“Liar.” His lips curved into that infuriating smirk. “You practically tripped over your own feet when you saw me.”
“That was a loose floorboard.”
“In a carpeted room?”
“Very loose carpet,” I claimed.
He bit back a smile and got back to the script. “Our eyes locked, and right then, we both knew something. Felt something. But neither of us would admit it.”
My heart did this stupid little flutter.Wait, is he …?
“That’s what we tell them,” he added, gesturing dismissively.
Ouch. Right in the ego.“Got it. Moving on.” I reached for the bottle on the coffee table.
When I leaned forward to pour more wine, my shirt gaped slightly at the neckline. I caught Axel’s eyes dropping for just a second before snapping back up.
“Did you just check out my cleavage?”
“I was looking at your necklace.”
“I’m not wearing a necklace.”
“I was looking at where a necklace would be.”
“Mmhmm. Very believable. Your eyes just happened to take the scenic route back to my face?”
“There was traffic.”
Why did I love that he was looking at me like that?
“Keep going with the story,” he insisted.
“We sat down, talked briefly, and …”The way you looked at me sent butterflies exploding through my entire body. I was suddenly self-conscious about everything: my hair, my voice, the way I was sitting.“I remember thinking you had the warmest smile I’d ever seen.”What he doesn’t know? That smile part wasn’t made up. Confessing it under the guise of fake engagement prep feels weirdly liberating.
He stared at me for several long seconds before clearing his throat.
“My turn.” Axel’s voice dropped lower, and the firelight made his eyes look almost golden. “I took one look at you and was thunderstruck. Thought I’d laid eyes on an angel. After you left, Knox smacked my shoulder and told me I better not even think about going near you.”
I smiled despite myself, swirling my newly refilled wine.Fun to imagine, but Knox never mentioned that, so clearly, that part of the story was a ruse.
Or was it? The way he said it … there was something in his voice. Something that made me wonder if maybe, just maybe, that part was real too.
“We need to leave Knox out of this,” I reminded him. “My followers don’t know we’re related.”
“Right. Friend of my friend then.”
“Now we need to explain the hostility.” I leaned forward, wine making me bolder, and didn’t miss how his eyes tracked the movement. “Anyone who’s around us knows we haven’t gotten along in forever. How do we explain that?”
Axel’s jaw tightened. “We don’t. You were off-limits. Forbidden. End of story.”
“Except it’s not the end of the story.” Frustration bubbled up, aided by the alcohol. “You used to be nice to me when I first visited. Then it was like a switch flipped, and you became a complete ass.”
“If you think that’s being an ass, you have no idea what life can throw at you, Sunshine.”
“See? What does that even mean? You’re so cryptic.” I stood up, pacing in front of the fireplace. “I’m supposed to be your fiancée. Shouldn’t I know what goes on in that twisted brain of yours?”
“That’s not how relationships work.”
