Nora narrowed her eyes at Owen, studying him.
“Sorry, but Owen’s off the market.” Bria slid her arm around Owen’s waist and yanked him to her side. “This sexy math teacher is taken.”
Nora’s lips twisted and she swung her attention back to Angus.
Elise ground her teeth. Per l’amor di Dio, could this woman be more annoying? And stubborn?
“So’s Angus,” she stated. “See?” She lurched up onto her tiptoes and planted a kiss on Angus’s cheek.
He stiffened.
Oh no.
Her stomach dropped. Oh no, she’d taken the sham too far.
And ofcourseshe had. She was an idiot. This is what she got for trying to be brave and daring. Oh God, would the floor please, please, please just open up and swallow her? Why wouldn’t the floor just—
Angus turned to face her. His eyes locked on hers, and then, with a slow smile, he murmured, “See?” and leant forward and brushed his lips over the left corner of hers.
It was the softest of soft kisses. Barely any contact at all. Lasting for barely a heartbeat.
And yet Elisa’s entire body thrummed with an elemental, core-deep response unlike any she’d had before. She let out a hitching moan, the sound the sexiest noise she’d ever made, and closed her eyes.
Insane. This was insane. She’d never been so turned on, and so…so…centered. So grounded. So real and alive.
“See?” Zeta crowed at her side. “Fiancée.”
Elisa pulled away from Angus.
His gaze found hers, a question in his eyes:I hope that was okay?
She could only answer with a smile:It was perfect.
He smiled back. “Fiancée.”
“So it seems,” Nora intoned.
Elisa grit her teeth at the suspicion in the producer’s voice.
Angus drew Elisa to his side, smoothing his arm around her waist, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself gasping in delighted surprise. His fiancée wouldn’t gasp at the public display and body placement, even if it did feel so damn good to be snug against him. Solid and safe and calm. And normally she wouldn’t even remotely feel two of those things. Being hugged by a guy she didn’t really know, during a high-pressure situation, and here she was calm and feeling safe?
Could she convince him to spend the rest of his life with her?
Dio, I really am in trouble.
“Now if you’ll excuse us, Nora,” Angus said. “I’d like to spend some time with my friends and my fiancée’s family.”
“Of course.” Nora waved a hand, as if brushing away a fly. “I don’t want to be an annoyance.”
Kara barked out a laugh.
Nora’s eyes narrowed for a split-second, and then she flashed Angus a smile. “But while I’m here, I may as well have an early lunch. If I can’t have you as my bachelor, I can at least have you as my chef. For a meal. Today. Right now.”
Elisa wanted to scream. Nora clearly wasn’t convinced.
Are you surprised?
Nora directed a sweeping gaze around the restaurant and then raised an eyebrow at Angus. “Can you point me to an available table? Or can I sit at your fiancée’s?”