Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered #1)(40)

Cool relief slipped beneath her skin. “See? People can be wrong. They can treat you one way when you deserve another, but it’s their fault. Not yours.” His frame was beginning to stiffen against her, so she rushed to finish. “I’m sorry if you were treated like less than you are.”

For several heavy beats, he didn’t move or breathe. “All right,” he said finally, removing his arms from around Georgie and rolling onto his back. “That’s enough.”

Georgie banished the pinch of hurt. “Don’t be so romantic.”

He stacked his hands behind his head. “You’ve got the wrong man for that.”

“I know.” She sat up, perching on the edge of the mattress with crossed legs. “I know you’re not romance guy. I don’t expect anything.” She looked back at him over her shoulder. “That’s why our arrangement will be perfect.”

“Are you out of your mind, Georgie?” A harsh, humorless laugh left his mouth. “After what just happened, you think that’s actually an option? No. Jesus, I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to look your brother in the eye again.”

Irritation ripped through Georgie. Where before she’d been a tranquil pond, a stone had just been hurled right into the center of it. “Oh, you know what? Forget it.” She lunged off the bed and pulled on her clothes, searching the floor of his bedroom for her shoes. “I just had the most adult experience of my life and I’m still just someone’s little sister, aren’t I? Get back to being a clown, Georgie. Screw that.”

“Now hold on just a goddamn minute.”

Travis climbed off the bed and Georgie backed up into the bedroom doorway, out of sheer self-preservation. Wearing nothing but jeans and bed head, he was a magnetic, sexual authority. If he asked her to get back in bed, she would forget her anger and do it in a second. No denying it.

“There are rules for this kind of thing and they would apply even if you were fucking forty, baby girl. Don’t you dare get pissed at me.”

“Too late.” She left the bedroom, determined to be out the front door before Travis could follow. That turned out to be wishful thinking since he caught up with her two steps later. His hand curled around her elbow, whirling her around. Was that a flash of panic she’d seen in his eyes before he hid it?

“You want to fake date so everyone will stop thinking of you as a kid—”

“And you can get your job.”

“Fine. Let’s do it.” Expression serious, he pointed back at the bedroom. “But that can’t happen again. We’re not going to confuse what this is. If we have sex, someone will get confused.”

“Just admit it. You’re talking about me.”

“Yeah, fine. I’m talking about you.” He stepped close enough that she could smell his light sweat, the musk of what they’d done. Along with his proximity, the smell was like a caress between her legs. And how annoying that he could turn her on even while being condescending. “I have no problem walking away from a few hookups and never looking back. You don’t know yet if you’re capable of that.” His eyes closed. “Christ, I shouldn’t even be considering this.”

Maybe he was right. Georgie tried to imagine what it would be like, dating Travis in public and spending time in his bed. When he got the job and it all ended, it would hurt if—when—he dropped her. What if the real Travis she’d only begun to scratch the surface of . . . turned out to be equally as incredible as superstar shortstop Travis of her dreams? It was hard to admit, but maybe he was right.

She could get hurt if they slept together. Badly.

But wasn’t it worth having respect for the rest of her life? Yes. A smidgen of pain now weighed against decades of her family, friends, and customers treating her like an adult. There was no contest. And she was a big girl. At the very least, she knew that. She could go into this arrangement with her eyes wide open and emerge mostly unscathed, couldn’t she?

“Fine. Dating. No sex. We wouldn’t want my lady brain to get confused by an orgasm. A wedding dress might magically stitch itself onto me.” Travis stared down at her with a baleful expression. “See? Ridiculous. Are you in or out?”

He dragged a hand down his face, leaving his mouth covered a moment. Considering. “The only way dating you would help me land this job would be the press getting wind of us.” Hand dropping away, his lips moved into a grim line. “I don’t like the idea of cameras following you.”

“I can handle it.”

His jaw twitched. “You realize if we want to be realistic for those cameras, we’ll have to get pretty close. It’s not going to be real.” The tone of his voice dropped. “It won’t be real when I kiss you, Georgie. And we can’t take it further. Will you remember that?”

A hole was punched in her stomach, but she garnered some bravery and stepped closer to Travis anyway. “Will you?”

It took him a moment to answer, his attention straying to her mouth. “Yes.”

“Then we have a deal,” she breathed, putting her hand out.

“Hold up. We need some fine print.” Travis crossed his arms. “My agent is working on setting up a dinner with the head of the network in a couple of weeks. When it’s over, I’ll know whether or not I have the job. There’ll be no reason to—”