I’m not going to be the person to open my mouth and say things are getting blurry around the edges of our boundaries. I just need to get through this night, where everyone is wearing the best version of themselves, looking all shiny and enchanting, and tomorrow I’ll go back to being his fake girlfriend. With firm… uh… boundaries.
I swallow.
And forearms.
Very firm forearms.
He knowingly smirks just as my parents and siblings make their way through the sea of bodies and take their seats around our table.
We’re seated at tables of eight, and Robert, my parents, my three siblings and I make seven, so when a man sits next to me and Robert goes as stiff as a board, the air shifts.
“Robert.” The stranger gives my date a smile that brings an acidic swill in my gut. He looks like a predator staring down its prey.
Robert looks like he’s bitten into a lemon, giving a tight-lipped nod to the man sitting on my left. His fingers twitch like he might want to reach for my hand, but he doesn’t.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”
“You write for the same publication I do, Pete. You know who they are, and they need no introduction.” His voice is cold, hard, unlike the Robert I’ve known for a few weeks. And with just one comment, he’s put the rest of the table on notice that there’s a reporter in our midst.
Another one, I mean.
I have an agreement with Robert that he won’t use our arrangement for the benefit of his career, and so far, he’s given me no reason not to trust him. But this guy… this Pete guy? He’s not giving friendly, warm Robert vibes, you know?
Pete looks at how close I’m sitting to Robert and a knowing smirk spreads across his face. “You always did like to get close to the story,didn’t you, Rob?”
I don’t know what’s worse—being the punchline or being the headline.
Robert falls quiet through dinner, which serves to amp up the tension around the table. Taranis freezes Pete out, my parents chitchat to my sisters across the table, and every now and then they send either a scathing or an inquisitive glance at Pete and Robert.
What’s gone on between the two of them?
“Alright, love birds.” It’s Aoife’s voice that breaks the awkward silence as she points her phone in our direction. “Get together for a picture.” She flaps her hand, ushering us to close the already tiny gap between us.
We give each other a cursory glance and scoot even closer, so close our thighs press together. Fuck. Everything’s pressing together.
Aoife nods, giving us a thumbs up, but before we can pull apart, she yelps, “Wait!”
Oh no. I’ve seen that look in her eye before. I don’t like that look. I don’t trust that look. Whatever’s about to come out of her mouth… I’m not going to like it.
“Now give us a kiss.” She wiggles her brows.
What the fuck is she thinking? She knows this is a fake relationship. She knows it’s for show. Why? Why would she do this to me?
My stomach’s in freefall, my mouth dries up like I stepped out into the Sahara, and my palms get slick with a very unsexy sweat.
Robert gives me a quirky tilt of his lips before he places his lips by my ear. “Sell it, Rhi-Bird.” His words spread an army of goosebumps all over my skin as he drapes one arm over my shoulders to pull me to him, and with the other, he tips myhead back to kiss me.
I hold my breath. My heart’s hammering so hard it might escape. His lips barely skim mine as he kisses me, which results in a loud raspberry being blown from my youngest sister.
I’m going to fucking end her.
He’s already so close, he smells so fucking tasty, I want to claw at his penguin suit and get him naked so I can explore his skin, and she wants us to go again?
This is painful. The air super-charged with a hot, aching need.
“Is that the best you can do, McAllister? Kiss the woman.” Clíodhna, the traitorous bitch dares to wink at me.
Time stops as Robert searches my eyes, I’m not sure if he’s silently seeking permission or apologizing for the fact that we’re in the spotlight right now. When his lips slant over mine, I sigh, maybe in relief that he’s actually kissing me.
