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“I can call Lyft from here,” she assured him. “I told my parents my flight was delayed, so they have no idea I’ve already arrived, and I’ve taken up enough of your time this evening.”
“Pixie, I’m not handing you off to some random stranger,” he said, not liking the idea of her getting into a car with a guy she didn’t know when he was perfectly capable of making sure she got home safely, especially when she didn’t have the extra money to spend right now. “I’ll drop you off. The windows in the Escalade are tinted enough that if your parents come to the door to greet you, they won’t be able to really see what I look like behind the wheel, so I can easily be your Lyft driver without giving anything away.”
She hesitated for a moment, then agreed. “Okay. I appreciate it.”
Their waitress came by with the check, setting it at the edge of the table, and just as Peyton reached for the bill, Leo grabbed it first. There was no way he’d ever let a woman pay for dinner.
Her brows furrowed with a cute frown. “Hey, I said I’d get this.”
After pulling his wallet from his back pocket, he withdrew the company credit card and grinned at her. “If I’m a boyfriend, then this would be a date, right?” he reasoned.
She rolled her eyes. “You and I both know this isn’t a date.”
“But I am your boyfriend,” he teased.
The corner of her mouth twitched with a smile. “You’re my pretend boyfriend.”
He shrugged. “Semantics,” he said, handing the waitress the check with his credit card as she came by again. “Besides, it?
??s a business expense for me.”
Her expression softened with gratitude. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He leaned back in the seat, wanting to know one more thing before they parted ways tonight. “Why me, Peyton?” he asked, steadily holding her gaze.
Her eyes widened a fraction, like a deer caught in headlights. “What do you mean?”
Oh, she knew exactly what he was asking but was clearly stalling with her reply. “Out of any random guy on Facebook you could have picked to be your pretend boyfriend, why did you choose me?” There. That was direct enough.
She ran her tongue along her bottom lip and fidgeted in her seat. “I blame it on the margaritas that night.”
He slowly shook his head at the fib. “The truth, Pixie, because it seems more of a conscious decision to me.”
She swallowed hard, and for a moment, he thought she was going to make up another convenient excuse, until her shoulders straightened with fortitude and bold courage lit her eyes as she confirmed what he’d always suspected back in college.
“Because . . . I’ve always had a little bit of a crush on you.”
Chapter Three
Oh my God, the irresistible smile that graced Leo’s lips sent Peyton’s heart racing and set free a dozen butterflies in her stomach. What was she thinking, just blurting out her secret infatuation for him? Then again, she’d already confessed her guiltiest offense tonight, so she might as well cop to her crush on him, too. Even if she did have to resist the urge to squirm under that intensely sexy and satisfied stare of his.
“Just for the record, the feeling was mutual, even if I never acted on it,” he admitted, his low, husky voice doing sinful things to her body, and he wasn’t even touching her. “I would never cheat on Amanda, or any woman for that matter, but chemistry was undoubtedly my favorite class because of you.”
She blinked at him in shock, not sure what to say to that revelation, and was thankfully saved from having to reply as their server came back after running his credit card. Leo signed the receipt, put his American Express back into his wallet, then glanced back up at her.
“Ready to go?” he asked nonchalantly, as if he hadn’t just blown her mind with his candid remark.
She nodded, sliding out of the booth while he did the same. As he walked beside her toward the lobby of the restaurant, she felt the subtle press of his hand against the small of her back and she tried not to overanalyze the intimate touch . . . but that didn’t stop her hyperaware body from cataloguing the warmth of his palm and the graze of his fingers as he guided her out the entrance and through the parking lot in the now cool, dusky evening air, or imagining how those warm hands would feel caressing her bare skin instead. Her nipples tightened shamelessly at the thought.
They reached Leo’s vehicle, and the doors unlocked with a chirp as he pressed the key fob in his free hand. But instead of opening the passenger side for her, he instead turned her around to face him . . . trapping her between the unyielding metal surface of the car behind her and the tall, muscular man standing less than two feet away.
He casually placed a hand on the door beside her and leaned a few inches closer. “Before we go, I have one more question for you,” he said, his tone serious.
She inhaled the warm, masculine scent of his cologne mingling with leather from his jacket and tried not to let that intoxicating fragrance distract her. “Okay.” She figured it couldn’t get any worse than everything she’d already admitted.
“So, usually, when a person gets propositioned, they get something out of the deal,” he said, his heavy-lidded gaze dropping to her mouth. “You’d be getting a devoted boyfriend out of the arrangement. What would I get?”
She didn’t miss the suggestion in his eyes or the playful curve of his smile. “What do you want?” she asked, unable to hide the breathless quality of her voice.
