Page 78 of Cinderella Is Faking It

“Yep,” she chirped, and I wished I’d had the time to go through some of the weirdest kinks out there, just to see which ones would make her blush and stumble over her words.

“I have to go,” I said instead.

“Ugh, okay, I should finish getting ready.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Don’t work too late.”

THIRTY-ONE

I satin the back of Beck’s limo and picked at the loose thread at the hem of my pink summer dress. Cordelia may have ordered my whole summer wardrobe online, but the designer label in the back made it pretty clear that this dress should not be coming apart at the seams. Beck’s hand closed over mine, stilling my fingers before I could rip the fabric.

“Sorry,” I whispered, slipping my hands out from under his and flattening them against my stomach instead, forcing my breathing to even out. I’d gotten better at the whole event scene, but this was different. This was family.

“Say the word and we turn around right now.”

“I’m good. I’m good. I’m a social fucking butterfly,” I muttered under my breath.

He chuckled and braced his hand on my knee, rubbing soothing circles into my skin. I glanced up from his hand on my naked leg, his profile outlined against the car window. The last time we’d been in this backseat, he had shattered my concept of human touch, and it was entirely unfair that he could look so absolutely at ease here. “Thoughts?” he prompted.

“Just remembering the last time we were in this car together.”

“Care for round two?”

“Nope.”

He raised his brows at me, hand lightly squeezing my knee, “Might help you relax.”

“Have you met me?”

“Fair enough.” He chuckled. “I just think it’s cruel that you waltz around in that pretty little sundress, and I don’t get to hike up that skirt and suck your clit until my name is the only thing left in that big brain of yours.”

“You’re being overly confident.” I shook my head, unable to stop the grin from forming on my lips. “Besides, on an analytical level, I don’t think stimulating my clitoris would get you anywhere. Nothing has ever gotten me as close as your or my fingers inside of me, so I’m assuming most of the nerves I derive pleasure from are engaged during penetration.” He was looking at me with an unreadable expression. “What?”

“I just realized that I’m dating a total nerd.”

“We’re not dating, but I’ll take that as a compliment. Nerds are cool.”

“Well, if you’re just using me for nerdy sex, I probably shouldn’t introduce you to my brother.”

“Do you actually want to take me out?”

“Ijusttook you out.”

“On a real date. That was a sex club,” I protested, just as the car door was opened. If Fred had heard me, he knew better than to react, but my cheeks still flamed red hot. No matter how easy it was to talk to Beck about sex, I couldn’t ignore that it still felt wrong the second someone else was within earshot.

Beck draped an arm around my shoulder and leaned down. At first, I thought he wanted to press an encouraging kiss to the top of my head, but instead his voice brushed over my ear in a low hum: “Consider yourself wearing a red ribbon in my brother’s company.” The growl of a warning rumbled under his words, and my breath hitched in my throat at the reminder of what the red ribbon meant and what it entailed. “If he touches a single hair on your body,” Beck couldn’t finish his sentence because the door flew open, and a bouncing ball of a girl jumped out.

At least Beck’s warning hadn’t extended to the whole household, because Brody wrapped me in a tight hug before I even had a chance to side-step her. She was almost as tall as Beck and had the muscles of a pro athlete, rendering breathing impossible. “I’m so glad you’ve not dumped him yet,” she squealed.

“Yet?” Beck asked.

“She’s clearly out of your league.” Brody leaned back. Her toothy grin immediately made her look her age despite all that muscle mass.

“Clearly,” I agreed and shot Beck a smile.

Brody led us down the hallway and through the tastefully bright and modern living room. I barely took anything in, stuck on the last few minutes of conversation, first in the car, then with Brody. Did Beck actually want to take me on a date? Was that why he had brought me here? His niece already thought we were together. But despite everything, we hadn’t kissed. He hadn’t shown any interest in romance. But you didn’t introduce your fuck buddy to your family, did you?