Read Falling For Her Fake Fiancé (The Beaumont Heirs 5) for Free Online

cool down. “I’m sure you know why I want you,” he all but growled.
    It
was
getting hotter in here. She tried to look innocent. It was the only look she could pull off with the level of blush she’d probably achieved by now. “My sparkling wit?”
    There was a brief crack in his serious facade, as if her sparkling wit was the correct answer. “I consider that a fringe benefit,” he admitted with a tilt of his head. “But let’s not play dumb, you and I. It’s far too beneath a woman with your considerable talents. And your talents...” She straightened her back and thrust her chest out in a desperate attempt to throw him off balance. It didn’t work. His gaze never left her face. “Your talents are considerable. I’m not sure I’ve ever met a woman like you before.”
    “Are you hitting on me?”
    The corner of his mouth quirked up, making him look like a predator. She might have to revise her earlier opinion of him. He was
not
a dogfish. More like...a tiger shark, sleek and fast. Able to take her down before she even realized she was in danger.
    “Of course not.”
    “Then why do you want me?” Because honestly—for the first time in her adult life—she wasn’t sure what the answer would be.
    Men wanted her. They always had. The moment her boobs had put in an appearance, she’d learned about base male lust—how to provoke it, how to manage it, how to use it for her own ends. Men wanted her for a simple, carnal reason. And after watching stepmother after stepmother come and go out of her father’s life, she had resolved never to be used. Not like that.
    The upside was that she’d never had her heart broken. But the downside?
    She’d never been in love. Self-preservation, however vital to survival, was a lonely way to live.
    “It’s simple, really.” He leaned back, his posture at complete ease. “Obviously, everyone at the Brewery hates me. I can’t blame them—no one likes change, especially when they have to change against their will.” He grinned at her, a sly thing. “I should probably be surprised that Delores hasn’t spiked my coffee with arsenic by now.”
    “Probably,” she agreed. Where was he going with this?
    “But you?” He reached over and picked up her hand, rubbing his thumb along the edges of her fingertips. Against her will, she shivered—and he felt it. That smile deepened—his voice deepened. Everything deepened.
Oh, hell.
    “I saw how the workers—especially the lifers—responded to you and your donut stunt,” he went on, still stroking her hand. “There’s nothing they wouldn’t do for you, and probably wouldn’t do for any Beaumont.”
    “If you think this is going to convince me to take that job, you’re sorely mistaken,” she replied. She wanted to jerk her hand out of his—she needed to break that skin-to-skin contact—but she didn’t. If this was how the game was going to go, then she needed to be all in.
    So instead she curled her fingers around his and made small circles on the base of his palm with her thumb. She was justly rewarded with a little shiver from him.
Okay, good. Great.
She wasn’t entirely at his mercy here. She could still have an impact even without the element of surprise. “Especially if you’re going to call them ‘lifers.’ That’s insulting. You make them sound like prisoners.”
    He notched an eyebrow at her. “What would you call them?”
    “Family.” The simple reply—which was also the truth—was out before she could stop it.
    She didn’t know what she expected him to do with that announcement, but lifting her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss against her skin wasn’t it. “And that,” he whispered against her skin, “is exactly why I need you.”
    This time, she did pull her hand away. She dropped it into her lap and fixed him with her best polite glare, the one that could send valets and servers scurrying for cover. Just then, the waiter appeared with their food—and did, in fact, pause when