Brenda Harlen – The Engagement Project / Her Surprise Hero: The Engagement Project / Her Surprise Hero (страница 14)

She was surprised that he was telling her this. Then she realized that he was telling her because she was safe, because she didn’t have any illusions that he was talking about settling down with her.

“What do you think?” she asked him.

“I don’t think I’m the settling type,” he told her. “Although my father insists that I just haven’t been dating the right kind of woman.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed there was a kind you’d missed.”

She dropped her head, mortified by what she’d just said.

But Gage only chuckled as he led her off of the dance floor when the song finished. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?”

“I didn’t mean—”

“Yes, you did,” he refuted, clearly unoffended. “And it’s okay. I have dated a lot of women.”

“I was surprised you didn’t already have plans when I asked you to come here tonight,” she admitted.

He shrugged as he drew her out onto the balcony. “I’ve taken a break from the social scene the last couple of months.”

“I guess the rumor mill has been kept busy recycling old news, then.”

“Of course, there will be all kinds of new gossip now that we’re an item.”

“We’re not.” she began, then realized he was teasing.

“Maybe we’re not,” he agreed. “But you don’t have to sound appalled at the prospect of having your name linked with mine.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“What did you mean?”

“Just that no one would ever believe we were a couple.”

He thought about what her aunt had said to him earlier, and her misguided matchmaking attempts. “You’re right. We definitely need to work on that.”

“How?”

“For starters, it would help if you didn’t freeze up every time I touched you,” Gage told her. “Just relax.”

“Relax? Around those people?”

He smiled. “I don’t think your family is the biggest problem.”

“That’s because they’re not your family,” she muttered.

He settled his hands on her shoulders.

She stilled, every muscle in her body going rigid.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” he said.

“What?” she asked, feigning ignorance.

He tugged her closer.

Her heart pounded harder.

He dipped his head and whispered close to her ear.

“You could at least pretend you’re happy to be alone with me.”

Happy was hardly the word she would use to describe how she was feeling. Surprised. Confused. Aroused. Oh, yeah, definitely aroused.

What was it about this man that sent her hormones rocketing like Fourth of July firecrackers? And all he’d done was put his hands on her shoulders. Okay, his hands were moving now, stroking down her arms, and slowly upward again, sending tingles through her whole body.

“Except that we’re not entirely alone,” he admitted softly.

“What?” She knew it was his proximity that was wreaking havoc with her ability to concentrate on his words, the tantalizing scent of him teasing her nostrils, taunting her hormones.

“Your cousin Camilla. She’s standing next to that potted palm beside the door, pretending not to watch us.”

“That sounds like something she would do,” Megan admitted, more than a little irritated that her cousin was lurking in the shadows, probably waiting to catch Gage alone so she could hit on him.

“Maybe we should give her something to talk about.” He lowered his head toward her.

“I appreciate what you’re doing,” she said. “But I think—”

“Stop thinking,” he said, and brushed his lips gently against hers.

So gently, and so briefly, that Megan wasn’t sure the contact had even happened.

“Just for two minutes,” he said, “stop thinking, stop worrying about your family and concentrate on this.”

Then he kissed her again—and she melted like the chocolate fondue on the dessert table.

She’d been kissed before. She’d been touched and groped and she’d had sex. She might not be a woman of vast experience, but she wasn’t innocent. At least, she hadn’t thought so.

But she’d never been kissed like Gage was kissing her.

She could taste the beer he’d drank, and something else—an elemental male flavor that went straight to her bloodstream and made her head spin and her knees tremble.

Then his hands slipped around her waist, drew her nearer. She could feel the heat and strength of his palms even through the fabric of her dress, and she found herself wondering how they would feel on her bare skin. Even knowing it was a fantasy that could never come true didn’t stop her from thinking about it, wanting it, wanting him.

Her lips parted on a sigh, and his tongue dipped inside. A lazy stroke, gently teasing, hotly tempting.

This was wrong. She shouldn’t be doing this. She certainly shouldn’t be pouring her heart and her soul into a kiss that wasn’t intended to mean anything. Or maybe it was just long-dormant hormones reawakened. Whatever the reason, Megan was helpless to resist the seduction of his kiss.

She felt as if she was drunk on champagne, though she’d only had a single glass of wine. Her heart was pounding, her blood was pulsing and her body was filled with a yearning she didn’t think she’d ever experienced before.

His hands slid slowly up her back, then down again.

It had been so long since she’d had a man’s hands on her, and Gage’s felt good, so good.

And then his hands stopped moving and his lips eased away from her.

“Well, that should give your cousin something to think about.”

Cousin?

Megan blinked the clouds from her eyes.

Right. He’d kissed her because he knew Camilla was watching them, because he was helping her fool her family into believing they were really a couple. But for a minute there, it had seemed so real, so perfect. And she should have known it was too perfect to be real.

She took a step back, giving herself some physical space while she drew in a deep breath and reined in her rampant hormones.

Thank goodness it was only an act—she wouldn’t stand a hope of resisting him if he ever truly turned his attentions in her direction.

“Meg?”

She pushed those thoughts aside and turned her attention back to her date.

“Are you ready to go back inside?” he asked.

She managed a smile. “Sure.”

Gage was careful not to touch Megan as he followed her back into the dining room, careful to remind himself that the kiss was just for show. A calculated move to convince Megan’s nosy cousin to mind her own business. It wasn’t supposed to mean anything. And it sure as hell wasn’t supposed to leave him wanting a lot more.

But looking at her now, at her flushed cheeks and swollen lips, he couldn’t deny the want and hunger that stirred inside of him. Completely unexpected—and undeniably real.