Page 15 of Anything For You
Elizabeth didn’t pull away. Her eyes locked on Kelsey’s, a storm of something unreadable brewing in their depths. It wasn’t annoyance. It was something closer to shock, as if a circuit had been tripped.
“What are you doing?” Elizabeth’s voice was a low whisper, tight with control.
Kelsey leaned closer. “I’m being your girlfriend,” she murmured back, her own voice steadier than she felt. Her gaze flickered toward the man at the bar, Scott. He was still laughing,oblivious. “He needs to believe it. And you look like you are about to be cross-examined.”
A muscle in Elizabeth’s jaw jumped. Her gaze followed Kelsey’s to Scott, and when her eyes returned, the panic was gone. It was replaced by a hard, lawyerly sheen. But the tension in her leg remained, a live wire under Kelsey’s palm.
“Just try to look like you actually like me,” Kelsey added, the words bolder than she intended. She gave Elizabeth’s knee a soft squeeze.
Before Elizabeth could form a reply, it happened. Scott clapped his friend on the back, turned, and his gaze swept the room. His eyes landed on Elizabeth. They widened for a fraction of a second before an easy smile spread across his face. He pushed off the bar and started toward them.
A jolt of pure terror, cold and sharp, shot through Kelsey’s whiskey warmth.Okay, cool, we’re doing this.
“Showtime,” she breathed, not looking at Elizabeth. Instead, she leaned her head just a little closer to Elizabeth’s shoulder, a gesture of casual intimacy. Her hand stayed firmly on Elizabeth’s knee.
The man, Scott, stopped in front of them. He smelled of expensive cologne and beer. He was handsome in a generic, corporate way, with perfect teeth and a watch that probably cost more than Kelsey’s rent for a year.
“Elizabeth,” he said loudly. His eyes dropped to Kelsey, then to her hand on Elizabeth’s leg. He lingered for a beat too long before his gaze returned to Elizabeth’s face.
Scott’s eyebrows lifted, just slightly, as he waited. The air between them thickened, heavy with the kind of silence that demanded to be filled. Kelsey’s pulse thrummed in her throat, her fingers still pressed against Elizabeth’s knee. She could feel the way Elizabeth’s breath had gone shallow, the way her thigh muscle tightened like a drawn bowstring.
Then Elizabeth exhaled, and the words came out smooth as polished stone.
“Scott, this is Kelsey.” A pause. A beat where Kelsey’s stomach flipped, her grip tightening imperceptibly. “My girlfriend.”
Kelsey’s chest warmed, a dangerous, spreading heat. She forced her lips into a smile, hoping it didn’t look as unsteady as it felt.
Elizabeth continued the introductions. “Kelsey, this is Scott. A colleague of mine.”
Scott’s gaze flicked back to Kelsey, reassessing. His smile widened, just a fraction too wide, the kind of grin people used when they were surprised but trying to play it cool. “Nice to meet you, Kelsey.”
“You too,” Kelsey said, her voice steady despite the way her heart was hammering. She gave Elizabeth’s knee one last, deliberate squeeze before sliding her hand away, letting her fingers trail just a second longer than necessary. A claim. A reminder.We’re doing this.
Elizabeth’s posture didn’t relax, but something in her shifted—her shoulders squared, her chin lifted just a little higher. Like she’d been braced for impact and had somehow survived the collision. Kelsey could practically see the gears turning behind her eyes, the lawyerly part of her brain already dissecting the interaction, filing away Scott’s reactions for later analysis.
Scott glanced between them, his expression flickering with something Kelsey couldn’t quite read—curiosity, maybe, or the faintest hint of skepticism. But his tone stayed light, easy. “I didn’t know you were seeing someone, Moretti.”
Elizabeth’s lips curved, not quite a smile, but close. “Well,” she said, her voice dry, “there’s a lot you don’t know.”
Kelsey bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning.There she is.The real Elizabeth, sharp and unapologetic, peeking through the cracks of the performance.
Scott lingered for another few minutes before finally drifting back to his spot at the other end of the bar.
Kelsey took a sip of her drink, hiding her smile behind the rim. The ice cubes clinked against her teeth, but the heat in her chest wasn’t going anywhere. It was electric. It was ridiculous. It was the best Tuesday night of her entire life.
She had done it. She had touched Elizabeth Moretti’s leg, actually felt the heat of her skin through the fabric, felt the muscle tense and hold, and the world hadn’t ended. Elizabeth hadn’t recoiled. She hadn’t looked at Kelsey with that polite, distant confusion. She’d looked at Kelsey like a partner. Like a co-conspirator.
My girlfriend.
The words echoed in Kelsey’s head, brighter than the neon shamrock sign buzzing in the window. It didn’t matter that it was a lie. It didn’t matter that it was a contractual obligation worth five thousand dollars, and an NDA signed in a wine bar. For the last three minutes, Kelsey Reid had been the girlfriend of the most intimidatingly beautiful woman in Manhattan, and she had absolutely nailed the audition.
She set her glass down on the bar, feeling a little too loose in her limbs. The whiskey was doing heavy lifting, sure, smoothing out the panic until it felt like confidence, but this high was mostly adrenaline. She wasn’t supposed to be good at this. She should have been more nervous, more afraid. Of messing up. Of Elizabeth realizing that she didn’t really need to do much acting.
But here she was. Sitting on a barstool at O’Neill’s, leaning into Elizabeth’s personal space as if she belonged there.
A warning flare went up in the back of her brain. The edges of the room were getting a little soft, blurry in a pleasant,dangerous way. She wrapped her fingers around her sweating whiskey glass, the cold condensation slick against her palm.
She needed to pace herself. Tipsy Kelsey was charming. She was brave and funny and tactile. Drunk Kelsey, however, was a liability. Drunk Kelsey had a history of over sharing. She couldn’t forget that this wasn’t real. And Drunk Kelsey absolutely would.
