He groaned into her ear, the sound tortured, and his hands gripped her waist, though not to push her away but to draw her closer. “You do realize, don’t you, that we have four women in your shop staring at us and I’m trying like hell not to do something completely ungentlemanly right now, like slid my hand over your ass and cop a feel?”
His words snapped her out of the sensual fog she’d just lost herself in, and she jumped back from him, embarrassment flooding through her. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she said in a rush, her eyes wide and her cheeks warming with chagrin. “That was incredibly inappropriate. I mean, I shouldn’t have—”
“Evie,” he said, his voice a bit gruff and desire darkening his green eyes. “Stop apologizing. I’m glad you’re comfortable with physical affection. It’ll make the whole boyfriend experience much more believable if I can touch you intimately.”
Touch her intimately? Her inner bad girl was already on board with the idea of feeling this man’s capable hands on her body. She absently licked her bottom lip at the seductive thought.
His gaze narrowed at the spot where her tongue had just skimmed. “Stop tempting me with your mouth,” he ordered on a low, frustrated growl that made her nipples peak.
Confusion swirled through her foggy mind. How was she teasing him when they were standing nearly a foot apart? “What?”
He reached out and rested his hand along her jaw and brushed the pad of his thumb along her damp lower lip, heedless of who might see. “Every time your tongue glides across your bottom lip, which you do often, all I can think about is kissing you long and deep to see if you taste like cotton candy or cinnamon red hots.”
She visibly shivered, and a slow, stomach-tumbling smile eased across his face at her telling reaction.
“I’m dying to know,” he murmured, boldly pressing his thumb against the pillowed flesh until the tip of his finger grazed her bottom teeth and she tasted the salt on his skin. “But when it happens, and trust me when I say that it will happen, I don’t want an audience. I want the luxury of taking my time and exploring every inch of your soft, sweet mouth.”
She was utterly breathless, because that’s how this man made her feel. And those come-hither eyes . . . God, how was she going to survive four days of looking into them without falling headlong into all sorts of trouble?
“Hey,” he asked, letting his hand fall away, much to her disappointment. “You okay?”
She gave her head a small shake to snap herself out of her stupor. “Umm, yeah. You’ve very convincing.”
He arched a dark, challenging brow. “It wasn’t an act, sweetheart. Don’t make me prove it in front of your friends and everyone else driving by, or that woman entering your shop right now who’s staring at us, too.”
She glanced over her shoulder to see who he was referring to and recognized her client. “That’s my nine o’clock appointment so I need to go.”
He nodded in understanding. “I’m going to be busy this weekend, but I’ll be in touch when I can so we can discuss everything the boyfriend experience entails,” he told her with a wink as he took his car keys from his front pocket. “And don’t hesitate to text me if you have any questions.”
“Okay.”
He gave her his signature sexy grin, along with a wave, and she couldn’t help but watch him head toward his car, just long enough to admire his perfect backside before she went inside the shop. She was immediately greeted with clapping and enthusiastic woo-hoos and all the girls talking at once.
“Holy smokes, can a guy get any hotter?”
“Oh my God, we thought he was going to kiss you!”
“Is that sexy piece of man candy really yours for four whole days?”
“Everyone, stop,” Evie insisted, pressing her hands to her flaming cheeks, though she was smiling because who wouldn’t be after such a wildly flirtatious encounter with a man who was sex on two legs?
Jessica gave Evie a once-over that was direct and playful. “You, Ms. Evie Bennett, are a smitten kitten.”
Evie laughed and thought about denying it, but Jessica would just relentlessly persist until she admitted the truth. “Maybe. Just a little,” she conceded, allowing herself to enjoy the infatuated feeling, only because she knew there was nothing real about the relationship. It was all just physical attraction and fun playacting, and she was okay with that. “I’m only a smitten kitten because he’s really good at his job and providing the whole boyfriend experience.”
“Okay, if that’s what you want to tell yourself,” Scarlett added in a droll tone. “But from our perspective, he didn’t look like he was faking anything.”
She shook her head and rolled her eyes, ready to move on from all the attention focused on her. “Your entertainment for the morning is over and I need to get to work.” Evie waved away all the women but her client, Marcy, who she led to her station with her coffee in her hand to enjoy while Marcy’s highlights were processing.