Page 23 of Love is Fake (Love is Everything #1)

“I don’t really dance,” I say. It’s not a lie.

Plus, even if I did, ballroom dancing in front of a whole heap of strangers, in shoes I’m only slowly learning to walk in, sounds like a very terrible idea.

“Have you talked to everyone you need to?” I ask, hoping to have parked the dancing conversation for now.

Lennox takes a sip of his water. “Pretty much. Why? You ready to leave?”

“Not if you’re not,” I assure him, although after being in these heels for the last few hours the idea of getting home and taking them off is so damn tempting. “This is your gig, so you just let me know when you’re done.”

Lennox nods in agreement. I feel his eyes on me, but I don’t return his gaze. Instead, I try my best to look at anything other than the man in front of me.

“I’ll tell you what, you dance with me and we can go.”

I blink up at him in surprise. “I thought we covered this with the whole ‘I don’t dance’ thing.”

He shrugs, casually. “You want to go and I’m pretty sure those shoes, although they look damn sexy, are probably murdering your feet. The sooner you dance with me, the sooner we can get gone.”

“You’re bribing me?”

“You can call it what you want, but that’s the deal.

One dance, Isabella. What are you scared of?

” He smiles wickedly as if he knows exactly what I’m frightened of.

Him. And then he holds his hand out for me to take.

I only hesitate for a second before knocking back the last glug of champagne from my glass.

I figure I’m going to need all the Dutch courage I can get if we’re really doing this.

I lay my hand in his, my skin instantly tingling at his touch. “Alright, Nox, you win.”

“I always do,” he grins and it would sound arrogant if it weren’t also true.

Still, I roll my eyes, hard. “Asshat,” I mutter under my breath, smiling in satisfaction as he missteps because he’s laughing at my curse.

“There’s that charm again,” he drips sarcasm as he leads me to the center of the busy dancefloor and I try to ignore the eyes following us. Being with Lennox is a lot like being a bug under a microscope and I wonder how he lives with the scrutiny of strangers day after day.

He puts his hand on my waist and leans in close to my ear. “I know it goes against your nature, but let me lead.”

I laugh breathily as his lips quirk into a smile. I like this playful, lighthearted version of Lennox. And I definitely like it a lot more than the version of him that was silently boiling over the sight of me and Jack.

I relax into his hold, for once in my life doing as instructed without putting up a fight.

I let Lennox move us around the room. It’s a slow dance, but even so, it’s clear Lennox knows what he’s doing.

Of course he would, he’s as good at this as he is at everything else.

It would be easy to feel intimidated around someone so damned competent, but I find it inspiring.

It’s not hard to see why so many people, athletes or not, look up to him.

“See, it’s not as bad as you thought it would be, right?” Lennox whispers the words against my hair, his breath on my skin making me shiver.

Bad really isn’t the word I’d use to describe what it feels like to dance with Lennox. To be this close to him, to be held by him, to taste his scent on my tongue every time we speak.

“There’s plenty of time for me to step on your toes,” I joke, trying to cover up the way he affects me. Truth be told, I’m not sure I’m fooling anyone, least of all him.

We dance, his hand on my waist, mine resting on his shoulder, and it feels so nerve-wrackingly natural.

There’s a sense of rightness about the moment as I raise my eyes up to his to find he’s watching me and only me.

Normally I’d squirm, duck my head under the heaviness of his gaze, but this time I don’t.

I let him look and I look right back at him with an openness I haven’t dared to before.

“You look beautiful tonight, Isabella.” The appreciation in his eyes tells me he’s not just humoring me, although it would be easier to deal with if he were.

“Declan did a good job with the dress,” I shrug off the compliment. “And you clean up pretty well yourself.”

“Thanks, but I can’t wait to take off this damn straightjacket.” As he rolls his impressive shoulders, my brain goes to thinking about him taking off his suit and the body I already know he’s hiding underneath it.

“I know what you mean, this dress is beautiful, but beauty doesn’t always feel the way it looks.” It’s a throwaway comment, but Lennox stills against me, stopping us in the middle of the song.

I look up at him in confusion to find him staring down at me with an impenetrable expression. The only suggestion of what he’s thinking comes from the storminess in his dark eyes, gluing me to the spot.

“Let’s get out of here,” he says, his breathing a little heavy and I find myself nodding because apparently I’ve lost the ability to speak.

We make our escape out of the back exit that leads to the resort’s gardens. Out here, it’s just the two of us and the quiet of the night.

Lennox gives me a sidelong glance. “What’re you thinking?”

Something I wouldn’t tell you in a hundred years , I think to myself.

“Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies,” I say instead. It earns me a chuckle from Lennox.

Lennox shakes his head at me, suddenly going preternaturally still as if he’s let something slip. “You always did keep everyone on their toes, even the teachers.”

I frown up at him. “Always?” I scoff. “For the whole week you’ve known me?”

“It hasn’t been just a week. We had a class together at school.”

I stop walking, blinking up at him. “You remember that?” He has made it seem as if the only thing he remembers about me is the nickname his bully of a girlfriend gave me.

Lennox gently tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Those green eyes are kinda hard to forget,” he shrugs. “I used to wonder what you’d look like without the glasses. Now I know.”

“The joy of contacts,” I mumble, caught off-guard by what Lennox has just admitted.

We’re almost at the valet counter now, but my mind is overflowing with questions I need answered. To complete the snafu, my new least-favorite person on the planet makes an unwelcome comeback.

“There you are,” Roger The Pervert appears out of nowhere as if he’s been lying in wait for me this whole time.

It would have been funny if the situation weren’t so damn creepy.

“You aren’t leaving without me, are you?

” He plants a hand possessively on my arm and before I have time to react, it’s wrenched away.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Lennox is in front of me in an instant, shoving the other man in the chest hard enough to have him stumbling backwards. He’s only saved from falling over by a large plant pot, pushing him upright.

“No need to get upset, Lennox. Izzy and I are old friends.” He winks grossly at me, slurring his words so much it’s hard to understand him.

He’s way more than drunk , he barreled right past that exit and opting for completely tanked instead.

Roger sways unsteadily in front of Lennox who looks like he’s about to go postal.

“Once you’re done with her,” Roger The Pervert points to me, in case we weren’t sure who he was talking about, “send her over to me. I’ll pay a pretty penny for an ass like that. ”

Seriously, this man really needs to stop talking.

“What the fuck did you just say?” Lennox takes a murderous step towards the older man, his fingers flexing like he wants to pull his head from his rotund body.

“He’s drunk, Nox, just let it go.” I put my hand on his arm, trying to calm him down, but he doesn’t even seem to register my words.

“She’s not for sale, and you’re going to fucking apologize right now.”

“I’m – I’m sorry, Lennox,” Roger holds his hands up, his red, booze-tinted face suddenly turning pale.

“Not to me, asshole. To her.”

Roger looks at me in confusion, apparently still not getting the message I’m not someone you pay by the hour. But his belated sense of self-preservation has him saying the words. “I’m sorry?”

Lennox takes another threatening step forward. “Say it like you fucking mean it, or I swear to God!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, okay?” Roger holds his hands up in a surrender, looking appropriately terrified, as if the penny has finally dropped.

“If you keep making a scene, Nox, I swear I will not forgive you,” I warn him, noticing the way some curious heads are already starting to turn towards us. I’m mindful of the fact that anything Lennox does is front page tabloid fodder.

He doesn’t even look at me, he’s still staring the other man down. If this were a cartoon there’d be actual steam coming out of his ears.

I grab hold of Lennox’s hand, trying to pull him along, but it’s like trying to move a damn mountain. “Can we just get out of here, Nox? Please?”

Desperately, I tug on his hand again and something in my voice has him following me. I’m not na?ve enough to think I’d be able to move him if he wasn’t willing.

Lennox stops by the valet guy. “Get security to escort that asshole back to his damn room. Alone.” His tone doesn’t leave any room for negotiation and the kid nods at him, hurriedly, picking up the internal resort phone presumably to do exactly that.

Lennox doesn’t speak until we’re in the car and then I wish he hadn’t. The anger in his voice is barely contained.

“You wanna tell me what the fuck that was all about?”

I think about telling him it isn’t any of his business, but I don’t want to get into an argument with him when he’s all but vibrating with rage.

“When you were having your meeting, he cornered me and seemed to think I was the kind of company you pay for,” and doesn’t that sound smart?

“It was nothing – Jack saw I was in need of a wingman and helped out. I totally forgot about it until he ambushed us,” I lie, trying to play it down, anything that’ll calm him.