and stomach constrict. “I’m that as well.”
“But it doesn’t change our situation. We know nothing about each other. And that you’ve spun an entire story about me and this relationship to your family that I haven’t had a chance to unwind, let alone memorize.”
“That’s why I emailed it to you. So you’d have time to go over the details,” he says, tapping my laptop.
“Yeah, let me pull up that novel you wrote.”
He chuckles. “Novel? I think it’s shorter than your rules list.”
I hum. “I’ll go with a creative short story, then. Because I admit, it was quite imaginative. If you spent as much time looking for a real fake girlfriend as you did creating an imaginary one, you’d have found one months ago.”
Adrian grunts in response. He leans in, and immediately it feels like the walls have closed in on me. And when his leg brushes against mine, my breath hitches in my chest, and a ghost of a smile crosses his lips.
“Let’s have a refresher, then,” Adrian rasps as the fine hairs on my neck rise.
“Okay.”
I try to ignore the smoldering eyes next to me as I navigate to my desktop. I don’t know how a man like Adrian had the time to create such a detailed backstory about a non-existent girlfriend, and I’m not sure whether I should be impressed or embarrassed for him.
I minimize the manual and—holy shit.
No.
Nonononononono.
I can feel my soul being sucked out of my body as I look at my desktop background: Adrian’s shirtless image, muscles flexing as he stares at the camera.
I’m going to kill Olivia when I get back.
I shut my laptop as fast as humanly possible, but not in time.
“If you want to see me shirtless, Ella, all you need to do is ask. As your boyfriend, I’m all yours.”
I swallow. I cough. I sputter. I make every noise in the book except an intelligible sentence because my mind is in complete disarray. Every nerve is firing. Thoughts are rising and falling in rapid succession. I… I…
“I can explain,” I say, following it up with absolutely nothing at all.
Adrian stares at me expectantly as the embarrassment spiraling through me reaches a fever pitch. Fortunately, there’s a rough bout of turbulence that breaks the tension. Unfortunately, the turbulence causes my motion sickness to kick in, and I have to race to the bathroom before I start spewing all over Adrian.
That would be an excellent cherry on top of it all. Good lord.
I lock myself inside and collapse onto the ground as my nausea swells. I’d forgotten to take my medicine in the rush to the airport. Luckily, the turbulence subsides and I can feel this bout is dissipating. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been sick like this, but then again, I steer clear of planes, cars, boats, and well, anything that moves unless forced. My legs are quite strong from all the walking.
Adrian pounds on the door. “Ella.” His voice is frantic. Pained. Urgent. “Are you okay? Let me in.” The door handle jiggles as he fumbles with it.
“I’m fine,” I say before burping. “A little motion sick.”
“Please tell me what I can do. What do you need? Water? Ginger ale? A doctor? I’ll have this damn plane turned ar?—”
“No,” I blurt, hopefully fending him off before he decides to break into the cockpit. But I can’t help but smile at his kind offer. It seems out of character for him, but then again, I hardly know him.
“There’s a pill bottle in my purse. It’s for my motion sickness. I forgot to take one before I boarded.”
I hear his thunderous footfalls as he rushes away, and within moments, he’s back. I unlock the door. There’s a pained expression on Adrian’s face.
