I don’t move.
Alexander raises an eyebrow, then reaches out, catches my wrist, and gently but firmly pulls me toward him.Before I can protest, I’m sitting in his lap, his arms looped loosely around my waist.
My heart pounds so loudly I’m sure he can feel it.“What are you doing?”I manage to ask, my voice embarrassingly breathless.
“Is it me?”he asks, his gray eyes studying my face.“Do you have a problem with me specifically?”
“What?No.”
“Then what’s the problem?I’ve been the perfect fake boyfriend.Your parents adore me.Your father is driving the luxury car I gave him.What more could you want?”
I swallow hard.He has a point.“Nothing.You’ve been perfect.”
“I’m trying to help you,” he says, his voice firm.“But I need your help, too.We agreed to this arrangement together, Olivia.”
“I know, but?—”
“You need to get used to this.”His grip on my waist tightens just enough to make my breath hitch.“We’re no longer boss and employee here.We’re a couple who can’t keep their hands off each other.”
I try to will my face not to turn red at his words.“After New Year’s, we’ll go back to who we were,” I point out.“How will we look each other in the eye?”
His mouth quirks into that half-smile I’ve seen a thousand times across conference tables.“Like we always do.You’ve been with me for six years through acquisitions and hostile takeovers and that disaster in Dubai.I’m here for you now.”
“You’re not acting like yourself,” I say, looking at him with suspicion.
His expression shifts, a gleam of amusement mixed with challenge in his eyes.“What if this is who I really am?”His voice has dropped lower, his eyes watching me intently.“You only see me at work.Maybe this is the real me.”
That throws me completely.I’ve never considered that the Alexander I know—controlled, demanding, meticulous—might only be one facet of him.That there could be this other Alexander who buys cars for fathers and charms mothers and looks at me like I’m something precious.
“Don’t overthink this,” he says, reading my expression perfectly.“Just enjoy time with your family.Let me handle the rest.”
“But the car...”I can’t just let that go.It’s a BMW, for god’s sake.
He shrugs.“I wanted to make a good impression.Now your ex knows your new boyfriend got your father a fancy car.”
I stare at him as realization dawns.“Wait, don’t tell me this is some sort of pissing contest?You do know that as a fake boyfriend, you don’t really have to engage in some competition he doesn’t even know about.You don’t have anything to prove.”
He gives me an arrogant look.“I may be your fake boyfriend, Olivia, but I still want to be better than that boy you dated.”
“It’s going to take some time getting used to this new side of you,” I sigh, not sure whether to be annoyed or flattered.
“You’ll have to get used to something else, too,” he says, his voice dropping even lower.
“What’s that?”
His arm tightens around my waist, pulling me closer against his chest.My breath catches as I realize how intimate our position is, how I can feel the solid warmth of him through my sweater.
“This,” he murmurs.
I almost open my mouth to say something—I have no idea what—when his lips capture mine.Unlike the airport bar kiss, which started rough and demanding, this one begins gently.His mouth moves over mine with purpose.Then his tongue traces the seam of my lips, demanding entry, and all my resistance melts away.
I lean into him, my hands finding their way to his shoulders, then his hair.It’s softer than I expected.He makes a sound against my mouth—something between approval and hunger—and deepens the kiss.His hand slides up my back, cradling the nape of my neck, angling my head.
For someone who’s supposedly just pretending, Alexander Castellano kisses like a man who means it.And worse, I’m kissing him back like I’ve been waiting for this for years.
The door swings open with a cheerful creak.“I forgot your towels—Oh!”
I jump up so fast I nearly fall over, my face burning with mortification.My mother stands in the doorway, a stack of fluffy towels in her arms and a look of delighted surprise on her face.
