‘For goodness sake, Jannes. We don’t need a contract. I’m not going to make you sleep with me!’ Lara said with a laugh.
He frowned before he could catch himself. He hadn’t thought for a second that she would, but was the prospect really so appalling? He certainly didn’t think so. In fact, if Lara wasn’t one of his best friends, he’d find the thought of it rather...appealing. But she was one of his best friends. She was one of the people that he liked best in the world, and that meant that he wasn’t willing to risk having her in his life over something physical and meaningless. They were more than that.
‘I know that,’ he said. ‘That’s not what I meant at all.’
She laughed, and he wondered whether he was blushing. He felt as if he was probably blushing. ‘Ha, well, I guess dating me is going to be full of surprises.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m not sure I’m able to...’ How were they meant to have a serious conversation when she was so...disarming? He needed to tiptoe through this, and she was forcing him to leap.
‘You wanted to get our stories straight,’ Lara said, changing the subject. ‘How complicated are you expecting our origin story to be?’
He shrugged, going with it, because what else could he do in the face of Lara’s enthusiasm? He’d never been able to resist. ‘I don’t know. Not complicated, but if someone asks us where we went on our first date and we don’t know, then the gig is going to be up.’
‘Fine.’ Lara crossed her legs and rested her elbows on her knees, leaning closer to him and fixing him with a mischievous look. ‘Where do you want me to take you on our imaginary first date? Knock yourself out. Choose something fancy—I’m buying.’
He raised one eyebrow. ‘So generous.’
‘Well, I like to treat you like a princess,’ she said, lifting one corner of her lips in a smile. ‘You deserve it, baby.’
‘Baby?’ He gave her a strong look, trying not to laugh.
‘Babe?’ she suggested.
He shook his head. ‘Absolutely not.’
‘Darling? Sweetheart? Cutie pie?’
He was in so much trouble.
She turned and pressed an impulsive kiss on his cheek and he just knew that that smirk on her face was because he was blushing.
‘So. There are other things that we need to talk about if our story is that we’re together now. Not just friends. Like kissing,’ he said, blurting the words out as he rubbed at his cheek, his fingers catching where her lip balm had left a shimmer of stickiness. ‘We might have to do that. Would it look weird if we didn’t?’
‘It might do,’ she agreed. ‘If you need the story in the press to be that we’re together now, they’re going to want the pictures to go with it.’
He nodded slowly. That was what he had been thinking too. But kissing Lara... That would... It wouldn’t just be a kiss. Would it? With his best friend? Maybe it could be. Maybe he was making all this just too damn complicated. They had just said that this wouldn’t change anything about who they were to each other, after all. If the kissing wasn’t real, it shouldn’t be a big deal. ‘Do you think we should...practice?’ he asked.
She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘How complicated do you normally make it?’
He pulled her to her feet, took a step towards her, bringing his body
right in front of her so she had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye.
‘Depends on the occasion. And who I’m kissing. But the last thing we want is a picture of us that makes it obvious we’re faking this. If we feel awkward just talking about it between ourselves, how’s that going to come across to anyone else?’
* * *
‘That’s a fair point,’ she said, not moving any closer. ‘So...’ she said, hesitating slightly. Up this close, standing like this, she felt less like laughing. This was serious. Suddenly, as Jannes’s tongue moistened his lower lip, she felt her teeth close around her own. She wasn’t sure this was a good idea. Was equally sure that it didn’t matter because she was going to do it anyway.
This was Jannes. Lovely, safe Jannes. Who would never hurt her, who couldn’t hurt her, because they both knew exactly what this was: fake. And she couldn’t hurt him, because faking this was his idea.
‘All right, then,’ she said, eyes fixed on his mouth, noticing for the first time how the light caught at the top of his cupid’s bow, the touch of shadow below the fullness of his bottom lip.
He tucked her hair behind her ear, a light, friendly touch. Something that wouldn’t ordinarily make her pulse stutter, make her draw in a breath and hold it, not sure when she’d get a chance for another. His fingers lingered behind the curve of her ear, hit a sensitive spot that made her bite down harder on her lip.
This was nothing. It was friendly. They were friends and this was a friendly kiss. Not even that. Just a practice run at a friendly kiss.
Until his hand threaded in her hair, tightening at the nape, and she found herself swaying into him. She put a hand out to steady herself—felt considerably less steady when it landed on Jannes’s hip. She held on, fingers curling round the jut of his hipbone, and let her eyes leave his mouth to flick up to his eyes. His lids were half-lowered, long blond lashes catching sunlight, glinting gold at the tips. Pupils blown wide, deep blue irises barely visible.