Page 16 of The Billionaire’s Fake Fiancée
"You have no idea." I lower my voice to match his.
"Don’t worry, I'll protect you from the evil beast." His mock-serious words prompt a nervous giggle from me.
Jace looks at us, and then stares at Eric, who stiffens.
Something passes between them. A light touch on my shoulder as Eric guides me to one of the comfortable twin seats opposite Jace.
Eric takes the seat behind me.
As the door to the plane slams shut, I cringe. This is it.
When the plane begins to taxi, I feel as if I'm leaving behind everything familiar. Comfortable. Boring.
I'm shedding the girl from small town Gainesville who had come to Silicon Valley chasing a dream.
Now I am a woman of the world, en route to London, with a boyfriend who loves her.
Except that's not true either.
Truth is, I'm going to a city halfway around the world, with a man I barely knew. And who's going to expect sexual favors of me.
What does that make me?
A fake girlfriend?
A call girl for hire?
No. Just someone desperate to do right by her family and her employees. Someone who had bet it all on an idea and lost. I'd been so confident that I could make it happen. I had never even given thought to what would happen if it all went wrong.
Optimist that I was. Or plain foolish, really. And now I must pay the price. My stomach rolls a little as the flight takes off and I grip my seat, to stave off the sickness rising to my throat.
"Cold feet?"
Jace is perceptive all right. He'd had to be to make it this far in the business world.
"If it's any consolation, I haven't done anything like this before." He sounds a little taken aback himself.
I want to trust the authenticity of his words.
No way. He's a master manipulator, is all. He's trying to win me over, relax the tension between us so our relationship feels more genuine to his family.
"No," I snap, "just realizing this is how the other half lives."
"You mean the plane?" He looks around him. "Merely trappings."
He raises his shoulders and the movement stretches his T-shirt across his chest.
My eyes are at once drawn to the tattoo that peeks out above the neckline. I resist the urge to follow the shape of the corded neck muscles toward his chin. Instead, I stare out the window as we continue to climb, tearing through the clouds.
"It's okay to look." Sliding the tablet into the sleeve set against the wall, he reaches toward me.
I shrink back.
He leans close, and my breath catches in my throat.
Fresh pine, and sweet cloves. He smells wild and earthy. Sensual. I can see the creases at the edges of his eyes. That full lower lip that hints at hidden depths, invites me to sink my teeth into it.
And before I can stop myself, I lean forward to do exactly that. When he snaps my seatbelt into place with a resounding click, I jump, blinking in surprise.
