8. Elise
8
ELISE
Elise
I got dressed in my pajamas at light speed. Just in case Grant might need something out here and step out of the bathroom, I wanted to be fully clothed, armed and behind a wall. Anything that would prevent me from eyeing him like I was two seconds away from surrendering and jumping him.
Those heated looks. Those speechless expressions of need.
After I changed and got into bed, I rubbed my face and held in a groan of frustration.
If I’d known that kissing him would spark this strange connection to burn hotter and faster, I would’ve thought twice.
I only did it to act like a couple. Engaged couples kissed. It wasn’t like I groped him at the table, eager to mark my territory in front of Samantha.
There was no doubt in my mind that I’d surprised him. When Grant told me that he expected me to pose as his fiancée this weekend, I knew he did so without any requirement to act on it, or consummate it at all, in any way.
This was fake. Just a ploy. Nothing serious.
Which was why I cringed and wanted to burrow under the covers at the blunt realization that I’d felt something profound in that one little kiss. Perhaps it was the act of kissing my boss that made it seem so huge. He was my boss, my superior, and kissing him was forbidden, right?
It seemed like so much more, like kissing him had unlocked this dormant desire that flared to nuclear levels nearing a meltdown. Sure, I had a teeny crush on him when I met him. He was too hot not to. The more I worked for him, though, I learned to respect him and who he was in my life—the boss for a job I needed.
I sighed, staring at the ceiling as I replayed the memory of pulling back from his hard but warm lips.
He kissed me back. I surprised him, but he hadn’t hesitated to kiss me back.
Is he hiding feelings for me and resisting it like I’m trying to?
I wasn’t his type. Tall, slim, and with perfect makeup and hair. That was his type. Short, curvy nerds with glasses were not .
Oh, come on. I was a catch. I knew I could be a catch. Maybe not for him, but some man out there would want me.
Not yet. I grimaced at my lousy track record with finding men who wanted to stay with me.
Now I sound like Claudia, all sad and down and ? —
I smiled at the thought of my cousin. I hadn’t checked in with her since getting here, and I jumped on the chance to call her.
She answered right away, but only via audio, not the video option.
“Hey!”
I blinked at her enthusiastic greeting. The sound of loud music in the background confused me more. I’d left her depressed and beat up about her breakup, but she sure didn’t seem to suffer anymore.
“Claudia?”
“Elise! How’s the big work trip going?”
I frowned. Well, it got me “engaged”, so to speak. “Where are you?”
“Sorry,” she said loudly to be heard over the background noise. “The video is glitching and won’t connect. I’m at a little outdoor concert thing. A couple of the girls at the bakery asked me to go out tonight after work, and I figured I needed a break from packing for a couple of hours.”
I smiled, glad she had a couple of close peers to lean on—besides me. She was shy and quiet, too sweet and trusting, but she didn’t try to keep a big circle of acquaintances.
Then the worry came. “Wait. Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“What, taking a break from packing? Yeah, it’ll be fine. I’ll get everything into your apartment before Monday.”
Really? With all your stuff? “I mean with Keith. Maybe it’s not such a great idea to be out and about with him following you and bothering you so much right now, so soon after the breakup.”
“Nah.” She laughed at something someone said in the background. “I think I’ll be all right tonight. I’m not alone.”
I nodded, happy about that. “True. Just make sure you’re not left alone. If he’s nearby…”
“I know. I’m staying cautious, Elise.”
My shoulders sagged. “I’m just saying…”
“I know.” She laughed again at something on her end.
“I’m not… I’m not trying to be a mother hen or anything.” I hated how Grant’s accusation from this morning came back to me. I lost my parents in a car accident when I was seven, and Claudia came to live with our grandparents with me when she was four. Her parents simply hadn’t wanted her. All my life, I’d taken it upon myself to look out for her. I did my best not to shelter her, but it was hard to let go of the main role I’d given myself for so long.
“Nah. Never. A mother hen?” She laughed. “You just worry about me is all.”
“Keith has just been so persistent.”
“Yeah. I do need to be careful. I won’t stay out late, and someone will walk me home.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if she’d reached out to Derek for help with the packing and moving. If she felt like she was ahead on her progress to move in to my place, maybe he’d come to assist. But then he was supposed to be lying low. If he knew what was good for him after that latest hint of a scandal, he’d be avoiding a little pop-up concert in the city.
“I still wonder if you’ll need to get a restraining order against Keith,” I said.
“I hope not.”
The water in the bathroom shut off, and I panicked, knowing Grant would be stepping out. I wanted to pretend to be sleeping, but Elise kept talking, updating me about what else she had to pack and move to my apartment.
“Listen,” I cut her off, whispering. “I’ve got to go. It’s been a long day and the sun is just getting to me.”
“Are you sunburned already?” she teased.
I rolled my eyes, reminded of when Grant said that, teasing me about blushing after the talk about our kiss. It peeved me—and hurt—that he’d be so quick to say that kiss was nothing. It sure felt like something to me. And he hadn’t done a stellar job of hiding his reaction when it happened, either.
She promised to check in with me tomorrow. “Or you call me. You know, whenever your impossible boss gives you a break.”
“Sure thing.” It wasn’t even a work thing that had me out here in the Bahamas. Just a… fake engagement loosely connected to a work thing. This sounds like a complicated mess in the making.
I regretted agreeing to this farce at all. We hung up, and I hurried to set my phone on the nightstand. By the time I slumped back down on the decadently soft bed and dropped my head on the pillow, Grant stepped out.
Dammit. He looked right at me. It was too late to pretend I was already asleep.
“Sorry to keep you up.” As he walked toward his suitcase for his clothes, I bit my lip at the sexy vision of all his lean muscles, his tanned, taut skin still warm and damp from his shower. He held up a towel. And that was it. I had all the opportunity in the world to ogle him, and I strained to look anywhere but at him.
“No problem.”
Stop staring. Stop staring.
He stubbed his toe on my suitcase jutting out, and he almost dropped the towel. That plush terry layer was all that stood between his dick and me.
I held my breath, tense and tortured with the idea of seeing him naked.
Stop. Staring.
“’Night.” I twisted aggressively, flopping to give him my back.
Taking the coward’s way out, I squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself to just pass out. Anything to put me out of the misery of this new development I hadn’t anticipated from a single kiss.
I wanted my boss. My fake fiancé.
And there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. Not if I wanted to avoid blurring the distinct lines that should remain between us.
“Good night, Elise,” he replied after a long moment of silence.
I sighed, knowing it’d be a long night of trying to avoid all thoughts of him.
Hell, it’d be an even longer weekend of trying to keep myself straight with this fake engagement.