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She groaned. “I keep forgetting you have an ego the size of Texas.”

“If you said the size of Alaska, that’d be more accurate.”

She was watching me and suddenly I wasn’t laughing. That electric current that had been building all evening hummed between us now. It was impossible to ignore.

I should kiss her again. Just to sell the illusion. Maintain the charade in case anyone was watching.

That was the excuse I was using.

But before I could move, Darcy’s hand shot out and grabbed the lapel of my jacket. She pulled me down toward her, and then her lips were on mine.

The kiss was different from the gala. That one had been surprise and strategy. This one was something else entirely. Soft and exploring, like she was asking a question she wasn’t sure she wanted answered.

I kissed her back, my hands moving to her waist and pulling her closer. She tasted like expensive wine. I wanted to devour her. I deepened the kiss. My tongue sliding against hers.

Then, just as quickly as it started, it was over.

She pulled back, her cheeks flushed, her eyes wide like she couldn’t quite believe what she’d just done. For a moment, we just stood there, inches apart, breathing the same air. Both of us breathing harder than was warranted for standing on a sidewalk.

“Goodnight, Beau,” she whispered.

And then she was gone, walking toward the valet stand where her father was waiting.

I stood there, my lips still tingling from the kiss.

Well, shit.

This was supposed to be fake. A simple business deal. But there was nothing businesslike about that kiss. That woman had just rocked my world.

16

DARCY

My lips still tingled from the kiss. I could still taste Beau on them. My new favorite taste.

“So,” Dad said, letting the word hang. “That was quite the display back there.”

I kept my eyes out the window. “What do you mean?”

“The kiss, Darcy. On the sidewalk. In full view of anyone who might be watching. That was quite the spectacle.”

“That’s the point, isn’t it?” I turned to face him, feigning innocence. “We’re supposed to be dating. People need to see us being affectionate.”

“Is that all it was? Just for show?”

“Of course.” The lie came too easily. “A cherry on top of a successful evening. The investors seemed convinced.”

Dad made a sound in the back of his throat. A noncommittal “humph” that told me he wasn’t entirely buying it.

I turned back to the window, watching the buildings slide past. I wasn’t about to admit the truth to my father. He did not need to know I wanted Beau to kiss me. I’d been waiting for it all evening, feeling that electric tension building between us with every whispered joke and lingering glance.

But he’d held back.

I understood why. After my reaction at the gala, when I’d practically bitten his head off for kissing me without permission. He probably didn’t want to cross that line again. He was being respectful. Careful. All the things a decent man should be.

So I’d done it myself.

Beau kept telling me to do things for myself. To loosen up and have some fun. He told me to stop overthinking everything and just act on impulse. So when I’d felt that pull toward him, I acted. There was a magnetic force that seemed to draw us together whenever we were in the same room.