Macey leaned sideways to whisper in my ear, “You should tell the masseuse about your ankle.”
“Why would I do that?”
She shrugged. “Maybe they can work out some of the kinks.”
I take everything back. Any sense of calm evaded me. Now that I was hyperaware of my environment, I felt like all eyes in the room were on us. There were other couples in the waiting area, and I swore they glanced at us every few seconds.
Were they onto us? Were we not passing as a couple?
A uniformed woman holding a clipboard appeared at the end of the hall. “Macey and Noah.”
We stood to follow her, and in a moment of instinct, I grabbed Macey’s hand. She looked startled at me but didn’t let go. Hands clasped, we followed the woman down the hall to a dim room with two massage beds.
Outside the room, Macey and I came to a stop, made eye contact, looked at our hands, and let go like our hands were on fire. I felt like I was on fire.
We stared at each other, waiting for the other to step into the intimate room.
“You guys can come in,” the woman said as she dropped the clipboard on the side table. “I’m Penny. My colleague Leoni and I will be your masseuses. Please take some time to fill out this sheet with any prior injuries and areas of focus. We’ll be back in a few minutes. You can leave your clothes on the table.”
Oh.
Oh, no.
The masseuse closed the door behind us. Panic coated Macey’s eyes as she glanced down at her linen shorts and white shirt. “Can they not massage us in this?” she whispered.
“Have you ever had a massage?” I whispered back. “They need bare skin.”
We were supposed to be dating, which meant we were supposed to be comfortable with undressing in front of each other. Although I might have gotten tiny flashes over breakfast this morning—a collarbone here, a wrist there—I didn’t think either of us was ready to fully disrobe.
She made a circle motion with her finger. “Fine. Turn around.”
I turned around. There was some shuffling and the sound of fabric falling to the ground. For the second time today, Maceywas naked in my presence. I heard a pumping sound, only for it to be the sound of my heart racing.
How sick was it that I was tempted to turn around? I never would betray Macey’s trust like that, and the last thing I wanted was to make her uncomfortable. It was better this way, staring at the tiny water bottles by the wall instead of the woman who I wanted to kiss. As a starting point.
She is your fake girlfriend, Noah. You’ll probably never see her after this weekend. Get your shit together.
Besides, she’d made it clear that she was not interested in me in that way. I’d never forget the horror in her eyes at her realization we’d have to pretend to date. I couldn’t imagine her reaction to me asking her out on arealdate.
“Okay, I’m getting under the sheets.”
I heard Macey crawl into the massage bed.
“You can undress now. I promise not to look.”
I spared a glance over my shoulder, where Macey was lying face down on the massage bed. The only thing she could see right now was the floor. I undressed quickly and climbed into my own bed. “I’m done, too.”
I stretched lazily on the massage table, the linen cool against my skin. Beside me, Macey lay unnaturally still.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Macey shifted so her temple was pressed against the headrest. “I’ve never done this before.”
“I would be a little insulted if you’ve already had a couples massage with a fake boyfriend.”
“No, I’ve never had a massage before.”
I propped myself up slightly, trying to keep my amusement in check. Even more important, keep my eyes in check. At the bottom of my vision was the soft skin of Macey’s collarbone. “Really?”
