The Billionaire's Pretend Girlf - Leslie North Page 0,22

in while she had the chance.

“So on a scale of one to relaxed, where do you fall?” she asked, pinching his side. It was an intimate act she usually reserved for best friends or boyfriends, but with Daniel, the tiny gestures just tumbled out of her.

“Level 40 relaxed.”

“Oooh. That’s not even on the charts. We broke the scale. I consider that a success.”

“Blazing success,” Daniel confirmed as they started a slow walk to the coffee shop, his arm still slung over her shoulders. “Five-star review.”

Jackie fought to bite back her grin. There was something deeply satisfying about reaching Daniel’s soft spot. It just made her want to continue showing this man the ways in which he could relax and enjoy life. “For the puppy café?”

“No. For you.” Daniel’s eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled down at her. And as she got lost in the deep blue waters of his gaze, she could hear the distant echo of her logical mind telling her look away, cool down, he’s not for you.

But it was harder and harder to hear it over the heavy thrum of her heart.

7

Once dinner rolled around that evening, Daniel was humming to himself as he headed to the resort restaurant. After blocking off the afternoon to work, the official plan was to meet his friends and Jackie for an amazing dinner—which he hoped to enjoy this time—and continue the wedding revelry.

But his unofficial plan was slightly more complex. Because it involved figuring out how to get Jackie’s legs back around his waist.

The visit to the puppy café had worked wonders. Thanks to that pit stop, he felt like he’d gotten a full night’s sleep. She’d managed to dissolve the wrought-iron tension snaking through him, something that even therapists and golf outings and too much alcohol hadn’t been able to achieve.

Jackie was magic. And he couldn’t wait to see her again.

When he strolled into the moodily lit restaurant, he could already see the spread of tables for the wedding party. And without even trying, his gaze landed on Jackie.

Her punky, dark short hair. The huge, unique gemstones dangling from her lobes. The tattoo snaking down her left bicep, which he now could verify was part wolf, part condor. The shiny black sleeveless dress she wore, which didn’t give a hint of cleavage but clung to her body in just the right ways to make him desperate for more.

“Here’s our Delayed Daniel!” Grayson shouted, raising his wine glass.

“Not delayed today,” Daniel said. “Just perfectly on time.” As he slid into his seat, he pressed a kiss to Jackie’s cheek. She sent him a private smile, reaching out for his hand beneath the table.

“I’m glad you’re not late,” Jackie murmured, softly enough to seem intimate but loud enough for the others to here, “because I missed you.”

A chorus of ‘awww’s erupted from their table. Daniel couldn’t fight the grin as he found all eyes on them.

“What? Can’t a man enjoy his girlfriend’s sweet nothings without an audience?” he teased.

“You’re putting the honeymoon before the wedding,” Blake cracked.

“We put a few things before the wedding too,” Grayson said, which made Mila burst out into laughter.

Daniel grinned as he watched his best friend and his fiancée. They shared a warm look, and then a passionate kiss. He never knew what to expect for himself or his friends…but now that Grayson was at Mila’s side, about to become a father, he realized it made sense. A little too much sense.

And part of him wondered if he would have the same things to look forward to. Maybe not the baby-first approach, but warmth. The steadiness. The we’re in this together companionship that Grayson and Mila exuded.

Jackie squeezed his hand, looking up at him like she was trying to read his mind. As he got lost in her green gaze, he realized that Jackie was exactly the sort of person he could really see himself with. He believed they could create something amazing together.

Hell, he hadn’t even considered it a possibility until she forced him out of work mode and to stop and smell the puppies.

With Jackie, he knew almost immediately that she was different from the rest. But more than that, they had almost immediately formed a familiarity, an innate intimacy that was hard to overlook. He’d felt it from the beginning at his penthouse, before any of this cropped up.

“You look like you’re somewhere else,” Jackie whispered. Ever the attentive sidekick.

He grinned, rubbing his hand over the small of her back. “I’m