THE DEAL by Marsh, Nicola (electronic reader txt) 📕

intention of taking the money. There was no way she’d accept his thirty thousand at the end of this ludicrous deal. She wasn’t that desperate. She’d thrown the figure at him initially expecting him to baulk. When he hadn’t, she’d been disappointed. The Matt she’d once known would’ve never done this, expecting to buy his way into a promotion, willing to pay someone to pose as his girlfriend to do it. The whole thing was outlandish and reeked of desperation, something she would’ve never attributed to Matt. What was so damn important about this promotion he’d go to these lengths?

As for Sal, if she could secure the prize money from the DATY by posing as his girlfriend for six months as the judges stipulated in the rules, she would’ve done something worthwhile to pay her back for all the love and support over the years.

“Where do I sign?” She risked a glance at Matt. Warring expressions she couldn’t quite fathom flitted across his face.

He removed a pen from his top pocket. He leaned over and pointed to the contract. “Right on the dotted line.”

Kara stared blankly at the document. Her brain wouldn’t function with Matt leaning over her, his tangy aftershave enveloping her in a sensuous cloud. Heat radiated off his body or was it the languorous warmth seeping through her own that made her want to rip her clothes off as the temperature around them reached boiling point?

“Kara?”

Even the way he uttered her name sounded like a silken caress. No man had ever made her feel this way. What the heck was going on? She didn’t like feeling this out of control.

Her hand shook as she signed the contract.

“There. All done.” She stood quickly, eager to escape the confines of his office. Unfortunately, her legs were as shaky as the rest of her and she swayed, reaching for the desk.

“I’ve got you,” Matt murmured, as he grabbed her upper arms. “Are you okay?”

She preferred his icy disdain last night. The concern radiating from his eyes right now would undo her in a second.

Unable to speak or tear her gaze away, she nodded.

“Don’t you think we can find a better way to seal our deal? After all, you’re my new girlfriend.” His smile was slow, warm, seductive.

Kara’s heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t bear his proximity any longer yet somehow she couldn’t find the will to move. Warning, danger, flashed through her mind. If she didn’t establish the boundaries of their relationship right here, right now, there would be trouble with a capital T.

“I’m only your girlfriend in public. We’re not on show at the moment.”

Where did that voice come from, soft and breathy? An answering flicker of heat glowed in his eyes. “I know, honey, but there’s no harm in practicing. After all, practice makes perfect.”

He stared at her lips, lowering his head as if in slow motion. She closed her eyes and tilted her head, powerless to stop the wheels in motion. All logic deserted her when his lips brushed hers in a feather-light kiss.

“I thought the saying was perfect practice makes perfect,” she whispered against the side of his mouth.

His lips crushed hers in a mind-blowing, earth-shattering assault on her senses. His tongue coaxed and flicked as he nibbled and sucked at her bottom lip. She opened her mouth, allowing him full access, revelling in the sinuous, erotic dance of their tongues. Her hands snaked around his neck as he pulled her flush against the hard length of his body.

This was the type of kiss she’d dreamed about, the kiss she’d craved on her eighteenth birthday and for years since. Her body took on a life of its own as she moulded to him, savouring every glorious inch of contact.

As she leaned into him, Matt groaned and wrenched his mouth away. Kara stared at him and stepped back, tugging at her jacket. What on earth had possessed her to provoke him like that? She’d practically invited that kiss. And she’d wanted to appear cool, in control. What a joke. Her traitorous body had put paid to that idea. How could she last six months pretending to be his girlfriend when she couldn’t push him away on the first day?

The kiss had dissolved any ideas she’d harboured about her self-control and disdain of his deal. She’d talked herself into believing Matt was pathetic, having to buy the company of a woman to secure a partnership in his dad’s firm. She’d also scoffed at ideas she still harboured feelings for him, attributing her reawakened awareness to a teenage crush. Looked like she was the pathetic one.

“I must go, Matt.”

Her heart flip-flopped at the bewildered look on his face.

He strode around the desk, obviously keen to put as much space between them as possible. “I’ll be in touch. I’ve got several dinner engagements over the next few weeks and we’ll need to coordinate schedules.”

“Fine, give me a call.” She paused. “Matt, about that kiss--”

“Don’t worry about it. Look at it as a novel way to seal a deal.” He barely glanced her way as he thrust the contract she’d signed into a plastic folder. “I’ll call you.”

Suitably chastised and dismissed, Kara walked out of the room. Only once she’d closed the door and leaned against it did she realise she’d been holding her breath. She exhaled in relief, though it was short-lived.

If that kiss had sealed the contract, she wished she’d read the fine print a lot more carefully...

Four

Kara slammed her front door shut, kicked off her heels and she sank into the comfy cushions of the sofa. What a day. Ever since she’d signed Matt’s stupid contract this morning, things had spiralled downhill. Fast. She’d been