The words were a little scathing but not entirely untrue. I tensed, worried he would take offense, but he laughed and playfully shoved my shoulder. “You got me there. I know being an influencer isn’t all bad. Brand deals pay a lot.”
Must be nice.
“You must like it a lot, considering you gave up Cornell for it.”
“I gave up Cornell for Daphne,” he corrected me. “To take care of her after Mom died.”
“Was there no one else to help?”
Noah hesitated. I worried I scared him off with my questions. “No. We never had a relationship with our father. He left after Daphne was born. Was barely in the picture before that.”
I placed a comforting hand on his knee. “That’s awful. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s probably better that he stayed far away instead of hurting us from up close.”
To an extent, I understood where he was coming from. But I worried he was letting that philosophy dictate his current relationships.
I cleared my throat and removed my hand from his knee. “By the way, I am sorry for not asking about the kiss. I know you didn’t like it.”
He looked confused, turning his attention from the small dance party that had gathered on the deck to me. I watched his eyes dip from my eyes to my lips then back up again, his own lips parting. “I liked the kiss. What I didn’t like was the setting.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our first kiss shouldn’t have been for show like that.”
His spine immediately stiffened, like he was shocked the words left his mouth. Suddenly, a spot on the horizon appealed to him much more than looking me in the eye. A shame because his eyes were so pretty by sunset. They looked like the sun over a field of freshly mowed grass.
I gave him a shy smile, one that hopefully didn’t let slip how fast my heart was racing. “Our first kiss?”
That implied there would be more kisses. A fact that probably shouldn’t please me as much as it did.
“No, I didn’t mean…” He backtracked, stuttering over his sentence. “I mean I did, but?—”
Jennifer, clad in the sleekest black dress I’d ever seen, interrupted. “There’s my favorite couple!”
I was very confident she said that to every couple on the press trip at some point.
“We’re taking a group picture at the front of the boat.” She nudged us along. “Make sure your pretty faces are in it.”
My feet walked my body to the front, but my mind was long gone, full of hazy images. Noah, pressing me against the bar. His thigh in between mine, mouth hot on my neck. Dissolving into kisses that gave way to more. Passion. Heat. Noah, Noah, Noah.
I couldn’t help the part of myself that wondered how Noah would act in bed. In front of everyone, he was the cockyinfluencer who held fame in one hand and confidence in the other. When it was just us, he was hesitant and off-guard. Soft, even.
Would he strike the balance between soft and hard, rough in bed but down for tender cuddles after? Would he hold me through the entire night, or pin me down just to thrust?—
Macey, stop the dirty thoughts.
At this rate, I’d need to jump into the ocean to cool down.
I settled for reminding myself that sex with Noah, the guy I was fake dating, would be a very bad idea.
The mood on board grew more intimate after the photo as a few stars appeared on the horizon. The crew dimmed the lights, enhancing the natural beauty of twilight. Soft lanterns and fairy lights added a magical touch.
Noah and I filtered through the crowds with a practiced ease, like we had done this a million times together. We spent a shockingly large amount of time spinning up lies to questions people had about our relationship. Like to Francesca, the woman in front of us. Big influencer from Italy. She asked, in the sweetest of accents, “How did you two meet?”
I was ready to answer the question, but Noah jumped in. Rude, considering I had a friendly spin on the how we met story. In reality, we hit it off and planned to help each other with a campaign showcasing snowy Chicago spots, only for him to ghost me weeks later. In my version of the story, we went through with it, only for him to realize he was in love with me in Millennium Park.
Noah’s arm slipped around my waist, pulling me closer. “We were both covering a world showcase event about a year ago. I spotted the most beautiful girl across the street. After working up the courage to talk to her, I just knew.”
