AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lying in the dark, my entire body aware of Rowan being just inches from me, I found myself hopeless as I thought about his stupid proposition. The sweetest day contest was a love song, and those were too catchy, too happy. The team and their pretty wives or girlfriends competed to be perfect, and whoever the city loved more won a boatload of money to donate.
Money. I hated how ideal this could be. We wouldn’t ask for a loan, beg for donations. We’d just have to be the best actors we could be, and I’d have the money I needed to save my job. But it’s Rowan… And his stupid, almost scandalously perfect idea.
Crawling up to him in the bed, I took the pillow from his face and smacked it across his stomach. Rowan grunted awake, peering through his messy hair at me with one eye closed.
“What the hell, Meredith?”
“Tell me why I should do it,” I breathed, hating how nervous I felt.
He slowly sat up to be next to me, his mouth falling into a pout. “Aubrey told me about your work. You love what you do.”
“How do you know?” I squinted at him, watching him cautiously.
“I listen.” He winked, tugging on my hair before falling back onto the mattress. “So, you’re interested?” I felt his hand on my thigh while I waited to reply. “It’s just pretend. You can still think I’m a troll when we’re alone.”
“You’re not a troll,” I chuckled, “but… Fine.”
Rowan shot up, his grin practically sparkling across from me. “You will?”
Before I could answer him, Rowan’s arms tangled around me, pulling my face against his warm, hard chest. Listening to his heart pound, I melted a little.
He smelled incredible, like the candy that melts in your mouth before you realize you’ve eaten it. It’s pretend. He’s still a troll. Until his fingers were knotting in my hair and his fist lifted my chin so I couldn’t break away from his darkening stare.
“This doesn’t mean we’re friends,” I uttered, staring at his mouth.
“Of course not,” he softly replied, his grin widening. “But we should,” his thumb tugged on my bottom lip and I swear my heart stopped, “probably practice,” he took in a shaky breath, “kissing.”
“Kissing.”
The noise of everyone left downstairs muffled as our room fell silent. I could pretend to like him if it saved my job, right? I mean… He wasn’t a horrible human, and he loved his friends… He also respected me. It was Rowan, though. Rowan Ellis, the guy who forgot he kissed me once upon a drunken Halloween years ago, whose ego was the size of the sun, and who I was starting to sort of like. As a friend.
“Yeah.” His eyes smiled into mine, sparkling blue and so very confusing. “If we’re going to be doing it a lot for pretend.”
“I can’t kiss you,” I objected, shaking my head. “It’s you and me, and we don’t…”
His lips twitched, fighting a smile as his gaze traveled my face. Goosebumps spread across my skin as Rowan lifted his right hand to hold my cheek as he nodded.
“I know,” he agreed. “It’s weird as hell to touch you, but I don’t hate it,” he snickered, grinning. Rowan’s touch was lethal. The softest caress left my folded knees wobbling. It had to have been the moment and my nerves. I couldn’t enjoy how warm his hands were as his fingertips grazed my throat before his palms spread over my shoulders.
“Can I kiss you, Meredith?”
“I guess.” I smiled, shrugging as I looked elsewhere. Rowan took my chin and lifted my gaze to his, his brows furrowed over worried blue eyes.
“That’s not a yes. You can say no and it’ll be fine. We can be a fake perfect couple without kissing,” he tried to assure me. “I already respect you. Maybe that’s why I never thought about how it might feel to hold you or kiss you.”
Staring at his mouth, I licked my lips. “We have two months to make Portland believe we’re in love and the sweetest couple,” I murmured. “We should practice our chemistry,” I nodded, smiling at him, “so you should probably just kiss me now so I can see what all the fuss is about.”
“The fuss?” Rowan was laughing as he lowered his mouth to mine, gently kissing my bottom lip. His lips were soft, the pressure of his kiss enough to make me forget it was fake for just a second.
“You could use some more practice,” I teased when he pulled away.
Rowan fell back onto the pillow, his laughter humming around us as he lifted his arms behind his head and smiled at me. “You always were my favorite of Aubrey’s friends.”
“I guess now,” I touched my lips, still feeling the spreading tickle from his mouth, “we have to be friends.”
“And now,” Rowan added, patting the pillow next to him, “we need to sleep.” Sleeping next to him? I could do that. It was one scripted kiss, a chemistry test, and nothing more. If we slept back to back, it’d be even easier. But that didn’t happen. I woke in the middle of the night sweating. When I opened my eyes, the sheets had gone from pastel yellow to warm muscle. Warm, tanned, hard muscle that rose and fell with every breath of his deep sleep.
Rowan’s left arm snaked around me, holding me against him as he slept. I whispered his name, slowly moving away when he didn’t answer me, but his hold tightened. Rowan was gone when I woke again and the morning sun poured into the room. Maybe it was a dream. A really weird, messed up dream.
