Page 26 of Just a Little Tempted

This was a terrible idea for so many reasons.

Then I felt it—a prickling awareness along the back of my neck. The unmistakable sensation of being watched. I turned and found Alexander’s eyes locked on us from across the room.

In that moment, I saw exactly what he was witnessing: my rigid shoulders, the frustrated frown I hadn’t managed to smooth away, Raina’s nervous body language as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

Not exactly the picture of a happy, stable couple.

Determination flooded through me, hot and sudden. If we were going to do this—if we were going to sell this lie—we had to commit. Half-measures would only make us look worse and I wasn’t about to lose Alexander’s approval and respect.

I turned back to Raina, my decision crystallizing in an instant.

“Simon?” Her voice was soft, uncertain, but she clearly saw the shift in me.

Her blue eyes went wide as I closed the distance between us in a single step. My hands came up to cup her face, my palms cradling the delicate line of her jaw while my thumbs brushed against the soft skin of her cheeks.

Her quick intake of breath went straight to my dick, quite possibly the least appropriate response I could have had to my assistant, but my body wasn’t interested in listening to reason. My pulse hammered against my ribs and a small, rational part ofmy brain screamed that this was a mistake—that I was about to cross a personal and ethical line I couldn’t uncross.

But the desperate need to make this look real for the sake of winning Alexander’s business overrode everything else. And if I was completely honest with myself, the thought of kissing Raina had crossed my mind more times than I cared to admit. I’d wondered what it would feel like to have her this close, to discover whether her lips were as soft as I’d imagined. I’d buried those thoughts beneath work and discipline, convincing myself they were nothing more than a distraction.

Now they were impossible to ignore.

Before I could second-guess my decision, I brought my mouth down on hers.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Raina

Igasped asSimon’s lips crashed into mine. The kiss was fierce and demanding, his mouth claiming mine with an intensity that sent shockwaves radiating through my entire body. But beneath the roughness, there was something unexpectedly tender in the way his thumbs traced the line of my jaw, and the sharp intake ofhisbreath when our lips first met.

He tasted like whiskey and want, and I melted into him as every ounce of attraction I’d been fighting since the day we met surged to the surface, a wave of desire so powerful it stole the air from my lungs.

When he caught my lower lip between his teeth and sucked gently, a soft moan escaped me, and liquid heat pooled low in my belly. The ache between my thighs was sudden and insistent, making me forget everything—where we were, who might be watching, all the complicated reasons why kissing my boss was a catastrophically bad idea.

All I wanted was to be closer to him. To feel his body pressed against mine.

But even as our mouths moved together, he maintained a careful distance between us. My hands came up to his chest, fingers splaying across the solid wall of muscle beneath his tuxedo jacket. I could feel his heart pounding, racing just as fast as mine, and some reckless part of me wanted to fist that expensive fabric and drag him closer to eliminate every inch of space between us.

Then, without warning, Simon pulled away.

I stared up at him, breathless, my lips still tingling from the pressure of his mouth on mine. Kissing him had been overwhelming and electric—the kind of kiss that rewired something fundamental inside you—and already I wanted to do it again. Wanted to thread my fingers through his hair and pull him back down to me.

But his attention had already shifted.

“Good,” he muttered, his voice rougher than usual as his gaze moved past me toward the auction tables. His jaw was tight, his expression carefully neutral, as if he hadn’t just turned my entire world upside down. “I think Alexander saw that.”

I blinked, the words taking a moment to penetrate the haze of desire still clouding my thoughts. “What?”

“He saw us arguing.” Simon’s green eyes finally met mine again, but there was something guarded in them now. Controlled. “That’s why I kissed you. We need to maintain the cover story.”

My heart plummeted.

Of course.I should have known. Ididknow, somewhere beneath the romantic notions that had taken over the moment his lips touched mine. This was a performance. A calculated move to convince Alexander we were a real couple.

I followed Simon’s gaze to where Alexander and Brenda stood examining the silent auction items. He wasn’t looking at us now, but it made perfect sense that Simon had kissed me after catching the man watching our tense conversation. What else was he supposed to do? Let Alexander think we were fighting?

I told myself it didn’t bother me. That it made sense. That I had no right to feel disappointed whenIwas the one who’d invented this fake relationship in the first place.

My lips still burned from the kiss. My heart felt like it was being slowly crushed in a fist.