Page 17 of At Your Service
She nodded. “It’s fine. My sister called, so I had to give her an update on the change in plans.”
“Do you live with your sister?”
“Ah, no. I have two sisters and we each have our own apartments, but we take care of my dad, so we’re in constant contact with each other about schedules and such.”
“Is your father sick?”
The immediate hint of concern in his tone initially surprised her, but that was because Angie’s comments about escorts were still rambling in her mind.
“COPD. He was diagnosed years ago, but it’s getting worse.” To the point where he was almost debilitated, although Jacoby would never admit that.
Major’s expression turned thoughtful, his brow furrowing a bit. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
She shook her head, wanting to think of something else and feeling slightly guilty for admitting that fact.
“Thanks. Actually, that brings up something I was thinking on the ride over here.”
He muted the television and dropped the remote on the cushion between them. “What’s that?”
“If we want this charade to be believable, we should get to know each other better. We managed to do pretty good tonight, but what if I’m asked some personal questions about you? How will I know what to say?”
He frowned, thick brows slanted over brown eyes. The top button of his shirt was undone and Nina could see not only the tawny hue of his skin but also the slight ridge of his Adam’s apple. She licked her lips quickly as a flash of thought—her tongue gliding over that ridge—soared through her mind.
“I don’t give interviews unless it’s right after a show. You aren’t required to give interviews, either. Take pictures, attend parties or whatever events are on the itinerary, and that’s it.”
Like arm candy. She’d often looked through fashion magazines or watched shows where dashing industry big shots had gorgeous women on their arms. Those women never spoke, just smiled for the camera and looked beautiful.
“That’s not going to work,” she said. Late last night and well into the early morning hours, she’d decided that if this was going to be her first big introduction to the industry, she wanted it to look good. Playing the part of his fiancée as convincingly as possible would lessen the chance that someone might find out it was fake, and thus damage her credibility. “We need to be convincing.”
For a few quiet seconds Major just stared at her. In those moments, she breathed in the scent of his cologne, loving the spicy edge to the fragrance. She let her gaze linger over the breadth of his shoulders and the way his pale gray dress shirt molded his biceps and chest. His hands were resting on his thighs, a gold watch on his wrist, a chunky gold ring on his third right-hand finger.
“Are you saying you want to kiss me again?”
Noooo, that wasn’t what she was saying, but now that he’d mentioned it...
“I’m saying that we should take this time to get our story straight. We improvised how we met and the whirlwind love affair, but I’m betting word will spread fast that you actually talked to the press without being at a show and that’s going to give every other reporter even more guts to ask both of us questions.”
“Questions like when was our first kiss?” he asked with a lift of a brow.
“You’re obsessed with kissing.”
“I didn’t used to be,” he said with a shake of his head. “But I can admit that I’ve been thinking a lot about kissing you again.”
She swallowed and wondered if Prince Charming had thought about kissing Cinderella.Most definitely!Hadn’t he gone through an entire village using a shoe to try to find her? That wasn’t just so he could ask her name and make sure she was wearing both shoes...
“The kiss was very nice, but I’m referring more to how we’ll make our appearances seem believable.”
He sat straighter, seeming to shake off whatever was preoccupying him. “You may have a point. So let me ask you this, how did you like feeling my hands on you tonight?”
Oh, she hadn’t thought of that. He had kept an arm around her for most of the time they’d been at the cocktail party and it had felt...good. Before the announcement, it had also drawn lots of attention from the women in the room. For a few moments, her mind had wondered if Major had been romantically linked to any of them before. She’d told herself then that it was a silly thought and reminded herself again at this moment. Worrying about Major running off and leaving her for whatever reason or doing something else to break their trust wasn’t something she had to worry about, because none of this was real.
“I liked it,” she admitted.
“Good, because there were lots of pictures being taken. I fully expect to see us on the front page of one or two tabloids in the morning.”
Even after her personal admonishment, she couldn’t help thinking back to how his hand had stayed fixed at the small of her back, her side flush against his. There were also the tight embraces while they’d posed for pictures, the embraces that had left her feeling warm all over. The physical attraction between them was off the charts and there was no use trying to deny that.
“That’s, uh, good, right?” She sounded hopeful, even though she prayed he couldn’t hear that.
