From Boardroom to Bedroom

After that memorable plane ride, it was a wonder she could focus on anything but her tingling body. She couldn’t stop herself from a constant replay of every single arousing touch. Those hours only pulled her in deeper to his world, making her want more, making her wish things were different.

Nigel reached over to take her hand and gave a gentle squeeze. “Nothing to worry about. My family will love you. We just have to pretend like we’re in love.”

She didn’t even know how to unpack that whole statement, but she should at least attempt.

Nervous? She had far surpassed nervous when it came to meeting his family. His grandmother went by Dame for crying out loud.

And pretend? Yeah, she’d gotten that down pat and honestly deserved some Oscar for her performance.

Love? No, there was no love here. A good healthy dose of lust and sex, but not love. She couldn’t allow herself to think along those lines because she was already falling, and at some point, she’d have to guard her heart from tumbling completely out of her control. She just didn’t know where to draw the boundary lines.

“Do you want to talk about what happened on the plane?” she asked as she turned from the postcard-worthy view to face him.

He steered the car around another sharp turn before flashing her a grin. “What do you want to talk about? I had a great time. Best flight of my life.”

women he whisked off around the world. Jealousy had no place here, after all she was lying to him and they’d made no promises to each other.

have brought you on

in her belly. “Do you seduce

not a playboy like the tabloids want people to believe and I certainly don’t seduce

before we reached cruising altitude,” she

I swear that I have not taken any other woman to bed on

so sincere and Sophie really had no reason to disbelieve him. But the whens and wheres of his former affairs weren’t really the issue here. Of course, he’d had women and relationships before her. He was a sexy, powerful man. Good grief, they weren’t even in a relationship and she already had the unhealthy girlfriend mentality. They’d had sex and she was his pretend girlfriend for the rest of the week. Sounded simple

on the plane had only exacerbated the issue. Now she didn’t know if her feelings stemmed from the man

or words died in her throat as Nigel turned into a long drive where the grounds were surrounded with tall evergreens covered with a blanket of crisp

last curve of the drive, the trees opened up to reveal a vast two-story brick-and-stone home. There seemed to be windows

with her original impression of the town—everything about this place was like she’d stepped back in time. She couldn’t wait to explore the inside, get inspired for

the home and she could only imagine summertime here with the grounds blooming with colorful flowers. But

she was

Hall,” Nigel told her as he circled