Dante's Temporary Fiancée by Day Leclaire Read Free Book Online

seriously.”
    He started the car and pulled out of his assigned parking space before replying. “That’s what makes this so interesting. We’re not deceiving anyone.” He paused at the exit and waited for Larkin to relay her address before pulling onto the one-way street. “Admit it. We felt something when we touched.”
    The overhead streetlight filled the car with a flash of soft amber, giving him a glimpse of her unhappy profile. She stared down at her palm, rubbing at the center in a manner he’d seen countless times before by each and every one of his Inferno-bitten relatives.
    The sight filled him with foreboding. As far as he knew, no one outside the family was aware of that intimate little gesture, one that his relatives claimed to be a side effect of that first, burning touch between Inferno soul mates. God forbid he ever felt that tantalizing itch. His palm might throb. It might prickle. That didn’t mean it itched or that he’d find himself rubbing it.
    â€œOkay, so I felt something,” she murmured. “But thatdoesn’t mean it’s this family Inferno thing you have going, does it?”
    â€œAbsolutely not,” Rafe stated adamantly. Though who he was so determined to convince, himself or Larkin, he couldn’t say. “The point is… We can’t rule out the possibility that it’s The Inferno. Not yet. Until we do, that’s what we’re going to assume it is and that’s what we’re going to tell my family.”
    â€œAnd they’ll believe it?” He could hear the doubt in her voice.
    â€œYes. Implicitly.”
    â€œBut you still don’t.”
    â€œI have no idea,” he lied without hesitation. “It could be The Inferno. Or it could have been static electricity. Or just a weird coincidence. But telling my family that we think it might be The Inferno won’t be a lie. And until we discover otherwise, we go forward with our plan.”
    â€œYour plan.”
    He drew to a stop at a red light and looked at her. She sat buried in shadow, her pale hair and skin cutting through the darkness while her eyes gleamed with some secret emotion. He didn’t know this woman, not really. Granted, he had a mound of facts and figures, courtesy of Juice. But he hadn’t yet uncovered the depth and scope of the person those dry facts and figures described. Just in the short time he’d spent with her, he’d gained an unassailable certainty that he’d find those depths to be deep and layered, the scope long-ranging and intriguing.
    And he couldn’t wait to start the process.
    The light changed and he pulled forward. “It startedout as my plan. But as soon as you told my grandparents that you were my fiancée, it became our plan.”
    â€œBut it’s a lie.”
    â€œFirst thing Monday I plan on putting a ring on your finger. Will it still feel like a lie when that happens?”
    He heard her sharp inhalation. “A ring?”
    â€œOf course. It’s expected.” He spared her a flashing grin. “In case you weren’t aware, we Dantes specialize in rings, particularly engagement rings.”
    A hint of a smile overrode her apprehension. “I think I may have heard that about you.”
    â€œWhen our engagement ends, you can keep the ring as part of your compensation package.”
    â€œWhen,” she repeated.
    â€œIt won’t last, Larkin,” he warned. “Whatever we felt tonight is simple desire. And simple desire disappears, given time.”
    â€œThat’s a rather cynical viewpoint.” She made the comment in a neutral tone of voice, but he could hear the tart edge to it.
    â€œI’m a cynical sort of guy. Blame it on the fact that I’ve been there, done that.”
    â€œMaybe you were doing it with the wrong woman.”
    â€œNo question about that.”
    â€œMaybe with the right woman—”
    â€œYou, for