He focused his gaze on her flushed face and red lips. For a second, he considered apologizing, but couldn’t get the words to form on his tongue. He wasn’t sorry. Hell, he wanted more, much more.
12
Kinsley gave Mr. Maloney a smile as he escorted them to the door, glad for the moment when she could take a deep breath and consider her job done. Her nerves were scattered, especially after the searing kiss Jarred had given her.
“I expect you will no longer want to be my assistant,” her boss was saying as Jarred opened the front door. “Which I’m not sure I could have my soon-to-be daughter-in-law working fetching me coffee.”
“Oh no,” Kinsley said abruptly, frantically looking at Jarred. She could not lose her job. “And sir, I don’t actually fetch you coffee. One of the admins does that. I just make sure the kind you like is there when you arrive.” She doubted he knew just what her job was as his Executive Assistant.
“I’m sure Kinsley will still like to work for now father,” Jarred interjected, wrapping his arm around Kinsley’s waist. “If you will allow her to have some time to help me with my work at the company.”
“Of course, of course,” her boss replied, giving them a smile. Kinsley saw no malice, no falsehood in his expression, telling her that Jarred’s father was clearly happy that they were engaged. The thought didn’t sit well with her. She’d known what she was getting into, but now that they had accomplished their goal, the lies tore at her. She liked him. She didn’t want to lie to him. “Then I shall see you tomorrow Kinsley.”
“Yes sir,” she forced out and followed Jarred outside into the cool night.
They made it to the car before Jarred let out a large breath. “You were fucking awesome tonight,” he said.
“I, thanks,” she answered, fidgeting with her clutch. “I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries or anything.” Susan had pissed her off to no end. Where the courage came from to do so, she had no idea.
“God no,” he said, glancing over at her with a smile on his handsome face. “You handled Susan better than I ever could. You should be an actress.”
Kinsley gave him a halfhearted smile, wishing she could relish in the fact that she had performed great tonight. But the touches, that kiss, they had been far more than just acting. Throughout dinner she had wondered what it would be like to be with him, to have him constantly wanting to touch her instead of pretending. He was charming, devilishly handsome, every girl’s naughty fantasy and for a very short while, he was hers. How was she going to handle it when this was over? That was the problem with pretending. It was way too easy with Jarred to get attached. And what if he kissed her again? What if things went beyond kissing? She couldn’t handle it. It was hard enough to stay detached when they had shared a kiss or two. But shagging? Kinsley knew she would stand to have more to lose if they went down that path.
“We need to be seen out on the town,” Jarred was saying as he drove them back to London. “A date.”
“A date,” Kinsley said slowly, the thought of being seen in public with Jarred both exciting and terrifying.
“Yeah,” Jarred answered as he turned the car into the garage. “Dinner, drinks, whatever you want to do. I think it’ll solidify what we started tonight.”
Kinsley swallowed hard, worried. That would thrust her into the limelight and send tongues wagging. The paparazzi would attempt to find the dirt on her life. They would bother the people that raised her, hound Rachel during the most stressful time in her life. No. Kinsley couldn’t allow that to happen. “I, no. I don’t want to go on a date with you.”
Jarred pulled the car into the parking spot and shut off the engine before looking over at her. “What?”
“I mean,” Kinsley said quickly, “I’d rather keep this as quiet as possible. After all this is all a farce anyway. Can’t we just keep up appearances for your father? And what happens when we break this off? I mean I’ll be hounded and humiliated.”
Jarred stared at her, his jaw clenched tightly and Kinsley fought the urge to touch him, knowing it wasn’t what he was hoping for. After tonight, she was going to have a very hard time keeping her hands off him. “Fine,” he finally said. “We will do it your way. Tonight worked so well so if we keep it up, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.”
Kinsley nodded and looked away, drawing in a breath. “Good, as long as we are on the same page then.”
“The same page,” Jarred repeated. Kinsley opened her door and climbed out, Jarred following suit, mere inches between them. Kinsley bit her lip, thinking that she didn’t know what page she was on truly. Her mind kept drifting back to that kiss, the one that had warmed her all the way to her toes and had her craving more. She shouldn’t crave Jarred. It was all wrong to do so. He wasn’t her type of guy, yet the more she learned about him, the more she liked him. They walked into the lift and Jarred shut the door, leaning against the side of the lift watching her. She looked over at him, wetting her lips in the process. “What?”
He shook his head slowly. “Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you,” Kinsley said with a nervous laugh. She hoped that she didn’t have anything on her face that would keep him looking.
He ran a hand through his hair roughly, looking slightly out of sorts. “I, uh, I should walk you up.”
Kinsley laughed; she couldn’t help it. “I live right next door.”
“Right,” Jarred said, a slow, sexy grin on his face. Kinsley’s pulse fluttered and her face heated, wondering how someone could be so dangerous and sexy at the same time. “Things can happen on your short walk Kinsley.”
She nervously clenched her hands together to keep from reaching out and touching him. “L-like what?”
Jarred pushed off of the wall and started to close the gap between them, causing Kinsley’s breath to come out in short puffs. The look on his face was feral and her body was responding in thus. She wanted him. The thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Oh god, she shouldn’t want him. He wasn’t good for her. They wouldn’t even be this close if she hadn’t agreed in this fool plan to begin with.
He reached out and gently grasped her chin, his fingers warm on her skin and sending sizzling sparks throughout her body. She waited with bated breath for him to say something, do anything, the tension in her body tight as a drum. The lift dinged and they both fell apart. Kinsley cleared her throat as she walked down the hall, her body tingling in areas that hadn’t tingled in quite some time. Bloody hell, he hadn’t even really touched her and she was already melting into the floor. “Well, here we are,” she said, her voice coming out tight as she stopped in front of her flat door.
Jarred leaned against the outside of the doorway, a slight smile on his face. “See? You need protection.”
Kinsley looked down the hall, seeing no other person in sight. “I don’t see anyone else.”
He didn’t answer, his eyes growing dark. “Maybe I was lying. Maybe I need to see if I am imagining this.”
“I-Imaging what?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly.