Truth or Dare: A Sweet Romantic Comedy Collection by Laura Burton (i read a book TXT) 📕

as he swaggers to the Super King bed. I halt, opening and closing my mouth silently, winded by the idea of spooning with Jonah. It's the way he suggested it so casually like there’s nothing scandalous about it. Jonah appears undeterred by my lack of a reply. He kicks his shoes off and jumps onto the bed with a happy sigh. “I’m just gonna lay here and die happy,” he says, his voice muffled into the pillow.

“You can’t sleep now, we need to get ready,” I say, snapping out of my daze. I glance at the itinerary in my hand and walk to the bed. “Wow, there’s a lot on here.”

Jonah sits up and takes the paper out of my hand. “Sandcastle making, meditation... Whatever happened to swimming with the dolphins?” He yawns, dragging a hand through his hair. My hand twitches as if by reflex, as I struggle to resist the urge to run my fingers through his hair too.

“They stopped doing that ages ago. Don’t you remember all those animal rights protests last year?” My words come out dry. I swallow and look around the room. A bottle of water is sitting on the table next to a minibar. I make a beeline for it, licking my lips.

“Sorry, you must have mistaken me for a guy who reads the news,” Jonah quips back as I take a greedy gulp of water.

I roll my eyes and return to the bed to take the list back. “Look, there’s a couples’ massage after lunch.” I look up to find Jonah stretching with another yawn. Judging by the dark circles under his eyes and the pallor of his skin, I think he is tired.

“Did you not get any sleep on the plane?”

I look up at the absence of a reply and notice Jonah laying with his back to me. The steady rise and fall of his shoulder along with a muffled snore answers my question.

Did he stay awake all night? I can sleep anywhere. But that’s not always a good thing. When I woke up in his lap and noticed a little patch of drool on the pillow, I could have died a thousand deaths. But Jonah didn’t seem to notice. At least, if he did, he pretended not to.

Even though I slept through the entire flight, I lingered in a weird state between REM sleep and consciousness. I could feel Jonah’s fingers strumming my arm, then twisting through my hair, carefully loosening the knots. I wanted to stay like that forever.

Part of me is tempted to creep over and cuddle up to Jonah on the bed. But we’re not there yet in our relationship. He might have joked about it, but that’s exactly what it was; a joke––right? I mean, it’s one thing to let me sleep on him in the plane in front of hundreds of people but waking up to find me spooning him might freak him out a little.

And the last thing I wanna do is scare him off. No, I’ve gotta play this one cool so he’s the one coming to me.

With that in mind, I pick out my wash bag and enter the bathroom. If I want Jonah to fall in love with me, I gotta look my best.

“Wow,” Jonah says, looking up at me as I re-enter the room. It’s taken almost two hours of intensive work, but his reaction is worth it.

His eyes widen and line me up and down, taking in my appearance with a broad smile on his face. I grin back. I've been saving this dress for a special occasion, and making a first impression as Jonah’s fake girlfriend is as good a time as any.

The dress is long and floaty, with a high split over the left thigh. A soft belt cinches my waist, accentuating the subtle curves of my slim body. I don’t have the womanly shape of Holly, or the sexy Italian look that Debbie and Katia have got going on. Usually, I’m the cute American girl-next-door type. But in this dress, with my dark hair flowing to my waist, I look nothing like a girl.

And the look in Jonah’s eyes tells me I’m 100% woman.

“Something wrong?” I ask innocently. I wear a puzzled look and pretend I don't know that Jonah’s trying to pick up his jaw from the marble floor. “No,” he blurts, his face reddening. “You just look... outrageously sexy.”

I hold a laugh inside and smile at him. “Ready to be my boyfriend?”

Jonah smirks at me, his eyes glinting. “I better go take a cold shower first.”

Jonah

Michelle is teasing me, and I kinda like it. I clench my teeth at the cold spray of water hitting my back as I stand with my hands pressed up against the tiles. We’ve been in Hawaii for less than three hours and I’m already looking at Michelle in another light.

But it’s entirely her fault. I mean, that dress. It’s the type of dress you see on supermodels, not normal people. Michelle looks like Demi Moore on the red carpet. If I didn't have ice-cold water shooting daggers into my skin right now, I’d conclude that I must be dreaming.

I shake my head. Michelle is just making an effort because of the retreat. We're going to lunch soon, and if we want to pose as a couple, we gotta look the part.

Michelle bangs on the bathroom door. “Jonah. We need to leave in ten minutes!”

I inhale sharply and sigh. Then I shut off the water and wrap a towel around my waist.

“Don’t worry,” I say as I throw the door open. Michelle takes several steps back and her gaze floats down my body. Her reaction makes me grin. I swagger over to my open bag, keeping the towel in place. “I’ll be ready.”

Michelle falls silent and fumbles with her purse as I pick out my clothes. Her flushed cheeks fill me with adrenaline. I like seeing her like this. All cute and sexy and flustered. I clear my throat