My hands instinctively come up to rest on her waist and her thigh. I’m stunned by her boldness. My brain goes blank.
When she starts massaging the hair at the nape of my neck with her fingers, I have to stop myself from moaning. It feels so nice. I force myself not to close my eyes and enjoy every single sensation flooding my system and, instead, glance up at Noli. She’s staring back at me with an unwavering look. It’s not so much one of pleasure as it is one of a challenge.
I default to winking at her, because I’m not sure what else to do.
I look across the table at Katherine, whose jaw is currently on the floor.
“Uh, hi, Noli. I didn’t know you were here,” she says.
“Collin and I were grabbing a quick bite before we’re off to run some errands.” Noli says it with an innocent shrug. Like the two of us together is no big deal. Commonplace. An everyday occurrence.
Katherine darts a glance at me and back at Noli. “I didn’t realize you two were a thing.”
“It’s recent,” Noli says easily. She lets the hand that’s been stroking my neck drop to my shoulder and squeezes. It’s a territorial move, and I’m honestly here for it.
I find my own voice then, giving her hip a squeeze of my own. “But we’re very happy together.”
“The happiest.” The words sound gritty to my ear as Noli says them, but she’s got a smile pasted on her face.
“Wow.” Katherine lets loose a high-pitched giggle that’s the definition of forced. “I sort of got the vibe you two hated each other—at the office, I mean.”
I tickle Noli’s side. “Way to oversell it, babe.”
She gasps in response and swats at me, wiggling out of my grasp. I want to spend a solid hour cataloging every place Noli is ticklish if messing with her like this will keep her blue eyes flashing at me like this. She arches an eyebrow as if to say,You’re calling me babe right now? Really?
I shrug at her, silently saying back,Just trying it out.
I briefly wonder what it says about us that we’ve been fake dating for less than a day and can already understand each other without words.
I focus on Noli, who shrugs at Katherine.
“I did hate him,” she says with a smirk. “At first. But we’ve gotten to know each other and…yeah.”
And…yeah.
That about sums it up for me becausewhatis going on with my nervous system right now? It’s like I’m in sensory overload, and all I can focus on is the feel of Noli’s soft body in my lap. The grip of her fingers—the ones I’ve seen fly across a keyboard in complete control as she sends first responders into emergencies—is tight on my shoulder. The pads of her fingers are pressing ever so slightly into my shirt like she’s going to play me like a violin.
Maybe she will.
Maybe I’ll let her.
Because she’s warm, and her hair smells like my favorite breakfast food, and I kind of like her right here.
I’m momentarily stunned by that thought. I don’t let women get to me like this. I enjoy their company, but I never let them get under my skin. It’s too close to my heart.
Katherine stands abruptly. “I’ll leave you two to it, then. See you at work, Noli. Officer Rattler.” She nods at me, the look in her eyes a mixture of sultry and skeptical. It’s not at all as mesmerizing as the pools of blue I swim in every time Noli pierces me with her gaze.
But I don’t dwell on Katherine, because the second she’s out of my line of sight, Noli makes a move to stand up.
I grip her tighter, tickling her right above her hip again. “Not so fast.”
“Collin! Let me go.”
“You said you’d pretend to like my affection in public.”
“What do you think I was doing?” she hisses. “You’re the one who was letting another woman come on to you in the middle of the café. On our first day of this whole charade,” she adds with borderline disgust.
“Katherine sat down here. I did nothing.”
