"Noon, if you could. Twelve fifteen at the latest. The clinic's just outside city limits, and I always like to be five minutes early wherever I go."
"Okay then. Noon tomorrow, done deal." He kept rubbing her hand. It felt good, and she wasn't pulling it away, so maybe she liked it too. "I don't know what the testing involves. I can tell you I'm clean as far as STDs and all that fun stuff."
She grinned. "Good to know. I'm not sure either. I guess to see how high your sperm count is, if they're healthy swimmers, all of that."
"Well, I'm not twenty-eight, I'm thirty-eight. Don't know how age affects it, but I'm sure it does . . ." He frowned. "I'll be thirty-nine in May. Think it's a problem?"
"Easy, old man. I'm sure it's fine." She tipped her head to the side, assessing him. "Did you and your ex-wife try to have children?"
"No, we tried not to. She was on the pill. We had too much going on, we weren't ready yet. We weren't going to try for kids until we were thirty. We had a plan . . ." Memories crept in. They didn't cause a kick of pain; he didn't feel anything, which was good. He shrugged. "So I don't know if my boys are good swimmers. I use condoms."
She blinked at that. "Use? Present tense? Are you seeing someone?" Her hand slowly but surely slipped out of his.
"No, I'm not seeing anyone now. But I've dated. Had some . . . encounters." He shrugged again. "I don't do relationships, but I'm not a very good monk." He grinned, but peered harder at her. "Does that bother you?"
"Not at all. Your dating life is none of my business," she said. Her tone held no malice, no edge. "I was just surprised. I thought, from your use of present tense, that you were seeing someone."
"There was someone I was seeing last year, kind of on and off," he said. "Casual, not serious. But after a while, I knew she wanted it to become more, and I didn't. So I thought it was fair to her to end it. That was about five months ago. End of the summer. Haven't had any sex since then, by the way. Guess you should know that too?"
Tess bit down on her lip, trying to hide a grin. "That's honest. But you know, you didn't have to tell me that if you didn't want to."
"Hey, if we're going into something like we're about to go into? It's a big deal. We need to be open and honest. Have each other's back. That's how I see it, anyway."
She looked at him with bright eyes, nodding in agreement. "I like that. A lot, actually. You mean, like a team?"
"Yeah, sure. I mean . . ." He shifted in his seat, scooted a bit closer. "You're trusting me with the biggest thing you could. I'm trusting you with lying to my mom to make her happy, which is a big deal to me. We've both got a lot to lose if it went sideways. So yeah, we need to be a team." He wasn't sure, but the look on her face seemed like she was kind of in awe, and delighted, and even excited. She took his hand in hers, and he welcomed the return of her soft skin, the warmth of it. A swell of something strong washed through him.
She slid along the cushions, edging closer. "We better come up with a story together. Because the thing is, if we're going to sell this to her, you'll have to sell it to the other people in your life too. You realize that, right? If I'm your girlfriend . . ."
He swore under his breath. "Hadn't thought that far ahead."
She caressed his hand, echoing the tenderness of his earlier gesture. "We're a team now, right? We can do this. It might even be fun."
He stilled. Her words sank in . . . What he'd asked her to do sank in. "Why are you so willing to do this, to lie for me?" he asked.
"Because I know you," she said. "Besides, the bottom line is, if you can do something so huge for me, this is the least I can do for you."
He gazed at her, reached out with his free hand to brush a stray curl back from her eyes. "You're one of the most generous people I've ever met," he murmured.
"I could say the same for you right now," she replied. "And you're making me feel so assured about all this . . . You're an honorable man."
"I don't know about that. Some of the thoughts I'm having this second aren't very honorable." Lust zipped through him as he stared at her. Her beautiful face, her alluring presence . . . Christ almighty, she cast spells on him, he was convinced of it.
Her eyes, so blue, took on a new light. She looked at him from beneath her long lashes, the look of a siren. "You know . . . this arrangement . . . if I'm going to be your fake girlfriend, we'll have to kiss and stuff." Her thin brow lifted, a sassy look if he ever saw one. It made his skin heat. "Maybe we should practice."
His blood seared through him, racing south. "Jesus," he half growled.
"Haven't you thought about that?" She scooted another inch closer, tempting him, enticing him.
"Truth? Yeah, it crossed my mind. More than once."
"We do have chemistry," she murmured as he moved closer. "Don't we?"
"Yeah, we do. Maybe we should start that practicing . . ." His heart was close to bursting out of his damn chest, but he managed to look right into her eyes. His blood pulsed through his body. God, he wanted her right there, right then. She was so close, he could smell her light scent, some musky perfume, vanilla maybe? Something that drugged him. She was staring at his mouth now . . . The air was thick with sexual tension.
Yet they both hesitated. "Kissing on demand is a little different than getting lost in the moment, huh."
She breathed out a tiny huff of a laugh, her disbelief pretty clear, at how things had turned. She licked her lips and said, "I was just thinking that. Suddenly we both got shy. What's up with that?"
Grinning, her fingers inched forward to touch his knee, and his cock throbbed. Jesus, he was so turned on already, and all she'd done was move in close and lightly touch his knee.
"I mean," she continued, "if we're going to be a fake couple . . . we'll need to spend a little time together. And the more we get to know each other, the more real it's going to seem. Right?"
"Right." He intertwined his fingers with hers. "Well. This just got even more interesting, huh?" They laughed together, breaking the tension a little. But his body was on fire, and he had to calm it down. "Or, maybe I should go now," he said.
Her eyes flew wide. "What? Why?"
"Because I'm raging inside," he admitted gruffly, noting the way her high color deepened. "I don't know if I'll be able to stop at two or three kisses."
"Who said you have to?" Her voice was low and a little wicked. "I'm not going to count . . ." Her eyes had gone dark with desire. In her gaze, he clearly saw the same lust he was battling. She closed the distance between them, practically putting herself in his lap. Her warm breath fanned against his lips as she whispered, "Practice time. Kiss me."
He didn't need to be asked twice. He pressed his mouth to hers, taking slow, sumptuous sips from her lips as his hands gently cradled her head. She responded slowly at first, but he held her, kissing her until her muscles relaxed under his hands and she eased against him. Within a minute, their mutual attraction took over like wildfire. Her mouth opened to him and he deepened the kisses, his tongue sweeping inside, wanting to taste her, desperate for more. She arched against him, pressing herself close as her arms snaked around his neck. His fingers tangled in her hair, such a thick mass of curls, so soft . . .
"Just friends," he whispered against her lips between kisses, assuring her as much as himself. "Friends with an agenda . . . that happens to include sexy time."
She smiled, melting into his arms. "I like the sound of that."
He kissed her again and again. "Me too."
She tipped her head back to offer better access to her throat. He kissed, licked, nipped his way along her chin and down her neck. Her fingers twisted in his hair, her sighs of pleasure making his blood race. "Best deal I've ever made," she said on a hitched breath. "Both sides, nothing but win."
He chuckled lightly. "I don't know how we got here."
"I don't either," she said, arching against him as his hands ran up her sides. He kissed her neck as his hands covered her small, perfect breasts, bringing a sweet moan from her. "Friends with an agenda is going to be really fun, I think . . ."