passed and he was overdue back at work.
Out in the sunlight, she smiled up at him in a sort of breathless way, a hand restless at her throat. And for the first time since Stephen told Travis that Georgie was in love with him, he actually wondered if it could be true. Did Georgie love him? If so, he should not be spending this kind of time with her. He’d hurt her when they’d both gotten what they wanted—and hurting this girl would kill him.
Travis opened his mouth, intending to tell Georgie what Stephen had told him, praying she would deny it. Right? He didn’t want her in love with him. At all.
“Do I look smitten enough?” Georgie said with a cocked eyebrow, before he could speak. “Our friend is snapping away across the street.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Idiot. Of course she wasn’t in love with him. It was just for the camera, same as it had been since their arrangement started. “I, uh . . . wasn’t sure he’d waited.”
A beat passed. “Are you going to kiss me?”
He wanted to. Her mouth looked ripe and incredible, and she would taste like caramel and Georgie. Why did it suddenly feel wrong to kiss her so it would be immortalized in a picture? “Yeah,” he rasped, leaning down and pausing the barest distance above her lips. “Yeah.”
Georgie’s forehead wrinkled in confusion, cutting a sidelong glance along the street. “Travis?”
Finally, he dropped his mouth to hers and inhaled, pulling deeply on her mouth, barely stopping himself from giving her his tongue. Claiming her. With a serious effort, he eased back, steadying Georgie on her feet. “When am I going to see you again?”
“Um . . .” She blinked. “Will you come to family dinner on Sunday?”
Remembering the vow he’d made to himself to do more to help Georgie, Travis nodded. “I’ll be there.”
She smiled up at him and he bit down on his tongue to keep from kissing her again. “What about you? Any more progress with the network?”
It was proof that his relationship with Georgie was bordering on dangerous that he’d completely forgotten to tell her about the latest call from his agent. He’d totally lost sight of why they were fake dating in the first place. “The head of the network, Kelvin, invited us to dinner at his house. Next week, in Old Westbury.” He watched her face transform with cautious excitement. “That probably means I’m the top candidate—”
“Oh my God, Travis. And this could be the final test.” Her wide eyes turned unreadable. “Things are changing for me already. For the better. If you get the job . . . we wouldn’t have to do this anymore.”
“Have to.” His nod was jerky. “Yeah.” Christ, he needed to get his head together. This dread churning in his stomach was not a good sign. “I’ll let you know the details about dinner,” he said, laying a final peck on her cheek and backing away. “Bye, Georgie.”
“Bye, Travis,” she called over her shoulder as she sailed across the street, scarf clutched to her chest. “You did it, by the way!” she said—a little too brightly?—giving him one final look before turning to leave. “I’m in a great mood!”
That made one of them.
Chapter Seventeen
Well, this was fucking awkward.
Stephen frowned at Travis from across the Castle family living room, bottle of beer in a white-knuckled grip. They’d worked together a handful of times on the flip since news outlets had started splashing pictures of him and Georgie across their pages, but they’d avoided conversation that didn’t involve building materials or floor plans. Grunts, pointing, and manly throat clearing had become their communication method of choice. Which worked on a noisy construction site, but not so well in a quiet living room.
Restless, Travis started to pace in front of the fireplace. Where was she?
The front door opened and Travis’s muscles tightened, but Bethany breezed into the house instead of her sister. Travis hadn’t seen Bethany since high school, although he remembered her well. And he wasn’t fooled for a second by her bright smile. She hated his guts. If he recalled correctly, she’d written You’ll get yours, playboy scum in his yearbook.
“So good to see you, Travis,” Bethany enthused. “Thank you for taking a break from your busy schedule of ruining the lives of women to be here.”
“Please.” Ignoring the hollowness in his stomach, Travis saluted his beer. “It’s the least I can do.”
She clasped her hands beneath her chin. “Selfless as always.”
Kristin bounced out of the