Reluctantly Yours(24)

Barrett walks back the five feet to stand next to me. With one large hand on my lower back, he leans down to press his lips to my cheek. His lips are warm, but they’re a ghost of a touch against my skin.

“For goodness’ sake. Kiss her.”

Barrett grumbles under his breath, obviously displeased by the notion of placing his lips on mine. Which is completely fine, because that’s the last thing I want to do either. I get it, buddy, I’m right there with you.

But Barrett doesn’t back down from JoAnna’s prodding. Apparently, he’s not going to let something like his dislike for me stand in the way of playing out this farce. With one hand on my hip, his other hand reaches up to cradle my face. The pads of his fingers caress the shell of my ear and it causes a shiver to run through me. The air in my lungs escapes with a whoosh and before I can take another breath in, Barrett’s lips are on mine. It’s a soft, firm press, nothing more. That’s fine. It’s not real anyways.

But then something unexpected happens. Barrett’s thumb grazes the globe of my cheek bone, and his hand on my hip tightens.

I’m waiting for the kiss to end, for Barrett to retract his warm, firm lips so I can breathe. But Barrett’s lips dive in further, his fingertips applying firm pressure, causing me to lean into the kiss.

Time stops, but my need to breathe doesn’t. On a sharp inhale, I open my mouth.

It’s an invitation for air, but I get more than that. I get tongue. And what’s worse is I like it. Barrett’s tongue teases the seam of my mouth and I tease right back.

I don’t know how long it lasts, five seconds or five minutes, but when his lips retreat, I feel dizzy.

When my eyes open, Barrett’s face is right there. His hazel eyes, green with flecks of gold that I never noticed, studying me.

“I should go,” he says, his voice like gravel.

“Yup,” is all I can manage.

He releases me abruptly and I nearly fall backwards.

“Mother.” He nods in JoAnna’s direction before leaving me standing in the middle of her office.

When I turn to JoAnna, she’s smiling brilliantly.

“You two make an attractive couple. You always seemed to be at each other’s throats. Chemistry, I suppose it is.”

Her words flick on a light switch in my brain. There’s light now whereas before I was stumbling around in the dark trying to make sense of this situation. We’re a couple now. Wait a minute…

“JoAnna, will you excuse me a moment?”

“Of course.” She puts her glasses on and turns back to her computer, as if everything is settled and life can go on as usual.

While I arrived to work on nervous, shaky legs, now I feel like I could run a marathon. Adrenaline is flowing through my body. I tell myself it has nothing to do with Barrett’s kiss and everything to do with the situation he’s created.

The elevator ride to the building lobby is slow, but when the doors open, I manage to skitter out just in time to see Barrett exiting the front doors.





Barrett





“Barrett! Wait!” I hear behind me.

I turn from the open car door to find a bright flash of color barreling toward me. Chloe’s pink skirt sways around her hips with every heeled step she takes.

When she stops in front of me, she’s out of breath. One hand on her rapidly rising chest, the other smoothing down wild hairs at her temple. She squints in the morning sun to look up at me.

“You have to fix this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The fact that your mother thinks we’re dating.” She bites her lip. I remember how those soft pink lips were pressed to mine only minutes ago. “And we’re not.”

“I figured you didn’t want me telling her the real reason you were next to me at Gallagher’s Saturday night.”

“Yeah, but there are surely better explanations than that. I get it. You were caught off guard. I was, too. We weren’t prepared for this. But you have to tell her it was a mistake. That I was doing you a favor by filling in as your date for a last-minute business dinner. I don’t know. Make something up. Anything.”

Chloe’s right. I was caught off guard. I shouldn’t have been. I should have known that someone would see us and the news would get back to my mother. I’ve been so focused on getting face time with Fred that I’ve let details like this slip through the cracks. But my mother finding out about our date couldn’t be better. If I want to keep the charade up that I’m in a serious relationship for the sake of my business dealings with Fred, then I need Chloe on board.

“No,” I say simply.

Chloe’s face scrunches in confusion.

“What do you mean? I fulfilled my part of the bargain. I attended the business dinner with you. I rubbed your thigh, Barrett! That is like a thousand favors right there. You can’t go back on your word. You promised once I pretended to be your girlfriend at your business dinner that was it.”

“I made no such promise.”

“It was a favor for a favor. We’re even. Done,” she argues, again.

“That’s not how it works,” I say.

“What do you mean? That’s exactly how it works.”

“In order for me to keep my silence about the party you threw at my mother’s apartment, I requested you attend my business dinner as my girlfriend.”