Willing to give me twenty grand for nothing.
I really should take it. Get the heck out of here as fast as I can and leave him to deal with the problems he’s created on his own.
But he’s making it impossible. He’s being too nice. Too gentlemanly. Too easy to be around.
And I just can’t take advantage of him now that I know Tucker might not be the gigantic asshole I assumed he was.
That is the only reason I meet his eyes, metaphorically putting on my big girl panties before saying, “You have permission to touch me in whatever way will make your mother think we're a couple.” A weird zip of something I’m not going to identify tingles through my insides, forcing me to amend, “As long as it’s PG.”
“I can work with that.” Slowly, Tucker lowers his arm to rest gently against me as he leans closer, his heat sinking into yet another part of my body as his scent surrounds me. I might need to tell him to cut it out with that cologne. The rich, smooth smell is baking into my brain. It’s freaking distracting.
Almost as distracting as his warm breath brushing my cheek as he says, “But if you ever want to change that rating, all you have to do is let me know.”
7
Tucker
Ruth rolls her eyes at me for the hundredth time. “That won’t be happening.”
Her tone is serious, but there’s a smile on her face. She seems to finally be relaxing a little, which is good, because she was stiff as a fucking board when she first sat down beside me, looking ready to bolt at any second. Definitely not the way a woman in love with me would act.
Not that I have experience with that, but I’ve seen the way Mariah looks at Titus. I can practically see the hearts in her eyes. Brooke looks at Toby the same way. Like he’s everything to her. The only thing a woman has had in her eyes when she looks at me is lust.
I came into this worried that inexperience would give us away. I don’t have a lot of practice at lying and I assumed I’d struggle when it came to deceiving my family. But it’s really fucking easy to pretend to like Ruth.
I don’t have to worry about her getting the wrong idea or thinking there’s more to this than there is, so I canjust be myself. I don’t have to hold back to ensure distance remains between us or watch for any sign she’s catching feelings.
Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to be having the same experience, and that will be a problem.
“I know you don’t want to get physical with me, but you’ve got to pretend like you do.” I give her my most charming smile. “And I’ll throw in an extra five grand if you also pretend like I’m good at it.”
This time there’s no eye rolling. Ruth starts laughing immediately, her head tipping back to rest against my arm. It’s a genuine reaction. One that would absolutely convince my mother there’s something real between us.
“That was perfect.” I stretch my legs out, relaxing a little more myself. “You should probably laugh at all my jokes like that.”
“Make sure all of your jokes are funny, and I will.” Ruth gives me a little sass, and I swear she leans closer. “I’m not going to hold my breath though.”
I sigh dramatically. “I didn’t know having a girlfriend would be so detrimental to my ego.”
“I’m sure there are plenty of women who would be happy to stroke your ego.” Ruth’s eyes drop for a split second before snapping back to my face. “Along with other parts of you.”
“Probably, but that would defeat the whole purpose of what we’re doing.” I check on Birdie, making sure she’s okay and having fun with her toys before refocusing on Ruth. “A woman like that would think this was an opportunity to show me how great having a relationship with her would be.”
She might even be right. It’s not that I don’t think any of the women in my past would be perfectly great girlfriends. I just don’t want one.
Ever.
“Well, you definitely don’t have to worry about thatwith me.” Ruth wrinkles her nose. “I think I’m about as interested in having a relationship as you are.”
“See?” I cross my legs at the ankles, feeling better and better about this with each passing second. “We’re the perfect pair.”
“I guess we’ll find out how perfect we really are when I meet your mother.” Ruth nibbles on her lower lip, a little of her unease creeping back in. “When do you expect that will happen?”
She’s not gonna like my answer. But in the spirit of bringing as much truth to this as possible, I lay out the most likely scenario. “I would love to tell you you’re in the clear until the next family dinner night, but there is a very high likelihood my mother will notice your car parked in my driveway and show up on my doorstep.”
Ruth’s eyes widen and her skin pales, gaze snapping toward the front of the house like she expects my mother to pop out at any second.
“She won’t show up today, don’t worry. My parents are out of town until Wednesday.” It’s why I took today and tomorrow off. So Ruth can acclimate to being around me in my house without worrying about Deidre Bradshaw making an impromptu visit. “But once she’s back, it could happen at any moment.”
