Page 30 of Fake It For Him

Oops, we did it again.

Fuck.

I hadn’t intended for it to happen, but at least we’d slept in separate bedrooms this time. I’d refused to go to bed with him after what had happened in Edinburgh.

There was no way I was falling asleep in his arms again, fooling myself into believing that maybe there was more to this than there was.

I’d already repeated the second biggest mistake I’d ever made. The last thing I’d wanted was to wind up back in that same emotional ditch I’d crashed into when I woke up that morning and he’d been gone.

Although it hadn’t really been the sex that had been the mistake back then. It had been what I’d ended up thinking about during and after.

On the other hand, those thoughts wouldn’t have been there if it hadn’t been for sex, so I didn’t really know. The point was that at least last night, I’d gone to sleep by myself and I hadn’t been hugely disappointed when I’d woken up alone.

That felt like a win.

The silence stretched between us in his car as he drove us back to the city, neither of us even really looking at the other. I knew where my head was, but I wondered what he was thinking about. Was last night even a blip on his radar?

“Where am I taking you?” he asked as we sped along the freeway.

Well, I guess that answers that question. It’s not. I, Ella Carver, am not so much as a blip on his radar. All one hundred and eighty pounds of me didn’t even register. Great. That’s just great.

“The apartment where I’m staying,” I responded, feeling as subdued as the gray weather outside. “I’ll check the address now. Just give me a minute.”

I reached for my phone, doing a quick search to make sure I had the right street number. Then I gave it to him and slid my phone back into my purse. He nodded curtly, one hand on the steering wheel and the other resting lightly on the gear lever.

“You performed well this weekend, Ella,” he said before he glanced at me and winked. “Especially last night. I’ve got to say, your body is a nice perk to this arrangement of ours.”

Mortified, I flushed to the roots of my hair and shook my head firmly. “That was a one-time slip-up. Don’t get used to it, Calan. My body is no perk.”

A devilish smirk appeared on his lips as his brows rose slightly. “Who are you kidding? You’ll be back for more soon enough.”

“No, I won’t. Like I said, it was a one-time thing.”

He chuckled, the sound dark and low. “Yeah, I told myself that once upon a time too. You will be back, Ella. You’re not going to be able to resist for two months.”

“Yes, I am, but you could also just not make another move on me. How’s that sound?”

“Why would I agree to that? All that leg quaking and the sounds you made? That’s like a drug to me.”

I turned neon pink. “Shut up.”

“I’ll be back between your legs in no time, even if I do shut up.” He focused on the road again, speeding as fast as the traffic would allow until we reached the apartment.

Annoyed and insulted, I slammed the door behind me after grabbing my bag of clothes and marched into the building. I hadn’t even said goodbye, but that didn’t really matter. It seemed social convention and decency meant nothing to the man anyhow.

There were a few things to be grateful for, though. The biggest and most important of which was that we hadn’t seen his family again. There had been no awkward morning-after with them, and while I was sure no one was going to forget that strained dinner before the next time I had to see them, at least I had some time to come to terms with everything before I had to look them in the eyes again.

Even so, I was still furious—at him and myself—by the time I barged into the apartment. Kara was working at the coffee shop, but Mikey was home.

Studying at the desk in the living room, he looked up from his laptop when I stormed in. “What’s wrong? Did something happen? Where were you last night, anyway?”

He closed his computer as he asked the questions, then turned to face me and pushed his glasses up to his forehead to rub his eyes.

Regret crashed into me in waves. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve let you know that I wouldn’t be coming home. Please tell me you’re not tired because you waited up?”

“I’m not tired because I waited up,” he said agreeably. “I’m tired because I’ve been studying since the butt crack of dawn and I only stopped at two a.m.”

I winced. “Big exam or something coming up?”