Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
"I don't know. Is it working?"
He takes a bite of his burger, chewing thoughtfully, and then he chuckles. "Yeah, cupcake. It's working."
"Oh, thank God." My shoulders sag with relief. "Had you turned me down, I was going to have to engineer an entire messy breakup and fake my own death."
"You really like this guy, huh?"
"What? No." I scowl across the table at him. "Absolutely not."
"Right," he says with a soft chuckle. "You're just panicking and plotting to fake your own death for the hell of it."
"Yes! Exactly."
He shakes his head. "Lie to yourself if you want, but I'm not buying your bullshit, Zoya Mikhail. You like him."
"Do not." I shove a fry in my mouth, hoping that ends the conversation. Sadly, it doesn't. Connor knows me too damn well.
"When are we leaving?"
"After finals. Teo hired a private plane to get us all there."
Connor's brow quirks. "Your family is not like my family."
I reach across the table, squeezing his arm. His parents basically disowned him when he came out to them. The only reason he managed to make it to college was his scholarship.
Things have thawed a little back home…but not much. There are places in the world where you're allowed to be gay and happy. A small town in the Bible belt isn't really one of them. His parents treat him like he's going through some phase and just needs to find a good woman. It breaks my heart for him, especially since being an openly gay sports star isn't exactly welcome, either. He spends every day pretending he's something he isn't just to keep from sinking his chances of going pro.
"It's not fair for me to ask you to do this for me," I whisper, guilt flowing through me. "You have to pretend enough already."
"Pretending to be in love with you for a free vacation at a winery in California with your pop star sister, her linebacker fiancé, and agents who can get me to the next level?" he asks, one brow arched. "Yeah, that's totally asking too much, cupcake." He rolls his eyes at me. "We're going. It'll be a disaster, but we're fucking going."
"Well, when you put it that way…"
He lobs a fry at me, chuckling. "Get out of your head. If you were asking too much, I'd tell you."
"You promise?"
"Promise."
I exhale a breath, relieved I don't have to come up with another plan to avoid Jareth.
Crap. I'm going to be seeing Jareth again.
That is not excitement I feel fluttering in my stomach. Nope. No way. The fries were probably just bad.
Chapter Three
Zoya
"Christ on a cracker," I whisper, my eyes practically bugging out of my head as soon as we pull up outside the vineyard and my gaze lands on Jareth. That's it. That's the whole thought.
The man is shirtless and sweating. Who needs to think?
"Fuck me," Connor mutters from beside me, sitting upright to gawk at Jareth. At least, I'm pretty sure it's Jareth hoisting a wine cask over his head outside of the winery and not his twin, but I could be wrong.
How are there possibly two of them who look that damn good shirtless and sweaty? And trust me, this one looks damn good.
His golden skin glistens in the sunlight slanting across the vineyard. His torn jeans hug his muscular thighs, hinting at just how powerful he really is. Fully clothed, he's a beast. Shirtless, he's something else altogether.
Life at the vineyard has clearly done the man justice.
I am so screwed.
It doesn't help that it's picture-perfect here. Literally. This is the kind of place featured on postcards in rest stops. Row after row of grapevines stretch right up to the mountains on one side. The ocean blows in from the other. The winery and restaurant are situated in the middle of absolute serenity, with an office building, cabins, and family homes scattered all around the property. It's breathtaking.
And Jareth is shirtless right in the center of it.
Help. Me.
"Oh, Jareth is already here!" Nadia chirps from the front seat, lifting her hand in a wave when his jade eyes land on Teo's Escalade. Even through the dark tint over the windows, I feel them burning into me, beckoning me toward him. Or maybe that's the rivulet of sweat running right down the center of his rock-hard abdomen that's coaxing me toward recklessness.
How did he get even damn sexier in the last few weeks?
"Sexual voodoo. It has to be sexual voodoo," I mumble, more to myself than anyone, really. But Connor hears me and snorts softly.
Of course he's enjoying my waking nightmare. Doesn't he always when I rope him into one of my bad ideas? Pretending he's my boyfriend for the next two weeks might just be the most ridiculous thing I've ever done. But there's no way I'm going to be able to resist Jareth on my own. I haven't even gotten out of the car, and my panties are already suspiciously wet. I need reinforcements.