“No sleepovers. No, uh, cuddling or Netflix and chill.”
"Anything else?"
"No falling in love."
Those four words hung between us, loaded with implication. His gray eyes searched mine, and I saw the same fear I felt reflected back.
"That one's non-negotiable," he said.
"Good."
"Excellent."
Neither of us moved.
A knock on the door made us spring apart. A man in his forties poked his head in, startling when he saw Callum wasn’t alone. “Oh, sorry man, I didn’t realize you were with someone. I can come back later.” But even as the man made the offer, he purposefully lingered, waiting for Callum to make introductions, which Callum did only grudgingly.
“Graham, this is my…girlfriend, Willow Monroe.”
“I…I’m sorry, did you say, girlfriend?” Graham did a double take before good manners could stop him. His gaze flew to Callum’s questioning and confused. “I didn’t realize you were dating anyone.”
Callum shrugged. “I’m a private person.”
“That you are.” Graham bobbed his head in a slow nod toward me. “Nice to meet you, Willow.” To Callum, he gave him a look that practically screamed, ‘I’ll be expecting details later…’ and made his exit.
I turned back to Callum. "He seems nice."
“He’s a nosy, pain-in-the-ass.”
“Are you…friends?”
“Partners. We started the firm together.”
“Are you going to tell him the truth about us? It might be only fair that you get to tell someone in your inner circle, since I have Mika.”
“Undecided.”
"Right, so, back to the quiz. What else?"
But his energy had shifted. The hairs on my armstood on end with unexpected awareness. "Come here," he gestured. "We were interrupted."
"I think we get the idea?—"
"I prefer to be prepared," he returned, his gaze holding mine.
"Has anyone ever told you you're impossibly bossy?" I grumbled as I followed his command.
He flashed that infuriating glint of a sexy smile. "Yes... mostly by you."
There went that electric zip through my nerve endings again.
"You're a beautiful woman," he murmured, almost as if that fact irritated him. He reached up to push a strand of loose hair from my face. “There’s no sense in pretending otherwise.”
I sucked in a tight breath. This felt as if we were already breaking our own rules, but I didn't mind.
"Fake or not, I'll be touching you for three months. Taking you to dinners and galas and firm events. Introducing you as my girlfriend. And I need you to understand that while the relationship is fake, my attraction to you isn't."
Oof.Callum Hayes just admitted he was attracted to me. For real, not just as part of our wildly inappropriate fake dating situation. There should've been a klaxon alarm going off in my head... oddly all I heardwas my thundering pulse.
