Free Sex, Lies, and Beauty Aides by Deb Julienne

I promise not to think of you as a goddess worthy of praise.”
    “Well, you don’t have to go that far. Maybe a smidgen of praise would be nice.” She held her hand to show her thumb and forefinger barely an inch apart. And her blush was back.
    Her laughter made him smile. “Deal. A little praise. Perfect manners. An enjoyable evening. What are you doing tomorrow night? I’ll see if I can’t deliver on your request.”
    “That’s sweet of you, Travis. Are you sure you want to go through the hassle for me? I’m mean, you’re my boss. Taking over the magazine will be no easy feat. Please don’t feel like you have to do this. It’s not up to you to help me figure out my new job.”
    “Forget about the job for now. Tell me more about you.” Damn, he didn’t want to admit it, how easily he was falling for her. Then what? If he did, they’d both be out of a job.
    “What do you want to know?”
    One month. He had to survive one lousy month of this crazy pretense as his brother. Sabrina made it harder and harder to do by the moment. He owed Travis. He owed the family. He even owed Kat. He’d promised not to hurt Sabrina.
    “The little things. What makes you laugh? What makes you mad? What are your pet peeves?” Honestly, he had no intention of hurting her. All he had to do was pull off their little con until Travis took control of the magazine and he and Sabrina could continue what they had. He’d tell her what he’d done for his brother and albeit she might be a bit upset at first, surely she’d see clear to give him a second chance. He was counting on her crush for him to be too strong not to forgive.
    “I’m basically a happy person. According to Kat and Jill my goal in life is to look for the best in people. I don’t get what’s so wrong with truly believing everyone has some good in their hearts?”
    “Nothing’s wrong with it. Anyone who can see the good in Trent—forget I said that. So what makes you mad?” But what if she didn’t? Hadn’t she poured her guts out to him of her feelings for Trent. The real him.
    “People who pick on others.”
    “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
    “Your foot, your mouth, enjoy the swallow.”
    As long as he continued the charade he had the best of both worlds. And if she started to take it too seriously, he’d deal with it. Darkness plagued his mind. Time to change the subject, again. “Pet peeves.”
    “Glass rings on the coffee table.”
    “Really. That’s it?”
    “What can I say? I’m a happy person.” She toyed with a hangnail. “By the way, do you plan to stay on once the magazine turns around?”
    Shit. Why’d she have to ask? “I sincerely don’t know at this point. Maybe I’ll discover I like it so much I can’t leave. I figure a year max. I guess we’ll see what happens. As long as I’m here, I’d love it if you’d be my first friend. I promise to curtail my comments about my brother. I’ll be the very essence of a perfect gentleman. What do you say?”
    “Why? What do you have in mind?”
    “We can go to dinner and maybe take an evening ride through the park. Kat tells me it’s beautifully decorated this time of year and they offer horse-drawn carriage rides as well as hot refreshments. Let’s enjoy ourselves and we’ll do whatever we want.”
    The desire to change the subject had him searching the room for a different topic, only his gaze landed on the books on her end table. God help him he picked one up. The images he’d conjured up of Sabrina in any number of positions cut off his ability to swallow, he had to cough his lust away or he’d do worse than blush. Wishful fantasies raced through his mind teasing and tantalizing him.
    * * * *
    Thoroughly embarrassed, Sabrina grabbed the book from Travis and threw it behind the couch “Oh God,” she whispered through a fake smile.
    The last thing she wanted to do was give him the wrong idea. Especially when she had no foggy freakin’ idea what kind of