Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 119184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
A lot more.
I blink. Maybe he’s expecting me to nod along and agree, but I feel like a deer caught in the headlights.
What is he planning?
There’s no time to wonder when he turns my face to his, gently slides one finger under my chin, and kisses me breathless.
Just like before, it starts off searing and only gets hotter. Like sliding into a hot tub, the heat soothing and blanking my brain.
I don’t know how he manages when we’re both standing still. My eyes flutter closed, and I bring my hand to his wrist.
Just touching him. Fingers on skin.
A million of my worries against his wall of muscle.
Mouth against mouth.
Tongue against—
Oh God, his tongue.
It explores my mouth like he knows it belongs there.
Searching, claiming, teasing me to mush.
Every frenzied brushstroke sends more fire to my belly.
My head tilts back. I sure as hell hope it looks like I’m lost in his kiss, because it’s not fake. It’s the realest thing I’ve felt since the camera started rolling.
Terrifyingly true.
Tingles race up and down my spine, and I’m boneless in a matter of seconds, my breath stalled in my lungs.
Good thing, too, because the world-ending way Brady kisses leaves zero room for breath.
Soft lips, demanding.
Rough fingers pinching my skin, gentle but intense.
Catastrophically romantic.
How, I don’t know.
But somehow, I know he’s playing me for optics. He knows this is exactly what people love, selling a princess dream come true.
Perfect couple.
Perfectly happy.
Perfectly in love.
“All right, that’s a wrap,” Luis calls, looking up from the camera.
Brady breaks away.
He’s wearing this whisper of a smile like there’s a secret I’m not in on. All I can see are his lips.
Bladed. Lush. Deeply sensual.
Is this what it feels like when you’re losing your mind?
“You did it. Still feeling okay?” he asks.
There’s no way I can answer that question in a way that doesn’t make me sound psycho.
“Yep. Easy peasy,” I lie.
“You were amazing, woman.” He releases my chin like he’s only just realized he’s still holding it.
I step away.
Seriously, I need distance, space to catch my breath. But if he notices and thinks there’s a problem, he doesn’t look like it.
Maybe he feels the need for a breather too.
It can’t be easy mustering up that much passion to power-kiss a woman he’d never touch without this goofy arrangement.
Really, it makes sense that he kissed me and played it up for the cameras. We were making an engagement announcement.
The kissing was kinda mandatory to sell the big lie.
The trouble is, nothing about kissing Brady Pruitt feels fake.
Yes, I’m well aware that’s all in my head and it shouldn’t be.
I can’t let this man make me forget this isn’t real, not even for a few seconds. He’s mastered the black art of kissing, and I’d better find a defense fast, before he leads my heart to the slaughterhouse.
He reaches past me to take a folder from Luis and then holds it out to me. “It’s all in there, your copy. Any questions, let me know.”
The money, he means. The legalese.
We’re right back to business—or did we ever leave it? The worst part is, I barely care about dollar signs anymore.
Scary.
Sure, Pawsome Hearts comes first and last, but in the inferno of his kiss, everything fell away.
I cared about the paycheck more before he kissed me.
Before he started a fireworks show in my chest.
Before he ignited chain reactions much lower in my anatomy and made the cameras seem phonier than that ginormous ring on my finger.
Even scarier.
I don’t understand why I’m unraveling and how he’s so good at pulling on every thread.
Pretending to care about Brady was supposed to be the hard part. The improv act I just had to grit my teeth to get through.
When I showed up at his condo, I was certain it would be.
I felt out of place. Awkward.
But after his kiss demolished me twice, everything feels like it’s spinning into uncharted territory.
Ten billion dollars wouldn’t make this any easier.
Not because I can’t stand him.
No, because I don’t know what to do with him baiting my heart like a stray cat, when I know full well it’s just one night by the fire.
He’s keeping me warm and fed and happy to get what he wants, and tomorrow he’ll dump me back on the street.
X
The Three F’s
(Brady)
Mission accomplished.
Now it’s time to figure out if this damn illusion will take flight.
With all the notifications flooding in, I swipe my phone to silent. I’m a veteran at this, and it’s better to wait a few hours after major news for the ground to settle. Even when a few million strangers online have an opinion about my fiancée.
It’s almost too calm in my condo. Anticlimactic.
“See you tomorrow, boss.” Luis waves as he lets himself out.
I walk Lena to the sofa, urging her to settle in.
Although she’s smiling, she’s gone pale enough to worry me. I don’t want to turn her loose just yet, though it’s probably her biggest wish.