I knew that wasn’t what this was, even when my traitorous heart flipped at every squeeze of his hand against mine. It was just for show, our fake relationship on display for the entire town. I was used to the anonymity of a big city. What I was absolutely not used to were all of the not-so-subtle, nosy onlookers who didn’t bother to hide their interest or appraisal.
“There you are,” Mabel called from her station in front of a picnic table declaring a pie-eating contest. “I thought maybe you two snuck off to get in somealonetime.”
I didn’t have to look at Atlas to know his gaze was on me. I could feel the heat of it on the side of my face, no doubt thinking about the alone time that had been interrupted in the maze. And what would’ve happened if it hadn’t been.
I cleared my throat, desperate to steer the conversation in another direction. “We were actually just on our way out.”
“Nonsense! You can’t leave before the pie-eating contest. Atlas, you’re a shoo-in!”
“No,” he said without hesitation, his tone firm.
“Oh, come on,” Mabel said. “It’ll be fun, and it’s to support your team! Wouldn’t it be something if the coach won the whole thing?”
“Not happening.”
“Don’t be a spoilsport. Besides—” she shot a salacious grin our way “—I’m sure Sutton would give you a nice reward.Ifyou win.”
“Is that right?” Though he was responding to Mabel, his attention was on me. More specifically, my mouth.
I knew it would be a bad idea to kiss him. Possibly the worst idea in the history of the world, considering how worked up I was just from being in his presence. But I also knew we needed to sell this relationship to the town. And since my daughter’s number one bucket list item was on the line, I was going to do everything in my power to make this believable.
Without second-guessing myself, I walked my fingers up his abs and his chest before hooking a hand around the back of his neck. I tugged him down, stopping when he was just a breath away from my lips.
“Winner gets a kiss,” I murmured.
He released a rough sound. “There are more people than me entering this contest, trouble.”
I let go of his neck and patted his chest, shooting him a grin. “Well then, you better win.”
He stared at me for two beats before stalking over to Mabel without another word.
As I watched him take his place at the table amid others half his size and listen as Mabel recited the rules, I realized I’d really screwed myself when I hadn’t thought this through. And I also hadn’t counted on how the sight of him devouring the pie as if itwere as easy as breathing would remind me what it had been like to watch him devourme.
A shiver shot through my body, my clit tingling with the memory of his tongue circling it as he’d stared up at me from between my thighs. How many times he’d made me come against his mouth—again and again and again, as if he’d been starving for everything I could give him.
I was so lost in my memories, I didn’t even realize the contest had ended or that Atlas had won and even had time to wipe the mess off his face. At least not until he stalked toward me, his eyes hot and hungry, his intent clear.
He was coming to collect his prize.
“I don’t know what has you looking like you want to climb up and ride me right here where anyone can see, but it’s time to pay up, trouble,” he said once he reached me. “You promised the winner a kiss, and I’m cashing in.”
I had no idea how many people were around. If anyone was even paying attention to us. If any eyes were on us at all. I should have been. That was the entire point of this fiasco—to make sure peoplebelievedwe were a couple.
But in that moment, when Atlas hauled me against him with a hand on my ass, his other wrapping around my nape, I couldn’t think of anything else but him. I’d made the stupid rule that only public kisses were allowed. I knew it was for the best—a definitive line in the sand.
I also knew I had no intention of wasting this opportunity.
Atlas didn’t hesitate for even a second. As if he was just as desperate for this as I was. He lowered his mouth to mine, his lips hot and hungry, his tongue caressing my bottom lip before slipping inside to brush against my own. I wasn’t sure whose groan I heard—his or mine, or maybe it was both of ours combined. I was too lost in the kiss to care.
Just like always when we were together, everything around me disappeared. The sounds of the festival melted away. The hum of voices and the feeling of everyone’s eyes on us ceased to exist.
All I could focus on was Atlas—the grip of his hands tightening impossibly against my ass, the heat of his body seeping into mine, and the solid, immovable wall of him like a shield between me and everything else.
It was a heady feeling to get lost in—that I was his to protect. His to cherish. But that was nothing but a lie. What Atlas and I had was fake, nothing more than a ploy that would come to an end sooner rather than later.
No matter how much it felt otherwise.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
