Page 25 of The Marriage Deal
“Dakota.” I nod, noticing the arch of his brow at my use of his name. I swing my hand out, aware of Lilah’s pinkening cheeks as she watches.
We’d had two more outings on the town. Two more ‘dates’ at which people could see us together.
She asked how we were announcing our relationship. I told her I’d find her.
The last thing I wanted was the little lunatic cooking up some dramatic way of announcing her new boyfriend, soon to be husband, to her sleepy little hometown.
Dakota takes my hand in a firm shake. I say, “You’re in construction?”
Dakota dips his chin. “Yep.”
“Could use a man with your experience when it comes time to get things started with Fire Falls Ranch and Resort, and Fire Falls Estates, if you’re interested?” I slide my hand from his to slide it easily, thoughtlessly, around Lilah’s waist. Though, there’s nothing thoughtless about touching Lilah in any capacity. I’ve thought of little else since propositioning her to be my wife. Fake wife.
The act doesn’t go unnoticed by Dakota or anyone in the café. Lilah stiffens, and then she leans into my touch. Something warm and foreign swells in my chest.
Dakota says, “Yeah. Sure.” His eyes shift betweenme and Lilah. I read the question in them, but don’t explain when he doesn’t verbalize it. Clapping a hand around the back of his neck, he adds, “Uh, let me know when it’s time to get things started. I know a few more guys who’d be interested in work. Good guys. Hard workers.”
“I’ll keep in touch.”
His eyes drop again to Lilah, to my hand around her waist. “I’m going to grab a coffee.” He shifts. “You good?”
We all know he’s not asking her about the still mostly full cup of coffee that sits on the table in front of her. Even though she’s still sitting on the high stool, she nuzzles closer to me as though to silently tell her brother that this is exactly where she wants to be.
Again, I’m blasted with that foreign feeling of warmth.
Lilah tells Dakota, “I’m good.”
Dakota gives another nod before he shoots me a look that says he’ll make sure no one finds me if I so much as hurt a single hair on her wild head. The look is so dark and so promising, there’s a beat of tension before I nod once, acknowledging his threat.
He doesn’t know it, but he doesn’t have to worry. This thing between us is fake. It’s business.
Feelings have no part to play in business.
Dakota turns and walks to the counter where Lilah’s parents both stand, jaws dropped, wide eyesfixed on us. Lilah, unaware of her parents’ gazes, tips her head back to slam me with warm brown eyes.
I shift to angle my body into hers. I can no longer see those who stare, eager for a drop of the gossip that is us.
It’s just the woman. Lilah. My soon to be wife.
She’s extraordinary. Really, she is.
“You found me.”
“I’ll always find you.” I hitch a grin that calls her gaze. The moment it lands on my mouth, there’s a sweet little part to her lips and the sound of a short, sharp inhale. A stab of longing knifes through my gut. It takes me by surprise.
I want to kiss her. Want to tug her full lip between my teeth and draw just one more gasp from the depths of her. Want to swallow that gasp and taste the essence ofher.
Hell, but Nash might be right. I might like this woman and all her crazy.
She wets her lips as she gives her head a little shake, as though she might shake away the fog of me.
I won’t let her.
Another little hitch sets sparks off inside me as she whispers, “People are staring.”
“Isn’t that the point?” I ask low. I’m not sure if it’s my closeness or the dark rumble to my words, but gooseflesh rises on her exposed skin and her pupils dilate inside the ring of warm buttery amber that surrounds them.
Something darkly unfamiliar, possessive even, flares inside me for this woman.
