Page 65 of Nothing to Deny

Oh, uh… no fight? She’d expected conflict, yet all she read in him was acceptance.

“Conrad said he was coming back.” She got closer so she could whisper. “We’re in a really difficult position, Hound. No one knows about us.”

“I know.”

“I can’t ask you to be honest about your family and your personal business because that reveals Lyon too… Even if it didn’t, it’s not my place to—”

“It is your place, sweetheart,” he said, stroking her face again. “But I understand your point…” He exhaled. “Come over here, give me a minute to think about it.”

Scooping an arm around her waist, he pulled her body against his.

She rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m looking forward to having you to myself for two weeks,” she admitted, caressing his chest. Shame about, you know, the inconvenience of her family. Maybe they would keep her honest. “My Baer.”

For two weeks only.

“There are beds through the back if you want to claim—”

She slapped his chest, which granted her his laugh just as Conrad entered carrying two tablets.

“Okay,” the boss declared. “Let’s create our relationships.”

Holly and Lyon came over to sit nearby while Conrad moved a seat across to face them like they were in some kind of impromptu therapy session.

“I’m nervous,” Holly said. “Is it weird that I’m nervous?”

“Perfectly normal,” Lyon said.

She was nervous too, but not for herself. There was a foot of space between Lyon and Holly; they couldn’t look any less like a couple. Baer was stretched out next to her, slouched on the couch with his shoulder blades against the back and his legs straight, crossed at the ankle. With his arm relaxed along the backrest behind her, he included her as an extension of his being. He looked like someone’s boyfriend, her boyfriend, he couldn’t be more at ease.

Holly and Lyon, who were supposed to be an established couple, were awkward and ill-at-ease. This was bad. Holly had been talking about her ‘Paul’ for more than a month. If they didn’t pull this off…

Laying a hand on Baer’s thigh, she couldn’t be more grateful for him. Until Baer, the idea of this vacation was not ahappy one. Now, with Baer, she was kind of looking forward to it.

Twisting around, she joined their lips and brushed her nose over his, tempting his mouth to give her more.

“Uh…” Conrad said. “Plenty of time for that after we get the formalities out of the way.”

“Let the woman work,” Baer said, coiling an arm around her waist to hold her tighter. “You okay, Lil’?”

“What did you do before this? Before you did this?”

“Different things,” he said. “Mostly carpentry. I was a personal trainer at a couple of gyms, worked security at clubs.”

Considering it for just a second, she pushed her lips to the side. “Carpentry. Let’s go with that.”

“Carpentry?” Holly distracted her from Baer. When she laid her head on his chest, Baer’s hand moved into her hair, stroking her over and over. “You could pick any job in the whole wide world, why would you want to be with a carpenter?”

Baer’s hand stopped on her crown.

“Because if we say he’s a personal trainer or works security someone might ask where. They might have a connection to any place we lie about. They might go there or know someone who works there. Carpentry is perfect because it doesn’t have to be done at a specific location, he can be self-employed, doing jobs as and when… perfect.”

“And if someone breaks a chair?” Holly asked.

“He can fix it.”

“How do you know he can—”

“If he can build a chair from scratch, he can fix a broken one.”

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