Page 17 of Fake it With Me

I almost laughed. “I can’t help you if I don’t look.”

“Just be a gentleman about it.”

“I’ll do my best.” I stepped closer. “You might need to bend forward a bit.”

She did, and suddenly I could see way more skin than was appropriate. The curve of her spine, the expanse of her back, smooth and pale and absolutely not something I should be noticing about an employee. Because that was what she was, technically. An employee. This was a business arrangement.

I grabbed the zipper and started pulling it up. It caught on the fabric, and I had to tug. She made a small noise, something between a gasp and a laugh.

“Sorry,” I muttered. “It’s stuck.”

“Just get it up there. I tried this on two days ago. It fit. I didn’t eat that much.”

I placed my other hand on her back to pull the fabric together. The instant my hand touched her skin, we both jumped. It was like getting hit by an electric shock. I tugged again, and this time it gave, sliding up and sealing away all that skin I had the urge to lick.

I didn’t step back immediately. My hands were at her waist. I found myself running them up her sides and felt the way she shivered slightly under my touch.

She was clearly into it. I could see it in the way her breathing changed, the way she leaned back slightly toward me.

It would be easier to sell the fiction if we had kissed before. If there was actual chemistry between us that we could draw on at the party. That was what I told myself, anyway. We needed to know each other’s lips. Who went left and who went right? Where did we put our hands? The basic logistics of a casual kiss.

Our eyes met in the mirror. Then she turned fully, and we were inches apart. I could smell her perfume, something light and clean, like citrus and ocean air.

I leaned in. She leaned in.

“Why are you hugging weird?”

We sprang apart like we’d been electrocuted.

Daisie stood in the doorway of the closet, looking at us with innocent curiosity.

“We’re not hugging,” I said. I felt like she had just busted us buck naked and going at it like rabbits. “I was just helping Liza with her zipper.”

“Oh.” Daisie looked at me and then apparently decided I was telling the truth. “Melody’s here. She brought cookies.”

“Great. That’s great.” I cleared my throat and stepped away from Liza, who looked flushed and flustered. “We’ll be down in a minute.”

Daisie skipped away, and I stood there with Liza in the silence that followed.

And now it was awkward.

“You look beautiful,” I said, breaking the silence. “Good choice on the dress.”

She blinked. “Oh. Thank you.”

I was an idiot. No wonder I was single.

“We should go,” I said.

“Of course.”

I forced myself to step out of the closet where the air felt less charged and I could maybe remember how to think clearly.

It was going to be a long month.

7

LIZA