Page 36 of Unmasked

“Nope.” She cocked her head. “So that means you’ve got two weeks to make use of me as your ‘fiancée’ before you need to make up an excuse as to why we broke up.”

The idea of making use of Lainey in any capacity filled his bloodstream with the snap, crackle and pop of anticipation. Maybe an expiration date would be good for them. Insurance against things getting out of hand, because how much damage could two people do in two weeks?

A lot. Don’t kid yourself.

He cleared his throat. “I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with some reason for why I screwed our relationship into the ground.”

“Maybe you were unable go with the flow and my free-spirited heart couldn’t take all that rigidity.” She grinned. “Or perhaps you simply couldn’t keep up with me in bed.”

His nostrils flared. “You should know by now that I can hold my own in that area.”

“One night isn’t really enough to say for sure.” She sucked on her lower lip. “It could have been a fluke.”

He leaned closer, dragging in the scent of perfume on her skin mixed with the alcohol on her breath. Her cheeks flushed pink, and her breasts strained against the neckline of her dress as she breathed a little heavier. A little faster.

“It wasn’t a fluke, Lainey, and you know it.” Against his better judgement, he slipped a hand around her waist and pulled her closer. God, she felt good—so warm and soft and smooth. “I certainly know it.”

“That we’re good together?” Her lips parted.

“In bed,” he clarified.

“Then why won’t you let this happen?” She raised a palm to his chest, her fingertips brushing the buttons on his shirt. “Why won’t you tell me the truth?”

“About what?”

“How you feel about me.” Her eyes were wide, luminous. How on earth had he not recognised them at the ball? Her hunger radiated like a cloud around his head, messing up all the things he should be saying and tying his words into a knot.

“What do you want to know?”

Her lips lifted. “Have you fantasised about being with me?”

Her face was streaked with curiosity. He gripped her hip tightly, fighting back the urge to wedge her against the bar and take her right there on the spot. That mouth was asking to be plundered.

“Yes.”

Her hand toyed with the zipper on her dress. “Tell me.”

“Why do you want to hear this?”

“Because I’ve spent a good deal of my life thinking what I felt was one-sided.”

She’d never hidden her feelings. Well, not effectively, anyway. When she was young, she’d looked up at him with adoring eyes—the big brother she never had. But as she got older, that adoration turned into something else, something decidedly more adult.

“It’s not one-sided, but I knew it couldn’t go anywhere, so I never acted on it.” He brushed a strand of hair over her shoulder, grazing his knuckles along her exposed skin.

“But you’re attracted to me.”

He lowered his gaze, taking in her long, lean silhouette, the gentle curves at her waist and the swell of her breasts. “How could I not be? I doubt any straight man could resist you.”

“So it’s just biological?”

“No.” He shook his head. “But that doesn’t mean I think we’re compatible, either. And regardless, I’m not looking for a relationship.”

She stretched up onto her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his ear. “Neither am I.”

Aided by her stilettos, she lined her hips up with his. Snaking one arm around his side, she hooked her thumb into the belt loop at his lower back. Claiming him. Being so close to Lainey had made his heart rate skyrocket and his skin hot enough to sear a steak.

“You should go home,” he said in a last-ditch effort to maintain his rules. “Come on. We’ll get a taxi.”

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