Naturally, I had spent most of the night overanalyzing everything and talking Nicola’s ear off about it. She had listened with an amused smile before breaking into laughter and waggling her eyebrows.
Good luck not falling in love, she had teased, her tone dripping with smugness.
Sure, I liked Alexander—who wouldn’t? He was devastatingly handsome, endlessly kind, and carried himself with the effortless charm of someone who always knew exactly what to say. Plus, he was a five-time world champion, for crying out loud. But just because I could appreciate all of that didn’t mean I was about to fall head over heels for him. I didn’t have time for love. My plate was already overflowing with reinventing myself, being a mother, and figuring out the rest of my life.
Still, Nicola had planted the tiniest seed of doubt in my mind, and it sprouted into full-blown panic right as I was about to leave.
“Are you going to have to kiss him?” she asked before I left, her eyebrows raised almost to her hairline.
The question hit me like a truck.Kissing.Right. That would definitely be part of the fake relationship package. Why hadn’t that crossed my mind before?
As I walked out of the hotel lobby to meet Alexander, the thought looped in my brain on repeat:I have to kiss Alexander Wright.
By the time I slid into the back of the town car beside him, I was barely holding it together. He looked unfairly good, as always, wearing a street-style-adjacent suit that somehow managed to make him look polished and effortlessly cool all at once. My brain was officially mush.
“Hey, pretty girl.” He smirked, laying on the act already.
I was vaguely aware that he said something to me as the car started moving, but I couldn’t process it.
“Hmm?” I asked, blinking at him like an idiot.
“I was saying that?—”
“We need to kiss,” I blurted.
The words hung in the air between us, heavy and unrelenting.
“Um…”
I waved my hands in front of me, as if that would somehow help me reel in my spiraling thoughts. “I mean, they’re going to expect us to kiss, right? At some point. And I didn’t think about it until now, but if you kiss me for the first time out there, in front of cameras, I might panic. And then I’ll flinch, or move weirdly, or you’ll miss, and we’ll end up on someMost Awkward Celebrity Kisseslist.”
His eyebrows lifted, but his lips twitched like he was fighting a smile.
“So,” I continued, barely stopping for breath, “we should probably, you know, practice. For the cameras. For professionalism.”
“Professionalism,” he repeated, his voice laced with amusement.
“Yes.” I nodded so hard I might’ve gotten whiplash. “Exactly.”
Alexander’s gaze locked onto mine, his expression softening. Then, without a word, he leaned toward me, his hand reaching out to cup my chin.
And then he kissed me.
His lips met mine in a way that was both deliberate and gentle, sending a jolt of warmth through my entire body. Soft, easy, and utterly disarming. I forgot how to breathe, how to think. All I could focus on was the feeling of his mouth on mine and the way my stomach was now home to an entire swarm of butterflies.
When he finally pulled away, a lopsided smile tugged at his lips.
“Figured we should get the first one out of the way,” he said, leaning back in his seat like it was the most normal thing in the world.
I stared at him, utterly speechless.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” he added, smirking.
“For what?” I managed to croak.
“Saving you from theMost Awkward Celebrity Kisseslist,” he teased.
I rolled my eyes, doing my best to act unfazed despite the fact that my heart was still doing flips.
