Victoriously Yours

Hell yes!“No, of course not. We’re grown adults and all of that is in the past.” The lie slipped so easily off of my tongue. Hoping to sell it more, I made the mistake of stepping closer, now practically into his arms. His chest was hard against me, and I felt something else I forced myself to not think about. Bringing one of my hands to the front of his suit, I dragged my manicured nails down the front of it. “I was actually hoping we could start over.”

“Start over,” he said a few times as if he was digesting what I had said.

I kept a smile on my face, one that betrayed my own feelings, and then finally took a step back. “My name’s Mackenzie Broderick, and it’s very nice to meet you, Mr.?” I paused, then extended my hand out to him.

He instantly clutched it with his. “Courtland, but please call me Jonas.”

I had a few other choice things to call him, but I needed to remember this was all a charade. “Jonas, it is then.”

There were a few moments of silence between us before he spoke again. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I hope we see a lot of each other over the next few days. In fact, I’m serving drinks on the rooftop deck tonight so you should bring the woman I saw you with earlier.”

“The pleasure’s all mine,” I told him while keeping a forced smile on my face. “Drinks sound lovely. I’ll let her know.”

Jonas released my hand, and I ignored the goosebumps that ran up one length of my arm and down the other. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

With those final words, he walked back inside. I waited until he completely disappeared from view before releasing the breath I’d been holding inside. My skin still tingled from his touch and I realized now that I might be in over my head.

“He walked inside grinning like a Cheshire cat. Do I even want to know what you did to him out here to put it on his face?” Reece asked when she joined me.

I hadn’t even heard my friend come outside, but I was glad she did. “It was nothing. He invited us up to the roof for drinks and I accepted.” It all sounded so simple, but when I turned to go back inside with Reece, I knew this was about to get a lot harder.