I looked my way down the counter to the curve of her hip beneath my hand and then back to the counter. “I’m still giving sex the edge over food,” I said at last, “but since you’ve put so much work into this, maybe we could wait until after breakfast.”
She laughed. “Deal.”
“I’m going to clean up and get dressed and then I’ll come help.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.” I kissed the tip of her nose and went back to my bedroom.
* * *
An hour later, she, Ford, and I sat back after stuffing ourselves. I’d never tasted anything so good, or so beautifully presented. She’d made ham, shallots, and gruyère cheese crepes covered with a white sauce I didn’t even try to identify. Then she had bacon, tomato and swiss crepes covered with some kind of sour cream. The sweet ones were literally like dessert, one a chocolatey-caramel mess and the other with peanut butter and bananas. Ford and I both looked like we were in a food coma, but I noticed Bri only nibbled at her food.
“Does it not taste good when you cook it?” I asked her, when I finally found the strength to get up and bring my plate to the sink.
“It does, but I don’t have the metabolism I used to, and this is way too fattening for me unless it’s a special occasion.”
“Fuck.” Ford shook his head. “I got the wrong girlfriend, man.”
“Because she’s a fake girlfriend,” I pointed out.
Ford grimaced and I winced when I realized absolutely no one was supposed to know about Ford’s arrangement with Avon.
“Well, cat’s out of the bag now,” he muttered.
I blew out a breath. “I’m sorry.” I turned to Brianna. “So, here’s the deal. Please keep this to yourself, but our PR team decided one of us needed to have a high-profile relationship that might get us in the news a bit. Avon Simms’s people reached out to ours for that very reason. Do you know of her?”
“Of course. She’s huge, and everywhere.” Bri nodded. “She’s always getting in bar fights.”
“See?” Ford said, nudging me. “I’m not the only one who thinks that.”
“Just two,” I protested. “But anyway, she and Ford met the other day or last week or whatever and…” I glanced at him. “You liked her?”
“I mean, yeah. We’re not actually dating, but she seems nice enough. We watched a lot of soccer and drank bourbon, talked about a bunch of stuff. She’s cool. She’s home in the U.K. right now, seeing her mom, but when she comes back she’s coming right to Vegas and we’re going out on the town. It’ll be our debut as a couple, I guess.” He leaned back in his chair.
“Is that a thing in your world?” Bri asked, carrying the rest of the plates to the sink. “Fake relationships and all?”
“You cooked,” I told her. “Ford and I will clean up. And yeah, sometimes. It’s not the norm, but it’s not a new concept either. Two people who need each other find each other either by chance or by design, and make it work.”
“How long are you supposed to date her?” Bri asked, wrapping her hands around her coffee mug.
“We’re saying three months,” Ford said. “We’ll see how it’s going and reassess. And either of us can end it at any time. The deal is, we end it amicably, as friends, saying publicly that it just didn’t work out because of our different schedules and such.”
“And this is all over a handshake?” Bri asked.
Ford nodded. “Yup. But it’s all good. I don’t have anything to lose. Not really.”
Bri nodded thoughtfully. “I guess it’s okay when both parties are willing and no one is getting hurt.”
“I’ll clean up the kitchen,” Ford said, getting up. “Ya’ll go do your sex thing or whatever.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Bri and she blushed.
“You’re really going to have to stop blushing,” I teased her.
“Good luck with that.” She laughed as I tugged her out of the room.
17
Brianna
* * *
Declan would have been happy to spend the day in bed but this was my only day off and I had to get over to my parents’ place. It wasn’t my responsibility to feed them, but I’d feel guilty knowing they didn’t have groceries while I spent my day in bed with the hottest guy I knew.
“I’m coming with you,” Declan said for the fifth time after we’d showered.
“Look.” I turned to him. “My parents and their house are embarrassing. I don’t want you to see it. I don’t know how else to say it.”
“But they’re your parents. If we decide to keep seeing each other, and this turns into a relationship, I’m going to meet them. They’re part of you.”
“If this turns into a relationship, we’ll talk about it then. I’ll only be gone about an hour and a half. Really. I’m going to the grocery store for them, I’ll drop it off, make my mom something to eat because she likes to watch me cook, and then I’ll be back.”
He grunted. “This isn’t cool, Bri. How do we get to know each other if we don’t share the good and the bad?”
“You met my brother. That’s enough bad for the week.”
He looked like he was going to protest some more but I distracted him by wrapping my arms around him and kissing him. “I’ll be back in less than two hours. I’ll make dinner and then we can spend the rest of the night in bed.”
“We don’t have to spend every waking moment fucking and eating,” he said slowly. “I’d like to take you out to dinner tonight. Somewhere romantic. With candles and good wine. Maybe see you in heels again.”
I hesitated. “You know if we do that, and the food isn’t perfect, I will criticize the whole damn meal.”
He laughed. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“So I should stop at home and get a dress?”
“Absolutely. The shorter the better.”
I chewed my lip. “I don’t know if I have a dress like that.”
He frowned. “You don’t wear short dresses?”
“I don’t go out to fancy dinners where a dress like that would be needed. I don’t think I own a little black dress,” I admitted. “Much to Kiki’s chagrin.”
“Are you going to smack me if I suggest we go shopping?”
I thought about it. My knee-jerk reaction would be to say he absolutely wasn’t taking me shopping, but the flip side was that if we went out somewhere in Vegas and he was recognized, there was a real possibility the press would have something to say about the girl dating Bash James and how she dressed like a homeless person. That was probably an exaggeration but I didn’t own any fancy dresses.
“It’s probably time I got a dress like that,” I said aloud. “I could stop at the mall on the way home and—”
“And leave me here babysitting the cat?” He shook his head. “No way. If you go shopping, I go with you.”