✿ Reid's POV

My intention to kiss her was to tease and make her squirm only a little.

And want me more.

Only, something happens when our lips meet and it's as though my body goes on high alert, into a frenzy of need and desire.

Every single piece of attraction I've felt for Aileen only strengthens. Tempting me, taunting me. And now that I've claimed her lips, I find like always, I don't want to let go. Especially not when I feel her murmur and purr into my mouth.

But we were not alone in the house. And God knew a possible family reunion was the last place I'd want to give into the ravaging flames of lust that were running unchecked through my body.

And so I pull away, with monumental effort, and turn my focus to the eyes watching us— or at least appearing to. Every cell is focused on Aileen, aware of her, reverberating at a frequency that perfectly matches hers.

God, she's hot.

A clap interrupts the moment.

“Oh, look at you two! So adorable.”

My chest grumbles with a laugh.

“See?” I whisper in Aileen's ear. “I like to be prepared.”

✯✯✯✯✯✯

✿ Aileen's POV

Sophie's head pops up in my field of vision the moment Reid pulls away from me. Her eyes widen, and then her face breaks into a ridiculously large smile.

Oh God!

Natalie suddenly claps her hands.

“Oh, look at you two! So adorable.”

Reid's chest grumbles with a laugh, and I feel it in my back.

“See?” he whispered in my ear. “I like to be prepared.”

No, I didn't see shit, frankly. It was hard to focus on anything, being swaddled and kissed in Reid’s lap.
My mouth opens, but all words die when familiar heads pop up in the kitchen.

“Boys? Bon, what are you all doing here?” I mumble.

Landon points a finger at me.

“We're all here to say hi.” 

Oh, I doubt it. They'd see me at the dinner tomorrow.

My eyes turn to Tracy, who has 'guilty' written all over her face. She busies herself with something on the counter.

Reid moves underneath me, his legs flexing and his hand holding my waist securely, just as if— woah.
He stands up.

“It’s so nice to see you all again,” he says. Then, he steps forward, somehow keeping my body in his delicate but skilled hold. “I don’t want you running for the closest exit,” he whispers in my ear.

What the—

“Please, feel at home. Would you like anything to drink?” he asks while keeping me tucked into him.

He was going to carry me around in his arms? For how long?

My head swivels at the thought.

“No, no, no,” Bonita calls out, stopping Reid’s advances in her direction. “You can sit back down. No need to wait on us. We are all family now. We'll sort ourselves out.”

Reid obeys without question, placing us both back on the stool immediately. Nora, who had been hovering around the kitchen during the exchange with Bon, places a tray on the breakfast bar. It contains fruit, cereals, nuts, a plate with all different kinds of cheese and embutido, and a few slices of bread too.

My eyes widen as I wonder how and when that had arrived at the house.

“We got you a few groceries, Lee,” Matt tells me.

Cocking a brow, I zero in on him.

That meant planning.

“Oh, have you tried the Quesitos, Reid?” Bonita asks.

“Yes, yes try it. It’s delicious” Sophie grins.

I watch Natalie lean on the table, “Unless you don't like Quesitos.”

“Here,” Bonita says, not waiting for his answer and serving him the Puerto Rican pastry on a small plate. She places it in front of us. “Try it. It's going to be your new favorite pastry.”

Reid chuckles and thanks her, probably staring at the plate and wondering if my family actually listened when people talked. Taking pity on him, I pat his forearm, which is still around my waist.

“Ese debe ser tu asiento favorito de toda la casa, ¿verdad? (That must be your favorite seat in the whole house, right?)” Landon asks as he snatches a slice of bread off the tray.

I narrow my eyes at him.

“Equivocado (Wrong)” I reply.

He chuckles and Matthew comes up behind him, eyes zeroed in on the man behind— or rather beneath me.

“So Reid, when are you two setting a date? Now that you two are back together, your relationship is obviously stronger than ever now. And I'd like to believe you're not just fooling around with my sister. That's why I think it's time for you two to set a date for the wedding. Because Lee here is about to turn thirty and—”

“Matthew,” I interrupt him. “Y a bastard (Stop),” I hiss. “And I’m only twenty-five. Jeez.”

Reid chuckles behind me.

“Marriage is one of my favorite institutions, actually.”

My eyes pop.

“When I look at what my parents have, and my cousin, and even you and Mr. Wilmore...” he gestures with his free hand at Bonita, “...it's beyond beautiful. And I'd like to have that someday... with my very special someone.”

Oh. my. God.

“I mean I don't have the best reputation around when it comes to my dating life. But Lee's changed that for me.”

God, he's good.

“And so, my old lifestyle behind, I’ve always wanted to get married.”

When he squeezes his hold around me, my breath hitches, my eyes still wide.

“Have a bunch of kids. A dog too.”

Swallowing hard, I try my best to conceal my pure shock. I try to take hold of my mind, which has wandered away with dangerous rose-tainted images, born of Reid’s words.

Even though I know it's all fake and he’s only saying what every family wants to hear.

And then he really went for it.

“We love dogs, don’t we, angel?”

Managing to pick up my jaw from the floor, I answer with a weak, “Yeah.” Then, I shake my head and somehow recover. “That’s why aside from our baby Sirius, we’ll have a bunch of them. Instead of kids.”

His chuckle tickles my ear.

How does he have this much power?

“But there’s plenty of time to talk about that,” I gritt out with a fake smile.

“Ay que bien! (Oh that's good) Dogs, babies, true love. Just in time before you are a little too old” Tracy grins, and I shoot her a look.

The doorbell rings again and I mutter a not-so-quiet curse under my breath.

“Oh! They must be here!” Sophie announces.

What? Who?

Then, she proceeds to link her arm with Tracy’s, and they slip out of the kitchen together before the rest follow.

Reid’s hand squeezes my arm gently, and I release all the air in my lungs. I'm on edge after that. And I was going to ignore—no, forget—his comment about marriage and kids and dogs because it's completely irrelevant.

And I do as soon as his fingers trail down to my wrist. The touch—the caress—so featherlike, so brief, but so very powerful that it creates a riot of shivers to spread across my whole body.

“Relax, Lee,” he said in my ear. His fingers start moving in circles over the skin of my wrist. The brush of his fingers is lazy, and calming. “That’s it,” he whispers as his fingertips keep flicking over my skin.

My shoulders gradually relax until my back settles completely against his front. Reid’s chin rests on the top of my head, and then he says, “We’ve got this.”

I absentmindedly hum and surrender, letting my body fall into his. And it feels like way more than just pretend. I realize a part of me doesn’t want to believe in just pretending. Because it feels right to be in this kitchen, sitting on his lap, while he brushes his fingers over the sensitive skin of my wrist as we endure my family’s inappropriate antics.

We felt like a 'we', an 'us', Reid and I.

And when it was Papi’s head coming into view, followed by the rest, that realization solidified somewhere in the middle of my chest.

Like a brick or a block of cement. Heavy, firm, and really hard to ignore.

But it's when Reid briefly peels himself off me— just long enough to greet my uncle, that I feel the brick click into place, inserting itself like a puzzle piece that has been waiting to be filled. And by the time he returns his arm to my waist and my body to his lap, just after he looks down and smiles that smile of his just for me, I know with certainty that if I didn't stop letting these feelings blur the lines, I’d never be able to get that damn brick out of there.

✯✯✯✯✯✯

✿ Reid's POV

I feel her stiffen when her uncle tells her something in Spanish. I knew she was uncomfortable with lying to her family. And I knew it was all my fault for dragging her into this mess. So on autopilot, I begin to move my hand to take hers into mine.

Suddenly, it seems like a huge silver lining that we’d have to do this— pretend this much around others. And it makes me look forward to kissing her again already—

“Don’t you ever kiss me again,” she snaps, as soon as we're alone in the house, the screeching of car tires in the distance.

I feel her pulse suddenly become erratic from my hold on her.

“I beg your pardon?”

She snatches her hand away.

“And enough with the touching. I don’t like it, and it’s not necessary.”

“Both are untrue, Aileen,” I tell her.

Her eyes widen at how blatantly I'm calling her a liar and dismissing her words.

“I’m serious, Armani.”

“As am I” I assure her, moving closer, my large frame dwarfing hers. “Kissing you, from time to time, is going to be absolutely necessary. And so is the touching. And we both know you like it every time just fine.”

Her lips part on an expulsion of breath, surprise rendering her mute.

“You don’t know anything about me, Armani.”

“I know women and I know desire, Lee. And so I know you are as turned on by every kiss we've shared as I am.”

Her eyes jerk to mine, uncertain, shocked.

“You... are?”

And though if I’d been thinking clearly, I would never have done it. I reach for her wrist and bring her hand to my front, so she can feel for herself the evidence of my desire for her.

I fight back a moan.

I’d been fighting an erection almost all day and now, right here, close to her, so close I can kiss her again easily, I find desire swamping me, making me feel like a hormonal teenager rather than a very experienced man of the world.

“Reid,” she whispered, eyes closed, tormented.

And God, I like shocking her, thrilling her, making her face the truth of the attraction we share.

“Don’t lie to me, Aileen. You like being kissed by me, very much.”

She shakes her head but doesn’t say anything to deny it.

“In fact, I think you want me to kiss you again now.”

She moves closer, unspeaking, staring up into my eyes.

“I think you want me to kiss you properly, with no one watching.”

“I—,” her tongue darts out, licking her lower lip and sending my mind into a dirty frenzy. “No, I don't. So stop doing it! And no more calling me Angel.”

She takes advantage of my surprise and gets away from me, moving into the bedroom

And now I have to nurse my boner.

✯✯✯✯✯✯

✿ Aileen's POV

I storm into the bedroom and slam the door behind me. I fall back onto the bed, reeling. Part of me almost wants to cry for touching what I was just forced to do. The other part of me, however, is beyond thrilled that I made Reid Dalton hard with a kiss. I could do that to him. And he felt that way because of me... little ol' me.

And I hate that part of me.

I pick up a pillow and scream into it. And when I pull it away, I hear a quiet knock at the bedroom door.

“Go away.”

“Lee,” he says, sounding much calmer. “Don’t be mad at me. I’m sorry for my actions.”

“I’m not mad Armani, just... please...go away.”

I expect him to make a joke about how he was right about me enjoying his actions. But he doesn't. I strain my eyes when I notice how the hallway falls silent. And a few seconds later, I hear the heavy click of the front door closing.

✯✯✯✯✯✯

The sun pours brightly across the bed the next day, bathing me in a hot rectangle of light. I roll away from it, straight into a pillow that smells like Reid Dalton.

That’s right.

He slept in the bed with me last night. He is everywhere in this room. In the neat row of shirts and Armani suits hanging in the closet, the designer shoes lined by the dresser. His expensive customized watch, his wallet, his keys; even his phone is sitting here.

Even the covers are tainted with the memory of him, of his lips on mine.

Groaning, I stand up, walk to the door and peek out.

No sign of him in the living room.

So I dart into the bathroom, close the door, and turn on the faucet, splashing water on my face. I stare at myself in the mirror, thinking.

We need to talk.
We need to clear the air.

I step out of the bathroom, turn to the left to begin my Reid Dalton search and run directly into his brick-wall chest. The “oof” that erupts from me is cartoon-level comical. And he makes it worse by catching me easily and holding me at a distance, looking down warily.

Stepping back, I ask, “Where were you?”

“Pool,” he says, “I was coming to grab my phone and wallet.”

“Where are you going?”

He lifts a shoulder.

“Not sure.”

He’s guarded again.

Of course, he’s guarded.

I kept making everything worse. I sigh at my misfortune.

“We need to have that talk, Armani.”

Reid immediately scowls.

“I don’t want to have that talk right now, Lee. We can’t get into it only for you to get mad and shut me out like some stranger.”

“I know, okay. And I’m sorry.” I look up at him for a beat and catch just a flicker of emotion behind his eyes. It’s enough to give me the bravery to push on. “But should we talk about us?”

“What us?”

“The us that is having this conversation?” I whisper, eyes wide with meaning. “The us that is on this journey of pretend engagement together, fighting, having... desires.”

His eyes narrow.

“I don’t think us will ever be a very good idea, Aileen.”

“Why? Because we argue?”

“Like a couple when we’re not” he shot back.

Silence grows between us till I'm able to speak up again.

“Do you remember kissing me that night?”

He blinks to the side, exhaling slowly like he’s busted.

“Yes.”

“But do you remember it?” I ask, taking a step closer so that we’re nearly chest-to-chest.

He hesitates, and then looks back at me, brows drawn.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember the kiss itself?” My fingers scratch lightly at his arm, “Or do you just remember that it happened?”

Reid licks his lips, and fire erupts in my belly.

“Yes.”

“Was it good?” I press.

I can tell his breathing is accelerated now, as well. In front of me, his chest rises and falls rapidly. I, too, feel like I can barely get enough oxygen.

“Yeah.”

“Did you forget your words, Armani?”

“It was good,” he manages, and rolls his eyes but I can see him fighting a smile too.

“Good how?”

His jaw ticks like he wants to argue with me about why I’m asking him this when I was obviously there, too, but the heat in his eyes tells me he’s just as turned on as I am right now, and is willing to play along.

“It was the kind of kiss that feels like fucking.”

All the air is sucked out of my lungs, and I’m left staring up at him, speechless. I was expecting him to say something safe, not something that would send my libido spiraling out of any controlled orbit.

I struggle to swallow.

“I wanna amend the constitution again.”

“Lee...”

“Hear me out, Armani. This will be good for both of us.”

He arches a brow and nods at me to go ahead after a while.

“I say it's okay to flirt.”

He chuckles.

“Lee...” he breathes out.

“Harmless flirting, of course, Armani. And that never hurts anyone, imma right?”

“I don't think that's a very—”

“Yes, it is” I cut him off. “It'll do away with all this built-up tension, Armani. Because that's what stirs up these... desires. So we do a bit of harmless flirting, the tension goes away, and then desires... bye-bye,” I say with a shrug. “I think it’s the only way for us to be. So it’s okay.”

“There is no ‘us’,” he says, a bit too quickly. “This isn’t real, Aileen. You have no experience with flirting, and it'll be so easy for you to blur the lines, to think that this living together, pretending to be a couple, might mean it’s actually a relationship, but it’s not.”

I agree with everything he's saying and yet, inexplicably, hearing the words come from his mouth does something strange to my feelings. My heart is heavy, and my stomach tightens.

“I know that, Armani. But I’m not stupid. Just because I’ve never experienced actual flirting with a guy doesn’t mean I’m going to suddenly fall in love when we flirt.”

He stares at me, almost as if he's staring through me.
I don’t blink away, even when I want to.

“I’m serious, Armani.”

“Aileen,” he says, gently, close to me. “The moment Anika dumps the Aussie, we break our fake engagement, we won’t keep living together. We’ll not see each other. This is not permanent. It’s not real.”

“Jeez, how big is your ego?”

“This isn’t about my ego.”

“So, what is this?” I step back. “Does every woman you flirt with fall in love with you or something?”

“No, but with you it’s different.”

“How and why?”

When Reid grows quiet for too long, I nod.

“Fine,” I say quietly. “If that’s what you want.”

He makes a noise of frustration.

“It’s not necessarily what I want, Aileen. But we’re in a delicate situation, here. It’s complicated. I just don’t think it’s smart to add another layer of complexity to that. We’re fake, all of it. Let’s try not to forget it again. And I'm trying to protect your heart here, Lee. Because I must warn you, I am irresistible when I start to flirt.”

For a second I'm not sure if he's serious or joking. But when I laugh and he chuckles, I feel at ease. Hurt, but at ease we're not in a weird place anymore.

“Whatever, Armani” I roll my eyes.

“Harmless, flirting on hold... are we in the 'Okay Zone' now?”

I sigh.

“Yeah. I'm sorry for being well... me.”

He smiles and I try not to look deep into it.

“It's okay. I shouldn't have... you know” he points down his front.

I chuckle and mentally pat myself on the back for not looking down.

“Would you like some pretzel pudding bread and an Italian cappuccino?” I ask instead.

“Yes please” he beams. “Thanks, angel.”

Thank you for reading!
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Ciao
~the_atticwriter