Sounded like she and my father would get on well. He didn’t believe in love either. “Except I don’t do relationships and I definitely don’t meet the parents.” I inwardly shuddered at thethought.
“Which is why you’re perfect for this, Josh. And it’s not like we’ll have to hang out with my parents. I can show you around Sydney. That will give me an excuse for escaping. Plus, then I can introduce you to the nightlife there. Which will be another excuse for me to not be around so much. And…and I’ll pay for your plane ticket, so really you have nothing to lose.” She tilted her head to the side, the way girls did when they flirted—a look I wasn’t familiar with on Holly when it came to her and me. “Other than the funeral and meeting my mum for the first time, I promise you’ll havefun.”
I’d be lying if I said I never wanted to go to Australia. If a regular one-night stand asked me to be her fake fiancé, would I do it? Hell, no. But Holly wasn’t a regular one-night stand. We had no expectations between us—other than to continue being the friends we were before lastnight.
“Okay, I’ll do it, but with one additionalcondition.”
Holly blinked, clearly unable to believe I had agreed to help her. “What’sthat?”
“The next time I need a fake girlfriend, you’ll doit.”
The smile that appeared on her face was enough to steal my breath. “Okay. Soundsfair.”
“Even if it’s five years down the road and you’re married.” You never knew when a fake girlfriend could come in handy. Not that I had needed oneyet.
She held out her hand. “Deal.”
A devious smirk curled onto my lips. “You don’t need to give me a hand job. But if you wantto…”
Her hand returned to her coffee mug. “We’ve already established last night was a mistake. So, there’ll be no more sex or kissing. Or anything else along thoselines.”
My smirk hadn’t gone anywhere yet. It just widened at the way she sounded flustered once again. “So you’re telling me we won’t be fuck buddies?” Yeah, not sure why I said that given it was the last thing I wished to do—but it also sounded like she wasn’t interested in that either.Perfect.
“Exactly. We’ll go back to being just friends—with no benefits. And fortunately, my mother is anti-PDA, so we won’t have to worry about faking that. And since their house is almost a mansion, you’ll have your ownbedroom.”
Rule #1 about one-night stands…they are exactly that. One. Night. Break that rule and you’re asking for trouble of epic proportions. Most girls thought that if a guy wanted to have sex with them again, it meant they were now in a relationship. And that was never a goodthing.
But while that might’ve been the rule, my cock was thinking, “Fuckthat!”
I let out a mental sigh. This was going to be one very longtrip.
7
Holly
Flyingfirst class to Australia was expensive—as in, sell-your-kidneys-on-the-black-market freaking expensive. The bereavement fare? Sorry, that didn’t apply to firstclass.
Which was why Josh and I had been crammed in coach for the past fifteen delightful hours. On the bright side…yes, I was still looking forthat.
Josh shifted in his seat for the millionth time, his leg brushing mine. Again. And like every other time before it, the ache between my legs grew in intensity—to the point where I was ready to jump Josh if his leg or arm touched me oncemore.
It had been that way from the moment he had gotten into my car back in San Francisco when I’d picked him up on the way to the airport. My body got overly excited, remembering how it felt when his hands caressed my skin the othernight.
I couldn’t blame him though, when it came to his incessant squirming. The seats weren’t designed for a six-foot-plus hockeyplayer.
An hour later as I scanned the area in the airport where we were meeting my brother, my body was still fully aroused. And thanks to my no-sex rule, there was no relief in sight. At least not unless I planned to get intimate in the shower with myhand.
Why had I decided to torture myself with the no-sex rule? Because I had already done the friends-with-benefitsthing.
Didn’t know aboutthat?
Long story super-short—it happened while I was working on my MBA. With a fellow classmate. I developed feelings for him after five months. Silly me. I moved on and focused on myschoolwork.
He moved on—with anotherclassmate.
“Over there,” I said, spotting my brothers strolling towardus.
Instead of my auburn hair and green eyes, they both had light brown hair and blue eyes. But that was where the similarities between them ended. Simon’s hair was cut short. Chris’s hair was wavy and hung an inch above his shoulders—a look Mum disliked on a man. Whereas Chris was long, lean, and muscular like a soccer player, bodybuilding was Simon’s sport ofchoice.
