Page 31 of The Omega's Fake Mate

“No.”Sickwas not what I was feeling. “You know, we still need to figure out what we're going to tell your parents,” I said, desperately wanting a change of topic. I pushed my chair back a bit too, because I didn't want to keep breathing in Zander's scent and feeling weird about it. We were old friends reconnecting and planning a fake relationship. That was all.

“Oh, right.” Zander still looked a bit concerned, but at the same time, he seemed as glad to move on from the topic as I was. “If they even ask, I’ll tell them we reconnected at your brother's wedding. I figure we stayed in contact, you came to town once or twice and things clicked. But we never told anyone because we didn't want to make a big deal out of it.”

“Huh, you've really thought about this.” Of course he had. “So we began our romance at the wedding. Did we dance?” I liked the idea. I liked dancing. I wondered what it would be like to dance with Zander, to lean into my old friend as our bodies swayed together to the music.

“Of course we danced.” Zander's smile was soft. “I'm not good at it, but you told me not to worry. You know I could never say no to you.”

I grinned sheepishly. It wasn't hard to imagine that it had happened exactly like that. Zander being a little awkward at first and me dragging him along to the dance floor.

Whyhadn'twe done that?

Because this was real life, not a romance novel. Because what I felt when I got close to Zander still confused me.

Was I really going to keep acting like a scaredy-cat, though? At this rate, I was never going to figure out whether there was anything more than nostalgia behind my feelings for Zander.

“Maybe we should practice a bit before we show up at your parents' place.”

“Practice?” Zander didn't seem to have a clue what I was talking about.

To be honest, I wasn't too sure myself, but I didn't want to think too much about it either. Thinking only led to hesitation, and that was exactly what I wanted to leave behind. Getting up from my chair, I motioned for him to do the same. “We need to look authentic, right? So...”

When he stood, I stepped around the desk to approach him. Closing in, I inhaled again, drawing his scent deep into my lungs. There was just something about it, something sweet and powerful at the same time that made it easier to reach out and grab his hand, looking him in the eyes. “Kiss me.”

Zander stared at me. “You want me to kiss you?”

“Yes, like you mean it. It has to look real.”

Finally, he caught on to what I was saying. “That's what you mean by practice...” His gaze traveled to my lips and hung there as if he didn't quite dare to believe that I was being serious. I was still looking at his eyes, though, and I saw a quiet fire in them. Hewantedto practice, and suddenly, I wanted to feel his lips on mine too. I needed to know what that might feel like.

It wasn't like I'd never kissed anyone before. Hell, myfirstkiss had been with Zander, all those years ago, but that had been an awkward, clumsy kiss. I'd kissed other alphas after that too, but so far, those experiences had been disappointing.

So why not go back to the start?

After all this time, the alpha before me was still the only one I'd ever truly wanted to kiss. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I had an idea that I was about to find out.

“C'mon,” I said, squeezing his hand. “It's only practice.”

He didn't need further encouragement. The fire in his dark eyes grew brighter, and then he leaned in. A heartbeat later, our lips met. My eyes fell shut the same moment the world seemed to fall away from me. For one perfect moment, my brain was quiet and my heart sang.

This is what we were looking for, it said to me.

Then my sense of reality returned and I drew back, feeling almost dizzy.

What just happened?

Zander and I stared at each other. Obviously, neither of us really knew what to say. I couldn't help but wonder whether Zander felt the same way about thatpractice kissas I did—namely that it hadn't felt like practice at all—but I couldn't just ask, could I? That would mean admitting to my own feelings first, and as much as I liked to blurt things out, I wasn't quite there yet.

“I guess that went well,” I made myself say, trying to break the ice that seemed to have formed in the space between us.

“I would say so.” Zander ran a hand through his hair. The action made me smile. He was at least alittlerattled by what we just did. Knowing this boosted my confidence back up to adequate levels.

“I guess I should go now. I still have to break it to Kade that I won't be sticking around for Thanksgiving dinner with him.”

“All right. My parents are expecting us at 7 p.m. on Thursday so I guess I'll come get you around half an hour before that?”

“Will you be driving up to the house in a limo?” I couldn't help but joke.

“Sadly no. I am but a lowly book seller.” Zander bowed and waved his hand dramatically until I had to laugh. The awkwardness of our kiss dissipated.