“I wasn’t faking my attraction to you, Plum. That’s all very real. The only thing that would be fake is the title of boyfriend. Everything else would be as real as possible so no one questions it,” Benson explains as I turn to face him once again. He’s leaning against the post he pinned me against, watching me with his arms crossed over his chest while looking unfairly unaffected by what he just did, despite his words.
“Okay, so you’re attracted to me. That’s good…” I nod, not entirely sure why his confession frightens me so much. Something to worry about later, once I’ve secured my fake boyfriend for the next two months.
“We’re going to be surrounded by people who know us both very well.” He tilts his head as he watches me. “And I can’t just be a shitty boyfriend or a part-time boyfriend. That would taint my reputation.”
“Right.” I sigh, a little annoyed with myself that he’s thinking this all through with a clear head, and I came over here with no real plan beyond fake dating to keep Kai away.
“So, what’s it going to be, Plum? Can you make it look real?”
He doesn’t say anything else as I pace in front of him. He simply keeps watching me with that sexy face of his, while my mind is on a hamster wheel.
If Benson can make it look that good, if he can channel his real attraction to me to make it seem like he’s obsessed with me, I might be the weak link here. Can I fool everyone we know into believing we’re falling madly in love? And if not, can I at least make it look like I can’t keep my hands off of him long enough to worry about anything else?
Fuck, there’s only one way to find out.
We have to test this, and the best way to do that is to jump in headfirst.
This isdefinitelymy most chaotic plan.
“Kiss me,” I demand, turning back to him, hands on my hips once again. His smirk vanishes, and I’m a little proud that I’m the one shocking him this time.
“Uh…” Benson blinks at me; all that sexy bravado that had been there a second ago is gone as he tilts his head like he can’t tell what he’s looking at. “You want me to kiss you. Now?”
“Yes.” I nod, but the longer I look at him, the less sure I am. He’s the one who said this needs to look real and that he’s attracted to me. If he rejects me here, I don’t know what I’ll do. He’ll have to kiss me for this to look real…
“I mean, we don’t have to kiss, I guess, but you said the best way to make this look real is for it to be as real as possible. I think everyone will at least expect kisses. I’m just worried that every time you touch me I’m going to get all flustered and nervous, like I did then. No one will believe we’re lovers if I can’t even handle you looking at me.”
“Lovers…” he says, watching me as I start pacing again. His reaction is making me fucking nervous. Maybe he lied, and he’s just messing with me? Or does he think I’m joking?
Shit. Shit, fucking shit…
“But if we kiss when we’re alone and act like a real couple, I won’t be so uptight every time we’re close. It will look more natural when we’re around everyone else,” I quickly explain, feeling a little silly as I say the words aloud.Oh well, it’s too late to take them back now.“Like friends with benefits?” I add, feeling more and more unsure the longer he stares at me.
What the hell did he mean by making it as real as possible, if not this?
“This way you get girlfriend benefits, and I get the boyfriend benefits I need to scare off Kai without leading someone on. Boyfriend and girlfriend perks, but no strings,” I say, pausing my pacing to look over at him and trying really hard not to think too much about the fucking insanity that’s coming out of my mouth.
As he continues to stand there silently, my nerves go into overdrive. Fuck, am I scaring him away by asking for a kiss? Or was it the friends-with-benefits offer? Or am I making things move too fast? Does he think I’m being too clingy already? How do I fix this!?
“Or not? I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to. You said you were attracted to me, and you’ve been flirting with me. You did say you’d knot me right now if I said yes, but maybe I’m jumping to conclusions? What did I say that threw you off?” I ask, desperate to fill his silence with a solution.
“You… I mean…” Benson stumbles over his words, blushing, and his scent spikes with so much desire I nearly choke on it. My cheeks burn pink when it causes slick to pool between my thighs, something that only turns Benson into a bigger puddle of alpha confusion when he scents me in return. It’s actually cute as hell, and hopefully a good sign.
Maybe he’s just easily flustered, not trying to think of a way to gently turn me down?
“Instead of trying to make this look real while ignoring the chemistry between us, we should test it out. Make sure we can really do this.”
After a long pause where I’m convinced he’s about to reject me, he finally speaks. “Of course. Yes. I mean, yes, we should kiss. I’m just… I’ve been working all morning.” He gestures to himself, so I glance up and down his body, not seeing the problem. “Sorry. When you asked for a kiss, it caught me off guard, and then you just kept talking. I was still processing the first thing you said, and… Well, sorry,” he explains, and I wince.
“My bad.”
“I agree with you about everything, though. To make it look real in public, it needs to be real in private too.” Benson nods, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“Are you saying yes, or should I beg some more?” I ask, making him smirk.
“I don’t know. Let me see some begging…” He lifts one brow, watching me like he knows I won’t do it.
But fuck it. I’ll beg for this.
