We had to do something more convincing, to make sure that there wasn’t a shadow of a doubt that Sarah and I were together. Otherwise this whole charade would have been for nothing and Sarah’s confidence would be even more damaged than it was before.
No.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I needed to find Sarah and put an emergency plan in place.
Right now.
43
SARAH
‘We need to talk,’ Ben said as I walked away from the bar clutching a beer for him and a glass of wine for me.
‘What’s up?’
‘Let’s go for a walk.’
Ben took my hand, led me onto the beach and once he was sure there was no one else around he stopped.
‘Trent’s on to us. He doesn’t believethis’—he gestured between us—‘is real.’
‘That’s just because he can’t believe any other man would be interested in me.’
‘It’s no longer just about him, though. I’ve got a feeling that if we don’t do something dramatic to disprove his theory, he’s going to start raising his concerns with your family.’
‘Wait, what?’
‘He thinks you hired me. And he said that the family won’t be pleased if they discover that the man in their wedding photos is a male escort.’
The thought of my family finding out that I’d been so desperate that I’d effectively hired Ben to be my date wasmortifying. It wouldn’t just be embarrassing for me, though, it’d be hurtful for them too.
I’d been so wrapped up in getting my revenge and showing Esme and Trent I was fine that I hadn’t even thought about the fact that I was lying to my family.
When Ben relayed everything Trent had said during their conversation, including the fact that he was now sleeping in the room next door to ours, panic washed over me.
‘Shit.’ I winced. The silence stretched for several beats. I thought about showing them the reel we’d created, but that wouldn’t really prove anything other than the fact that we worked together. ‘So what do you think we should do?’
‘We need to kiss. Somewhere that we’ll be seen.’
‘Right.’ I nodded, the reality of the situation hitting me like a truck.
This morning, after we had that intense eye contact in the bedroom, if Ben had suggested this, I would’ve gladly jumped his bones in two seconds flat. But now I was scared.
I was terrified because I was already finding it hard to resist Ben. If I kissed him, something told me it’d be ten times worse.
Then again, maybe he was a terrible kisser.
Yeah, right.
Anyway, we didn’t have to have a proper snog. In romance novels, sometimes when the male main character gave the heroine a simple forehead kiss, it was just as sexy as a passionate one.
‘So are we in agreement?’ Ben asked.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘When should we do it?’
‘As soon as possible tonight. But first, we should practise. We’ll only make things worse if we kiss and it’s all over the place. It needs to look authentic. Like we’ve done it hundreds of times before.’
