Page 47 of Make-Believe Match

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” His eyes locked on mine. In the dark, their sapphire hue was dulled, but not their effect on me.

I grew warm under his gaze and kind of wanted to take his sweatshirt off. I wished I was wearing something cuter underneath, but we’d been so hungry, neither one of us wanted to take the time to go up to our room and change.

Our one room. With its one bed.

I picked up my empty wineglass and attempted to take another sip.

“I think it’s gone,” Devlin said with a grin. “Would you like another?”

“I’m not sure I should.”

“Why not?”

“I might become vulnerable to your advances,” I said coquettishly, batting my lashes.

The grin disappeared. “There will be no advances, Lexi. I already told you—I will be a perfect gentleman tonight. You’ve got nothing to worry about. So if you’d like another glass of wine, go ahead and order it. You’re safe with me.”

Safe with him. I liked the words. I even believed them. So why was I feeling a little let down?

“I guess I don’t need more wine,” I said, dropping the coy virgin routine. “We’ve already paid the bill, and I don’t want to fly home with a headache in the morning.”

“Okay.” He finished off his whiskey. “Then let’s go.”

“Speaking of home, where is it?” I asked as we left our table. “I mean, where are we going to live?”

“I was thinking your place probably makes the most sense. For the time being, anyway.” He followed me out of the restaurant, briefly placing a hand on my lower back. “It’s a little small for both of us, but unless you want to move to a bigger place, it’s what we’ve got.”

“There are some two-bedroom units in the complex,” I told him. “I could see if any of those are available. Although it might not make sense if we’re only going to need it for six months.”

“It would make even less sense if we didn’t live together.”

As we headed through the casino, several women stared openly at Devlin, their heads turning as he passed them by. I didn’t blame them. I sort of wished he hadn’t taken his hand off my back.

“Hey, should I change my name?” I asked as we reached the elevators.

“Maybe.” He punched the button with the up arrow. “Just to avoid suspicion.”

“Pretty sure Elvis suspected something was up when you didn’t want to kiss me,” I teased, poking his shoulder.

“Oh, you wanted me to kiss you? Because your face told a different story.” The elevator arrived, and Devlin let me go in first. No one else entered, and he hit the button for our floor.

The doors closed. “I’m not saying Iwantedyou to kiss me, I’m just—” Suddenly I found myself pressed against the back wall of the elevator, caged in by both of his arms. He wasn’t touching me, but his mouth hovered so close to mine I could feel his breath on my lips.

“Because if you want me to kiss you, Lexi, say the word.”

Was that the elevator rising so fast? Or my pulse?

I licked my lips.

“You have to say it, Lexi. Otherwise, I’m going to stick to the rules.”

More than anything, I wanted to sayfuck the rules. I wanted to grab his head and pull his mouth onto mine. I wanted to taste the whiskey on his tongue.

I knew he could read all of that on my face. He was only asking me to say it out loud to mess with me. To show me he was boss. To flaunt how in control he was, like he could take me or leave me.

The doors opened behind him.

“Let me out,” I said.