Fauxmance (Showmance #2)(40)

I jumped when the door opened, and Julian walked in. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes, I just...I needed a moment.”

He studied me. “Everything okay with Keith?”

I glanced away. “Not really. I kissed him, then freaked out and came in here.”

Julian rubbed his jaw and came to sit down beside me. “I saw.”

He did? I thought he’d been too busy with Val to notice. A measure of embarrassment trickled in. “I’m not sure if Elodie is meant for kissing.”

Julian reached out and touched a tendril of hair on my wig. “Of course, she is,” he murmured. “She just needs some practice.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just not attracted enough to Keith. I’m not sure how to handle advances when I don’t like the other person.”

“Oh darling, you’re talking to the master of handling unwanted advances. Come, let me show you.” He patted the space beside him and gestured me closer. I shimmied over, wondering what he had in mind. “Pretend I’m a woman,” he said.

Well, that wouldn’t be too hard, since he was prettier than most girls anyway.

“Okay, I’m pretending you’re a woman. Now what?”

His gaze was unwavering. “You’re the man. You’re interested. Come on to me.”

“I…um...”

“Chat me up. Touch me. Try to kiss me. Whatever you want.”

I swallowed thickly, not sure this was helping me so much as making me more nervous. Still, sitting here with Julian, being this close to him, was intoxicating in a way it definitely hadn’t been with Keith.

I readied myself, then placed a hand on his knee. “Hi, uh, what’s your name?”

Julian fluttered his lashes, and that action alone made me tongue-tied. His expression was sultry, but there was strength behind it. “I’m Tiffany. Please be a dear and take your hand off my knee.” His voice was sweet and coaxing. It charmed even while it rejected.

I instantly removed my hand. “Right. Sorry.”

Julian laughed. “We’re role-playing. You don’t need to apologise. Besides,” he waggled his brows. “I don’t mind your hand on my knee.”

I cleared my throat, feeling shy now. “What should I do next?”

His look was mischievous. “Try to kiss me.”

I blinked and leaned forward. Intoxicated by the smell of him, I licked my lips. His eyes lingered on the movement, and my entire body flushed. Was it just me, or was this room getting hotter?

I thought I heard him inhale ever so slightly when I moved to press my mouth to his. Right before our lips met, he turned his head to the side, and my mouth collided with his cheek. Even a sweet, chaste kiss on the cheek felt naughty with Julian Fairchild.

He placed a finger to my shoulder and drew away. “If I want to kiss you, I’ll make the first move,” he said, again in that sweet, unassuming voice.

“O-okay,” I stammered, still reeling from the feel of his skin on my lips.

“You see,” he gestured between the two of us. “It’s not difficult to decline advances, so long as you do it in a certain way. Sometimes, people like a challenge. It’s their problem if they’re foolish enough to believe they’re going to get anywhere with you.”

“I feel like you have a lot of practice with this.”

“Women can be just as forward as men, you know. Just the same as there are be shy men out there, inexperienced with flirting.”

“Like me,” I said, chagrined.

“There’s nothing wrong with shyness, and there’s nothing wrong with confidence, either. We all act how we feel. People tell themselves they need to be a certain way. But really, all we need to be is ourselves.”

“You do realise you’re talking to a woman in a costume right now? I wouldn’t know how to be myself if it slapped me right in the face.”

He fiddled with a strand of my wig again. “I already told you. If Elodie comes from within you, then she is you, Ellen.”

I stared into his eyes, lost for a moment, when suddenly the bedroom door opened. “What are you two doing hiding in here?” Val questioned, looking between us in suspicion.

I stood from the bed and ran my hands down my dress. “I’m going to order a taxi.”

Julian turned to me. “You don’t have to go.”

“I’m tired. I think I’m done for the night.”

He seemed sad that I was leaving, but I’d reached my stimuli limit for the day. Kissing Keith was one thing, but that whole role-playing with Julian set my heart racing. Getting close to him excited me. I’d wanted to kiss him. When he gave me his cheek, deep inside I was disappointed.

Funny how I’d thought our friendship was platonic, because for me it definitely wasn’t.

Thanks to the miracle of phone apps, my taxi arrived in less than five minutes. Keith suggested he escort me back to my place, but I wasn’t silly enough to fall for that. Julian hugged me before I went, placing a soft kiss on my cheek, just shy of my ear. It was almost the same place I kissed him, and it made me tingle all over.

I couldn’t stop thinking about him during the short journey to my house. Even as I went inside and greeted Skittles and Rainbow, I was distracted. The fact of the matter was, I wanted to explore things with Julian. I wanted to know what it would be like with him, but with his profession, I didn’t even know if he dated people.