Max must have seen something in my expression because he leaned down until his mouth was brushing the shell of my ear. “Don’t you dare look at them. You’re the only woman worth looking at, Frankie. You’re the only woman I’m looking at.”
Heat rushed into my face so fast it almost hurt.
And of course, that voice inside my head that usually landed me in hot water immediately started murmuring things in my other ear.He thinks you’re pretty. Marry him immediately. Have his giant mountain man babies.
I cleared my throat, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “You know, if you keep saying things like that, I’m going to develop expectations.”
His thumb hooked into the waistband of my jeans, tugging me closer. “Expectations are a good thing, Frankie.”
That silenced me like nothing else ever had.
“Drinks are over there,” one of the bridesmaids announced. She looked me up and down before adding, “There’s champagne too. If you drink carbs.”
Wow.
Okay.
Good to know Satan’s little helpers wore Lululemon.
“Finally,” I called out. “A wedding tradition I understand.”
Max’s chest vibrated against my back. The man was laughing. Actually laughing. And suddenly every eye around the patio seemed to lock on us.
Not Tiffany.
Not Leo.
Us.
The mountain man and his curvy fake wedding date. Although, they didn’t know it was fake. I looked up at Max and seeing his face, I realized I might not want it to be fake anymore.
A dangerous thought.
A very dangerous thought.
“Max.” Leo called out, wearing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You made it.”
I took an immediate, visceral dislike for him. He was a paper version of Max. Two dimensional with no substance. Handsome in a soft, pampered way. But it was the way he was looking at Max, in that cold, calculating way, that made my skin crawl. The look he gave me was no better. His gaze slid over me in a slow tour of my curves that was half-sneer and half-hunger.
It made me sorry I hadn’t brought a sledgehammer I could swing it at his head.
“And you brought the hardware girl,” Leo added, his tone dripping with fake warmth. “Tiffany said you were dating, but honestly? I thought she was exaggerating.”
Excuse me?Before I could speak, I felt Max’s hand move, his fingers splaying across my back in a way that screamed mine.
“Her name is Frankie,” Max said, his voice flat and dangerous. “Try to remember it. Because she’s the one who’s going to be sitting next to me when I sign the papers to shut down that development project of yours if you don’t watch your mouth.”
Leo’s smile faltered. Score one for the mountain man.
“Well,” Leo said, recovering. “Let’s see if the two of you can survive the Welcome Challenge.” He gave my body another swift look. “You have to complete it together, by the way.”
“Is survival the grand prize?” I asked.
One of the bridesmaids laughed before catching Tiffany’s expression and immediately pretending she hadn’t.
Tiffany gave me that perfected look of disdain. “Of course not. There’s a spa packet for the winner.”
I looked up at Max. “We’re hiking for cucumber water? That feels like an insult to my sweat glands. I would much more have preferred cash.”
