Page 44 of Taken By the Fake Fiancé

Felicity looks different than the sales agent I have been working with, nor like the slightly broken woman who had lain beside me and talked about her family and how differently she would have turned out if she had been brought up the way she imagined I was.

I miss the Felicity from last night. I miss that beautiful, vulnerable woman who had encouraged me to focus on the present and not on all the ‘what ifs’.

I watch Felicity move back out to search around for her shoes.

"We should talk."

"We can talk in the car."

"You have to sit down, Felicity. We shouldn't make this worse than it already is."

"Your mother found me on top of you; that's embarrassing enough, Declan!"

"It's not. Not when she thinks that we are together."

"Except that we are not and should not have let that happen."

I get up when I realize that Felicity won't budge. She regrets what happened between us. Maybe we can talk about this later because I can tell that trying to do so now will only spell more trouble.

I grab my clothes from the closet and move back toward the bed to put them on.

"Father will wonder why we aren't staying for breakfast," I say, looking up when Felicity offers no response, to find her rooted to the spot across the room, wide eyes running over my body. Then, her eyes drop to a spot on my lower body, and her fingers lift seconds later to point at it.

"What?"

Felicity begins to move to me and extends her hand to my waist, her fingers tracing the scar there.

"What happened?" she whispers.

"Combat.”

"My God... I'm sorry."

"I'm not. I gave as good as I got," I mutter, moving my hands over Felicity's against my skin and holding her fingers in place.

When she looks up at me, I find myself sucked into her moss-green eyes and the emotions that rage from within them.

"I know that you are not very happy about what happened earlier, but we have to talk about it."

Felicity looks away and swallows hard.

"I don't think I want to," her voice is a low whisper.

"Why?"

"Because I’ve yet to process fully what has happened. Or why I even allowed it to happen in the first place. I mean, I don't know why I wanted you to kiss me and why I am suddenly regretting that now," she admits.

"I don't know as well," I tell her truthfully.

"What do we do now?" she asks, her eyes wide and confused.

I am once again filled with the sheer need to pull her against me and hold her close to my chest. But I know that it's going to be a bad idea. Right now, this burgeoning chemistry between us seems volatile. I know that the slightest mistake will end up with us doing the unthinkable.

"We can just focus on ensuring what happened this morning does not happen again. Because, Felicity, the last thing I want is for this plan to go haywire."

"Yes. The plan. We have to stick to the plan," Felicity says, as if in a trance or daze.

"And the good thing about my mother finding us that way is that it gives more credence to our alleged relationship. She won't have a reason to doubt us now." I point it out to ease her anxiety.

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