Free Designed for Love by Roseanne Dowell

yours. Why do you need
me to pose as your boyfriend?"
    I sat down and looked at him. God, I
loved his eyes. His light blue shirt brought out the silvery gray. I liked that
his smile reached his eyes and the way they crinkled at the corners. Was he
laughing at me? Something told me not. He looked sincere.
    "Okay, where to begin? You know I
had dinner with my boss tonight. I thought it was a business meeting with the
client. Well, I was wrong. He had other ideas. To ward off his pass I lied and
told him I was involved." I took a deep breath, let it out slow.
    Bill nodded and waited for me to go on.
    "Unfortunately, he wanted to know
his name and one thing led to another. I blurted out your name and told him you
were here. Now he wants you to meet us for dinner tomorrow." I held my
breath and waited for his reply.
    "I see. So you want me to pose as
your boyfriend during dinner tomorrow. Is that it?"
    "Pretty much. Unless he decides to
include us in something else. Knowing him I wouldn't doubt it." I paused,
took another breath and looked at him. He hadn't said no. That was a good
thing.
    "So how serious are we?"
    "Uh, I told him we're practically
engaged." As usual, heat burned my cheeks. God, I was an idiot.
    "I see. So you want me to show up
and pretend I'm in love with you. I assume you want me to shower you with
affection."
    Now my face really smoldered. Crap, crap,
crap. He was enjoying this way too much. Maybe I should forget the whole thing
and tell Nick my fiancé got called back home for an emergency. But I knew
better.
    If I didn't produce a boyfriend, there'd
be no end to the passes he'd make. This was the only way. I swallowed hard.
    "I guess that's pretty much it. I
know this is a lot to ask. I'm sorry. I just didn't know what else to do. I
don't want to lose this job."
    Bill stood and came toward me, reached
down and brought me to me feet. I felt his warm breath on my cheek. This wasn't
at all what I planned. Yet, I stood there, mesmerized by the intense look in
his eyes. My heart skipped a beat, then beat faster until I thought it would burst.
He brushed the tip of his fingers across my mouth. I thought my heart would
explode, it pounded so hard.
    What was happening to me? No man ever
looked at me with such desire. Yet, I couldn't pull away.
    Something smoldered deep in my stomach. A
rush of heat spread throughout me. Helpless to pull away, I continued to stand
there. His hands moved across my back. He pulled me close against him, and his
heart beat against my breasts.
    For just a moment I looked at him. His
eyes smoldered. He bent his face to mine and kissed me.
    My lips trembled under the slight
pressure of his mouth. He moved his hand behind my head and pulled me closer. I
opened my lips and felt the warmth of his tongue in my mouth. A moan escaped
from somewhere deep in my throat. My body betrayed me, all too ready to give
in.
    I gasped. Finally, I came to my senses
and pulled away. I couldn't do this. Dear God, I'd only known him for a few
days. Yet a chill went through me when he moved away and dropped his arms to
his side.
    "Is that what you're looking
for?"
    I looked away. My lips seared from his
mouth. "Phew." I couldn't help myself. No man had ever kissed me with
such passion before. "I think that might be a bit of an over kill."
    "I wanted to do that ever since I
met you." His voice held a hint of an apology.
    I walked to the window and looked out.
"Well, I must say, Mr. Johnson, you play your part well."
    Too well.
    Could I survive his affection? If he
continued to kiss me like that, I wasn't sure I could survive anything. Yet if
he lavished that kind of attention on me, Nick was sure to back off.
    "Let's get one thing straight."
I turned back to look at him. "Though I appreciate you helping me out,
let's keep the affection strictly professional. In front of my boss only."
    "Hmm." Bill rubbed his chin.
"So, you only want me to pay attention to you in front of your boss? What
do I get out of this?"
    My