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I breathed in, proof that I was actually alive and wasn’t dreaming this whole thing up. “I’m sure.” I snuck a glance back inside, to where there was more than one curious set of eyes on us. “When do we start?”

“I think we paint tonight as the beginning,” Adrian said. It was clear he’d put thought into this. Not that I was surprised, everyone knew how exacting Adrian was.

It was just still crazy to think that Adrian had devised this plan. A little trickle ofsomethingran down my spine at the image of Adrian leaning back in a rich leather chair, swirling a glass of whiskey in one of his strong hands, and thinking about dating me.

I shook out the thought, focusing in on him again. That little trickle went nowhere.

“It would make sense,” Adrian said. “That we met at the wedding and started to see each other. I think we make our first public appearance in a week.”

“That soon? We’d have to be pretty confident in this relationship to go public that early on.”

“Honey,” Adrian drawled, leaning down to brush a strand of hair out of my face and tuck it behind my ear. My heart took off like a racehorse. “It’s best you realize now how incredibly serious I am about you.”

“Well,” I said, having to forcefully swallow away the gravel in my throat. “At least we know you’re convincing.”

Adrian grinned. “I have full faith in you.”

I lifted my chin in defense. “You knew I wasn’t an actress when you asked me to do this.”

“Like I said, full faith.” Adrian’s confidence was rock solid. Damn him, he knew he’d get me to agree.

“What would you normally do?” I asked, needing to get something personal out of him. If I knew how he functioned, his stoicism wouldn’t scare me as much. Being able to read people was the one skill I knew for certain that I had in my arsenal. I just needed to understand him, then this whole arrangement would go off without a hitch. “If you were actually flirting with me. If you were actually trying to take me home or whatever, what would you do?”

Adrian’s gaze snapped to me. And for fuck’s sake, it looked like there were thunderclouds building in his storm-gray eyes. His expression went hard as he leaned impossibly closer. I could feel the heat of his skin pressing into the front of my dress.

Adrian’s voice dropped into a low, rumbling tone as he said, “If I was trying to take you home with me, we would have been on our way twenty minutes ago.”

Then, as if to put the cherry on top of his charm, he slowly slipped his jacket off my shoulders, the silk-smooth fabric scraping my sensitive skin.

“Quite cocky, Adrian.” Pride and a refusal to admit that statement had affected me in any way were the only things keeping my voice level.

Adrian’s head tilted to the side, his eyes sweeping over me as if he was looking for something. “It’s not cocky if it’s the truth. That’s confidence.”

While he said it, he offered me his arm. I took it and let him lead me back to the large glass doors to the ballroom.

“That wouldn’t work on me,” I said, even as I flexed my hand over his rock hard bicep. For the love of Jupiter,whatwas that suit hiding?

“We’ll see,” Adrian said as he maneuvered us around the crowd and over to a quiet corner. “I’ll see you, Friday, honey.”

Before I could push back, to question his sudden decision to leave, he crowded me against the column we were standing next to.

Then he moved his mouth down to my cheek, pressing a light kiss on the top of my cheekbone. His lips were warm, soft, as they pressed into my skin.

My hands fell to the cold stone behind me, grippingtight so that I wouldn’t shiver from the touch.

Those little sparks were back, this time as a prickling sensation that started on my cheek and spread to cover every inch of my body.

He slipped his jacket back over my shoulders, the soft fabric feeling like sandpaper on my sensitive skin.

And when Adrian pulled back and hit me with another one of those grins, I knew that this entire arrangement would be a practice in self control. He knew how attractive he was—that was clear.

I’d just have to restrain the urge to melt under his touch and prove him right.

Especially when not one ounce of it was real.

“Wait,” I said, speaking entirely to myself, because Adrian had simply stepped back through a portal and left me gaping like a fish. “What’s happening on Friday?”

Chapter 3