No Romance Required by Cari Quinn Read Free Book Online Page A

saw him out socially unless a glass of champagne found its way into her
     hand. And then onto his head.
    Deliberately he reached down to adjust his erection. It was the sort of cocky move
     he figured Dill probably had used on women before Alexa. Maybe even on Alexa, too.
     He followed it up with a slow smile, more than a little flattered when Victoria’s
     pupils dilated.
    Down, boy.
    “Look, Victoria, I know I suggested this fake dating arrangement between the two of
     us but the more I think about it, the more I’m afraid it’s not going to work. We still
     have certain incompatibilities.”
    She stared at the hand he’d rested on his thigh. “What incompatibilities?”
    Rather than rattle off his laundry list, he quirked his lips. “I don’t think you could
     handle me.”
    That part at least was true. He ached to do things to her she’d never go for. A control
     freak like Victoria, consenting to a power exchange in bed? Never. That was even more
     unlikely than their coming through this insane plan he’d hatched in desperation unscathed.
     Better to make it clear—crystal—that they were mismatched in every possible way.
    And before he had any other genius ideas, he’d get some damn sleep.
    She wet her lips and dragged her eyes from his hand to meet his gaze. The intent in
     hers was clear. “Somehow I doubt that, CEO.” She pursed her mouth and tilted her head.
     “Besides, it’s not as if you want to tie me up and drip hot wax all over me, right?”
    The laugh she let out was breathy and sexy. And just a little nervous. That he could
     still unnerve her after all the years they’d known each other added another stack
     of kindling to his already blazing fire.
    That she’d inadvertently guessed exactly what he wanted to do to her was even better.
    The fingers in his lap flexed, an unmistakable tell he couldn’t hide. He held her
     gaze for a moment. Two. Awareness built between them, throbbing like a heart.
    Finally she whispered, “Oh.” She swallowed hard and he watched her throat move, drawn
     to the jerk of her flesh like that damn moth that didn’t know any better than to get
     burned. “Okay,” she whispered.
    There were objections right there on his tongue. He tasted them, as bitter as dandelion
     wine, and closed his eyes before they could spill out. This could be so simple. He
     could handle the problem of the photos, his parents, and his errant, unquenchable
     libido in one fell swoop—
    He gripped the edge of the couch cushion as she leaned forward, feeling trapped in
     the honey glow of her eyes. He couldn’t breathe through the wanting of her, couldn’t
     turn away from what had been rising between them all these years. Didn’t want to.
    Easy. For once he just wanted something to be easy.
    Damn his parents for putting him in this position. It was all their fault he’d gone
     outside last night to begin with. If he’d been a few minutes later he wouldn’t have
     met up with Victoria and all this photo drama would’ve been avoided. He should just
     say to hell with it and see what happened. She’d be his fake girlfriend—though who
     would believe the two of them fit as a couple?—and maybe his real lover, and then
     once his parents left, he could get back to his regular life. And his work. All of
     this would just become a distant, not-so-fond memory.
    But it’s Victoria.
    The girl he’d first seen in pigtails outside the library, stapling leaves onto the
     bulletin board. The young woman dancing in the middle of the gym by herself, just
     because she could. The gorgeous, alluring woman who looked as sexy in a football jersey
     as she had the night before in her gold barely-a-dress.
    At the last second, he lurched to his feet. He glanced at his watch and tried to see
     the numbers through the blur of his need. “I have to make some calls,” he managed.
    “This late? It’s practically bedtime.”
    “Not for an insomniac,” he said in undertone, crossing the