Page 71 of The Fine Art of Faking It
She needed to move out of Blue Moon. Or get her parents to move, Eden decided on the spot. Maybe she could ship them off to Aunt Nell in Arizona?
“I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with this,” Ned wheezed.
“Dad, do you have your inhaler?”
He patted the pockets of his ancient barn coat and corduroy blazer underneath.
“Davis, as your future fake mother-in-law, I demand that you kiss my daughter!”
Eden started to argue again. But Davis caved. His hands closed around her upper arms, and he reeled her body into his. Helpless, she slid her arms under his coat and around his waist, drawn to the heat there.
He brought his mouth to Eden’s abruptly and held them there.
“I don’t like this. I don’t like this one bit,” Ned said from behind them. Eden could hear the puff of his inhaler.
“Put some feeling into it, Gates!” her mother shouted. “Make me hate you!”
Eden felt Davis’s lips curve under hers and without any warning, he dipped her backward. She clung to him, afraid of falling. But he held her close, keeping her suspended above the walkway.
She melted into the kiss, opening for him and sighing into his mouth. Eden didn’t hear her mother anymore. Didn’t even remember the woman’s name. Once again, she was flooded with pure, unfiltered desire. Her body didn’t understand that this was just a game. It just wanted more.
Davis broke the kiss first and righted her. It was only then that Eden became aware of her mother’s wailing.
“Mom!Youtold him to kiss me!”
Lilly Ann paused in mid-histrionics. “I’m acting!” Her eyeroll was audible. “Have I taught you nothing? Come on, Ned. Let’s go home and make love and eat brownies.”
“Bye, guys,” Eden said, raising her hand in a wave.
“I’m not speaking to you, Eden. Not until you come to your senses,” her mother shouted with an exaggerated wink. “Love you!”
28
It was after midnight. But rather than sleeping, Davis was laying on the bed staring up at the ceiling thinking about the woman one wall away. The woman who was apparently not questioning the “fake” part of their relationship like he was. Was she really that good of an actress? That committed to revenge?
He heard the soft knock at his door and debated not answering it. Then hated himself for hoping it was her. He climbed out of bed, not even bothering to pull on a shirt.
“About tonight,” Eden said by way of a greeting. She stood framed in his doorway in a cardigan over a scoop neck tank and short, cotton boxers. To him, the combination was more of an aphrodisiac than a thousand dollars of sheer lace lingerie.
“What about it?” He dared her to say something about the kiss.
“I’m sorry about the things my parents said.” Her gaze skimmed down his bare chest, and was it his imagination or did they linger on the low waistband of his cotton pants? “They don’t know any better. It’s been indoctrinated into them to hate you and your family.”
“That’s not why you’re here, Eden,” he told her quietly.
Her eyes narrowed at him. “Really? You want to take the first time I ever apologize to you and tell me I’m lying?”
He reached out before he thought better of it and skimmed his finger over her cheek, along her jaw, and down her neck. A pink flush followed his touch, and Eden drew in a sharp breath.
“You can’t sleep for the same reason I can’t sleep.”
She was moving closer to him, and he doubted Eden was even aware of it.
“Why can’t I sleep?” she asked softly.
“Because you can’t stop thinking about that kiss.”
Her breath was shaky. “I don’t know what you’re talking— damn it.” She grabbed him, nails raking the bare skin of his shoulders. Her lips found his.
