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“Don’t freak out on me, okay? I’m not pushing you for anything. All I’m asking is that over the next few months while we’re pretending to the world that we’re getting married, you allow me to earn your trust.” He licks his lips again. “I don’t really know why you’re so against being serious with me, but I’d love a chance to take care of you. To make you smile. I want to be able to show you how important you are to me without worrying that you’ll never answer my call again.”

The way he watches me makes my heart swell, and the bridge of my nose burn with unshed emotions. I can feel how much he wants to do this. I know this means a lot to him. The sad part is, I have no doubt he can do all the things he said he could. I just wish he understood that when it gets serious, I’m not the girl who can return the favor.

“If it doesn’t work out, then we go back to the way things are,” he says. “I’ll know I had my chance. That’s all I want.”

“What if we can’t go back to the way things are now?”

“Then I guess you’ll have a nice chunk of cash to take with you when you move on.”

My eyes flutter closed as I gather my courage.

This is a terrifying proposition. But, in reality, Finn and I were never going the distance anyway. If it would give him closure one day to know he gave it a real shot, who am I to deny him that?

Besides, I could finally relax and just enjoy him without worrying about having to remind him that we aren’t a couple. We would be … for a while.

My disbelief is being overtaken by a swell of excitement. I move so that my robe falls a little farther open and grin.

“If we do this,” I ask, “when exactly does it go into effect?”

His smirk is devious. “What are you getting at?”

My phone ringing makes me jump, and my insides shrivel at the ringtone. Are you serious right now? “Shit.”

“Who is it?” Finn asks, brows lifted.

“My boss. On a Sunday.” I pause to release a sigh. This happens so infrequently that it’s the equivalent of an emergency beacon. “Someone just fucked up.”

He laughs.

“Something has caught fire or a major accident has occurred, and he wants to discuss our potential liability,” I say.

Finn gets to his feet and is in front of me in a second. He takes my hands and pulls me up.

His arms are around me, his chest pressed to mine, as he peers down into my eyes.

I can’t sort all the feelings swirling inside me, mostly because I never imagined I’d be here. With him. Talking about fake engagements. But now that I am, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Could this be the best of both worlds? Could I have Finn without worrying that he’s misconstruing us? How could I have gotten so lucky?

“I tell you what,” Finn says, grinning easily. “Why don’t you deal with work? I have a few things I need to take care of, too. And then I’ll come back in a couple of hours, and we can go to dinner?”

I start to make a joke about how I’d like to be on the menu, but something stops me.

“That sounds nice,” I say instead.

He cups my cheeks as he lowers his lips to mine. They move together slowly, lazily, as if they don’t have to hurry because they’ve been promised more is to come. My hands find his shoulders before moving down to his pecs as shots of adrenaline zing through me. But before we can deepen it, before I can find the buttons of his shirt and undo them, my phone chirps with a voicemail.

I sag against him. Nooooooooo.

“Go,” he whispers against my lips. “I’ll be back.”

I grin before pressing one last kiss in the center of his pout. “See you then.”

He lingers, his fingers pressing into the small of my back, before he lets me go. He gets to the door when I realize something.

“Finn!”

With his hand on the knob, he turns, looking at me over his shoulder.