If he kissed her like that in public they might set fire to the gallery—and scar any children in the audience for life.
Never before had she experienced such explosive heat. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders to hold him close while she’d rocked against his thigh had seemed like the most natural thing in the world. When his fingers had brushed under her shirt to trace along her naked skin she’d thought she would drag him to the ground and take him right there in the kitchen.
Chloe wasn’t a one-night stand girl. She preferred committed relationships where chemistry developed slowly as she grew closer to her partner. Now Kieran was making her rethink her standards. Maybe there was something to be said for animalistic attraction. Once this was all over, perhaps she’d revamp her dating profile to target weres. If the rest of them were anything like Kieran, she’d be one happy girl.
Looking up into the mirror, she remembered Kieran’s parting words. He’d run his lips over hers once more before pulling back and allowing her to slip down his body.
“Just like that,” he’d whispered in her ear. “Always react to me just like that.”
She adjusted her bun, smoothing back pieces of hair that didn’t need attention. “I’m new,” she told herself. “I’m just a change of pace. That’s why he pursued me. Tonight it will be out of his system and we’ll be able to go to the gallery far more comfortable with one another.”
Lies. The idea of being comfortable on Kieran’s arm seemed like a fool’s dream. All he had to do was enter the room and her body was pulled as taut as a bowstring.
“You’re not one in a million,” she told herself. “Remember Vivian’s warning.”
Once the mating moon was over, Kieran would be gone so fast her head would spin.
And he wasn’t taking any piece, no matter how small, of her heart with him.
Chloe was ready to get back to a day filled with work, but fate had other plans. When she entered her office, she saw a woman waiting for her with an expression that was anything but welcoming.
“You’ve got some explaining to do.”
Sighing, Chloe closed the door and crossed over to her desk. “Who told you, Jessica?”
“I was trying to locate you yesterday when Vivian told me you’d probably be at your boyfriend’s place. Boyfriend, Chloe? Since when are you dating? And more importantly, since when are you dating without telling me?”
Chloe drew a very careful breath. So it had begun. Only she and Vivian knew the details of her arrangement with Kieran. To the rest of her coworkers, it would appear like a sudden, and startling, shift in her usual routine. A shift she needed to normalize as soon as possible before tongues wagged.
“I wanted to tell you,” she began.
“Yeah?” Jessica arched a brow. “That’s because when you make life altering decisions, you want to fill in your best friends. What the hell, Chloe?”
“We had to keep things hush hush,” she tried. “I couldn’t tell anyone. Not even you.”
Jessica tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Why not? You tell me everything.”
Chloe flinched at the hurt she read in the succubus’s eyes. Jessica had started working at Fated Match a few years ago, but despite the relatively short time frame—to an immortal’s view—she’d become a fast friend. For the first time Chloe forced herself to consider the toll this ruse would take on her own relationships. She’d only ever thought of this game as lies told to Kieran’s people, not her own.
“He’s not my usual sort of guy,” she started. “And because of his position, we had to keep things quiet until we were sure we had a future.”
“But you never even hinted that you were seeing someone. How did you guys keep it so completely secret? You usually blurt out whatever passing thought crosses your mind.”
“Thanks,” she drawled.
Jessica shrugged. “You know I’m right.”
“Look, we were able to keep it so quiet because”—I didn’t know Kieran existed—“I knew this time it mattered. I didn’t want to mess this up—unlike my last few failed attempts into the dating world.”
“You think I’d mess up your chances with Prince Charming?”
“No.” She shot forward and gripped her friend’s hand. “I trust you to keep a secret. But I also…” She paused, trying to think of something Jessica would believe. “I knew you’d talk me out of it,” she said at last. “And just this once, I didn’t want to listen to reason.”
Jessica’s eyes narrowed. “Who, exactly, are you dating?”