“She’s one ofthoseHarte’s?”
Josh raised his eyebrows. “I thought you knew?”
“I don’t come up here too often anymore and when my grandparents bought this place, I had left for college. I’d heard of them, though, because their name is on most of the construction sites.”
“Anyways, she invited us over for a quick lunch before we head back into the city. How do you feel about it?”
I chewed my lip. That was a great question. How did I feel about it? Shocked, first and foremost. And two, curious as to what exactly he had said about why he was here and with me. “I dunno.”
He hesitated as we came to a stop sign at a fork in the road. “I might have already said yeah.”
I whipped around on my seat with my mouth open. “Josh!”
He shrugged. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. Besides, it might help seal the deal. You know, the appearance of ‘couple friends’.” He air quoted.
“And exactly what did you tell them about why we were here, together?”
“I told them the truth. I was here with a friend.”
“Friends? That’s what we are?” It slipped out faster than I could stop. But now that it was out, I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer. Especially after this morning.
He glanced at me sideways. “I certainly don’t do what we did with a friend.”
I wasn’t sure where that answer left us. “Friends with benefits?”
He pursed his lips into a fine line. “If that’s what you want to label it as, but I thought we settled it before we came up here.”
We did. Myfake boyfriendwas the official title. But that was before we fucked. Now what? Maybe friends with benefits was an idea.
“We did,” I ushered quietly, not sure where to go now. “But we’re done with my family now, so…”
“Our ruse isn’t over.” He pursed his lips. “It’s time for my side of things and the guys will be watching us like hawks.”
“I know,” I added.
“Then this meetup would be beneficial.”
Yeah. It would. Damn it. I didn’t know why the thought of hanging out with Jake and Millie sent knots in my stomach, almost worse than taking him to my parents.
“You’re right.” I smiled. “Round two, here we come.”
“We did round two at three a.m.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and swatted at him. “Not what I meant.”
He laughed. The good kind that came from deep within. “Speaking of, should we discuss?”
“Discuss?” I swallowed hard.
“Fake dating doesn’t usually involve real fucking,” he paused.
“Too late for that.” I scoffed.
He chuckled. “But now that we crossed that line, you wanna know where we stand?” He sighed and paused for a minute. “If you tell me it was a one-and-done, it’ll kill me, but I’ll respect it.”
“Kill you?”
“Yeah, April.” He gripped my hand in his. “Now that I have you.” He paused and there was a hint of vulnerability. “You are addictive.”
