Page 33 of No Rings Attached
Which was a really weird response when running into someone, no matter how sexy they were.
I blamed Bad Eleanor.
He turned and grasped me by my shoulders. “Let’s get this straight right now. You owe me nothing, Ellie. I’m doing this because we’re friends. And friends don’t let friends get shit on by their families. Got it?”
“Uh, okay,” I mumbled.
His hazel eyes sparked with fury. “Furthermore, when I kissed you, it wasn’t to play pretend in front of the other customers.”
I gulped. “Oh?”
I had no reply to that.
Chapter Eight
DREW
Damn it.
This was all coming out wrong.
I’d kissed Ellie because pure instinct told me to do it. To shut her up. To show her that she was desirable. To make her understand.
To prove that the fucking assholes she dated had shit for brains.
Her uncertainty in herself, her belief that my family might not like her, and her lack of confidence that she was perfect just as she was made me want to slay her dragons. To find those ignorant people and show them how wrong they were.
I drew in a deep breath as I faced her on the sidewalk.
Ellie’s soft, “oh,” echoed in my head along with her words. How could she think she was broken? It killed me knowing she thought that about herself. Rage coursed through me every time I thought about the way she saw herself, the way she didn’t think I’d choose her if it wasn’t for us pretending.
Fuck everyone who made her feel less.
This, whatever was happening between us, was moving fast. Probably faster than either of us realized. Because I was already catching feelings. The comfortable working relationship we’d built over the last few months had somehow made it easy to bridge being in a relationship.
Fake … or otherwise.
I told her what I really thought. “I want you to see that you should be someone’s sun, moon, and stars. Don’t accept anything less, Ellie.”
That faint blush that streaked her cheeks earlier was back.
I adored that pink shade that was unique to her.
“Okay.” She didn’t sound one-hundred-percent convinced, but I had plenty of time while we fake-dated to prove it to her.
She regarded me curiously. “So whydidyou kiss me?” she asked, and I hated how her voice trembled.
A blonde strand fluttered in the breeze, and I brushed it behind her ear. Her face turned into my palm so I cradled her cheek. “Because you’re beautiful, and better than most of the people I know.” I heaved a sigh. “I need you to stop talking shit about yourself. None of what you said is true.”
And I’m attracted to you,I wanted to add, but had enough self-preservation to know I should stop there.
“I don’t know what to say to that,” she finally admitted after a longish pause.
“You don’t have to say anything,” I replied.
“How can youtrulyknow that, though?” she asked.
I was fairly certain she wasn’t fishing for compliments. Not that I didn’t have a million of them at the ready, but I hated that the people in her life didn’t appreciate her and made her doubt her worth.
