Page 19 of Make You Mine

“Oh.” I shivered at the thought of having Ren around to protect me. “Good thinking. Okay, so rule number one.” I set my coffee on the console table by the door and tapped my pen against my notebook. “We should look like we’re having fun. So no sulking in the corner or staring daggers at each other.”

His head drew back on his neck, affronted, eyes narrowing in a half-hearted glare. “Easy, I can be fun on occasion. Rule number two: we need to be…affectionate. Hand holding, arm-in-arm, stuff like that.”

I flushed. “You mean be touchy-feely?”

“Exactly. But not more than we’re comfortable with. Those can be a subset of rules, and we can figure that out later.”

I wrote it down. “Got it. Rule number three: witty banter and/or flirting. We need to maintain the illusion that we’re falling madly in love. Right?”

His eyes lingered on mine as he stepped closer, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. I felt the weight of his attention, and I couldn’t help but wish it were real. He looked at me as if he had seen me for the first time and reveled in every detail.

Confused, I shook my head to clear it.

Was he reallythis goodat faking?

“That should be easy.” His voice was dark, rumbling from his chest as he reached out a hand to brush an errant curl over my shoulder. “Rule number four,” he continued. “Compliments.”

“I love compliments,” I burst out almost hysterically. “Tell me I’m pretty.”

His eyes never left mine. “Pretty?” he scoffed. “No. You’re fucking gorgeous, Piper. Even when your cheeks were green, I couldn’t stop looking at you. You’re strong too. You’ve taken control of your emotions today and will get control of this situation with Richard, Dana, and Cody, too. I know it. I can see it in your eyes.”

My mouth opened and shut like a fish out of water as I searched for words. I felt my cheeks go up in flames, sure that I’d turned bright red—a change from the green. Progress, I guess.

“Too much?” He cracked a smile, breaking the mood, and thank god for that; I swear I was about to pass out. Or maybe kiss him or something else equallytouchy-feelyand totally inappropriate.

“I can handle it.” I grinned at him, full of false bravado, but whatever. Turning away, I grabbed my coffee from the console table. “Let’s go to the kitchen.” I took off, trusting he’d follow. I needed a moment without his gaze on me. He really was listening. It felt like he knew me already.

He sat across from me as we settled in at my table. I took a moment to gather my thoughts and redirect my focus to our plans while he sipped his coffee and watched me fidget with a knowing grin lighting up his face.

“How long have we been together?” he asked, breaking the tension.

“What?” Gah! It took a second, but I came to my senses enough to answer him. “Okay, right. Rule number five: If anyone asks how long we’ve been together, we say it’s three weeks or possibly a month.” I paused to write it down. “Three weeks,” I mumbled as I wrote. “Yeah, so that’s about how long I’ll be separated from Richard. And it will be believable because you and I are still getting to know each other. It will be new, so it's okay if we don’t know everything. Plus, I don’t want anyone to even think I cheated. I am not a cheater. I would never cheat. Cheaters suck. Fuck cheaters.”

“Yeah, they do suck. I think three weeks is perfect.” His eyes burned into mine. “How did we meet?”

“Aside from our connection to Violet and Jake, we could say that sparks flew at my sister’s bookstore,” I answered decisively. “We reached for a copy of the same book; our hands touched, and bing, bang, boom. Magic.”

“Magic, huh? It’s cute. Cliché, but it works.”

“Of course, it works.” I stole another brief glance and grinned at him as I wrote. “Clichés exist for a reason. It will plant a familiar seed of truth that nobody will question.”

“Good point. Okay, partner in crime.” He offered me his hand across the table to shake, and I couldn’t help but notice how natural this all felt despite my nerves. He had an easy charm, and he was confident. This thing might actually end up being fun. “Shall we seal the deal again with a handshake?”

I offered my hand, shivering as his big palm engulfed mine. “Deal,” I agreed softly just as Smog entered the dining room with a loudmeow.

“Wow, he’s huge,” Ren remarked as Smog jumped on the table to stare at him.

“Yeah, he’s a Maine Coon; they can get pretty big. Be careful. I don’t think he likes men very much. He couldn’t stand Richard. He treated his shoes as a litter box.”

“Smart cat. Serves him right. Are you friendly?” He held his hand out for Smog to sniff.

But he didn’t have to worry. To my surprise, Smog started purring and flopped to his side on the table in front of him. “Okay, do you have cat treats in your pocket?”

“Nope.” Ren smiled as Smog rolled over and let him give him a belly rub.

“He likes you, and basically, he only likes me.” My eyebrows shot up. “He tolerates my family, but nothing like this.”

“Smog suits him.” His eyes met mine. “He’s a beautiful cat.”

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