Page 33 of The Marriage Deal
His eyes drop to the frown I can’t hide. Then he tells me, “I’m going to kiss you tonight, Lilah.”
“Excuse me?”
“Do you honestly think they’ll buy us being madly in love if you keep tensing up whenever I touch you? Do you think they won’t question the validity of our relationship if I never kiss you?”
“I mean…”
“I’ve seen your parents kiss more times than I can count on both hands, Lilah. Couples in love kiss. They touch. They crave each other.”
“I’ve never been good at acting,” I rasp. My throat feels painfully dry.
“That’s why we’re going to practice.” He smiles gently down at me. “Exposure therapy.”
“Oh, my goodness.”
He chuckles at my expense. “I don’t think you want me to kiss you our first time in public, Lilah.”
“I know how to kiss, Briggs. I’ve been kissed before plenty of times.” It’s not there long, the pinch of a frown between his brows. But itisthere.
He doesn’t like that I’ve been kissed. Or maybe he doesn’t like that I’ve been kissed plenty of times. But I am a twenty-seven-year-old woman. I’ve lived. I’ve loved—wrongly—but I’ve loved.
He can’t expect that I be a sweet little virgin. That’s just ridiculous.
Wait—does the thought of me with another make him upset? Jealous?
“So, if I kiss you now, you’ll melt into me like you would if this were real?”
“I—”
“You won’t get even tenser than you are now?” He pushes.
“I’m not tense.”
“Lilah, you’re stiff as a board.”
“I am not!” I force myself to melt into him and loose a sound of frustration when doing so feels awkward. “You’re the one who is stiff. I can’t melt into a chunk of stone, Briggs.”
Briggs laughs again, like I’m the height of amusement. “I’m into you, Lilah. I spend my days chasing you around town. There’s no question where I want to be and who I want to be with.”
My jaw drops. “You’re saying I’m the weak link in our scheme?”
“Absolutely.”
“Oh, I don’t think so, buddy.”
He cocks a brow. “Competitive, little lunatic?”
“You have no idea.”
Briggs’ grin turns smug. “Good.”
He releases me with a promise to see me at six. I realize a touch too late that the man played me right into the corner he wants me.
I swipe my latte and chug it back. Then I head for the vet clinic where I know Madelyn will lend me an ear to vent. Heck, she’ll lend me a whole clinic of ears. Floofy ones I wish I could adopt but can’t, given Dad’s allergies.
One day.
15
