Page 12 of Fake Engagement Arrangement (Wilde Billionaire Brothers #1)

Mollie packed a few necessities in her weekend bag, but most of her clothes were not up to the standard of a Wilde gathering, especially for Jago’s grandmother’s birthday party.

Mollie wore a uniform for work and casual clothes in her free time.

She did not go out to dinner or on dates, and apart from the little black dress she was wearing, the only other glamorous outfit she possessed was one Jago had bought her two years ago.

She located it in the back of her small wardrobe and took it out and held it up for inspection.

It was still wrapped in drycleaner’s plastic, but she knew it was the dress to wear.

The baby-blue silk made her eyes pop and clung to her figure in all the right places.

She took it off the hanger and rolled it up, plastic wrapping in place and packed it along with a pair of heels and a matching slimline evening purse.

A short time later, Mollie joined Jago in the combined kitchen and sitting room. He was pacing the floor with a frown on his face and turned to face her. ‘Got what you need?’

‘I think so.’

He strode over to take the bag for her. ‘Let’s go.’

A few minutes later, Jago led Mollie into his luxurious hotel suite.

The difference from her bedsit was stark and reminded her of the different worlds they occupied.

Jago was used to having the best of everything.

He had never had to miss a meal in order to pay a bill.

He not only had savings, but he also had investments—properties and share portfolios and who knew what else.

All Mollie had was debt, despair and dread over what might happen to her brother if she didn’t succeed in getting him the help he needed.

But this weekend was the solution to helping Eliot.

She wouldn’t have accepted a penny from Jago if it wasn’t for her brother.

Being with Jago in any context, real or pretend, was dangerous.

Didn’t their kiss prove it? Her mouth was still tingling from the passionate pressure of his.

His kiss had awakened her ongoing desire for him, and as much as she wished she could turn it off, she knew it was impossible.

‘Nice room,’ Mollie said, sweeping her gaze around the suite, which was larger than any place she had ever lived in.

She tried not to look at the king-size bed, but her gaze was drawn to it regardless.

The snow-white sheets and artfully arranged pillows and the cashmere throw rug were of the highest quality.

The soft lighting in the suite gave an intimate atmosphere to the space which was soothing, and the soft carpet under her feet threatened to swallow her up to the ankles.

The stress and emotional roller-coaster events of the day suddenly caught up with Mollie, and she couldn’t hold back a yawn.

‘Time for bed?’ Jago said.

Mollie gave the bed a sideways glance. ‘Where are you going to sleep?’

He shrugged himself out of his jacket and hung it over the back of a chair. ‘We’ve shared a bed before.’

Mollie swallowed a gulp but made sure her expression revealed nothing of her inner turmoil. ‘Yes, but that was before, and this is now.’

One of his black brows rose in a sardonic arc. ‘Don’t you trust me to keep to my side of the bed?’

The problem was Mollie didn’t trust herself.

What if she reached for him during the night?

What if she called out his name as she dreamed of him as she so often did?

What if her body sensed him there and acted on instinct, moving to entwine her legs with his, to stroke his manhood to steel?

She was getting hot and bothered just thinking about it.

Mollie affected a cool expression, but her lower body was already on fire. ‘You told me you wouldn’t lay a finger on me and yet you kissed me.’

‘We kissed each other, Mollie.’

He was right. It had been entirely mutual, and it had actually been Mollie who had closed the gap between their mouths.

‘You had every opportunity to tell me to back off, but you didn’t,’ Jago said. ‘Why was that, hmm?’

Mollie wasn’t sure she knew the answer to that, or at least none she wanted to share with him. Why had she allowed him to kiss her? And more to the point, why had she kissed him back so enthusiastically? Had her self-control vaporised the moment he strode back into her life?

She gave a careless shrug of her shoulders and placed her tote bag on the chair where he had hung his jacket. ‘You always were a good kisser. I guess I wanted to see if you had got better or stayed the same.’

‘And your assessment is…?’

Mollie gave him a flinty look. ‘I don’t think your robustly healthy ego needs any stroking from me.’

His eyes gleamed, and his mouth tilted in a smile that made her lower spine loosen. ‘Do you want to have a shower before bed?’

She tried not to think of all the times they had showered together.

Was he thinking of those sexy times too?

The warm water cascading over their bodies, his erection thick and potent inside her, his deep thrusts and the clever caressing of his fingers tipping her over the edge time and time again.

No one had ever made her feel the level of ecstasy that Jago Wilde had.

No one had ever sent her senses into such a tailspin, leaving her body tingling for hours afterwards.

Two years on and a frisson danced through her when she thought of him making love to her.

It was one of the reasons she hadn’t ventured back into dating.

She wanted to hold those memories of him for as long as she could.

Mollie sent him a frosty look that was at total odds to the fire burning in her lower body. ‘Just in case you get any funny ideas, I’ll be locking the door.’

‘Good idea.’ His smile was faintly mocking as if he knew how tempted she was to ask him to join her.

Mollie turned and rummaged in her bag for her evening skin products and the sleepwear she had brought. The two-piece pyjama set was hardly what one would describe as sexy , but it was comfortable and modest. Right now, modesty seemed the right way to go.

The bathroom was a glass-and-marble wonderland with brass taps and underfloor heating.

There was a walk-in shower as well as a deep claw-foot bath and twin basins set in front of a large gilt-edged mirror.

There were gloriously soft towels and luxury soaps and hair and beauty products to choose from.

Mollie put her own things on the marble counter and then went back to the door and locked it.

She stood stock-still for a moment, listening for any sound of Jago on the other side of the door, but she couldn’t hear a thing.

After a relaxing shower, Mollie turban-wrapped her hair in a towel and then dressed in her cotton pyjamas.

She did her evening skin care routine and then unwound the towel on her head to let her hair fall about her shoulders.

There was a top-quality hair dryer in a drawer below the basins, so she gave her hair a quick blast to remove the excess moisture.

She looked at herself in the mirror and not for the first time wondered why Jago had been attracted to her.

She saw herself as average, not stunning, but she had the advantage of being trained in beauty therapy, so she knew how to make the most of her assets.

But without the professional mask of her make-up, she looked a lot younger and far more vulnerable than she wanted to.

There was a haunted look in her eyes that she took great pains to hide when not alone.

The constant worry of her brother’s welfare wore her down to the point where she felt older than she was.

In two years, she would be thirty, and for more than half her life she had tried to keep Eliot out of harm’s way.

What if she failed? What if, after every sacrifice and effort she had made, her brother didn’t make it?

Mollie knew the statistics on long-term drug and alcohol addiction.

She could already see the negative effects on her younger brother’s health.

The chronic diseases that could only be managed, not cured.

As hard as it was to be in Jago’s company, she had to see this through for her brother’s sake.

There was a light knock at the door. ‘Are you finished in there?’ Jago asked.

Mollie blinked away the ghosts in her eyes. ‘Yep.’ She took a deep breath and pushed herself away from the marble counter, hung up her used towels on the warming rail then went over to unlock the door.

Jago was no longer standing close to the bathroom door but was sitting on one of the plush velvet armchairs, scrolling through his phone. He glanced up as she came into the room, his eyes running over her dove-grey pyjamas. ‘Feel better?’

‘Much.’

He rose from the chair and slipped his phone in his trouser pocket. ‘Go to bed. You look exhausted.’

Mollie shook out her still slightly damp hair. ‘Yes, well, it’s been quite a day.’

Jago came up close to her, his expression serious. ‘I meant it when I said I don’t expect you to sleep with me as part of the deal.’

Mollie swept the tip of her tongue over her lips, her gaze lowering to his mouth as if drawn by a powerful magnet.

His mouth was set in a firm line, but she knew how quickly it could soften with one press of her lips to his.

She brought her gaze back to his, her heart pounding unevenly in her chest. She fought with herself to remain strong, resolute in not caving in to her body’s desire for him, but it still pulsed and throbbed in her blood regardless.

‘If you think I would sleep with you for money, you are seriously mistaken.’

Jago’s features tensed, and his gaze heated. ‘Then, what was our past relationship all about, if not money?’

Mollie compressed her lips into a tight line, her spine ramrod stiff. ‘I know someone as cynical as you won’t believe it, but I did genuinely have feelings for you.’