Page 56 of The Billionaire's Fake Fiancée

“Right?” she says. “So impossible to believe, yet true.”

“You said several facts,” I snap. “Several facts suggests more than two facts.”

“That was three facts.” She counts them off: “One, he’s watching us. Two, his interest is not sexual, or I would know. Three, people who are up to something always think others are up to something. As established.”

“I have to get out of here.” I hazard another glance at Marvin. Clark is chatting up the captain. “I need to be back at work, and you need to be in your room. I sense a long day of us not being up on deck ahead.”

She frowns. “Gail says there’s whale watching tomorrow. We might be going near some pods or something. It might be a fun activity…”

“Nope,” I say.

“But everyone’s so excited. Everybody’s gonna go…”

“Not everybody. Not a certain man who is running his company and not his hairdresser who is being paid way too much money to sit at her workstation. And do you remember where that workstation is?”

“I remember where that workstation is,” she says hotly.

“Where?”

She twists her lips by way of answer. “I’m just saying, people saw that I was excited about the whales. You hired me to do a job. You should trust me to do it. Trust my recommendations. I recommend we go because it might be weird for us to blow it off.”

“Why would it be weird? They’ll just figure that I’m not into it. And when it comes to a choice between being with your loving fiancé and seeing whales, you’ll always pick your fiancé.”

“However, as my loving fiancé, you’d want me to see the whales. You’d want to be there when I see them just to enjoy the delight in my eyes. You feel curious and enthusiastic about things that I enjoy. That’s how a relationship works.”

“That’s not how my relationships work.”

“Ugh,” she says. “Spare me.”

Our strange friction has me stepping closer, itching to touch her. I lower my voice to a deep register. “You’re already going to play beauty parlor; is that not enough?”

“It’s not playing,” she snaps. And then she swipes a finger through cupcake frosting yet again, and slides it into her mouth. Then pops it out. Impudently.

Her eyes sparkle. We’re flirting. It’s what we should be doing—we’re making it real, aren’t we? But I need to touch her, and it has nothing to do with our roles.

I draw a knuckle along her jawline. Her skin feels soft and warm.

Her chest rises and falls. I get to the end, to her chin, and force myself to drop my arm to my side, when really what I need is to kiss her.

I tell my people to never lead with need. Need clouds your mind and destroys your bargaining skills. But everything in me is surging for her. Every molecule transformed into a little compass straining toward her north.

I remind myself how wrong this is. I can’t be attracted to her; that was the whole point of bringing her. This heat has to stop.

“If you want to watch whales,” I say coldly, “you can take the massive sum of money I’m paying you and book your own cruise.”

“Maybe I will,” she says.

“The next few days will probably be buffet-style meals,” I say. “We’ll grab food, chat up Gail, and get in pictures whenever possible. Other than that, we’re AWOL in our room.”

“What about when we dock on St. Herve? You’d want to walk around St. Herve, right? It sounds really beautiful.”

“We will not be exploring tropical islands. You will be sequestered in your room while Clark and I focus on our projects. And we won’t even know you’re there until we need you for on-deck appearances.”

“I’m just saying it’ll look a little unnatural. I mean, are people supposed to think we’re banging the whole time?”

My mind races with images of pressing her up against the wall, of plunging my fingers and possibly even my face into the place where her breasts meet. I try to stop my thoughts, but I can’t. “Yes.”

“You have a high opinion of your stamina,” she says.

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