Page 35

When they arrived at Marlowe’s house, she unlatched her seatbelt and sat back in her seat, waiting.

He turned off the car in resignation. “You want me to open the door for you even though I’m just dropping you off?”

“No,” she said, arching a brow. “I want you to walk me to my front door, real boyfriend.”

He gave a small shake of his head as he got out of the car, but he opened her door with a flourish. They walked side by side up the short path to the door, neither saying a word, until they reached the porch.

Marlowe turned to face him and whispered, “Are you going to kiss me goodnight? You know, in case my grandmother is spying on us through the blinds?”

Jace’s eyes darted to the nearest window. “Is she?”

“Maybe.” Probably not. Their neighbor, Mrs. Schwarzkopf, had come over to play cribbage, and they were most likely ensconced at the kitchen table, counting their hands. Still, Marlowe batted her lashes exaggeratedly. “You’re insisting on realism...”

He glanced at the window again and lowered his voice. “Listen, about last Friday night. Kissing you like that on the dance floor was…”

He hesitated, and she supplied her own list of adjectives. Amazing. Electric. And possibly addictive, since she was standing here like a groupie and had literally asked him to kiss her again.

“Out of character for me,” he finished. “We shouldn’t have done it.”

This talk felt slightly like he was breaking up with her, which was ridiculous, because they were only pretending to date, and fake-dating had been his idea anyway.

She crossed her arms. She meant for it to look defiant, but she was hugging herself. “Then why did you do it?”

He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “Because we’re supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend. And in the moment, I couldn’t exactly pull away in front of all those people.”

Had he just rewritten what happened that evening? Was he going to deny that there had been any chemistry in his kiss, any meaning? “I suppose that explains the time I kissed you,” she said. “But what about the second time when you kissed me?”

He shrugged. “I figured kissing you would prove I was serious about you and also show that you were a bad influence on me. I mean, respectable people don’t make out on a dance floor in front of a crowd.”

Her arms grew tighter, but she kept her voice light as though none of this mattered. “Okay. Got it. You don’t want our fake romance to have kissing.” She pretended to consider the matter. “So in our relationship, are you the frigid one or am I? I think it has to be you. Much more believable.”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Jace exhaled, looking down for a moment before meeting her eyes again. “We should have occasional kissing. Just … not like on Friday. Not so passionately.”

Her lips twitched in irritation. “How exactly am I supposed to know the correct amount of passion you want?”

His gaze lingered on her for a second longer than necessary. “I guess I’ll have to show you.” He stepped forward, cupped her face gently in his hands, and pressed his lips to hers.

It wasn’t the same as the one earlier. This kiss was slower, lighter. Intentional. But it didn’t feel fake. And despite what he said, it seemed to have plenty of passion. His hand moved from her cheek to her neck, tangling in her hair. He kissed her as though she mattered. A shudder scraped across her skin, and just like that, her ability to think straight was gone. Her hand went to his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart, feeling its rhythm increase in tempo.

That meant something, didn’t it, that his heart rate was rising?

The front door opened.

They sprang apart as her grandmother peered out wearing a Hawaiian print muumuu and a puffy sweater. “Nope,” she called back over her shoulder. “I didn’t lock the door after all.” To Marlowe and Jace, she said, “Cindy was worried I’d locked you out since we heard you pull up, but then you didn’t come inside.” Over her shoulder, she called again, “They were just doing other things. Announcing, I suppose, to all the neighbors that they’re an item now.” Her head swung back to Marlowe and Jace. “Don’t mind me … or all of the children who are likely watching because it’s still daylight.”

Marlowe felt her cheeks flaming in mortification. “Grandma…” It was the only thing she could say. All other words had fled her.

Jace was already edging away from the door. “Good night, Marlowe. I’ll see you later.”

Heavens. And Marlowe had thought that her parents had embarrassed her as a teenager. Grandma was taking this to a whole new level. She turned her back to her grandma, trying to block her out as much as she could. “Goodnight, Jace.”

CHAPTER 10

When Jace returned home, his family was still in the kitchen doing dishes. As he walked there to help, he overheard Lucas say, “I told you that Jennifer was going down. The boy looks positively smitten.”

Good. He and Marlowe had been convincing. Jace stopped where he was and waited to hear more of the conversation.

“Yes,” his father said, “although I wish a more respectable girl had done the smiting.”