Page 63 of Making It While Faking It
“And I did love her. But she broke up with me.”
I open my eyes and stare at the blue velvet cushion of the seat in front of me, although the fibers and color are out of focus. Oh, the pain… I’m working to get past it. I’m trying to swim past all the emotions that almost made me fall in love with Achilles Lord so that I can stand on the shores of pragmatism and self-preservation.
“It hurt for a long time,” he continues. “I couldn’t be with her because I had to make sure Hercules married a fifth cousin named Rain first. It was the only way we could receive the financial benefit of the trust.
“But Herc married Paisley. He would’ve given it all up for her. Treasure?” he whispers, and his voice is thick with emotion.
After taking one deep breath to be able to bear looking at his face without feeling love, I turn toward him. My heart swells with an emotion that I don’t want right now.
“I was never willing to give it all up for her. But I would do it for you.” He nods softly. “I just would.”
I don’t nod. I don’t smile. I don’t move a muscle. Because frankly, I don’t trust him.
“And Orion lied. I never had a discussion with him today. And I wonder how the hell he found out we were having dinner here.” I see anger in his eyes.
I actually believe him.
“You gotta believe me, Treasure.” His eyes plead with me.
I nod softly and then whisper, “I believe you.”
He takes me by the hand, and God help me, I can’t stop myself from enfolding my fingers with his. Because here’s the truth—I’m still swimming in that sea of love when it comes to Achilles, and I can’t even see the shore of reason and self-preservation from here.
“Let’s get out of here,” he says and grabs the champagne by the neck. “And take this with us. I want to show you what I’ve been up to all day. Then you’ll know nothing about how I feel about you is an act.”
My eyes can no longer contain the tears that slip down the side of my face. Achilles brushes the tears from my cheeks, caresses my chin as his thumb slides sensually across my bottom lip, and then our mouths melt into each other’s.
Tom hadour dinner packed to go. Our meals smell divine as Dan drives us in a direction nowhere near Achilles’s penthouse. Achilles hasn’t let my hand go as we sit in the back seat of the car. I hate that Orion showed up with a plan to ruin our night and basically succeeded. I mean, why would he say that Achilles admitted to him that he was faking it with me? Maybe Orion knows about our session with Dr. Brandt. Of course, that’s it.
“A million for your thoughts,” Achilles says.
Gosh, I’ve been lost in thought, gazing unfocused at the back of the front passenger’s seat.
But I smile reassuringly at Achilles and say, “I’m thinking, what a crash-and-burn night.”
He grunts a soft chuckle, and then his sexy lips land in a smirk. “You know what I’m thinking?”
Mesmerized by his nearness, I shake my head.
“I’m thinking…” His eyebrows furrow, and his lips look to be stuck at the beginning of whatever he wanted to say. Achilles clears his thought. “I’m thinking this night hasn’t crashed or burned because I’m with you.” He raises my hand to his lips and kisses the backs of my knuckles.
I have a feeling those weren’t his initial words, but I’ll take the second option too.
“Why are we on East Sixty-Ninth?” I ask now that I’m paying attention to our surroundings.
The antiquated neighborhood is gorgeous. It’s near the park and where all the old three-story townhomes reside. My parents have a place not far away.
“Remember when I said that I hear you?” Achilles asks as the car comes to a stop in front of a gorgeous white stone townhome with lane windows and all the trimmings of an early-twentieth-century abode including wrought-iron balconies, bulging seat windows, and grand front steps fit for royalty.
I’m trying to work out what this all means in my brain.
“This isn’t…” I rip my eyes off the gorgeous townhome. “Do you…?”
I love his smile—gosh, I love it.
“Is this close enough to the ground for you?”
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