“But that can’t happen again. We’re not going to confuse what this is. If we have sex, someone will get confused.”
“Just admit it. You’re talking about me.”
“Yeah, fine. I’m talking about you.” He stepped close enough that she could smell his light sweat, the musk of what they’d done. Along with his proximity, the smell was like a caress between her legs. And how annoying that he could turn her on even while being condescending. “I have no problem walking away from a few hookups and never looking back. You don’t know yet if you’re capable of that.” His eyes closed. “Christ, I shouldn’t even be considering this.”
Maybe he was right. Georgie tried to imagine what it would be like, dating Travis in public and spending time in his bed. When he got the job and it all ended, it would hurt if—when—he dropped her. What if the real Travis she’d only begun to scratch the surface of . . . turned out to be equally as incredible as superstar shortstop Travis of her dreams? It was hard to admit, but maybe he was right.
She could get hurt if they slept together. Badly.
But wasn’t it worth having respect for the rest of her life? Yes. A smidgen of pain now weighed against decades of her family, friends, and customers treating her like an adult. There was no contest. And she was a big girl. At the very least, she knew that. She could go into this arrangement with her eyes wide open and emerge mostly unscathed, couldn’t she?
“Fine. Dating. No sex. We wouldn’t want my lady brain to get confused by an orgasm. A wedding dress might magically stitch itself onto me.” Travis stared down at her with a baleful expression. “See? Ridiculous. Are you in or out?”
He dragged a hand down his face, leaving his mouth covered a moment. Considering. “The only way dating you would help me land this job would be the press getting wind of us.” Hand dropping away, his lips moved into a grim line. “I don’t like the idea of cameras following you.”
“I can handle it.”
His jaw twitched. “You realize if we want to be realistic for those cameras, we’ll have to get pretty close. It’s not going to be real.” The tone of his voice dropped. “It won’t be real when I kiss you, Georgie. And we can’t take it further. Will you remember that?”
A hole was punched in her stomach, but she garnered some bravery and stepped closer to Travis anyway. “Will you?”
It took him a moment to answer, his attention straying to her mouth. “Yes.”
“Then we have a deal,” she breathed, putting her hand out.
“Hold up. We need some fine print.” Travis crossed his arms. “My agent is working on setting up a dinner with the head of the network in a couple of weeks. When it’s over, I’ll know whether or not I have the job. There’ll be no reason to—”
“Keep this up. I understand.” Georgie wet her lips. “That should be more than enough time for everyone to reevaluate their opinion that I’m nothing more than a silly clown.” She widened her eyes and prompted him again to shake her hand. “After the dinner we end it, no muss, no fuss.”
After a few beats, his warm palm slid against hers and gripped, although his expression continued to be wary. “Deal.”
Chapter Twelve
I have a girlfriend. A fake girlfriend.
Travis flipped off the table saw and stepped back, pushing his safety goggles onto his head. He really shouldn’t be operating heavy machinery while being so epically predisposed to getting a hard-on. There could be a serious tragedy. He’d have a new nickname: One Bat.
That scary possibility should have been enough to ease the thick pressure in Travis’s cock, but as he’d learned last night after his third round of beating off, there was no relief. Every time he let his mind drift, it returned to Georgie’s tight little ass cheeks. The dribble of lube on those smooth curves, the liquid trickling down the center to be absorbed by her silk panties. He’d had no finesse yesterday. No game. Once she offered herself up, he’d been incapable of hitting pause. Or catching his breath. Or doing anything but getting there getting there getting there.
What scared him the most was he’d gotten that way from kissing her.
As soon as their tongues touched, there had been this urgency crowding him. To take as much as he could. Taste every inch of her and hope his