Page 21 of Fake Dating an Orc Cowboy

More than great. Astronomical. Like runway model gorgeous.

I was so out of my league.

“It’s perfect,” I added. “You’ll stun everyone. They’re going to think you’re . . .” I needed to stop talking. Seriously. Whatever coolness I had left was dissolving into a mess at the sight of him.

Ostor’s cheeks darkened, and his posture softened, almost awkwardly. He sent me a tusk-filled grin, a mischievous, satisfied expression that did things to my already weak knees. “Thank you, tiny one. Now, let’s put on the show for your family, shall we?”

Ah, yes. This wasn't real. Itwasa show.

I didn't like how pitiful that made me feel. This was what I wanted, right? He wasn’t going to offer me anything else.

With a sigh, I rose. My hands trembled already, and my belly kept flipping around in an unpleasant way.

His smile faded. “What is it? Again, is the problem me?”

“Nope. It’s me. Only me.” My swallow refused to go down. “I . . .” How could I explain?

He remained quiet. Waiting. Looming, but not in a threatening way. More like he was a solid presence in a storm I wasn’t sure I’d survive.

“I’m just . . .”

He brushed my hair back, sweeping it away from my face with rough fingers. They stilled on my nape, warm and steady, and I forgot how to breathe.

“They're only people.” His thumb grazed along my jaw to the front, where he tilted my chin up to make me meet his gaze. His black eyes shimmered with something I couldn’t quite define, a sweetness I hadn’t expected from a huge warrior-like guy wearing a cowboy hat. “You control everything, Rosey. Not them and not what they’ve done to you.”

His words slid through me as if he already knew the shape of the pain I carried. Real or not, this moment felt unsettling. And something about that thought terrified me. But it helped too. His calm, his strength, it was seeping into me.

“Ostor.” I couldn't find the words. Not for this. Not for the way his gaze clung to mine and refused to let go, like he’d made it his mission to protect me, even from myself. Even from the ghost of pain twisting its way through my insides.

“It’ll be alright.” His deep voice coasted across my skin like a caress. “You'll face them, but I'll be beside you.”

It was too much and not enough all at once.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I stepped forward, wrapping my arms around him. I sunk into his chest, seeking the steadiness only this male could provide.

It was a hug. A harmless hug.

Except nothing about us felt simple.

His heart thrummed through his chest, infinitely soothing, and it hit me like a gust of wind, how amazing it felt to be this close to him. His arms drew me in, and my anxiety melted away.

How was it possible for someone I barely knew to make me feel like this? He was comfort wrapped in sinew and heat and strength.

“Never forget. You don’t need to carry this alone.” His breath warmed the top of my head.

I stiffened, my chest pulling tight.This isn’t real,I tried to tell myself over and over. He was my fake wedding date. A pretend solution for a painful problem. But now I stood in his arms, feeling like I’d crossed an invisible line I wasn’t supposed to get near.

Holding him felt like letting go, at least for a few seconds.

Maybe that’s all I needed, just a few seconds of not thinking, not worrying, not picturing how I'd have to put on a bright, forced smile when I saw Jacob and Macy wrapped up in their love bubble a few feet away.

I pulled back, letting my hands drop to my sides.

“Thank you,” I said. Odd, but I felt more awkward about whatever this was between him and I than about what I was about to face at the pool.

“Any time. You’re ready?”

“Yup. You?”

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