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She dabbed her mouth with a napkin and sat back in her chair. “What’s there to figure out? I’m going to have to attend this blasted thing. Alone. I’m going to have to sit there and listen to them go on and on about how disappointing I am.”
Leo shrugged. “Take someone with you. It’s just a weekend, Amanda. It’s not like you have to make a big commitment to a guy just to spend the weekend with him.”
Amanda bit her bottom lip and stared at him, as if thinking over his words. “I had thought maybe T.J. would like to go with me,” she said, her voice low, a little unsure.
Leo stiffened. Was she dating someone and he didn’t know about it? “Who’s T.J.?”
“That customer I was talking to earlier. He comes in a lot. He’s asked me out a few times. Today was the first time he gave me his number.” She shook her head. “No, it’d be too bold to ask him to spend the weekend with me in Lake Tahoe. Much too bold.”
Mr. GQ with Amanda for the entire weekend. Now why did the thought
of that make him queasy? She took a sip of her cola, and an idea struck Leo. He smiled.
She cocked her head to the side. “Why are you grinning like that?”
“Like what?”
She narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger at him. “You have that look. The one that tells me I’m not going to like what you’re thinking.”
Leo leaned forward, grabbed her finger, and brought her hand to his lips. He placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles before releasing her. “What would you say if I told you I have a way for you to attend the reunion with a man and not have to worry about the guy expecting a single thing from you except a nice little vacation?”
“You do?”
He bobbed his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yep.”
Amanda leaned forward. “How? Who?”
“You’re going to take me, and I’m going to be your soon-to-be fiancé.”
Amanda rolled her eyes and stood. “Have you lost your mind?”
She started to clear away their food, but Leo wouldn’t be deterred. The more he thought of it, the more he liked the idea. “Think about it for a second. It’s the perfect plan. We’ll play it up. Do the whole we’re so in love thing and your parents will be so thrilled they’ll leave you alone for once.”
“Great idea. There’s just one little problem here. What happens when we get back and they realize there’s no wedding on the horizon?”
Leo stood and moved around the table, helping clean their mess. “So what? People break up all the time. You can tell them I turned out to be a loser.”
After tossing napkins and plastic forks in the trash Amanda stopped and turned toward him. “This could go terribly wrong, Leo.”
Leo closed the few feet separating them and took her by the shoulders. “A weekend in Lake Tahoe with your best friend,” he whispered. “How is that wrong?”
She placed her hand on his chest and looked away. “It’s a lie though. It feels wrong to pretend we’re in love when we aren’t. Besides, I don’t think we can pull it off. They’ll see right through us, then it’ll be even more of a mess. Not to mention embarrassing.”
“See through us, huh?” She nodded and looked up at him. Their gazes caught, held. Leo cupped her chin in his palm. “Let’s see if we can’t make this look like the real deal,” he growled, as he placed his lips on hers. He tasted the sweet sauce from their lunch and something else. Something warm and spicy. He tasted Amanda. Angling his head, Leo pressed a little harder. Her plump lower lip tempted him to lick and nibble. He held back, barely. She whimpered and swayed forward, pushing her ample breasts against his ribcage. Ah, hell, that felt good. Too damn good.
Slowly, Leo lifted his head and stared down at her. Her eyes were closed and her lips, those succulent pink lips, were open a few millimeters. Enough that he could slip his tongue between them and take another, deeper, taste of her. Bad idea, he told himself. Christ, this was Amanda. His best friend. The kiss was supposed to be a way of showing her they could make it look real. Under no circumstances was he supposed to get a hard-on. Unfortunately his cock had other plans.
He cleared his throat. “So, still think we can’t pull this off?”
Amanda’s eyes opened. Awareness settled over her delicate features. She blushed and pushed out of his arms. “Um, yeah, this might actually work.”
To give himself something to do, Leo went back to clearing away their lunch clutter. “Good. When is the reunion?”
“This weekend. It’s short notice, I know.”
“It’s not a problem. I just finished up that remodeling job downtown so it’s good timing actually.”
Amanda brushed at her skirt, and Leo saw it for the nervous gesture it was. The kiss had gotten to both of them. “Oh, okay then. I’ll book the flight.”
