Page 19 of Daring to Love You (Priestly Family #3)

Chapter Fourteen

D orian sat looking at Lynix, waiting for him to say more. When he didn’t, her eyebrows shot skywards. “Wait. That’s your idea? That’s all you came up with? I thought you would say something groundbreaking. Something like us getting a one-way ticket to the moon. Not for us to fake date.”

He burst out laughing, and the hearty sound made her smile. She was enjoying her time with Lynix more than she expected to, and what surprised her most? How right it felt to be with him.

Ugh! But now that he was flashing that cocky grin of his, the one she had a love-hate relationship with, she wanted to wipe it off his mouth.

How could that stupid smile tempt her to climb onto his lap and kiss him?

She never had thoughts like this about any other man, not even Rodney who she’d dated for months.

But Lynix? Lynix made her want to act out of character and live a little on the wild side. She never had trouble or felt guilty about saying ‘no’ to a man or struggled to keep her hands to herself. Yet, this man was the exception.

Dorian wanted to kiss him, touch him, and she wanted to feel his hard body rubbed up against hers, and that was a first. She had never physically responded to any other man the way she did when it came to Lynix.

And all they’d done was kiss a few times.

He was so wrong for her. Yet, that didn’t stop her from being drawn to him.

She had to be strong, though. Especially since she had decided to take a break from the opposite sex.

She needed time to reevaluate what she wanted in a mate because clearly her picker was off.

Besides, right now it felt like dating came with too much disappointment that would eventually turn into heartache.

As for Lynix’s idea, she had hoped he had come up with a way to discourage her mother’s meddling. Fake dating… him, though? No way. She wasn’t that good of an actress despite what he might think.

“Hear me out,” he said as if reading her mind, and then he stood and extended his hand to her. “First, let’s move to the sofa where it’s more comfortable.”

Dorian let him help her up and escort her across the room. The moment she sat on the sofa, she had to agree with him. It was comfortable, and she was tempted to kick off her shoes and curl up on it. After eating so much, a nap would be great.

She wouldn’t, though, because she wanted to hear more about Lynix’s idea, even though she was fairly sure she wouldn’t go along with it.

“I like the idea of a trip to the moon. Sounds like a life altering experience. However, pretending to be a couple would be easier.”

Dorian shook her head. “I don’t see how fake dating would help either of us.”

But when the words left her mouth, she thought about what she’d just said.

Fake dating .

“Actually, I can see how it might help me with my mother, but she won’t believe it unless she sees us together.”

Lynix took a sip of the beer he’d been nursing during lunch. It was probably warm by now, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Spending time with each other is part of the idea. So she would definitely see us together. I can easily swing by and pick you up from work sometime or send flowers to the B&B. We can make her believe we’re a couple.”

Dorian nodded slowly. The idea might just work… for her.

“What about you? How would any of this benefit you?”

“Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like the plan. My mother hosts an annual fundraiser gala. It’s to raise money for a nonprofit her family started over thirty years ago to fight hunger and poverty.

I’m expected to attend. If you were my pretend woman, you could be my date.

Then I’d have the pleasure of escorting the most beautiful woman in the world to the event.

“I had considered going alone, but there will be women in attendance looking for a boy toy or their next husband, and I don’t want the attention.”

Dorian rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “Arrogant much?”

This reminded her of one of several reasons why they would never work as a couple. He thought too highly of himself… even if it did seem he could back it up.

“That’s not me being arrogant,” he insisted.

“That’s from experience. Me and my brothers attend every year, and in the past, we’ve gotten more attention from the opposite sex than any of us wanted.

It doesn’t help that my mother enjoys bragging on her sons.

The thing is, this year two of my brothers have women, and the other won’t be attending the event.

That leaves just me. Even if you don’t want us to pretend to date, can you help me out by being my date that evening?

“Oh, and besides you being my date for the gala, us fake dating would come in handy whenever I have dinner at my parents’ house.

It would be nice to take my girlfriend along with me.

” He rubbed the scruff on his chin and looked deep in thought.

“Then again, that part might not be a good idea. I wouldn’t want to subject you to my father. ”

“Lynix, he can’t be that bad.”

“He is, and I can already imagine him saying something to make me want to punch him on your behalf. Or he would look down on you because you don’t come from what he would consider a ‘connected’ family.

For him, it’s all about where you come from, who your people are, and if you are well connected.

How someone can help him get ahead is always at the forefront of his mind. ”

Dorian didn’t miss the disgusted expression on Lynix’s face. “So he’s one of those pompous, rich dudes who thinks he’s better than everyone else.”

“Exactly.”

“What about your mother?” Dorian asked.

“She’s one of the sweetest people I know. She’s loving, kind, loyal, and would do anything for almost anyone. She would adore you. You two have similar dispositions. She might be a sweetheart, but she’s no pushover. Cross her and there will be hell to pay. She’s a low-key badass.”

Dorian laughed. “Is that how you see me?”

A warm glow flowed through her as she considered his words.

He thought of her as a badass, which was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her.

Her family considered her a pushover and thought she didn’t have a backbone.

Though they never said the last part, at least not to her face, Dorian knew they thought it.

Which she understood, since she didn’t always stand up for herself, and she wasn’t confrontational.

Lynix reached over and gently pushed a few strands of her hair from her face and tucked them behind her ear. He was such a big guy, but when he did stuff like that, showing how gentle he could be, she wondered what else she’d been wrong about when it came to him.

“You are a sweet badass,” he said. “I’ve witnessed your hellcat side a number of times, and I liked it.”

“Hellcat?” She sputtered a laugh. “Now that’s something I’ve never been called before.”

She secretly liked the idea of him thinking she wasn’t just a nice people pleaser, which was how she reluctantly saw herself sometimes. That was probably why she had a hard time telling her mother to back off—in a way where she knew Dorian meant business.

“But anyway, getting back to my idea. I think we should give it a try. At least for a few months. If at any time you want to stop, just say the word. We can tell people you dumped me because we weren’t compatible.”

Dorian mulled over the idea. If her mother thought they were seeing each other, she would definitely back off, but for how long?

More importantly, could she fake date Lynix without feelings getting in the way?

Would anyone believe she could actually pull a man like him? Then again, he had been asking her out.

“Wait.” Dorian glared at him. “This is a trick, isn’t it? You’re just trying to get me to go out with you.”

His cool, calm expression remained firmly in place when he said, “I don’t typically have to trick anyone to go out with me, Dorian, and I’m not going to start now. I do, however, like the idea of you being my woman even for a few months.”

Dorian nibbled on her bottom lip as they regarded each other.

Even if this was him being sly where she was concerned, the idea was still a win-win for her.

She’d get a chance to spend time with a real man, an experienced man who seemed to know how to treat a woman.

In the process, she would also get to see how the one-percenters lived—those whose net worth was over a million dollars.

Then, when she was sure her mother was done matchmaking, she and Lynix could go their separate ways.

It sounded easy enough, but what if the plan backfired? What if she fell for his charming ass? But then, she thought of something else.

“The thought of lying to my mother…” Her words trailed off as she realized she wouldn’t be just lying to her mother. They’d be lying to everyone, including his family. None of that sat well with her.

“Technically, we wouldn’t be lying.” Lynix ran the back of his fingers slowly down her cheek, and she leaned into his touch before realizing what she was doing. “We’ll be hanging out and going a few places together. It’ll just look like we’re getting to know each other.”

True, but this still felt like a bad idea.

She was a grown woman. She didn’t play games, and she didn’t want to start just to keep her mother out of her love life. But anyone who knew Virginia Priestly knew how pushy she could be, and Dorian was tired of it.

She glanced down at her dress, wiping invisible crumbs off her lap when she said, “What about kissing?”

When she looked at Lynix, his left eyebrow was lifted. “What about it? I already told you earlier that whenever you want to plant one on me, have at it.”

She sighed and shook her head. “If I accepted the offer, we should probably stay clear of kissing—unless we’re in front of others and trying to show we’re a couple. Also, what about Zion? Even if we’d be fake dating, I don’t know how he’d feel about any of it.”

“Don’t worry about Zion. I’ll take care of him.”

Dorian might not have much experience with men, but even she could recognize what Lynix was trying to do.

Spend time with her in hopes that she’d date him for real.

Granted, his idea would help her out of a jam, but would the situation be one of those times when she solves one problem only to create another? Probably.

After a long hesitation, instead of saying “no,” like her brain was telling her to, she said, “Fine, we can give it a try but no kissing.”

Lynix laughed. “Okay, if that’s how you want it, but if at any time you change your mind, just do what you did in the restaurant, and I’ll play along.”