Go figure, he mused, feeling another grin tug at his lips. Even he was surprised that thoughts of her had lingered on the short drive to the office, when he’d always been so good at compartmentalizing his time with women and not allowing them to consume his thoughts once they parted ways. It was safer that way and assured messy emotions didn’t get involved, and up until this point, putting that barrier between himself and his dates had been incredibly easy to do . . . much to their frustration.
But Evie Bennett was . . . different. Maybe it was the fact that she was the polar opposite of all those other women he tended to gravitate toward that intrigued him. In the short time they’d been at the Espresso Cup, she’d amused him, impressed him, aroused him . . . but it had been those few times he’d glimpsed moments of vulnerability when she’d talked about her ex that stirred something deeper inside him. Something oddly protective, along with the unfamiliar need to show her that she deserved so much better than a douchebag who didn’t appreciate the woman she was.
“Oh my God,” Heather said, the gleeful tone of her voice pulling Eric from his thoughts. “You totally got laid this morning, didn’t you? That smile you walked in with hasn’t left your face, and I’ve never seen you so distracted. You’ve been staring at the same message for the past five minutes.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter,” he said, unwilling to give up any of the truth, especially that a woman he’d just met was responsible for his perma-grin. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ll have you know I spent the night alone, and it is possible for me to be in a good mood in the morning just because it’s a great morning. And I was distracted because I was thinking of how I need to respond to Bob Aguilar’s message before I call him back.”
“Hmmm,” she hummed, clearly not believing him. “If you say so.”
The phone on Heather’s desk rang, and as she picked up the receiver and greeted the person on the other line, Eric took advantage of the interruption and headed down the short hallway to Leo’s office. He knew his friend and business partner was already in, since Eric had parked next to Leo’s car.
As soon as he walked inside, the other man glanced up from the laptop open on his desk and stopped typing. “Happy to escape the third degree out there?” he asked, laughing.
“Jesus Christ, yes,” Eric muttered in a low voice while closing the door, because he didn’t need Heather overhearing his conversation about Evie with Leo.
“So, how did it go?” Leo asked as soon as Eric was settled in one of the chairs in front of his friend’s desk. “Did you completely crush the girl’s hopes?”
Eric realized he could have gently and politely turned down Evie at any point during their meeting this morning. Hell, he could have admitted the truth, that he’d been added to the app as a joke and wasn’t interested in being anyone’s fake boyfriend and he was sorry for taking up her time . . . but he hadn’t. Even when the opportunity had openly presented itself and she’d blithely pointed out that he’d signed up to be on the Boyfriend Experience app after he’d told her that he didn’t normally offer his services to impersonate a woman’s significant other, he’d still played it off.
“I still think Dylan is a royal jerk for doing what he did. However, after meeting Evie, I really like her,” he admitted with what he hoped was a casual shrug. “She was very sweet and I don’t want to hurt her feelings when it’s easy enough for me to help her out.”
Okay, that was a blatant lie. Hurting her feelings had nothing to do with the reasons he was going to accompany Evie to her family reunion, but Leo didn’t need to know that. His decision was a bit more selfish. She needed a temporary boyfriend and, well, Eric wanted the chance to kiss those full, sensual lips . . . and maybe even run his fingers through her soft, beautiful hair while palming her delectable ass—which, in his opinion, would add to the whole boyfriend experience, right? Better than turning her down and letting some other jackass be her boyfriend for the weekend. His hands clenched at his sides at the very thought.
Leo leaned back in his chair and smirked. “Wow, look at you, being so charitable, especially since sweet is so not your type. But at least that way you’ll be able to keep your dick in your pants.”
Apparently sweet was his type, when it was wrapped up in a curvy package like Evie’s body, because his dick had definitely noticed and appreciated her voluptuous figure. Combine that with her irrepressible personality, and he was fairly certain he was going to enjoy his temporary time with her.