“To anyone else, this is real.”
I can feel my cheeks go hot. “And how real are you talking?”
He pulls at the collar of his shirt again. “I’ve thought about that. If we’re going to convince Granny this is real, we need to sleep together, but we’re grown adults. I’ll stay on my side, and you’ll stay on your side.”
I need him to spell it out. “So no S-E-X.”
He laughs at that. “Bella, why are you spelling it?”
I lift my shoulders to my ears in embarrassment. When I don’t respond, he leans forward and whispers, “Have you thought about it? Having sex with me, I mean?”
My pulse hammers in my throat.
I’m saved from answering when the waitress brings our dinner and sets the plates down in front of us. I busy myself unrolling the silverware and putting the napkin in my lap before digging in like I can’t wait to eat.
Lucas breaks the silence. “I’ve thought about it... with you, I mean.”
I drop my fork and stare at him. He didn’t just say what I thought he said. My mouth is hanging open, and he points at my plate with his fork. “Eat.”
I dutifully pick up the fork, but I’m still staring at him.
He starts to cut the steak on his plate, and thank goodness he’s not looking at me when he confesses. “What? Look at you. How could I not think about it?”
I lean back and look down at myself. Once I get past the too-large chest that people tend to stare at, I find the same wide hips that I curse every day when I have to tug the jeans over them. Same soft middle. I lift my eyes and look at him, not understanding.
His eyes are open wide in surprise. “Well, I’ll be... you don’t know, do you?”
I gulp. “Know what?”
He leans forward, and so do I because I’m really curious now. He looks at my chest, and a big smile forms on his face. “I’m just going to say it, Bella. You have a body made for fucking.”
My whole body jerks in reaction. That has to be the hottest thing anyone has ever said to me. I put a hand to my chest. “Uh, what...?”
He nods, and his eyes turn a shade darker. “Yeah, honey. I’m sure I’m not the only person to tell you so, but when a man looks at you–”
He cuts himself off and shakes his head before leaning back. He sets down the knife in his hand and pulls at his collar again. “Damn, it’s hot in here.”
I nod my head in agreement because I’m pretty sure my whole body just had a hot flash. He takes a bite of his steak and looks at me with regret. “But of course, we can’t do that. That would confuse things when it ends.”
I take a bite of the steak in front of me, but it tastes like sawdust to me. “Right... when it ends,” I repeat. Like I was doused in cold water, I’m brought back to reality. Basically, Lucas wants to fuck me... but he doesn’t want forever. I should probably ask more about what’s going to happen when this ends, but I don’t.
The rest of the meal, we have a normal conversation, staying off the topic of the marriage. It’s not until we pull into the driveway later and get out to walk inside that I grab his hand. “All right... I’ll do it. I’ll marry you... for G.”
Lucas
She keeps walking as if she didn’t just drop a bomb. I put my finger through the belt loop of her jeans and tug her to a stop. In amazement, I ask her so there’s no confusion, “You’ll marry me?”
She shrugs. She’s biting her lip, trying not to smile, and I thread an arm around her waist, pulling her to me. Finally, she answers me. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
“Saturday.”
She puts her hands to my chest and leans back so she can see my face. “Saturday? This Saturday?”
I nod, fighting with myself not to lean down the few inches and kiss her.
“Lucas, that’s crazy. We can’t pull this off by Saturday. No one is going to believe that we’ve fallen in love overnight and are now getting married THIS SATURDAY. No way. It’s too soon.”
“Chicken,” I tease her, and her hands clench on to my shirt. I know she can’t stand a dare.
“Chicken? I’m not a chicken, but think about it, Lucas. You want this to be believable. No one is going to believe it.”
I shrug. “We tell people we’ve been secretly dating for six months. People want to believe in love, Bella. They’ll want to believe it.”
She bites her lip, and everything inside me wants to put my lips to hers to soothe the tender skin. I put a hand on her hips and tug her against me. “What do you say?”