Page 87 of Faking the Pass
“I wasjoking. I’d like to remind you that this thing…”
He made a back and forth gesture between us.
“... is for ourmutualbenefit. Human shield, remember? When we get back home and our wedding pictures and videoare released, there’s not going to be a groupie or an ex-girlfriend who’ll dare to get within a mile of me. That’s worth a lot in my book.”
“Fine.” I drew a slash through the line that saidRent. Presley smiled.
And then I added another line.
The most important one.
He’d walked away to get some filtered water from the refrigerator.
When he came back, Presley craned his neck forward, attempting to read what I’d written.
“Move your hand,” he said. “What’s that one say?”
His face contracted in a scowl when he saw it.
No Sex
Andwhyhad I capitalized it? Maybe I’d been thinking of thatcapital Afrom earlier today.
“This morning was an accident, Rosie.”
His hands got involved in the conversation, abusing the air in front of him as his tone grew more adamant.
“I was dead asleep. It’s not like I was trying to make amoveon you when we were both recovering from traveling for twenty-eight hours straight.”
He made a harsh gesture toward the notebook. “Is that what all this is about? An erection overreaction?”
“No,” I said in a high, defensive sounding tone.
Just hearing him say the word “erection” caused a warm tingle to start between my legs.
“It’s not about this morning,” I said. “This is something I was already thinking about. It just makes sense to set someboundaries, I think. That way we have the same expectations, and there are no… disappointments.”
The grooves in Presley’s forehead deepened. “I don’t need legalese to tell me to keep my dick in my pants. I’m not Randy.”
He sounded angry. I’d hurt his feelings, which was not my intention.
Honestly, I was more concerned with legislatingmyfeelings.
I suspected having sex with Presley would be a life-changing experience, one that would leave me feeling vaguely dissatisfied for the rest of my life without him when this all ended.
I was just better off not knowing for sure.
‘I know you’re not like Randy,” I said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
My tone was placating. “It’s just… sex complicates things. And like it or not, you and I are alone on a beautiful tropical island together for a week, and well, it wouldn’t be completely beyond the realm of possibility for something to happen.”
“Accidentally,” I added quickly. “Something neither of us wants but that might be an unintended consequence of forced proximity and…”
I waved toward his partially clad physique-of-the-gods. “...and wet board shorts.”
