Read Online Pretend It's Love by Stefanie London - Free Book Online

he pressed against the distracting ache there. If they’d been alone her restraint would have shattered like glass against stone. Thank God his family was in the next room.
    “You don’t look like you want to jump me at all,” he teased.
    “I’m a good actress.” Sucking in a breath, Libby pressed her lips together and straightened up. “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”
    “It’s one thing I want.”
    Paul was not a guy who would be easily fooled. She’d have to be more careful about how much she revealed around him. She’d already made it clear she was attracted to him, but her business came first.
    That was one thing she didn’t have to pretend.
    “Your family is waiting,” she said primly. “You don’t want them to think I’m some floozy who’s ready to jump their son in the next room.”
    “I don’t much care what they think, you just say the word.” He brushed his hand down the side of her neck, tracing her collarbone with a fingertip.
    “You should care.” She wriggled out of his grasp and closed the door to the dishwasher. “You have a family who loves you. If you don’t care about that you don’t deserve them.”
    A moment later, when they’d no doubt decided that the kissing had stopped, Leone entered the kitchen. “How about some dessert?”

    “W hy didn’t Libby mention anything about being your girlfriend when she met with me the other day?” Des asked, leaning back in his chair and rolling up the sleeves on his shirt. The bottom of one tattoo peeked out. The colored ink looked even more intense against the white cotton.
    “We hadn’t decided that we were going to go public yet.” Paul shrugged, pretending to inspect his coffee so he didn’t have to face his brother’s doubt. Or the churning in his own gut. “She wanted to come to you on her own so you’d focus on her business idea rather than seeing her as my girlfriend.”
    The lie tasted sour on his tongue. Paul was many things but he’d always been an open book. Lying wasn’t something that felt natural, but he reminded himself why he and Libby had entered into this arrangement. He was done being second best.
    “I think it’s a great idea, but it’s not really something that would suit First.” Des brushed a hand through his hair, a hint of remorse in his voice. “I feel bad saying no, but I have to do what’s best for the business. You know that, right?”
    “I know.” Paul nodded, watching Libby’s red hair glimmer under the lamplight as she sat a few feet away in the lounge room chatting to his mother and Gracie.
    “I was pretty abrupt,” Des admitted. “But I know when something’s right and when it’s not.”
    “It’s fine. She’s a tough one, I don’t think it’s the first time she’s had to deal with people saying no to her.”
    Des grimaced. “You should have given me the heads-up.”
    “Why?”
    “It’s been a while since you brought anyone home. I’m sure you don’t want her to think your family is full of jerks.”
    “She doesn’t think that.”
    “Good, because I think Ma is already picking out table settings for your wedding.”
    Paul held up his hands. “Let’s focus on getting you married. I’ve got no plans to get hitched anytime soon.”
    “Anytime soon? That seems like a turnaround from your previous opinion that weddings are a total waste of money and that you’d never even consider it.”
    Paul swallowed and pushed back the memory of traipsing around the city trying to find the perfect ring for Sadie. He’d picked it out, too, but his credit card had been deactivated that day. The bank had found fraudulent activity on his account, and he couldn’t pay for the ring. A stroke of luck that saved him the last of his humiliation. That afternoon he’d come home to find Sadie packing her bags, his smug-faced cousin by her side. The stench of her infidelity seeping into the walls of their apartment.
    He’d never told anyone about his plans to propose.
    Paul’s