Page 13 of Faking It with the Firefighter

“I thought the wedding was at the botanical gardens.”

“I mean the hotel for Donny and Blair. The bridal suite.”

“Okay, what about it? Did it burn down?” I joked, thinking of Charlie and Sebastian.

“What? No.” He frowned like fire was no laughing matter, which I supposed it wasn’t, but the look on his face still made me feel slightly steadier. Rex was acting good-guy, finger-wagging responsible, and that wasn’t nearly as sexy as him showing up and swaggering into my living room like he loved all the attention.

I rocked back on my heels and opened my eyes wide. “So? What’s going on?”

“There isn’t one.”

Huh? “Come again?” I asked.

“Donny made a slight oversight and now all the hotels are booked and they have no place to stay.”

That sucked for Donny. “And?”

“And Donny thinks we’re together, so he thought it would be a good idea to stayhere.”

What was he talking about? “Here?”

“Yeah. Here.” When he said that, he glanced around like he’d just realized we were in a bedroom. He blinked at my bed, then looked at me.

I was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. “Are you telling me Donny wants to stay atmy house?” The last words came out as a shout, and I glanced over my shoulder like the ladies in the living room would burst through the door and cackle at me. I whisper-shouted, “Are you out of your mind?”

“I tried to talk him out of it.”

“Oh, you tried to talk him out of it!” I whisper-shouted more aggressively. “How’d that go?”

He cringed. “He came up with the idea because you’re so close to the venue. Plus you have plenty of space.”

My brain was sluggish; it took me a second to process. Rex gave me a little smile, spreading his arms. “Whaddya think?”

“I think you’re out of your mind, Rex. Why can’t they stay at your house?”

Rex shrugged. “You know. It’s a bachelor pad. That’s why I’m going to sell it.”

If Rex’s place wasn’t fit for Donny and the Social Media Princess, then I wasn’t sure mine was any better. Besides: “And where areyougoing to stay?”

He bit his lip and stared at me meaningfully.

I threw my palms up. “Absolutely not.”

“Abigail—”

“No.”

“It would only be for a week?—”

“Aweek?”

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but—what are you doing?”

I swiped to unlock my phone, flicking away the notifications for work emails that had piled up since I last looked. “I’m calling Gabe. I’ll just tell him about the arrest and get this over with. Nothing he can say to me is worth this.”

Rex reared back. “Sleeping with me is that repulsive to you?”

The words “sleeping with me” made a sharp, hot thrill race through my middle. I glared to cover it up. “Oh, now we’re sleeping together, are we?”

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