Ryder has been like one of those cupcakes ever since I started working for him. Look, admire, even pine…but don’t touch.
And that’s how I’ve been able to keep our relationship so professional. Mira’s advice to focus on his flaws helped some, but that was never the main thing. Someone that gorgeous always comes with a very high price.
But his lips on mine… They change everything.
The emotional glass that kept me firmly on the other side is gone.
And my brain short-circuits.
I’m melting into the kiss like that ice cream on the apple pie, savoring the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met in my life.
Ryder doesn’t ravage my mouth like he owns me. Instead his lips moves over mine with delicate finesse…and it’s so sweet that it makes me ache for him. I flick my tongue over his lips, taste something uniquely sweet and perfect. He’s surprisingly soft there, and I feel oddly safe.
I dig my hand into his hair and open up to him, silently giving in to the kiss. His breath shudders, a soft moan vibrating against my mouth.
He seduces me, his tongue and lips pulling me closer until I lose all my senses. One hand rests at the nape of my neck and the other on my waist, holding me close. He leads me deeper and deeper into him, our kiss becoming a dance, a long, drawn out appetizer to something even hotter and sweeter. He’s better than I ever imagined, and I’m going mad with a tight longing, liquid heat pulsing through my veins.
My heart pounds until my chest hurts, but the only thing that matters is him, the wanton heat rushing through me, pooling between my legs.
I’ve been kissed before, but never like this. I feel like I’m floating, but at the same time drowning in him. Searing desire sweeps me away in an irresistible current, but at the same time I’m anchored, pressed against him.
My body tightens, and I ache for more. The need pulsing through me has already soaked my panties. He smells so good, tastes so perfect, I can swear off everything…for him, forever…
And when the year’s up, he’s going to leave me, forever… I’ll pine for him, and the intensity of it will destroy me. Ryder’s far too addictive, far too real, and far too bigger-and-better-than-life.
The thoughts crash through me, one after another, like a bucket of cold water. I freeze, then pull back. I glance away from Ryder, suddenly shy, and in the distance notice a man with an enormous telephoto lens standing behind a jut of rocks on the beach.
The paparazzi. Ryder said we were putting on a show for a year with him as a besotted husband.
This kiss is part of the act, nothing special. Or is it?
Ryder keeps his hand at the nape of my neck and stares at me like he wants to devour me. And my more animal and simpler self wants to go back to what we’ve been doing.
But I’ve seen that same expression countless times on the big screen. Seen it directed at women celebrated worldwide for their beauty, whom he promptly forgot as soon as the filming was over.
“We should get going.” I mean to say it firmly, but instead it comes out as a shaky whisper.
“Paige…”
I manage a smile. “I think we gave everyone a good show.” I cast my gaze briefly toward the location where I spotted the paparazzi. “Mission accomplished.”
Ryder pulls back, his expression unreadable. “All right.” He gets up and holds out a hand. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Ryder
I forcibly relax my grip on the steering wheel. Desire still thickens my blood, and my dick is throbbing. Jesus. I even forgot about the paparazzi stalking us, and I’ve never done that before.
I didn’t mean to kiss her like that.
It was supposed to be the perfect ending to the evening. Every script I’ve ever seen had a kiss after a successful proposal.
The issue was that the woman playing the role is Paige, and she didn’t kiss me back like this was make-believe.
And my body reacted. Hell, I reacted.
Paige sits next to me like she hasn’t a worry in the world. The ring sparkles on her finger, marking her as mine…except she isn’t.