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“You are, well…you’re hot. I wasn’t expecting that.”

The flush in his face intensified, spreading down his neck and making the tips of his ears burn. She thought I was hot? From the very beginning? He remembered the day they met, his dorky alpaca sweater and even dorkier eagerness to please.

“I mean, sure, I had seen a photo of you on Dr. Silva’s faculty website, but it certainly didn’t do you justice. And it’s not like you have any social media presence to speak of, so that was all I had to go on.”

The ridiculous warmth inside Santiago chilled instantly, remembering that he had always been a mark to her. An assignment and nothing more.

“I expected a different sort of person, I guess. Pale from his time indoors. Hunched over a laptop. Probably crabby from sleep deprivation.”

Santiago tried to feel offended, but the truth was that her description matched several of his fellow PhD candidates. And himself, on a deadline.

“Instead, I found a tall, well-muscled young man with hair so decadent you could get lost sinking your fingers into it. Not to mention the longest lashes I’ve ever seen,” she added.

“What are you doing?” Santiago asked her. His voice came out strangled.

“You were still one of those awkward, academic types, of course. With absolutely no fashion sense. But, I have to admit, you weren’t hard to look at.”

“Stop,” he begged her. None of this helped his confusion. She didn’t listen.

“It was an interesting surprise, but obviously not an important one. I had a job to do, and I was there to do it. Besides, you may have been attractive, but you were also kinda weird. Not in a bad way exactly, just a bit…different.”

He wasn’t going to ask. He had deliberately not engaged her in any sort of conversation, and he was definitely not going to start now. He would not encourage this.

“Weird how?” he asked, mentally kicking himself.

“Well, for one, when I flirt with men, they’re usually pretty up-front in their attempts to impress me,” she answered. “You were more interested in the museum artifacts than in me. None of my usual tactics seemed to get your attention.”

Santiago didn’t bother to correct her there.

“Actually, my flirting was so over the top, I was afraid you’d see right through it. I figured that’s why you didn’t meet me in the bar that night, because you knew something was up.”

The anger came back, and Santiago greeted it like a friend.

“No need to worry.” He spat the words—like cold, pulpy coffee—from his mouth. “You played your role very well. I never doubted you for a second.”

“Nooo. What I’m saying is…” She chewed on her bottom lip, and Santiago tried not to remember exactly what that tasted like. “The acting didn’t work. The smiles and exaggerated laughs and lingering glances.” Ali turned to him now. “The person you actually responded to was someone I’d never had to be on a job before.”

Santiago narrowed his eyes, curious where this was going.

“You liked—” She stopped herself, looking as vulnerable as he’d ever seen her. “Or, you seemed to like the woman interested in history and mythology and the stars.”

Even now, her voice got a little breathy on that last word. He found it damned charming, even now.

“That terrified me, Santiago,” she went on, hopefully unaware of the effect his own name had on him. “Because I don’t know how to act like that woman. The version of me you responded to, she’s just…me. Or who I think I am, anyway. Maybe who I would have been if my parents hadn’t died.”

She’s still playing you, he thought. Though not with much conviction.

“The longer I was with you, the less I felt the need to act at all. And I don’t mean to get you to like me or trust me. I just didn’t feel like I had to be anyone but myself to get through the day,” she murmured.

Santiago didn’t say anything. What could he say?

“You never made me feel like I needed to prove myself. You never expected anything more than what I chose to give. With you, I could just be me.”

“But you weren’t you,” Santiago finally responded, reminding himself as much as her. “You were lying to me the entire time.”

“I know.” Her voice was very small. “I didn’t know how to tell you. And then, the more that time went on…the more I didn’t want to.”

“Because you needed me,” he snapped.