Page 40 of Sweet Surrender
She inhaled her food, then licked her fork clean which he forced himself to ignore. Her tongue sliding between the prongs was one of the most arousing sights he’d seen. She let out a happy sigh. “Thank you for that, I usually don’t bother.”
“Well, that’s something you’ll get out of this arrangement then: a fake boyfriend slash chef. You’re very lucky.” He smiled at her and she blushed. She finished her drink, her tongue darting out to catch a stray droplet in a way that had him clenching his hand on his thigh.Jesus, stop.It felt strange to be polite to each other, yet normal and nice. But the physical desire it was creating was hell.
He cleared his throat. “I’ve got some ideas for things we can do to be ‘seen’ together.”
Trepidation lit her eyes briefly before disappearing with a flutter of her lashes. “Oh yeah?”
“We’ll do your self-defense training, but I was thinking we could go for a, uh, couples run each morning?”
She made a noise like a game show buzzer and narrowed her eyes. “Taylor doesn’t run.”
“A jog then?”
“Nope.”
“A brisk walk?”
She shook her head.
“I go for a run every day, I kind of need to and I would feel better about it if I didn’t have to leave you alone then worry the whole time,” he tried again.
“And I would feel better if I didn’t run,” she quipped, raising a cocky eyebrow that fired him up.
He clenched his hands on his thighs to keep from reaching for her and pulling her into his lap, flipping her over and bringing his palm down on her ass. How satisfying would that feel? An animalistic sound rose in his chest at the image, and he had to fight to keep it down. Man, she really did turn him into some kind of beast.
“Are you okay?” she asked, peering at him, a strange expression on her face. He cleared his throat again, his cheeks heating at his fantasy and he adjusted his jeans which were suddenly very constricting.
“Fine,” he conceded. “We’ll circle back to couples running. We can do some more hangouts at the bar. Justine’s performing again soon so that will be a good opportunity.”
She nodded. “Agreed.”
Bolstered by her pleasant attitude he continued. “Me and the guys play basketball on Sundays, you could bring Christy and Justine and cheer on your boo,” he teased.
“What, like your lame cheerleader?”
“Yeah, and don’t pretend you didn’t want to be a cheerleader when we were at school. I know your secrets, remember? I know you tried out for the squad.”
“Bitches didn’t let me on the team though, did they?” she sulked, and he fought a laugh at her still being wounded over the snub.
“Well look at it this way, they can all suck it because Taylor’s finally getting her shot.”
She smirked and then rolled her eyes. “So if I’m your personal cheerleader does that mean I get to hang with my girlsandmake fun of you?”
He nodded, momentarily distracted by the thought of her in a cheerleading uniform.
“Then yes this is acceptable,” she replied.
He decided to push his luck a bit further. “Actual dates out somewhere?”
“Maybe,” she shrugged.
“We can take it in turns to plan what we do. Fake relationships also need to be fifty-fifty so I’ll go first then you can plan to take me somewhere nice, sweetheart. I wanna be wined and dined too.”
Taylor rolled her eyes again but said nothing, so he continued. “I think we should also try to act like a couple while we’re at home as well as when we’re out,” he said and waited for her protest. When she began, he held up his hand. “You said it yourself, he’s watching us. There’s a lot of windows in this cabin and it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
She huffed. “Fine.”
“And finally, I was thinking we could go to Christy and Dean’s wedding together, like as a couple. Best man, maid of honor, everyone will love it.”
