“It’s not that big of a favor,” Kellan interjected quickly. “So put that out of your mind. I couldn’t sleep at night in my own condo anyway now that I know there’s a serious threat. Let me crash here and we’ll all feel better. That’s all there is to this. The fake engagement thing is strictly to avoid gossip. You know, if you even care about that. Some women wouldn’t.”
The implications washed over her and dang it, her cheeks went hot. “I’m the kind who cares. So I appreciate that. And it is a big favor. Being fake engaged means a lot of hand-holding and adoring looks. I’m not sure how to even do that.”
“If you’re worried about my acting skills,” he said blithely, “don’t. I can hold my own.”
That’s when he gave her one of his adorable lopsided smiles, the same one that had made a mess of her insides yesterday. Okay, so he had that part down pat, no problem.
“It’s not you I’m worried about,” she muttered without thinking and that’s when Kellan figured out where he wanted to stand—entirely too close to her.
Wow, was he tall. She blinked up at him as he took her hand gently in his. It was a strange contradiction for a guy with such obvious strength to have the capacity to be that restrained. Her heartbeat went into triple time as he looked down at her.
“I’m not worried about either of us,” he murmured. “We’ve known each other a long time. We just have to get comfortable with each other and it’ll be fine.”
Easy for him to say. She was the least comfortable she’d been in her life, with Kellan’s deep voice flooding through her and his fingers clasping hers. When had he gotten so devastatingly gorgeous? Or rather, when had she started noticing it? Because of course he looked the same as he always had.
“This is going to put a big hole in your dating life,” she said, which he’d likely already figured out.
“I’m good.”
That told her nothing at all. Was he planning to keep seeing women on the sly? Or was he on the downside of a bad breakup? Suddenly, it felt hugely necessary to dissect the man who would willingly enter such a stupid agreement, all for what amounted to a favor for a friend.
