“Look, I don’t like this any more than you do,” I lie.
The truth is, I can’t think of a better way to spend the next few months of my life than pretending to be engaged to this sexy creature currently throwing daggers at me from the deep oceans of her blue eyes.
“I find that impossible to believe,” she says. “The mere thought of having to spend time with you, having to act like I can stand to be in the same room—much less hemisphere—with you? Meryl Streep couldn’t pull off this level of a performance, sweetheart. You’re out of your league here.”
Goddamn, I love the way her lips curl when she’s angry. She’s also gorgeous when she’s happy, of course. When she’s in the throes of passion, even better.
And believe me, I remember bringing her to that point and beyond many times.
Her lips curl when she comes around my thick, hard cock too.
So fine. There’s no denying it. I still want her.
Never stopped wanting her actually.
I dare you to find any man in America—no, the Universe—who wouldn’t do damn near anything to bed Elsa Blakely.
Our little predicament gives me the perfect chance to do just that with her again.
If only we could get along anyway.
A big wrinkle in the plan our boards concocted is that we can’t seem to go more than a few minutes before devolving into bickering and trading barbs with each other. Not that verbal sparring with her isn’t fun, but having my company on the line takes most of the fun out of it.
“We need to figure out how this is going to work,” I say, snapping back into focus. “This isn’t going to pan out unless we’re united on this—like it or not.”
“Easy,” Elsa says. “You just have to not be the biggest jackass ever, and everything will blow over. Now, it won’t be easy for you, but...”
With her back to the floor-to-ceiling windows that make up an entire wall in my office, I’m getting quite the view of her body outlined in the sun. She’s standing with her legs slightly apart, and the space between her toned thighs is forming an arrow that seems to be pointing me, guiding me straight to her Promised Land.
Damn. I feel my mouth start to water.
“Earth to Tanner,” Elsa says, waving her arm in front of me. “Can you stop thinking whatever smutty thoughts you were thinking long enough for us to hatch a plan? My company is on the line here.”
“As is mine, angel,” I say, shaking the thoughts of Elsa in my bed and in my arms out of my head. Walking over to my desk, I say, “I’ll woo you with a few public dates to get the media stirred up, then reveal to the media that we’re getting hitched—maybe we’ll leak it to the hot blonde who writes for The Chronicle—and then we’ll take it from there.”
“Sure, and then once we break up and go back to our respective companies, you can fuck the ‘hot blonde.’”
“Lis Langley? Maybe I will,” I say, leaning against the door, still staring at her outlined form. “I’ll be single again, after all. She can help me pick up the pieces of my shattered heart.”
“Don’t kid yourself, Tanner.” Elsa laughs—beautiful but cold. “You can’t shatter something that doesn’t exist.”
“Is that really what you think?” I try not to let the hurt creep into my voice. “It’d explain why you’re so fucking blasé right now, I guess.”
“Look. We need ground rules,” Elsa says, ignori
ng my honest question. “We won’t be able to avoid kissing on the mouth—but if you try to lay one on my cheek, so help me god, I’ll end you. None of the old pet names, so cut that angel shit out right now. And as few public outings as possible would be ideal.”
I walk around my desk. She’s leaning against it with her arms crossed, which pushes her tits up even higher than before. It’s a hell of a view, and I’m enjoying every second of it.
There are perks to being fake married to an ex-lingerie model, after all.
I stop inches from her.
I lean in, our bodies almost touching, and say, “You used to like to be in my presence, as I recall. Couldn’t get you out of my bed some days, remember?”
“That was a naive twenty year old who fell for the cocky marketing whiz. Some of us grew up and learned from our mistakes.”
“So, you’re the wise, mature woman, and I’m the impulsive player still chasing anything with a pussy, is that it?”