Page 12 of Seduced By You

I was in big trouble.

This idea might have been mine, and at the time, I’d thought it a master stroke, but now I was having second thoughts. As much as I yearned for this to be real, it wasn’t. There was no future for me and Lee. And if she found out this wasn’t fake for me, would she think I was a manipulative asshole? I couldn’t bear that. I should call it off.

I don’t want to.

Yes, I do.

I should.

I’m an idiot.

Or a genius.

An idiot genius.

Ugh. I couldn’t get out of my head. The idea of a three-day time frame where I got to put my arm around her and hold her hand and,fuck,maybe even kiss her when we needed to shore up our fake relationship for the benefit of Benedict and the other attendees… I wanted that. I craved that. Ineededthat.

I’d never have that.

And the worst thing of all to acknowledge was… I didn’t deserve that.

Pulling the sheet of paper toward me, I jotted down a few answers to the stupid Google-sourced questions and left a space for Lee to write down hers. I didn’t want to do this Mr. and Mrs. thing anymore.

If anyone asked us a question we hadn’t prepped for, we’d have to improvise—and fuck the consequences.

Chapter5

Leesa

A shopping trip with my ride-or-die

is in order.

Kadon’s ideaof first-time sex with a new partner had plagued me for the last several days. He’d never struck me as a hopeless romantic, but that date.God. Talk about every girl’s dream. He hadn’t even used the wordfuck. He’d said ‘make love.’ I’d almost swooned. I’d almost forgotten he was my best friend and we were faking it. That was why I’d taken myself off to the bathroom, dousing my face in cold water when I probably should have dunked my nether regions in an ice bath to put out the fire he’d lit with his sensual tale.

I’d never once looked at Kadon with any degree of romantic ideal. He didn’t do it for me like that. I loved him, dearly, but there’d been no sexual chemistry between us. Well, color me screwed, because the sexual chemistry at my house twelve days ago had been off the charts. I’d been relieved when he’d told me he’d written the answers and left space for mine. The remaining questions he’d pulled off Google were all pretty easy to answer, but after my stupid contribution to our “getting to know you” session, anything might have happened. Even a simple question such as favorite sexual position could have led us down the path of no return.

After giving myself a good talking-to, I’d concluded that my reaction to Kadon’s dreamy date idea had been nothing more than sexual frustration. I hadn’t had sex in over nine months. No wonder I’d reacted the way I had. I was a normal, red-blooded woman with needs. A hookup would do it. One night. No strings. That’d put out the flames.

Except I never went anywhere to meet someone for a hookup. And I’d never sleep with someone I met at the club.

Kadon—God bless him—had carried on as normal. And now that I’d posted the stupid RSVP, I’d committed us to seeing this thing through to the bitter end.

With only eleven days to the end of the season, things were slowing down at the club. Outside of the height of summer when every day was busy, Wednesdays were often the quietest, and today was no exception. I didn’t have any VIPs due today, so I could take a few hours off. I needed a couple of new outfits for the wedding. After I’d given up modeling, I’d donated all my fancy red-carpet gowns and cocktail dresses to charity. I could hardly turn up to the wedding in yoga pants and a Kingcaid Beach Clubs T-shirt. More’s the pity.

I had the perfect man in mind to help me choose appropriate clothing. Or, more truthfully, I hated shopping alone. All I had to do was convince him to come with me.

“Are you busy today?”

Kadon looked up from his computer, a pen clenched between his teeth and his eyebrows dipped in concentration. He always had that same look when deep in thought. I told him often enough that he’d need Botox if he carried on squishing his face like that.

He plucked the pen out of his mouth. “Depends. What’ve you got in mind?”

I narrowed my eyes. “So suspicious for one so young.”

He chuckled. “What do you need, Lee?”

“A partner in crime.”

---