“Hey there,” I said.
“Hi,” she said at the same time.
Then I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek. She stiffened under me, but for only a second.
“For show, remember,” I said next to her ear.
“Of course, right.” Her tone was stilted, but I didn’t read too much into it.
“Should I kiss you on the lips?” I asked, my head still near her ear. I swore she trembled a bit, and it took everything in me not to lean in and nibble that perfect earlobe. Would she push me away or give into it?
Her hand brushed against my stomach and I sucked in a breath.
“Umm, maybe.” Then she sighed. “I don’t know. I guess?”
I chuckled and lifted my head to meet her gaze. “Wow, way to make a guy feel good about himself.”
She rolled her eyes. “This is weird.”
“Not if you do it right,” I teased.
She laughed softly and relaxed, which was exactly what I wanted.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Probably, but if we want this to look real, you have to laugh at me and look happy, so teasing is a must. Fortunately, I’m very funny.”
She chuckled. “I know.”
I held my hand out to her. “Come meet my friends. Kissing can wait.”
I grinned when she shook her head at me like she didn’t know what to make of me when I put on the brakes at kissing her in front of everyone. We’d agreed to kissing, but I wanted it to feel natural—and maybe I stupidly wanted her to want to kiss me. Which wasn’t really fair of me, since we had a deal.
Yeah, I was really nailing this whole fake dating thing. Maybe I should get one of those romance books Micah kept talking about for some guidance.
“Hold on, let me grab my drink. I’m probably going to need it.” She slipped off her barstool and reached back to get her beer.
“I promise they aren’t that bad.” I turned, only to spot Micah, Josie, Dom, and Harper already walking toward us. Harper was never far away from Josie and those two were always up for chaos. If they’d been NHL players, they would’ve been top pranksters, for sure. Ally tended to balance them out, but she had probably headed home after the game to put Livi to bed.
Josie was the first to stick out her hand. “Hi. Dani, right? I’m Josie. It’s so great to meet you.”
“Yes. Whatever you need from us, you let us know. Oh, and I’m Harper, Connor’s, aka Timmy’s, girlfriend,” Harper said, a bright smile on her face.
“Ah, hi. It’s good to meet you both,” Dani said. The smile on her face was a bit tight, which was understandable. It was our first true test. Not that we had to fool these guys. I’d already told Dani who knew our ruse on the team.
Dom, Micah, and Timmy, who had just arrived with a round of drinks, all greeted Dani as well.
I kept my hand hovering near the small of her back. We’d forgotten to work out acceptable levels of PDA, and I wasn’t about to give my cock any wrong ideas accidentally whenever touching did occur. Fuck, I wanted her. Her cheeks were tinged slightly pink and her smile loosened up as Josie teased Micah about something. I’d missed what they were talking about, too busy staring at Dani.
“So, what did you think about the game?” Josie asked. “Always great to have a win, even if the points don’t count.”
“Hey, a win is a win,” Micah muttered. “Preseason counts for morale.”
“I know, Micahtron. Just teasing you.”
“Micahtron?” The side of Dani’s mouth quirked up in her most natural smile so far this evening.
Micah groaned. “Can we not announce that name the first time you meet someone?”
