“But we’re not going to let it come to that,” I continued. “We’re going to go to this dinner, and we’re going to put on the performance of our lives. We’re going to make him believe we’re so disgustingly in love that he’ll have no choice but to back off.”
“And you won’t hit him?”
I was quiet for a long moment. “I won’t hit him unless he gives me a reason to. But if he so much as raises his voice to you, if he makes you feel even slightly uncomfortable …” I let the threat hang in the air.
She wiped a stray tear. “What if I told you that seeing you get protective over me is maybe the sexiest thing I’ve ever witnessed?”
Jesus.My heart damn near stopped. “Then I’d say you have terrible taste in what’s sexy.”
“I have excellent taste actually.” The ghost of a smile played at her lips. “For instance, I find it very attractive when a man respects my wishes.”
She’s trying to manipulate me with flirtation, and damn if it isn’t working.
“You’re playing dirty, Sunshine.”
She smiled, and for the first time since she’d walked in, she looked like my Dakota again. Still hurt, still fragile, but with a spark of that fire I’d fallen for.
Fallen for. When had that happened?
How about right this minute? When she wrapped her arms around me and buried her cheek against my chest like I was her safe haven. When I returned the embrace and kissed the top of her head.
“All right,” I said finally, “I’ll attempt to behave.” During this dinner. But when this was all behind us, if she thought I’d let Mathew go without consequences, she didn’t know me. “But I want something in return.”
“What?” She pulled back, the absence of her making me feel cold.
“After we’ve convinced your asshole ex that we’re madly in love, you and I are going to have a conversation about what this really is between us.”
Her breath hitched. “Axel …”
“Because, Sunshine, what I’m feeling right now? The way seeing you hurt makes me want to tear the world apart? That’s not fake. And I don’t think what you’re feeling is fake either.”
I’d been thinking about Dakota’s online persona lately. The perfect image wasn’t deceit or vanity. It was armor. Protection. She wasn’t my mother, choosing image over getting help; she was choosing survival while she figured out how to trust again. And I could love her enough to let her heal at her own pace, mask and all.
She stared up at me, lips parted, and for a moment, I thought she might admit it. Might finally say what we’d both been dancing around.
Instead, she whispered, “One night. That’s all I’m asking for.”
One night to convince her ex we’re in love.Easy enough, considering my heart was falling hard and fast for her.
“Then let’s go show that bastard what real love looks like.”
But even as I said it, I was already planning. Mathew was about to learn that when it came to protecting Dakota, I didn’t play fair.
And if he so much as made her shed one more tear …
Well, some promises were meant to be broken.
I waited for her to leave my office. Only then did I open my phone and see an ominous text waiting for me from an unknown number.
Your days are numbered.
32
FAKE FIANCÉE TIP: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SAFE WORD. #SAFETYFIRST
DAKOTA
“I’ve invited three major influencers to this evening’s dinner,” Rebecca announced, her manicured fingers flying across her phone screen without bothering to look up.
