The compliment sends little streaks of pleasure skittering through me, but I ignore them. I need to keep my head if this meeting is going to work out in my favour. “Will it be enough, though?” I ask with apparent concern. “I mean, if this ex of yours is out to seduce you, I need to be in a position to stop it from happening. Being a tag along may not be enough, Ned.”
He lifts a single eyebrow, smirking at me. “What would you suggest, Toni?”
“You need a date for the festival. I need a date for Rodney and Leif’s engagement party next month. The answer is obvious.” I place a hand over my chest in a show of sincerity. “I think we should be boyfriends.”
Ned’s head falls back as he laughs out loud. “That’s why you’re here? You want to rope me into going to the engagement party with you?”
Hilarity isn’t the response I’d hoped for, but it’s better than instant rejection. “You have to admit, a twenty-minute acting job does not equate to an entire weekend away. This is simply a way to bring our arrangement back into balance. It’s only fair.”
He shakes his head at me. “How long are you planning to drag this fake boyfriend thing out?”
“Just until after the party. Then, we can break up and go our separate ways. It won’t be messy,” I assure him. “If there’s any moping to be done, I’ll keep it to myself. You’ll never have to hear from me again. However…” I lift a pointed finger to make sure he’s paying attention. “I don’t want to be fake boyfriends. I want to be real boyfriends.”
Ned’s amusement is replaced by confusion. “Real boyfriends.”
“Yes.”
“Just like that?”
“Why not just like that?”
He gapes at me in disbelief. “People don’t go around deciding to be real boyfriends as though a relationship can be plucked out of thin air. It has to come naturally. You get to know each other, spend time together, developactualfeelings.” He gestures between us with one hand. “Do you have any actual feelings for me, Toni?”
“Yes,” I insist. “I think you’re incredibly sexy. That counts, doesn’t it?” His groan—half exasperation, half lust—makes me smile.
“Usually yes, but in this context not so much.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “We might be able to fake a real relationship for other people, but we can’t actually make it real. Tell me you know this.”
“Of course, I do.” In theory. My longest ‘real’ relationship didn’t make it to a monthiversary, so my practical experience is somewhat lacking. “But can’t we skip over all the getting to know you crap and go straight to the part where you adore me, and I make you happy?”
Groaning, Ned drops his head forwards.
“You need this as much as I do,” I snap. “Maybe more.”
Straightening, he places his hands on his hips. “How do you figure?”
“If we go down to the festival as friends, or let’s face it acquaintances, then I’ll be hard-pressed to stop you doing anything. This ex of yours will have power over you, and I will have none.” Ned opens his mouth as if to disagree with me, but then he must see sense because he closes it again. “If I’m your boyfriend… I will have power, too.” I give him a moment to contemplate my statement before I continue. “Trust me when I say I’m the jealous type. As long as we’re together, there is no way in hell anyone will be touching you but me. There will be no getting seduced by ex-boyfriends. No sneaking off into dark corners to be fawned over by groupies. Nada. You’ll bemyboyfriend, and I will not allow you to disrespect our relationship.”
He stares at me with wide eyes, a slow smile appearing as his ears turn a lovely shade of pink. “I take it you don’t like to share?”
The word alone makes me grit my teeth. “I don’t even want to share the air you breathe.”
His tongue darts out to swipe across his bottom lip as he contemplates my offer. Taking a deep breath, he nods his agreement. “All right, you’ve convinced me. Real boyfriends it is.” A smile bursts onto my face, and his eyes close on a quiet groan. “Holy fuck, those dimples will be the death of me.”
Laughing, I place a hand over the one he has resting on the bar between us. “Only in the good ways, I promise.” He turns his palm up to meet mine, but just as his fingertips stroke their way across my palm, two men approach the bar. Damn. “You’re wanted,” I murmur, lifting my chin in the direction of his customers, “by people other than me.”
“Mores the pity,” he mutters before moving away.
I sip my drink while he’s busy, enjoying the subtle loosening of tension in my shoulders as the alcohol combines with Ned’s acceptance of my plan. I’m finishing the last mouthful when he makes his way back to me.
“What about sex?” he asks.
I freeze. This is a minefield I’d hoped to avoid, at least until it was too late for Ned to back out. “What about it?”
He shrugs, leaning his hip against the bar. “As bona fide boyfriends, will we be having sex?”
The ice cubes in the bottom of my glass rattle as I jab at them with the end of my straw. “It depends.”
“On what?”
