r female family members, and they all hung on every word he said. He had them all enamored, and he didn’t even have to try. She couldn’t believe it. His strong baritone voice cut through the space. “…and then the plane landed, and the rest is history.”
“Wait, so you flew with her? That’s how you two met?” her mom asked, her eyes wide. “How did that go?”
Susan leaned in. “And how did your not-even-there-yet relationship survive it?”
“Oh, I found her nervousness charming.” Cooper threw his arm around Kayla’s shoulders and smiled. “She needed a knight in shining armor, and I’ve always had a thing for a damsel in distress. We were the perfect fit.”
Cue eye roll. “Yeah, we really were. Still are, somehow.”
“Because we work,” Cooper said, reaching out and cupping Kayla’s cheek. His warm gaze stared down into hers, stealing her thoughts right out of her head. “So very well.”
Even though she knew he was putting a show on for the women, she still had to catch her breath when he leaned in and kissed her sweetly. He looked at her as if she was the only thing that mattered to him. And it felt real—his lips on hers and the emotion behind them.
Man, he was good.
He had them all on puppet strings, and he was the puppeteer. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be on a string, too. She pulled back, her cheeks burning. Cooper stared down at her, something unspoken and deep in his eyes.
Something she couldn’t read. “Hey,” she whispered.
“Hey,” he said back, his gaze finally clearing. He noticed her family, then gave them a sheepish grin, “Oops. Forgot we had an audience.”
“Keep him,” her mom whispered. She turned her attention to everyone else. “All right. Enough bothering the lovebirds. It’s time for me to go on stage, and then it’ll be you, Kayla. Everyone, to your seats.”
One by one, they all dispersed to their assigned seats and Cooper led her to the table next to her father. Her heart was still racing from the kiss he’d given her earlier, and her legs were a little bit wobbly. This was freaking ridiculous. She wasn’t the type of girl to swoon over her man, and she wasn’t about to start with a fake relationship of all things.
Sinking into her chair, she gulped down her cool water, not stopping until the glass was empty. God knew she needed all the help she could get in cooling the heck off.
“You all right over there?” Cooper asked, a brow up.
“Yeah, sure.” She set down her glass, then pointed to his untouched drink. “You going to drink that?”
Cooper held his cup out to her. “It’s all yours, sweetheart. Thirsty much?”
“God, yes.” Snatching the glass out of his hand, she tipped it back and emptied it without a break. After she was finished, she swiped her hand across her wet lips. “Thank you.”
His eyes on her mouth, he reached out and wiped away a drop she must have missed with his thumb. “You’re very welcome.”
She shivered, his thumb leaving a trail of fire in its wake. So much for cooling off. “Uh, I need to read over my speech one more time.”
“Go ahead.”
She pulled back. “You’re touching me. I can’t.”
“You can’t read while I’m touching you?” he asked, his voice light.
“Nope.” She pulled the paper out of her purse with a trembling hand. “So hands off, mister.”
He held them up in surrender. “Yes, ma’am.”
She shot him one last look, then focused on the words she’d written instead of the man at her side. Somewhere in all the pretending and kisses, her body was forgetting that this was all for show. He didn’t really love her, and she didn’t love him, either. This was all fake.
Fake, fake, fake.
She needed to focus on something that wasn’t pretend.
She lowered her head and checked him out from under her lashes. Thank God he’d packed a suit just in case he had a business meeting. He was so handsome in it…and the fabric grazed his whipcord lean body just right. What she was going to do with him once they got back to the hotel definitely wasn’t fake.
The microphone crackled and Cooper jumped. He glanced over his shoulder then turned back to her. Tugging on his collar, he shifted in his seat and asked, “When do you go on?”