Her face heated. She grabbed the almond packet and dumped half of it in her hand, needing the diversion from the teeny-tiny fluttering sensation in her stomach. She shoved them into her mouth. Good grief, she was acting like Aunt Bea, and over a simple passing comment. “Almond?” she said, holding out the bag to him.
“No, thanks. Just had lunch at Sunshine.”
That explained the slight scent of fried food. She chomped and tried to refocus so they could solve the Karen problem. She wasn’t one for subterfuge, but since his mother was engaging in it, she wondered if they didn’t have much of a choice but to reciprocate.
“I think I have an idea,” Kingston said, frowning. “I don’t think you’ll like it, though.”
***
Kingston wasn’t sure he liked his idea either. It would require some restraint on his part. Okay, a lot of restraint, becauseeven though he and Olivia were firmly in the friend zone with each other, he couldn’t deny the jolt of attraction that had shot through him when he entered her office. He hadn’t felt it last night when they were together, which was odd. Then again, Bea had been present the whole time, plying them with delicious peach pie. Now they were here alone, and he couldn’t get over how adorable she looked today in a light-red top with a large, rounded collar, a darker red bow in the center, and the sides of her sleek hair tucked behind her unpierced ears. He really liked her style.
He pulled his gaze away from her. He knew that turning off chemical attraction wasn’t going to happen overnight. He was also a man who prided himself on self-control, although he’d been lacking that lately. But if they did decide to go with his plan, he’d handle himself appropriately.
“What’s your idea?” She took a sip from her water bottle. “I might like it after all.”
Drawing in a deep breath, he said, “We pretend to be a couple.” At her shocked expression, he quickly added, “If we’re already dating, she has no reason to try to get us together. She’ll give up. Once that’s accomplished, we’ll break up.”
She stilled, the water bottle hovering over her desk for a second until she slowly set it down. She snatched the nut packet again, this time folding the small top edge over and over until it hit the remaining almonds.
“Yeah,” he said, seeing she was having the same off-kilter reaction he had. Well, not the same. He was sure she wasn’t fighting any attraction to him. He’d killed that with his prior behavior.
As she stared at the packet and remained silent, hewished he’d kept his big mouth shut. Faking a relationship was something out of a basic rom-com movie. Totally unbelievable. When she continued her silence, he reckoned she was pondering what method she’d use to throw him out of her office.
“The other option is to pretend we’re dating other people,” he said quickly, although he didn’t like that notion. Not one bit.
She paused for a few moments, then set the packet aside. “That would open Pandora’s box. Aunt Bea would want to meet him, for starters.”
“Yeah. Mom would want to meet the imaginary her too. All right, that’s off the list.”Thank God.
Olivia nodded. “Any other options?”
He rubbed his chin. “Nothing is coming to mind.”
“Me either.” She folded her hands on her tidy desk, her expression serious. “If we did pretend to date, we’d need some parameters.”
“Of course.”
She picked up a small blank pad of paper. “When do we break up?”
He grimaced at the hit to his pride. They hadn’t even had their first fake date, and she was already planning the end of the relationship. “A month?”
“That long?”
If he’d wondered whether she had a fragment of feelings for him, he didn’t anymore. Again, his own fault. “Two weeks?”
She tapped the pencil point on the paper. “How long is your sabbatical?”
“Seven more weeks.” Seven long weeks.
“How are you planning to spend that time?”
Kingston frowned. “I don’t exactly have a plan.” He chuckled at her horrified reaction. “It wasn’t like I had any warning I was going to be put on leave.” His good humor disintegrated. “Other than the dance lessons and a possible trip, I’m a free agent.”
“When is your trip?” She was writing on the pad now. When she finished, she pulled her phone out of her desk and tapped on the screen. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t know, and I’m not sure.” He scooted his chair closer to her desk and saw a calendar appear on the screen.
She looked at him with a baffled expression. “Your calendar isn’t full?”
