Page 39 of Counterfeit Connection

“Gala?” I question, turning my eyes toward Griffin.

“Sorry, sweetheart. I forgot to tell you. I guess I was too excited to have you to myself. It’s a charity gala for the local Children’s Hospital. I try to attend if I’m going to be in town.”

A gala? What the hell am I going to wear?

“That sounds wonderful, and of course, I’ll save a dance for you, Mr. Stone.”

“Julian, please call me Julian.”

We all rise from our seats to say our goodbyes to him and once we’re alone, the reality of what just happened starts to sink in.

“That was… random… and absolutely incredible. You know Julian Stone?”

“I know a lot of people, Kaitlyn,” Griffin says casually. “And don’t think we won’t finish what we started before. I still want that kiss.”

As time passes, we grow more and more comfortable with one another. It’s happening much faster and more naturally than I could’ve expected. We move in sync as we eat, as we chat, and even now as we are walking back to the sidewalk to wait for the car to circle the block to pick us up.

I’m acutely aware of his hand on the small of my back, but I’m equally aware of the camera flashes I see out of the corner of my eye here and there.

I feel Griffin lean down and then he whispers in my ear, “See. This wasn’t so bad, was it?”

His voice sends a tickle up my side and I can’t help but grin. “It was amazing.”

His free hand comes up, cupping my jaw. There’s power in his touch and I swear I can feel myself vibrating from it.

“Now, about that kiss.”

I lick my lips as he dips his head and our mouths connect. If you look closely, I bet you could see a little spark shine. Not that I thought about him kissing me before our deal, but if I look back on it, I never would have thought he’d know how to be soft.

His lips float and drift over mine in an easy dance. My arm, with my fingers gripping the handles of my handbag, drapes around his shoulder as his grip tightens around my waist. All feeling evaporates from my knees down and his touch is what’s holding me up. I’m not sure if we would have stopped when we did if it wasn’t for a gentle tap of the horn from our driver.

I can feel the hint of a smile from Griffin as our lips part. “I guess we gave them a bigger show than needed.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think it was just right. No one with eyes would question the sincerity of that kiss. It felt more than real for me.”

I try not to read into the fact our hands stay laced together the entire ride back to my apartment. There are no eyes on us, no cameras flashing, no one to convince, but we don’t want to relinquish our connection.

When the car rolls to a stop on my block, I ask the question that’s been rolling around in my head for the last ten minutes.

“Do you want to come upstairs and debrief?”

His face splits into a wide grin. “Rethink what you just said.”

It takes me a moment, then I can feel my face turning beet red. “Oh my God. That’s not what I meant.” I bury my face in my hands. “You know what I meant.” I sigh. “Do you want to come upstairs to talk about how we think it went? I can make some tea or coffee.”

“Tea would be perfect.”

While we ride the elevator to my tenth-floor apartment, my mind wanders through several mental photographs of how I left my place. Were the dirty clothes picked up? Did I take out the trash and do the dishes? Shit, did I clean out the cat box?

“Kaitlyn, I’m sure your home is in order,” he says as he pulls the back of my hand to his lips.

“How did you know what I was thinking?”

“I took a guess. It’s safe to say, I’m paying very close attention to all things said and unsaid. Isn’t that the hallmark of a good boyfriend?”

I smile. “So this is what those look like? It’s been so long, I’ve forgotten.”

“How long has it been, exactly? Like we said, we’ll need to know these things about one another.”

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