“Ignore him.” He swung into a spot in front of their building. “If you stare at him while you’re with me, he’ll think he still has a chance.”
“What should we do?”
“The same things we’ve been doing all night.” Joe cut the engine and reached for his seat belt. “We play our parts and make him believe we’re so into each other that we don’t even notice he’s there. Are you with me?”
His confidence boosted hers and settled the butterflies in her belly. “Yeah.”
“Good.” He winked. “Now wait for me to open your door.”
Though it went against her natural instinct, she stayed in her seat and watched him round the front of the Mustang. He opened the door and extended his hand, and sparks of electricity zipped through her system as he helped her out of the car. Those sparks cranked up in intensity when his arm slid around her waist, his fingers resting on the flare of her hip in a move that could only be described as possessive.
“Relax, Fi. You need to stay in character if you want him to believe we’re a couple.” His breath was a warm whisper against her ear, and for a fleeting moment, sheforgot that Dennis was less than thirty feet away.
Fiona leaned into Joe, the heat of his body a delicious contrast to the cooler December night air. She caught a whiff of his masculine scent, a mixture of clean linen and the spicy remnants of his cologne. It was intoxicating. She angled her head a little closer to him and drew the scent deeper into her lungs.
He stopped when they reached the door to her apartment, and she felt a sense of loss when his arm slipped away from her waist.
“He’s still down there,” Joe murmured. He shifted his body a few inches to the left so she could catch a glimpse of Dennis’s car in the lot. “Are you up for giving him a reason to leave?”
The glint of mischief in his eyes sent a rush of warmth straight through her. Their relationship might not be real, but the chemistry between them was too strong for her to deny. “I’m up for it if you are.”
His smile went from amused to sexual as he closed the remaining distance between them. This close, she could see the flecks of gold in the depths of his chocolate-brown eyes, and the tiny hairline scar just above his right eyebrow.
His fingers delved into her hair, not hard or possessive, but achingly gentle, and she melted into his touch. Their eyes met, and he paused a moment, as if giving her a chance to tell him no.
Like that was going to happen.
Fiona felt a flutter in her chest, not from nerves but from anticipation. Throwing caution to the wind, she reached up, curled her fingers around the nape of his neck, brought his mouth down to hers, and—oh, yes. This definitely made up for having to spend the evening with his mother.
A low, primal sound rose from deep in Joe’s chest. In the flash of a moment, he took over the kiss, his tongue slipping past her lips and tangling with hers. His fingers tightened in her hair, while his other hand slid around her back and molded her against the hard lines of his body.
He tasted incredible, spicy and rich, and the more she tasted, the more she wanted, until it felt as though the hunger might consume her.
The hand on her back trailed down to the curve of her ass, tucking her even tighter against him and making it increasingly obvious that he was into this just as much as she was. She needed more, craved more, her body buzzing with the need to feel his hands all over her. She was about to suggest they go inside when he broke away and peered down at her, his eyes darkened with desire and his lips swollen from kissing her.
“This is the part where you invite me in,” his deep voice rumbled.
It was hard to process his words when her head was still spinning from the intensity of the kiss. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the fog in her brain cleared away. “Oh. Yeah. In.”
Flustered by emotions she had no intention of acknowledging, it took her a few tries to get the door open. Joe followed her into the apartment and locked the door behind him.
No sign of Wanda, which wasn’t a surprise. The cat had a tendency to get spooked whenever men came into her domain, a behavior she’d picked up during her time with Dennis. More likely than not, she was hiding behind the couch or somewhere in her bedroom.
Tires screeched in the parking lot as Joe crossed to the window and peered through a space in the blinds.
“Your ex is gone. I’m pretty sure that was him peeling out of the lot.”
The news gave her a sense of relief, though it also brought her crashing back to reality. This was all a ruse, a means to an end, and she needed to keep that simple fact front and center in her mind. It didn’t matter how great the kiss had felt, or that it had inspired a barrage of thoughts so filthy they would have made Liz blush. Neither of them was in the right place for that to ever happen.
“Does that mean it worked?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think so.” Joe straightened. “If he hadn’t believed it, he probably would have waited for me to leave and then knocked on your door.”
The tension in her shoulders relaxed. After all the crap she’d slogged through tonight, the last thing she wanted was to deal with her belligerent ex. Actually, what she really wanted was a glass of wine, a comfortable change of clothes, and Wanda snuggled on her lap while she read a few chapters of her book.
Okay, maybe she also wanted another kiss like the one in the hall. Just thinking about it made her whole body buzz. But that could lead to a world of trouble, so it was probably best for her to keep her hands—and lips—to herself.
“Can I get you a drink? I don’t know about you, but I could sure use something to take the edge off this evening.”
