Page 60 of The Wild Card
The cow thrusts its head through the fence and sniffs my hand. Then it sticks out its tongue and slimes the whole of my palm.
“Ew!” I squeal and pull my hand back. A cow tongue is nothing like a dog tongue. Solid, almost like an appendage, rough and very, very slimy. “Rude!”
“What were you expecting, darlin’?” Collin asks, his voice suddenly right by my ear.
So much for space. I can’t even escape as he’s standing close behind me, his big hands on the fence so I’m caged in between his arms.
“Not to be licked,” I say, hoping he doesn’t hear the waver in my voice or see the way I wipe my palm on my cutoffs. “This is where napkins in your glove box would come in handy.”
“I may not have napkins, but I do have antibacterial wipes in my console,” Collin says in a husky whisper, and I swear, he leaned forward as he said it so his mouth is closer to my ear.
I try not to shiver, but it’s hard to hold back. Even when the wordsantibacterial wipesshould not ever elicit this kind of reaction. The cow gives me a look that says he is fully aware of my struggle right now. It’s ridiculous that a man saying something about antibacterial wipes can make me want to kiss him, but here we are.
“What if we trade?” Collin asks, and now IknowI’m absolutely not imagining the way he leans even closer, dipping his head so his breath wisps over my neck. “You teach me to Google, and I’ll give you a wipe to remove the cow saliva from your hand?”
I can’t help it. I burst out laughing. Which has the unfortunate side effect of tilting my head back into Collin’s chest. My, if he isn’t tall. I relax a little into him and he leans forward to support me, his chest warm and solid on my back.
Suddenly, I’m not laughing anymore. I’m also not the least bit concerned about the cow slime on my hand.
“How about we shift the negotiations and the terms,” Collin suggests, dropping his chin to the top of my head. “Be my fake girlfriend. Then, as a couple, we can freely share things like antibacterial wipes and intimate knowledge of web searches.”
Once again, even in saying absolutely inane and ridiculous things, Collin is making my whole body react like he’s whispering sweet nothings directly in my ear. Not talking about fake dating and Google searches.
Could I actually resist him if hedidwhisper sweet nothings—or even a singular sweet nothing?
The cow’s flat gaze assures me he doesn’t think so.
“I don’t know,” I say slowly. “Because you just admitted you know what Google is. I’m not certain you need me or my knowledge.”
“Oh, but on the contrary.” Collin chuckles, and the rumble of it moves through my back and sends a cascade of feelings through my body. “I do need you, Molly-girl. I think we might just need each other.”
I like the sound of that. And I like this whole fake thing because it means more time with Collin. More touching too. I glance up at his face again, which is very, very close. So close I have to look away almost immediately.
“So, are you saying we’re doing this?” I ask.
Collin grins down at me. “I guess we are.”
We just agreed to fake date. Not to actually be in a relationship. So why do I have all the giddy feels that come standard with any new relationship? Actually, I’m not sure I ever felt this level of nervous excitement.
“We should probably do a post announcing our relationship sooner than later,” I say, hoping talking about the logistics will help keep my feet on the ground.
“You’re the social media expert, not me. Thayden mentioned something about a”—he hesitates for a long moment—“hard launch?Is that just like the new way of saying people are dating?”
He sounds so disgusted that I can’t help but laugh. “Basically, yeah. This will be our official hard launch. You ready?”
I slide my phone out of my pocket because I need something to do that will distract me from the things I’m feeling right now, and taking a video is a perfect distraction.
“Right here? Right now?” Collin starts to pull away, but I put a gentle hand on his arm, and he goes still.
“Do you trust me?” I ask.
From my periphery, I can see Collin swallow hard, his throat bobbing. “Yes.”
“Then keep that hand on the fence and put this one around my waist,” I tell him.
Collin hesitates, then tentatively slides his hand around my side, landing between my stomach and my hip. “Like this?”
Goosebumps flare up on my arms from the contact. “Yup.”
