“It’s true. You’d walk into a room and immediately find something to goad me. Your eyes would light up when I’d bite back. Like you were collecting reactions.”
Jesus, he’s good at this.Too good. Because he was right, and we both knew it.
“And you?” one of the influencers asked breathlessly. “What was your excuse?”
“Easy,” Axel said, his gaze never leaving mine. “I liked seeing the fire in her eyes when I would do something that would get under her skin. And I loved seeing her reaction. The way she’d square her shoulders and jut her chin out. She’s a tiny, beautiful woman, but she has the force of a hurricane. Especially when she’s angry.” He paused. “It was intoxicating.”
My cheeks heated.
“But that doesn’t explain the rivalry,” Mathew pushed, drumming his fingers on the table and cocking his head. “What started it all?”
The million-dollar question. The one Axel had never answered.
But now, with the whole table watching, with everything on the line, he looked directly at me and said, “Because when you want something so badly that it scares the hell out of you, when you’re terrified you’ll destroy it just by getting close … it’s easier and safer to be the villain.”
My heart stopped.
Holy shit.
“Well,” Frank said after a moment, clearly charmed by the whole exchange, “that’s quite the love story.”
“Isn’t it just?” Mathew muttered, but I barely heard him.
Because Axel had just confessed that our yearslong rivalry had been because he’dwantedme. More than anything else in his life.
And suddenly, everything made sense. The way he’d always seemed to know exactly which buttons to push. The way his arguments with me had an edge that was missing with everyone else. The way he’d look at me sometimes, like he was seeing something no one else could.
It took serious effort for me to swallow all that down and act normally, but thankfully, I managed to do just that.
The rest of dinner flew by in a champagne-soaked blur. I found myself actually laughing, stealing glances at Axel like we were sharing the world’s most delicious secret.
Mathew had gone quiet though, and I noticed he was still watching. Every time I laughed at something Axel said, every time our hands touched, I could feel his eyes tracking the movement like he was taking mental notes.
And then came the moment that made this entire charade worth every nerve-racking second.
“You know, Axel”—Carl set down his glass, his tone turning serious—“I’ll be honest. I had reservations after that PR mess. But tonight? Seeing you with Dakota, the kind of people you surround yourself with … I think the internet got it wrong.” He smiled and waited for a nod from his business partner. “We’d like to move forward with the partnership.”
Axel went very still beside me. Something flickered across his face, and I knew instantly what he was feeling. He did not like the discrepancy between his fake persona and his real one. He hated the juxtaposition it caused and hated even more that it was lying about his life that was landing him the deal he had earned.
Don’t you dare.I squeezed his hand.Don’t you dare turn this down out of pride.
Especially when most of this was real. The friends. The new … friendship/relationship he and I now shared. One component, sure, was a lie, but he had built a fantastic group of people around him.
Still, I could practically see him wrestling with his conscience, so I did what any good fake fiancée would do: I saved him from himself.
“I think this calls for another toast,” I said, standing before Axel could say something noble. “To my ridiculously talented fiancé.” I looked directly at him, letting every ounce of sincerity I felt seep into my voice. “I’m so proud of everything that you’ve built, Axel. You built this business from the ground up. It was your hard work and dedication that got you here.”
His eyes locked on mine, and I saw the exact moment he realized these words weren’t part of our performance. They were me, speaking to him.
You deserve this. Don’t you dare apologize for it.
“And to our wonderful guests,” I continued. “Thank you for making tonight magical.”
Because it was magical. There was no more denying that I was falling in love with Axel. No more denying these feelings or the hope that maybe there could be something real between us. All these years, I’d convinced myself he was just a player, that his coldness toward me was proof he’d never take anything seriously. But tonight proved me wrong. He’d held someone’s hand like they were precious. In fact, I’d never seen him look at another woman the way he’d been looking at me all evening. Maybe I was different. Maybe I was the first person to make him want to try.
The thought sent warmth flooding through my chest. Dangerous, reckless hope that maybe I could be the one to finally crack through those walls he’d built around his heart.
“Cheers!”
