Rafe glanced over it all, bemused.

  “I guess you’re used to it.”

  His gaze met mine. “I suppose I am. Does it seem ridiculous to you?”

  Since he sounded genuinely interested, I shrugged. “Not for a cause. If this is what it takes to lure wealthy people out to donate money to something worthwhile, then why not?”

  He smiled wryly. “Yes, my mother is excellent at that.”

  I chuckled and turned in my seat to watch the guests flow into the room. A lot of people hadn’t taken their seats yet as they caught up with each other.

  “I come to these events for my family. Otherwise, this kind of socializing wouldn’t be my choice.”

  Turning to study his too-handsome face, I smiled. “Would any kind of socializing be?”

  He gave me a dark but amused look. “You’re funny.”

  I had to hold back more laughter and sought to change the subject. “Are you on call tonight?”

  “No. Owen is.”

  “So how does that work? How do people get in contact with you if they have a pet emergency?”

  “We each have a separate cell and our patients’ owners have an emergency contact number that forwards to those cells. I switched mine off tonight, so only Owen will receive the calls.”

  “Do you get a lot of emergency calls?”

  “Yes.” He sighed. “Our patient list is fairly small in big-picture terms, but we’re already pushed at this point.”

  “Which is why you’re considering a third vet?”

  “Exactly.”

  “You should do it if you can.” I touched his knee without thinking, and his gaze dropped to my hand. I pulled back, thinking his look meant I shouldn’t touch him. Though I was a tactile person, I’d learned to read people to make sure they were comfortable with my casual touches. “You don’t want to burn out.”

  His gaze rose to mine and he said matter-of-factly, “You can touch me. It makes this whole thing more believable if you do.”

  I swallowed around the sudden sensation of my racing heart. “Right.” Needing to break our intense eye contact, I turned to observe the room, noting that more people were heading to their seats. Then I spotted Pippa talking to two women who looked like they could be mother and daughter.

  Rafe groaned beside me.

  “What?”

  “Pippa.”

  “What about her?”

  Rafe leaned into me, his breath tickling my cheek as he murmured, “Those women she’s talking to . . . the younger one is the person she tried to set me up with for this event.”

  I turned my head slightly, bringing our faces just inches apart. “It sounds like Pippa is worse than your mom.”

  “In some ways, she is. I don’t think she even knows why she’s so set on seeing me settled.” His attention moved from his sister-in-law to me, and his eyes narrowed as he realized how close we were. But he didn’t move back. Instead, he searched my eyes.

  My heartbeat sprinted, and I was almost afraid to breathe.

  Needing to break that tension again, I wrenched my gaze from his and found Pippa shooting us quick glances. “What do you think she’d do if I yelled at her across the room about leaving peanut butter and jelly in my sheets?”

  Rafe’s answer was to move away, but only because he’d thrown his head back in laughter.

  Butterflies raged to life as pleasure washed over me at the sight. He grinned at me, mischief dancing in his eyes.

  “See, now you’ve made me want to do it.”

  He chuckled. “Part of me wants you to, but I doubt she or my mother would forgive you.”

  “Shame.” I turned in my seat to face the table. “If I weren’t so darn set on making a good impression, I could have some fun.”

  “Be yourself,” Rafe surprised me by saying. “Just the kind of self who is committed to me. That’s all I want them to see.”

  Before long, our table had filled, and Rafe introduced me to the people he knew. There was a couple he’d never met before and so we made quick introductions. Otherwise, the table was so big we didn’t really have to make conversation with them. In fact, Rafe made it clear to me he didn’t want to by constantly leaning in to murmur in my ear. He asked if I was enjoying myself, if my food was okay, what I thought of the music, what I’d usually be doing on a Saturday night. By the time the meal was over and the auction was soon to start, we’d turned toward each other in our seats, our knees touching as we talked about our weeks.

  I told Rafe about the birthday party I worked the night before for an eleven-year-old boy who was a Lord of the Rings fan. His parents hired me as Arwen, and a colleague I’d worked with only once before was Gandalf. The kid had spent most of the night coming on to me.

  “An eleven-year-old. What is happening to our youth?”

  Rafe grinned at the story, and I swear I was getting addicted to his smiles now that he was regularly bestowing them upon me. “Sounds like he had an elf fetish.”

  “An elf fetish!” I exclaimed, without thinking about where I was. “Of course! Still, a fetish at eleven . . .”

  That made his shoulders shake with laughter.

  I smacked his arm playfully. “Hey, you weren’t the object of the fetish.”

  “Are you talking about a foot fetish?” the woman next to me at the table—Andrea, I think her name was—leaned in to ask, her eyes wide.

  Laughter trembled on my lips, but I contained it. “Um—”

  “Because I just had to switch podiatrists because of that. I swear my feet aroused the woman.”

  Rafe coughed into his fist, and I knew he was covering laughter.

  I poked his thigh under the table. “How awful.”

  He grabbed the offending finger and forced open my hand to tickle my palm. Bastard! I squirmed in my seat, trying to keep a straight face as this poor woman told me about her struggle to find a new podiatrist.

  Her husband, thankfully, pulled her attention away and I turned on Rafe, tugging my hand from his. “You’re the devil.”

  Laughter gleamed in his eyes, and I couldn’t help but grin at him. I’d never expected to see this playful boyish side of him.

  “You know, I had a patient yesterday who I’m pretty sure had a hand fetish. Kept licking the hell out of mine,” he informed me with such deadpan seriousness that I cackle-laughed.

  Not elegant. Not classy.

  And he grinned at me like he didn’t give a damn it was neither.

  “You two look like you’re having fun.”

  We turned to find Pippa standing behind us.

  “You look beautiful, Pippa,” I commented sincerely.

  Her pale blue gown was stunning against her ivory skin and dark hair.

  “Thank you. You look very pretty as well.” Her attention turned to Rafe. “There is someone I’d like you to meet. Do you have a second?”

  Rafe’s entire demeanor changed. “Who is it?”

  His sister-in-law’s eyes narrowed. “A friend.”

  “Why do you want us to meet?”

  She sighed. “Rafe, do you have to be so rude?”

  “It’s not rude. What you’re doing is rude.” He stared stonily at her now and as she flushed, I suddenly realized what was going on.

  She was trying to steal him away to introduce him to a woman she wanted to set him up with.

  While he was supposed to be here. On a date with me.

  Wow.

  Even I thought that was rude.

  Not sure why I felt so agitated by that, I decided to take a break from their family stare-down. “If you’ll both excuse me, I need to use the restroom.”

  “Oh, of course.” Pippa stepped aside.

  Rafe caught my hand as I stood, and I forced myself to meet his gaze. “Do you know where it is?”

  I gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach my eyes and tugged on my hand. “I think I’ll find it easily enough.”

  The champagne they’d been serving at the table had gone to my head, and I felt a little rush as I tried to stroll through the fairly busy dance floor without going over on my stilettos.

  There was a line outside the ladies’ restroom, so it took a while, and the whole time I wondered if Pippa had talked Rafe into meeting this woman she thought was better for him than me. I knew it was ridiculous to be annoyed or hurt considering we were fake-dating, but Pippa didn’t know that. What she was doing was rude.

  Maybe she was doing it because I wasn’t like the women who normally circulated around Rafe. Or maybe she was doing it because of my comments about commitment at the dinner table.

  Either way, she was mistreating me, but she either thought I was too stupid to realize it or just didn’t care if I did.

  While I’d never thought about being in a serious relationship before and was actually terrified by the thought, I considered what my real reaction would be to that if what Rafe and I had wasn’t a deception.

  And so I walked out of that restroom on a mission.

  I scanned the room as I entered it and found Rafe still at our table and Pippa across the room, talking to some guy. I marched over to her and she caught sight of me in her peripheral. Perhaps seeing the determined look on my face, she muttered something to the man and stepped away to meet me.

  “Star, is everything all right?”

  “May we have a word? In private?”

  Her brows drew together. “Now isn’t the best time—”

  “It’ll just take a second.” I walked away, hoping she’d follow.

  Thankfully, when I stopped outside the ballroom entrance, where we had more privacy, I found that Pippa had followed me.

  “Is everything—”

  “I know what you’re doing.” I cut her off again, giving her a smile to soften my tone and coming words. “Trying to set Rafe up with other women. He told me. And I know that’s what you were trying to do right now.”

  She sighed. “Star—”

  “I’m serious about Rafe.” I tried not to flush at the lie. “We’re in a relationship. A committed one. You trying to set him up with other women while he’s seeing me is not only rude, but it’s unkind to me. And you don’t strike me as a cruel person.”

  Pippa blanched. “Oh . . . Star . . . I . . . you’re right. I’m very sorry. I . . . just wasn’t sure after our dinner if you were serious about Rafe. But now that I know you are, I promise I’ll back off.”

  I nodded. “Thank you. I’d appreciate it.”

  Her eyes gleamed with remorse. “I really am very sorry.”

  Guilt flooded me. Ugh. I’d said what I said for Rafe’s sake. The whole point of our deception was to get his sister-in-law and mother off his back. That didn’t mean it wasn’t horrible, making Pippa feel bad when I was the one lying to her. Reaching out, I took her hand and squeezed it in silent apology. Though to her, it would seem like reassurance. “I know. We’re good. Let’s just move on.”

  She gave me a tight smile. “Okay. Thank you.”

  “Enjoy the rest of your night.”

  I left her at the entrance and strode back into the ballroom, seeking Rafe. He’d turned in his chair. A frown marred his brow. But it melted as our gazes locked.

  Then, as I crossed the room toward him, his eyes drifted down my body.

  Rafe had given me a bonus to buy suitable clothes to attend events with him. I’d found a designer dress on Fifth Avenue that was exactly my style. A bohemian-print maxi dress in black and copper, with billowing sleeves that tightened at the wrists. It had a nipped-in waist with a high neckline to offset the fact that there was a daring slit up one side of the full skirt.

  Rafe’s gaze lingered on my bare leg as it flashed in and out of the layers of skirt as I walked toward him.

  By the time I reached our table again, I was flushed from his perusal.

  He didn’t move, meaning I had to brush up against him to sit down. When our eyes met, his were hooded. We stared at one another, the rest of the room, the music, the chatter fading around us.

  Then finally, Rafe broke the silence. “What did you say to Pippa?”

  I looked away. “I just told her politely that you and I are serious and she needed to back off from setting you up with other women.”

  His silence made me look at him.

  There was that unreadable expression on his face again.

  “Shouldn’t I have?”

  Rafe cleared his throat. “No, you did the right thing. I appreciate it. Thank you.”

  “I felt like a lying asshole,” I murmured, guilt-ridden.

  He placed a hand on my knee under the table, drawing my gaze to his. If he moved his fingers, he’d push the slit of the dress open and touch bare skin. “Hey, you’re not the liar. I am. You don’t need to feel guilty about this. This decision was mine.”

  “And mine to agree to it.”

  His hand squeezed reflexively. “Do you . . . want to stop?”

  I want your hand to slide northward.

  There.

  I’d admitted it.

  At least to myself.

  In knowing I was this attracted to Rafe, I should have told him yes, that I wanted to end this now before it got messy.

  So why couldn’t I bring myself to say those words?

  Instead, I shook my head.

  Rafe’s shoulders relaxed and he took his hand off my knee. “Good. And seriously, thank you. Having her off my back helps me a lot.”

  I scanned the room for Pippa again. She was always talking to someone different. “Where’s Hugo?”

  Rafe followed my gaze. “Business trip.”

  “You know, I think she might be fixated on you to avoid fixating on the fact that her husband doesn’t seem to be around a lot.”

  He leaned toward me but his eyes were on his sister-in-law. “You’re probably right.”

  “Was your dad away a lot?”

  “Yes, and no. He somehow always made time for his family. My dad is an excellent delegator. I think that’s how he got the balance right.”

  “But Hugo isn’t the same?”

  Rafe pursed his lips. “No. He’s more of a control freak than our father. Takes too much upon himself . . . I think he’s so determined to make the company work, to prove to our family that he can, that he forgets the most important lesson our father taught us: family always comes first. Maybe I’ve forgotten too.”

  Seeing the guilt that matched my own, I leaned into him. “Rafe, we can stop this. I wouldn’t be put out if you changed your mind. I would understand completely, in fact.”

  He sighed, his gaze still on Pippa. “They never need to know. And it just . . . gives me some space.”

  Did it really, though? He didn’t have to dodge the weekly matchmaking efforts of his mom and sister-in-law, but he did have to make an effort to pretend to date me.

  I looked over at Pippa, wondering what was really behind all of this. Pippa glanced over at us and I glanced away, not wanting her to think we were talking about her. In looking away from her, I found myself staring into Rafe’s eyes.

  His face was close.

  Too close.

  Or just close enough, depending on how you looked at it.

  His eyes searched mine and I ignored the blood rushing in my ears as I closed the distance between us and gently brushed my lips over his.

  My mouth tingled from the brief touch as I pulled away.

  Rafe scowled hard at my mouth . . . but I honestly wasn’t sure if it was because I’d kissed him or because I’d barely kissed him. “What was that?” His voice was rough.

  I shrugged and lied. “Just playing my part.”

  A loud banging made me jerk in my seat and I turned toward the front of the ballroom, where a small stage was set up. Jen stood in front of a lectern with a gavel in her hand. “Honored guests, it’s time for the auction to begin.”

  Nice timing, I thought, as the auction distracted us from the barely-there kiss that somehow, despite its barely-there status, haunted my lips more than any kiss ever had.

  Chapter Twelve

  Let me know whenever you’re in the city and I’ll come meet you for coffee. Gxx

  I stared at the text from Gigi, chewing on my lip in thought. After another Sunday dinner with Rafe’s family, I’d exchanged numbers with his little sister. Rafe was right. She and I got along great despite our vastly different upbringings. She was disarming and lacking in all pretension. I liked her a lot. But I also felt horrible pursuing a friendship with her when she falsely thought I was her brother’s girlfriend.

  I’d said so to Rafe as we left his parents’ house for the city.

  “Oh.” He’d frowned. “I thought I told you. Gigi knows the truth.”

  “About our deal?”

  He’d nodded with a shrug, eyes on the road. “If anyone understands why I’m doing this, it’s my little sister. And she was all excited about our so-called relationship and since she’s the one person in my family who just wants me to be happy, no matter what, I couldn’t lie to her. This whole thing is harder than I’d thought it would be.”

  “I wish you’d told me.”

  “I have now, and if Gigi wants a genuine friendship with you, there’s no rule saying you can’t pursue that.”

  Except that I wasn’t a casual, fair-weather type of friend. If I decided someone was in my life, they were in my life through the good and bad. Wouldn’t it be weird maintaining a friendship with Gigi once this whole thing with Rafe was over? Shouldn’t I keep her at a distance?

  The problem was, these two Whitmans were getting under my skin.

  The more I spent time with Rafe’s family, the guiltier I felt. Jen had warmed up to me again at dinner, and even Greg was a little more loquacious this time around. Hugo wasn’t there, but Pippa and Charmaine were.