"Is that what you think of yourself?" he asked quietly.
"I guess."
"Why?"
Was he mad?
"I-I don't know."
"That's not a reason. Tell me why."
He was right. I dug down to find all the reasons, and found I didn't need to dig very deep.
"Because I'm thirty-two and single, and haven't had a serious relationship ever, and I'm chubby and hairy, and—"
Daemen scowled, then pressed a finger to my lips. "Enough. I don't want to hear one more negative thing about yourself come out of your mouth, do you hear me?"
I nodded, eyes wide with surprise.
Still frowning, Daemen removed his finger. "Good."
"Are you... mad at me?"
The irritation melted from his face and he sighed. "No. I'm disappointed at myself. Clearly, I haven't done a good job of convincing you."
"Convincing me of what?"
"That you're worthy of my love."
My heart clenched with a spark of hope before reality smacked me in the face and dragged me back down to despair. The wedding. We were faking this for the wedding. Daemen was putting all this effort in for my sake. Dammit, he was too good of an actor. Every time he said things like that, my heart desperately wanted to believe it was true.
"Right," I said half-heartedly.
An eerie growl left Daemen. The noise was inhuman. If I hadn't seen the visible vibration of his throat, I might've thought the sound came from a dog or something.
Still holding my hand, Daemen pulled me closer. My chest bumped against his, and I let out a quiet sound of surprise. His other hand pressed possessively to the small of my back. I was utterly in Daemen's grip. My heart raced faster than a rabbit.
He was doing this publicly. In a crowd. In front of people.
"You think we're pretending to be boyfriends, yes?" Daemen asked with a smile.
My brain was melting. "Yes?"
Was that the right or wrong answer? I couldn't read his expression. Now I was doubting myself. Ithadto be correct. That was literally the entire point of this outing.
He leaned closer and purred, "Then let's pretendharder."
My heart and cock both twitched. Daemen was a mastermind at playing with my feelings.
I stood there like a deer in headlights as Daemen leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.
A strange warmth spread throughout my body, making me feel light and airy. I didn't know what I was expecting but it wasn't that. Something about a gentle, chaste kiss on an innocuous body part was almost too tender to handle. A handjob in the changing room I could hand wave away by thinking that was just sex, anyone could have a hookup like that—but this? A soft little forehead kiss? It was something a real couple would do, not a pair of fakers.
I was so, so confused.
Through my daze I heard a few "aww"s.There were some teenage girls hanging out at the next table. They were smiling at us.
"You guys are such a cute couple," one said.
