Chapter <b>270 </b>


    He squeezed my hand, and my stomach stiffened. Was he implying that he cared about me? That made my mouth go dry. This was getting serious too fast. I wasn’t ready for this kind of conversation with him.


    Honestly, I didn’t think I ever would be.


    “I…I don’t know if I want to talk about this,” I said and tucked a lock of hair behind my ears.


    Alexander’s eyes widened when he noticed that my hand was shaking.


    “Hey, it’s okay,” he said and put his arms around me.


    For a few minutes, he gently rubbed my back and madeforting sounds like he was trying to calm down a scared kitten.


    Automatically, my body rxed into his, and my heart rate slowed. He put his lips directly next to my ear and spoke to me in a soft tone.


    “I want you to know that I would never force you to do anything,” he said.


    I pulled back so that I could study his expression. Why did his eyes hold an apprehensive look?


    “Listen, I think that it would be important for my parents to think I had a girlfriend so that they will leave me alone and stop trying to set me up on dates,” he said. “If you do this, I could, of course, pay you.”


    I blinked at him for a full minute. That was thest thing I had expected him to say. Was he implying that he wanted me to be his fake girlfriend? The idea did seem appealing, but I didn’t really like that it


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    felt like a business transaction. A hollow feeling settled low in my stomach. The emotion made my stomach jolt. Who would use who more if we went through this? Him or me?


    “I’m leaving the decision entirely up to you,” Alexander said “Even if you changed your mind, you would be able to back out at any time. We could just take this one day at a time.”


    Part of me wanted to agree. I could use the money, and in the back of my mind, I knew that I might say yes just for the chance to be with him. But if I went through this, it could blow up my entire life. Agreeing to something like this would blur the lines between us even more than we’d done already.


    “I have to think about it,” I finally said.


    Alexander nodded, and an understanding smile crossed his face. He gently cupped my cheek with his warm hand.


    I had to fight my eyes so they wouldn’t close. Then, I would do something stupid like kiss him.


    Abruptly, I stood up. I couldn’t think straight when I was alone in a room with him, and his muscled chest was on disy.


    “I’m going to take a shower and think things over,” I said and stumbled out of his room before he could reply.


    In the bathroom, when I stepped into the hot spray, I realized something. My intention had been to have one night of fun with Alexander to get this longing for each other out of our systems, but now I agreed to consider a situation that would be much moreplicated,


    And it wouldst much longer than one night.


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    I sighed as I squeezed myvender–scented body wash onto my palm. Even as I soaped up my body, I still felt dirty. Just the thought of Alexander paying me for being his girlfriend put a bad taste in my mouth. How could I ept that money? I couldn’t. The bottom line was that I couldn’t agree to something like this.


    I felt even more determined to turn down Alexander’s offer as I blow dried my hair after the shower. I just wasn’t that kind of person to ept money because of spending time with someone. Especially someone I hadplicated feelings for.


    I dressed in my favorite soft purple pajamas and walked out of the bathroom, ready to tell him thanks, but no thanks.


    But I couldn’t find Alexander anywhere in the house. I tried not to feel let down by this. As I walked back to the guest bedroom, my shoulders slumped. I tried to tell myself that it was better if we didn’t see each other tonight. Things were so charged between us right now that if we were alone in a room together, I had no idea what would happen. My


    self–control would be non–existent,