Paris snickered at my reply. “I always thought of you as an aggressive top until I saw you at the premiere with him whispering into your ear. The expression on your face told me what I needed to know.”
“Am I that obvious?”
“No.” He winked. “I’m that observant.”
I leaned forward, my earlier nervousness gone. Now that I knew where we stood, I could even have fun with Paris. “You’re right. Terry has me wrapped around his little finger.”
Paris put his hand on his chest. “Aww. That’s sweet.”
“Doyousleep with your bodyguard?”
He lifted his chin, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “No. He sleeps on the floor at the foot of my bed.”
I laughed out loud. He was joking, wasn’t he? “You’ll be the best friend I’ve ever had. I can see it already.”
“Wonderful. Ready for the main course?”
In the caron the way back, I reached for Terry’s hand. To my relief, he took it and smiled at me.
“How did it go?” he asked.
“Very good. I was distracted, but he didn’t reproach me for it.”
“What’s the expectation? Are you going to pretend to date him?”
Was Terry so generous he’d accept that? Luckily, I didn’t have to ask for anything like that from him. I squeezed his hand. “No. We have a better plan.”
“Oh?”
“A great plan. You’ll love it.”
“Tell me.”
“I’m his best friend.”
Terry raised his eyebrows at me. “Explain.”
“We’ll pretend to be the most wholesome friends in the entire city of Ardaine. There will be speculation about our involvement, but we will never confirm it.”
“Why is that better?”
“It’s less of a lie for starters. I don’t have to feel like I’mcheating on you, and Paris doesn’t have to relinquish his proud single status. But the connection between us will add adventure to his media profile. I think he’s afraid his public image is getting boring. I can spice it up for him with a few shenanigans.”
“Huh. That’s clever.”
“He’s smart. You’ll like him. We’re invited over to his place for a party in two weeks.”
“We are?”
“Um. He knows about you.”
Terry’s eyes got big. “What?”
“He guessed we were involved, and I didn’t try talking him out of it.”
“Huh.”
“Apparently, I react to you in a way that he noticed.”
