“We’d need to go out,” Maggie said. “I have a few ideas for dates I’d like to experience. Then I’ll take some notes on my thoughts and feelings and incorporate them into my novel.”
“That’s it?” Dean asked, “Just a few dates?”
“And pretend like we’re actually dating. Yes.”
Dean chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck with one wide palm. He gave his head a little shake, as if to clear his thoughts. He muttered something under his breath, something that sounded like ‘this is insane,’ but Maggie decided not to take that to heart. Especially if he agreed to her proposition.
“This will help you?”
Maggie nodded.
“Damn it, Babs.” Dean shook his head, but his smile was back. “How long do you need a… boyfriend?”
“Not long,” Maggie said. Her heart was still pounding, but the rushing in her ears had subsided and the fluttering in her stomach wasn’t nausea anymore. He was going to say yes. She knew Dean. He was going to say yes. “A few weeks. Maybe a month?” Dean’s frown was back, “Or less.”
“I can give you a month,” Dean said, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he looked down at her. “But Babs, we have to be on the same page about this.”
Maggie frowned. She’d laid out what she needed and for how long. He’d agreed. Didn’t that count as being on the same page?
Dean cleared his throat. “Intimate encounters.”
Maggie’s blush hadn’t died down, but now she felt the heat rush back to her cheeks. They burned like the time she and Audrey had gone to the beach and Maggie had fallen asleep in the sun and forgotten to reapply sunscreen. Her skin had been the color of hot Cheetos, and everything felt tight and achy when she moved.
Dean shifted, drawing her eyes back to his. “I don’t think sex would be appropriate for a fake relationship.”
“Will you,” she searched for the right words, “be intimate with other people? While we’re—”
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Dean with a girlfriend or even a date. He didn’t run through partners like other guys, but she knew he’d dated in high school and college. With his classic good looks, endless charm, and sweet smile, he couldn’t be hurting for company if he wanted it. The thought of him sleeping with other people during their arrangement sunk like a lead weight into her stomach.
“I won’t date anyone else while I’m helping you,” Dean said, cutting through her devolving thoughts. “It would look a little suspicious if we said we were dating and then I slept with someone else. But I expect the same from you in return.”
Maggie didn’t mean to laugh. She tried to hold in the guffaw, but it found its way out.
“Dean, I think we’ve established that I’m asking for your help because I don’t date, and my prospects are slim.”
“I just figured you might have someone you, uh, exercise your libido with. But forget it, I don’t want to know.”
Maggie shook her head. Casual sex wasn’t her style. Her last fantasy had included some steamy hand holding with the sparkling man sitting next to her. And maybe some weird tummy flutters from looking too long at Mac’s chest. Both were men she knew fairly well and trusted to listen to an emphatic no if she gave it.
“Listen, if that changes, and you find someone you want to be with during our… arrangement, then we can end things with no hard feelings.”
Maggie nodded. She couldn’t contain her grin. Her real one that showed her gums above her top teeth and scrunched her eyes until it looked like they were closed.
“Thank you, Dean. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Without conscious will, Maggie launched herself at her best friend’s older brother. She landed in his lap, her arms looped around his neck and shoulders. Her bag sat between their bodies, buffering any more intimate contact. She smiled up at the best man she’d ever known and decided that a critical review and a pesky panic attack may have been the best series of events that had ever happened to her.
“Let me know when you’re free, and I’ll give you a date to write home about, pun absolutely intended.”
Dean let his arms circle Maggie’s waist, and he smiled down at her. He shifted her on his lap, and for a moment, she thought he was going to press his mouth to hers. Maggie sucked her breath in like a prayer because she wanted a kiss. She wanted a perfect kiss in a perfect moment. A kiss that set off butterflies in her stomach and made her want more.
Maggie had had kisses before. Hell, she’d had sex too—thank you—but her previous kisses had always felt awkward and sloppy. Her partners had never seemed to mind, but it took Maggie only a few tries to learn that she preferred her tongue to be the only one inside her mouth. It eased some of the drool issues and most of the stale breath problems her previous partners all seemed to have. Deep down, she’d always wondered if the problem was with her. Maybe she was a terrible kisser. Or maybe it would be different to share a kiss with someone she was attracted to. Someone like Dean.
Dean rested his chin on top of her head and let his fingers trail lightly up and down her arms. She broke out in goosebumps, feeling the shiver wrack her body.
“Cold?” He nestled her in closer. Maggie shook her head.
“Grateful,” she said.
Dean fished his sleek, trendy phone out of the pocket of his pants and thumbed to his contacts. He typed out a message before setting the phone next to him on the couch.