“To us,” she echoes.
And when our lips touch, fireworks blaze behind my eyes.
I might be in big trouble.
Chapter Four
Alexis
When Colt’s lips touch mine, I can’t help gasping in surprise. I shouldn’t be surprised. He did say that he was going to kiss me. And I agreed.
But somehow the reality of his lips on mine is different—better—more than what I expected.
His kiss is chaste, his lips supple, but when I gasp at the contact, he slides his tongue along my open lips. Tentative, like he’s testing the waters, not sure if he should dive in.
But we’re a couple, at least as of right now, and if we want to sell this thing, we have to make it look real.
He’s already withdrawn, and I’m afraid he might pull back, but I don’t let him. Instead, I slide one hand up the fine fabric of his suit jacket and behind his neck, holding him captive. His muscles stiffen under my hands, then relax. When I slide my tongue along his lower lip, he practically melts against me.
And then he turns hungry. His tongue meets mine and slides into my mouth, his hand on my hip pulling me closer, his other hand wrapping around my back like he wants to hold onto me and never let go. His dick pokes into my belly, long and hard and firm.
And oh no. Selling us as a couple to the media won’t be difficult at all.
We have enough chemistry to light this whole place on fire. Too bad it’s all for show.
He ends the kiss first, much to my disappointment, his chest heaving against mine, his breaths coming fast and shallow. He gives me a seductive smile, bringing his hand to my face and running his thumb under my lower lip. “You’re perfect,” he breathes. “But the goal is to make you seem like a stable person in a relationship, not a drunken bimbo ready to jump the first guy she sees. Since we haven’t been spotted in public together before now, we can’t go too crazy.”
“Right,” I manage to say, forcing myself to take deep breaths to slow my racing heart. “Good point.” At least I know I’m not the only one affected. No guy can fake the heat he’s packing in his pants. And while seductive smiles are easy enough to learn, the look in his eyes is one hundred percent real.
He turns us back to the bar, his arm casually around my waist like we belong together, and orders two more tonics with lime. “We’ll hang out here for a few more minutes while I get ahold of myself, and then we need to circulate together. Be seen as a couple. And before we leave, we need to slip off into a quiet corner and exchange numbers. We’ll need to hammer out our story so we can put out a press release, that way we can make it seem like we’ve known each other for a while and have history together. A new relationship might hurt you. But an old one kept under wraps because of …” He pauses, his face scrunching up as he searches for a plausible reason to hide a relationship.
But I have the answer already. “Because the label didn’t want their girl band to have boyfriends. Girls dating anyone but each other makes people worried the band will break up. As an up and comer, we couldn’t afford rumors like that. So we had to keep our relationship secret. Now that I’m pursuing a solo career, that’s not an issue.”
He turns to me, his eyes lit up with surprise and admiration as he snaps his fingers. “Perfect. Yes. That’s great.” He pauses, his eyes narrowing in speculation. “Is that true? They wanted you to date each other? Are you … I mean … Were you …”
His cheeks turn pink as he stammers out his half-formed questions, and it’s got to be the most adorable thing about him. He’s got a little bit of a baby face anyway, though his trim suit and worldly vibe make you realize that he’s more man than boy. But like this he looks boyish and cute, and as tempted as I am to let it continue as long as possible, my laughter at his discomfort puts an end to his stammering.
“Yes, they did encourage that, actually. And no, I’m not a lesbian. Or bi. We had some staged photos of us scantily clad and touching each other. Katie and Mia actually kissed for that, and I think they might’ve a few other times on their own. And while they might bend a little more toward that end of the Kinsey scale, they weren’t a couple either. I think we were all more concerned with keeping our friendship intact than letting the label pimp us out as the hot blonde lesbians. They were very careful to keep our sexuality mysterious, and we weren’t allowed to answer direct questions about it.”
The look on his face is a mixture of surprised and impressed. “That didn’t bother you?”
I shrug, sipping my tonic and lime and suppressing my desire to make a face. Tonic water isn’t my favorite, and adding a slice of lime doesn’t make it any more palatable. “It was business. If that was what it took to sell our songs and perform on stage with Cataclysm? It was a small price to pay. Even though our pictures ended up in a few tabloids at some of those parties, it was enough of a free for all that no one’s sexuality was very definitive. And the label was just as happy with bisexual blondes as they were with lesbians.”
Colt doesn’t say anything for several long minutes. Then, “Well, I guess that just makes our arrangement even easier, doesn’t it?”
I smile at him and clink my glass against his. “I know I can hack it. The question is, can you?”
“Would you like to guess what
