Page 31 of The Billionaire's Fake Fiancée

“It’s a thing?” I ask, incredulous.

“Well, on soap operas,” she adds.

I groan. “Jesus Christ, save me from your ridiculous soap opera wisdom.”

“What? There is a lot of life wisdom in soap operas.”

I give her a hard look.

“And the fact is, with people who have never kissed, there’s a lot of trepidation. They’re like,How do I start off? Where do I put my hands? Which way should I tilt my head?”

“Those are not questions that would cross my mind during a kiss. Ever.”

“Please. Spare me from the knowledge of what crossesyourmind when you kiss a woman,” she says. “I’m just telling you, people aren’t stupid. They’re capable of recognizing a first kiss. We need at least one practice round. Unfortunately.”

I swallow. Somewhere down on Wall Street, trading is in full swing. I have rates to check, reports to analyze, spreads to monitor, strategies to execute on, but the idea of pulling her to me and kissing her crowds all of that out. My hands flex.

A practice kiss. I can’t think of a worse idea. “We’re not a couple who enjoys public displays of affection.”

She does her playful wince. “Okay, buuuuuut…what happens when they toast our engagement? We can’t exactly shake hands.”

Will people do that? Gather around and expect us to kiss in front of them? I focus on the window beyond her trying not to imagine kissing her. The whole idea here wasnotto be tempted or distracted.

“Ready?” she asks.

“If I decide we need a first kiss,” I inform her, “then and only then will we have a first kiss. And I’ll do the kissing.”

“It has to be more than a peck,” she says. “Just in case that’s what you’re imagining.”

“Rest assured, a kiss from me would be the opposite of a peck.”

“Theoppositeof a peck,” she echoes, as though she finds it funny.

“The polar opposite.” My gaze has gone back to her lips. They’d taste like some sort of sugary berry. Her dark hair would be thick and cool in my grip, her ass soft and firm. My mind won’t stop spinning on kissing her, now.

“I’m trying to help you pull this off,” she says. “Think of the times you’ve had a first kiss. The wild rush of it. The buzz of it. It’ll be so obvious.”

I frown. Who the hell has she been sharing these mind-altering first kisses with? Does she do a lot of first-kissing? With these friends-with-benefits types?

“Don’t worry, I get this is business,” she says. “You’re not at all the type of guy I go for, either.”

“No? Do tell—what type of guy do you go for?”

“For one, he would scoff at the idea of a private jet. And he would never wear or even possess cufflinks. Or if he did…” She gets up and bends over where I’m sitting on the couch. “There’d be a string attached to the cufflinks because he would’ve made them into an awesome toy for little Seymour. That would be a guy for me.”

“Sounds like a loser.”

She smiles. “Now, Rex,” she says in a sultry voice. “I’m going to put my lips to yours. There might be a funny feeling in your tummy.”

Chapter 5

Tabitha

I’m bending over him,near enough to feel the feather-like brush of his agitated breath on my nose. Definitely near enough to kiss him. Am I going too far?

His gaze is so dark and foreboding. It sends tremors right through me.

But we really do need to kiss. The man’s dreaming if he thinks people can’t recognize a first kiss. This is the professional thing to do.

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