for her because she appeared to be very uneasy. She looked around the table, and I found myself smiling, hoping to ease the tension for her.
“I’m Bec, and this is my boyfriend, Evan.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Emily—”
“I’m sorry,” James interrupted. “This is Emily, my fiancée. Emily, this is my ex.”
Emily looked stunned, though she tried to hide it when she smiled again. Bianca introduced herself and Kirk, choosing to purposely ignore James.
“You okay?” Evan whispered into my ear.
“Yeah,” I said, looking up at him.
“Will you excuse us?” I announced to the table. “We’re going to see Shelby’s parents. I want them to meet Evan.”
We stood up and Evan placed his hand on the small of back as we walked away. The anxiety left my body as we got further from the table. I led us to the grand foyer of the banquet area and burst into laughter when we were safely away.
“You handled yourself well in there,” he said. “Gotta say though, the guy’s an ass.”
“He really is. I felt bad for Emily.”
“Me too. Did you really want to find Shelby’s parents or was that just an excuse?”
“I’ll see them later. I just needed to get away. Mind if we just sit out here for a little?” I asked.
“Not at all.”
There was an elegant beige sofa on the far side of the foyer, so we walked over and took a seat. We were sitting closer than necessary, but I was okay with that, just in case someone walked out of the banquet room and saw us. At least that’s what I told myself. In reality, I liked the way my body came alive when he was near. I hadn’t realized the lack of that in my life until that moment.
I angled my body toward him and crossed my legs. “So now that you know more about me than you probably cared to, I feel like you should tell me something about you.”
“Like what?”
I thought for a moment and then got up the courage to ask the one thing that I had been wondering since we’d talked that night in the gym. “Why are you single?”
“The short answer—I’ve been too busy with the properties my dad owns to be good at a relationship.”
“Okay. Long answer?”
He shifted slightly, and though I knew I was asking something that made him uncomfortable, I didn’t take it back. He knew more details about me than I would like, so I wanted to level the field.
“I was with someone for a couple of years and it was serious. Or so I thought. But she decided that she didn’t want to be tied down and broke it off. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t buy the ring.”
“You were going to propose?” I gasped. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was a long time ago and I’m over it. I have my work. I’m good.”
“Yeah, I get that. But I’ve been reminded numerous times that work doesn’t cuddle up with you and keep you company at the dinner table,” I answered.
“You speak from experience.” He grinned.
“I do. But work also doesn’t cheat on you and break your heart.”
“That’s true. And it doesn’t look amazing in a little black dress,” he said, glancing at my exposed thigh.
“Or make your stomach do flips because of the way it looks at you.”
I found myself leaning closer to Evan and wishing that we weren’t faking anything because I wanted to kiss him so badly.
He’s playing a part, I reminded myself, and my stomach dropped as I realized how true those words were. But before I could fully grasp the disappointment, he leaned toward me, grazing his hand against my cheek, and pressed his lips to mine.
It had been a long time since anyone had kissed me, but no one had ever made my toes curl. He deepened the kiss, his hand traveling to my waist, gripping me firmly. I held tight to his forearm, fighting the urge to wrap my arms around his neck. His kisses were urgent and set everything inside me on fire, so I was let down when he slowed the pace.
As we parted, I slowly opened my eyes and stared into his green eyes, wanting to kiss him all over again. His eyes darted off to the side and I spotted James’s reflection in the mirror behind Evan’s head. I realized the only reason he’d kissed me was because he saw my ex walk into the room and he was doing his part to sell the story.