“Sully can be pretty convincing,” Liam said.
I broke eye contact with Sully and swallowed hard. That’s right, Kit. You’re just Bait to him. Don’t forget it.
If he could pretend he was into me, then I could sure as hell pretend I wasn’t into him. I smiled at Sully. “Okay. Let’s pick out something to wear for the occasion.”
Sully rose to his feet and extended a hand to me. “Perhaps we can use this shopping exercise to do a trial run when we’re at the shops? Just to get both of us all warmed up to the role of my date.”
“Trust me, you’ll need it.” Liam snickered. “You wouldn’t be the first date who ran home crying. Go easy on him, Sullivan.”
“I’d never do anything to jeopardize the case.”
I placed my hand in Sully’s, and my stomach danced. Not a good start to pretending I wasn’t into him. I winked at Sully.
“I can’t wait to blow—”
Liam made a choking sound, and I glared at him.
“Blow his cash. That’s what I meant.”
Liam grinned. “Sure thing, sweets. Just know I’d be more receptive than Iron Man over there.”
“What do you think of this, love?”
A shiver ran down my spine at Sully’s voice, right next to my ear. I hadn’t heard him come up behind me. I turned to him, keeping the persona of his “date” that he wanted me to pretend to be. It wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped, but for a different reason altogether. I could see myself playing the part so well that I believed it, so I kept pulling back to keep a bit of myself.
Sully had a way of looking at me all lazy that made my insides melt like marshmallows over a campfire. All warm and gooey in the center.
“Babe?”
I stroked over the material of the taupe jumpsuit he held up for my inspection. “It’s beautiful,” I said, flipping over the price tag. My mouth fell open. “Are you kidding me? It’s too expensive.”
“Nothing’s too expensive for you.” He glanced over my shoulder. Drat, I’d forgotten the shop assistant who was helping us.
Act your ass off, dammit.
“I love it.”
“It’ll look great on you,” he said.
I tugged at his lapels and went up on my tippy toes, but I still came up too short. He lowered his head enough for me to bring my mouth to his ear. “If you think I’ll look great in it, wait until you see me out of it,” I whispered loudly enough for the assistant to hear.
Sully’s nostrils flared, and his eyes darkened. “I can’t wait. Go try it on.”
I made a show of running my hands down his chest, then walked away from him, glancing back at him over my shoulder. He was such a damn good actor. For a minute, I almost believed the smolder in his gaze as he watched me was real, but it was all a pretense for our audience.
Must remember this is make-believe.
In the fitting room, I slipped out of my jeans and crop top and put on the jumpsuit. The material flowed down my frame, not exactly hugging my angular body, but not too loose either. It was an elegant compromise of formal and sexy. The little bow at the side cinched my waistline and showed off my slim figure. I squealed and turned to admire the cut out of the back. It was low enough to show the petals of the single rose that extended from the stem where the words “Born to Live” were written in cursive down my spine.
“Are you done in there?” Sully asked from outside the door.
I hurried to lock it before he could enter. “Yeah, I want it.”
“Come on out, then. Let me see you.”
“I don’t think so. I want to surprise you tonight.”
“Come on, babe.”