Braden’s hand tightened around mine, his pale eyes darkened, and I knew… he wanted me too. “Fine,” he muttered, a dangerous quality entering his expression as he leaned down, his words puffing against my mouth he was so close. “I can do this. If you can pretend, I can pretend.”
I jerked my hand out of his, trying not to tremble as I reached to collect the rest of the drinks. Braden picked up the ones he’d laid down when he’d reached for that godforsaken handshake. I hated that he was right. Our attraction was nuclear. I had never known anything like it.
It made Braden Carmichael extremely dangerous to me.
And I had to dissemble. I shot him a careless smile. “I’m not pretending.” I walked away before he could say anything, glad for the wall that had obscured our table’s view from us. I’d have been mortified if anyone had borne witness to our interlude.
Braden sat down next to Holly, handing her a drink and Adam his. Our eyes collided for a brief second and he gave me a mockingly polite smile before leaning back and sliding his arm around the back of Holly’s chair. His girlfriend smiled at him, a manicured hand moving to rest intimately on his thigh.
“Babe, I was just telling Ellie about this Gucci dress I saw online. I was thinking you could take me to Glasgow to try it on. You’ll like it. It’ll be worth the money.” She fluttered her fake lashes at him.
No one needed to tell me that she meant it would be worth Braden’s money.
Disgusted, I threw back my drink and tried to ignore them. Holly wasn’t for it.
“So, Josh, how can you afford that gorgeous flat with Ellie?”
All eyes fell on me. “It’s Joss, actually.”
She gave me a shrug and a narrowed-eyed smile and suddenly I wondered if maybe she’d caught the looks between me and Braden.
Shit.
“So?” she insisted, a little cattily.
Yeah. She’d seen ‘em alright.
“My parents.” I threw back another drink and turned to Jenna to ask about her part-time job with the Scottish tourist industry.
Holly’s voice cut through my question. “What do you mean ‘your parents’?”
Stick a sock in it, lady! I looked at her with veiled annoyance. “Their money.”
“Oh.” She wrinkled her nose as though she suddenly smelled something very, very bad. “You’re living off your parent’s money? At your age?”
Oh no she didn’t. I took another drink and then smiled at her in warning as if to say, ‘don’t play this game with me, sweetheart, you won’t win.’
She didn’t heed the warning. “So they pay for everything? Doesn’t that make you feel guilty?”
Every fucking day. “Was it your money that bought those Louboutin’s… or Braden’s?”
Ellie choked on her laughter, smothering the sound quickly in a gulp of her drink. I patted her on the back, aiding her in her pretense. When I looked back at Holly she was glaring at me, her face flushed red to her hairline.
Point made. Question deflected. Spoiled bitch put in her place.
“So people can get married at Stirling Castle, huh?” I turned back to Jenna and our earlier conversation. “I’ve only visited it once, but it’s a beautiful venue…”
5
Two nights later I was soaking in the tub after a strenuous workout at the gym when I heard Ellie’s whoop of joy. Raising an eyebrow at the door, I wasn’t surprised by the knock that sounded on it two seconds later.
“Can I come in?” she asked with laughter in her voice.
Clearly whatever news she’d received couldn’t wait. I glanced down to make sure I was sufficiently covered by bubbles. “Sure,” I replied.
The door eased open and Ellie stepped inside with two glasses of wine in her hand and a smug expression on her face. I took the glass she offered and grinned at her infectious good humor. “What’s going on?”
“Well,” Ellie beamed, “After six dire months, Braden has finally dumped Holly.”
I snorted into my glass, ignoring the way my stomach flipped at the news. “That’s your exciting news?”
Ellie stared at me like I’d said something crazy. “Of course. It’s the best news in God knows how long. Holly was the worst of the lot. You know, I think the other night at the bar was the final nail in her coffin. Braden seemed mortified by her. It’s about time he dumped that self-absorbed, two-faced, money-grabbing pain in the arse.”
I nodded in agreement, thinking about his blatant flirtation with me. “Yeah. He’d probably have only ended up cheating on her or something anyway.”
Ellie’s joy instantly fled and she scowled at me. I raised an eyebrow at her reaction. “Braden would never cheat.”