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Girl, you really need to quit with the dark romance books.

Lifting his hands to my hips, he squeezed and slid one slowly down my leg and back up the inside until he was a hair’s breadth away from where I knew he could do some real damage. “Please, Aubrey. Let me give you what you need.”

Breath hitched in my throat at his double entendre. Oh, who was I kidding? I wanted this man. What was the point in denying it any longer? Maybe hecouldgive me what I needed. And even if he couldn’t, I’d get to keep my store.

But I kept coming back to my original question. Why me?

“Rye, I’m withered and scarred. Compared to you, I’m an old lady, for Christ’s sake. What could you possibly want with me?”

He growled, “You are fuckin’ beautiful. Don’t you ever let me hear you say different.”

Heat rushed through my body, from my toes to the ends of my hair. Another hot flash? Now? Or was it a reaction to the words coming out of his gorgeous mouth? The wetness growing between my legs, heating his hands waiting inches away, told me it was the latter.

Fuck it.

Taking the hat off his head, I fixed it on my own, cocked to the side to emphasize my new, bold mood, and arched an eyebrow.

“Deal.”

CHAPTER SIX

RYE

She said yes.

Holy shit. Didn’t see that one comin’.

What the fuck was I even doing? What now? I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Well, that was a lie. I’d dreamed up a whole life for Aubrey and me, but that was all it had ever been for me: a dream.

But who was doing the faking in this scenario? Not me. Nothing about the way I wanted her was fake, but it was all fake for Aubrey. So technically, I was fake fake-dating her… kind of?

Whatever. I saw the way she looked at my body longingly, and damn if I hadn’t felt her get a little wet through her jeans when I got down on my knees for her.

That alone was enough to make me forget about the whys and hows of the situation.

I transferred money to Aubrey’s bank account so she could pay her tax bill before I left the store, though she wouldn’t let me pay the whole thing. She kept telling me she’d pay me back, even though I’d insisted she didn’t have to, that her help with my parents was all the payback I wanted.

I’d known her pride would bite at her, and I was right about that, but she also proved me right that she was a determinedfighter. I had no doubt that as soon as she could afford it, the five grand would show back up in my account or a check would arrive in the mail. Not because of stubbornness, although she was definitely stubborn, but because Aubrey would always do what she thought was right, no matter the detriment to her reputationorher bank account.

But if she did back out on our deal, at least I’d helped her. Just having that knowledge filled me with a sense of gratification so intense, I felt almost euphoric. All those times I’d seen her looking defeated and frustrated with life, and I was the guy who helped take that away?

Damn. I hadn’t thought it would feel this good. She was right about one thing though. I did want to take care of her. Not because I thought she couldn’t take care of herself, but because taking care of her would mean I’d get to be near her. I’d get to soak up her determinedness, get to hear her laugh, not just watch it through a dusty store window, and I’d finally get toknowher.

I knew she wouldn’t back out though. She had always been someone who lived up to her word, was honest, maybe to a fault in some people’s view, and she had integrity.

She’d agreed to go to dinner with me so we could hash out the specifics of our little arrangement, but beyond that, I had no clue what to do.

I needed advice, so I called the only person I knew who’d understand, or at least wouldn’t think I’d gonecompletelymental.

“What’s up, dumbass?” Devo said when she answered my call. How I’d managed to become friends with a four-foot-eleven lesbian activist still baffled me, but she was the most honest person in my life.

“Not much. What’s new with you, carpet muncher?”

“I did munch some carpet this mornin’, and I licked it and sucked it, and it was delicious.”

“Oh God. Stop. Why do you do this to me? You know listenin’ to you talk about your sex life activates my childhood trauma, and it doesn’t help that the person you have sex with is my oldest friend’s little sister and the freakin’ town sheriff.”

“And I don’t feel bad about it,” Devo said, chuckling.