If that was their practice kiss, she didn’t know what would happen if they had to do the real thing for display...this one had felt pretty damn real.
Her cell vibrated against the table and she glanced down at the screen. But it wasn’t her phone; it was his. She’d thought for sure it would be Chris again.
Reese leaned forward and grabbed his phone, stared at it for a minute, then muttered something under his breath before firing off a text.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
He shot her a smile and a nod. “Fine. Just work.”
“For the Manhattan opening?”
“No, it’s about some business I have in Tennessee.”
Surprised, she shifted and put her feet up under her on the sofa. “Does this have anything to do with the trip you just got back from, the one you were so secretive about?”
His eyes darted from the television screen to hers. They’d decided to stay in the theater room since the weather was still nasty outside.
When he remained silent, she reached for the remote and paused the movie, instantly silencing the room. She stared at his strong hands still clutching the phone and wondered what secrets he kept locked in there.
Reese blew out a sigh and reached for her hand. The innocent, friendly gesture he’d done so many times before felt oddly different now, after that toe-curling kiss.
This was still her best friend...her best friend turned faux fiancé. But they only had to play the game for a few weeks and then they could go back to being friends in all aspects.
She would ignore that little voice asking if being friends was all she wanted. Could she be fearless for now? Could s
he let Reese out of the friends box, just a little? If she was honest, she’d been wanting...something for a long while now, something different...a change. Maybe she could channel her mother’s boldness, just for a while. Since none of this would last, maybe she could grab this chance to pretend to be that bold woman she so desperately wanted to be.
She had such mixed feelings about all of this. How would her heart stand up against playing his fiancée, with all the touching and lingering glances? And how would such acts change the dynamics of their entire relationship? Could they easily slide from one type of intimacy to another without any emotional damage?
She wasn’t sure. And yet a part of her wanted to find out.
“I’m not purposely keeping anything from you,” he finally told her as his thumb raked over the ridges of her knuckles. “Just sorting through some things. I’ll fill you in when I’m ready.”
Whatever it was sounded serious. Reese was always the good-time guy. The one who pulled her out of her shell and tried to get her to ditch her planner and do something, anything, spur-of-the-moment. So whatever plagued his mind, it was something big.
The way he kept stroking her hand had even more shivers pumping through her and Josie wasn’t so sure staying here at his house was a great idea. At least she was not staying in the same room with him. The hour was getting late and she had to start on a new project in the morning. She was going to need a clear mind and not one filled with passionate kisses and unsettling fantasies about her bestie.
“I’m tired,” she told him as she eased away and came to her feet. “I have a busy day tomorrow so I’m going to head up to my room.”
Reese stood, too, instantly invading her space by his sheer size. She’d always known he was a broad guy—he did value his gym time—but she hadn’t realized just how powerful and sexy he appeared until just now. Her heart beat quicker; her body tingled in ways it shouldn’t from just looking at her best friend.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his brows drawn in. “If you’re worried about the leaks at your place, my contractor will fix everything and you’ll never know there was a problem.”
Her leaks. Right. She’d honestly forgotten about that particular mess. Pretty much everything pre-kiss had slipped from her mind. Though she really should try to get back to reality because none of this—not what she was feeling, not what they were pretending—was valid.
Those few seconds of connection with Reese weren’t real. He didn’t want to build anything with her based on that kiss and he’d already told her this was all for show.
Fine. She could deal with that, but she still didn’t know how all of this would work. She didn’t have another space filed away for him. He was her rock, her very best guy, the one she could go to for anything. Shifting him somewhere else in her life would only unsettle the solid structure she strived for.
If she failed publicly at a relationship again, she worried how her reputation would hold up. She worried she’d let herself down, because she’d always prided herself on her independence and her control. Thanks to her military father and her regimented childhood, she knew no different.
“I’m not worried about the leaks,” she assured him.
Reese reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then trailed his fingertips down her jawline. Had he always been this touchy? This affectionate? Was Reese’s interest recent or had she taken all of those innocent touches for granted before?
“Is it the kiss?” he asked.
Her heart caught in her throat. Leave it to him to draw out the awkwardness and make it bold and commanding.