Pretend I'm Yours: A Fake Marriage Romance

by Ella Miles

I nod. It doesn’t sound too hard. I walk over to where the camera is set up, remove my robe, and hand it to one of the assistants who helped me pick out the red bikini. I feel everyone’s eyes on me. It would make most people nervous or shy—having this many eyes on them all at once, staring at their body. But I don’t feel like that. I like how my body looks.

  I lie back on the lounge chair and put my arms above my head. My first reaction is to smile. And then I remember that this isn’t a Seventeen magazine shoot. I’m supposed to look like sex. I drop my smile as I arch my back while looking at the camera. The camera clicks, capturing the look.

  “Great, Kinsley. Arch your back just a little more, and drop your eyes,” Brock says.

  I do.

  “Perfect.”

  I let my hand fall down to my neck as I’ve seen Scarlett do hundreds of times before. More clicks.

  “Yes. Just like that!” he shouts.

  I stifle a laugh. It’s funny how much it sounds like we are shooting a porno sometimes.

  I see Killian standing just behind the camera. His smile is gone, but his intense stare never leaves my body. So, I increase the seduction, wanting him to miss my body as much as I miss his. I want him to regret not marrying me.

  My hand falls lower until it grazes my breast.

  “Keep it right there.”

  More clicks.

  When Brock gets the shot, I let my hand slowly drop lower down my stomach until it’s just grazing the inside of my thigh.

  Killian bites his lip in response.

  More clicks.

  “Now, move to your stomach.”

  I do. More clicks.

  “We got it!” he shouts.

  I smile and stand. I’m immediately handed my robe that I wrap back around my body.

  “That was perfect,” Brock says.

  He hands me a small index card with a couple of lines on it. That’s when I realize that the video ad will not be solo. I’ll be shooting it with a man. This makes me happy. It will give me a chance to see how unaffected Killian really is.

  “We will have you get in the water and get your hair wet. Your makeup is waterproof, so you should be fine there, but if we need to do any touch-ups, we will do it then. Then, we will have Cedric jump in and swim up to you. That will be the first shot, and then we will proceed with the rest of the scene after that. We will have cue cards with your lines on it if you forget. Any questions?”

  I glance down at my index card one more time, but I already have the simple lines memorized. “Nope. I got it.”

  I walk over to the pool and hand Brock my robe before jumping into the cool water. I’m surprised it’s cool, despite the warm weather. When I come up for air, that’s when I remember they just filled it yesterday. It hasn’t had time to warm up. I flip my hair back, knowing that’s how they will want it for the shoot. I feel Killian’s eyes burning into me as I do, and I smile. He’s definitely affected. Now, let’s just see how affected. I swim over to the shallow end where they want me, so they can see my body from the waist up.

  I glance down to the other end of the pool and see Cedric standing at the edge. I smile. He’s good-looking. I glance over and see Killian frowning in the direction of Cedric. He either didn’t know Cedric was going to be a part of the shoot, or he forgot. Either way, he doesn’t look happy.

  “Action!” Brock yells.

  Cedric dives into the pool. I keep my eyes on him as he swims up to me. He grabs me by the waist, and I smile and giggle as his hands make his way up my body as he surfaces.

  “Cut. That was great. We will move on as soon as we adjust the camera.”

  “I’m Cedric,” the man says, running his hand through his long dark locks.

  “I’m Kinsley,” I say.

  “I think I’m going to enjoy this,” he says.

  I smile. “Me, too.”

  Brock walks over to us. “All right, now, we basically want you two to make out until we call cut. We will probably do it several times here, and then we will move to under the waterfall.”

  We both nod. Cedric puts his hands around my waist. I do the same to him. We both know better than to move our hands to each other’s faces. It would ruin the shot.

  “Action,” Brock says.

  I close my eyes as Cedric’s lips touch mine. He doesn’t tentatively kiss me, like he is just getting to know me. He kisses me hard and fast, like he has done this hundreds of times before. I kiss him back with the same intensity.

  He’s a good kisser, I think.

  He tugs on my bottom lip, and I can’t help it as a low moan escapes my lips. He smiles against me, tugging harder, moving our bodies closer together.

  I can’t help it. One of my hands travels up to the base of his neck, deepening the kiss. His hips press harder against mine until I feel his erection.

  “Yes, just like that,” I faintly hear Brock shout to us.

  But I’m too lost in the kiss to really hear Brock. Cedric kisses me harder until my tongue is sizzling wherever he touches me. His kiss is intense.

  “Cut!” Killian shouts.

  That’s when Cedric and I stop. Our breathing is heavy, but I don’t move out from Cedric’s arms.

  He is smiling at me. “That was amazing.”

  I nod, unable to speak. When I glance back at the camera, ready for the next direction, that’s when I see Killian’s face. It’s angry…or worse than angry. He’s pissed. I smile and wave at him before diving under the water and moving over to the waterfall. He’s definitely affected by me and jealous as hell.

  Cedric swims up behind me.

  “So, how long have you been modeling?” I ask as we wait for them to move the camera to get the new angle.

  “Two years. You?”

  “Since I was twelve.”

  He smiles. “I could tell you were more experienced than most girls.”

  I smile although no one has ever called me experienced. I’m the furthest from it. Sure, I’ve done hundreds of shoots, but only a few have ever been make-out scenes. Most have been just fun, cute poses.

  “Action!” Brock shouts.

  We both move under the waterfall. I don’t know why people think this is sexy because it isn’t. It’s the furthest thing from it. I laugh as Cedric moves up closer together until we are kissing again. This time, there is nothing sexy about the kisses. As we kiss, we are both struggling for air beneath the water that is drowning us.

  “Cut,” Brock calls quickly.

  We immediately move apart. We both cough up the water that was drowning us earlier.

  “We are going to move back to the lounge chair,” Brock says.

  We swim to the edge and hop out. I’m still coughing up water as I do. I feel a towel being wrapped around me, and I glance between coughs to thank the person when I see whose arms are wrapped around me. It’s Killian.

  “Are you okay?” he asks.

  Another cough of water spews out. “Yes, just swallowed some water on that last shoot. It’s nothing I’ve never experienced before.”

  “You don’t need to do this.”

  I smile at him. “Yes, I do.”

  “I’m not talking about the shoot. You don’t have to make out with some guy just to get back at me for something that happened three years ago,” he says seriously.

  “I’m not. This is what you wanted.” My voice drops. “You wanted me to fuck you and then forget about you. That’s what I’m doing.”

  I walk away from Killian and do my best to dry myself off before I find Brock standing next to the lounge chair I was on before.

  “Kinsley, I want you lying on your back on the chair, like you were before. Cedric, I want you lying on top of her. I want you to kiss and then stroke her hair. Then, I want you both to deliver your lines to the camera.”

  I smile, but inside, I’m terrified. I hate this kind of shoot. This is where it really gets intimate, especially since we are both still drenched. I will be able to feel every inch of Cedric’s body as he lies on top of me
…just like I felt every inch of Killian’s body last night.

  I lie down on the lounger, and Cedric smiles as he lies on top of me.

  “Well, this is awkward,” he says when his wet body forms with mine.

  “Don’t act like you aren’t enjoying it,” I say, trying to sound relaxed.

  He smiles. “You’re right.”

  I feel his hard chest and abs pushing against me. I feel his hot breath on my neck. I feel his erection throbbing against my pussy.

  My heart is beating fast as Brock has us look intimately into each other’s eyes. His are blue and bright, not dark and intense like I’m used to staring into. Cedric is a good-looking guy, but he’s not Killian.

  “You’re beautiful,” Cedric whispers into my ear.

  My cheeks flush. I take a deep breath, but it’s hard to get any air with Cedric’s body pressed against mine. I feel everyone’s eyes on us as Cedric tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. I’m too frozen to move or react. I have to get my act together, so I don’t come off looking like a bored mannequin instead of a sexy model flirting with Cedric, like I’m supposed to be doing.

  I smile at him. “You’re pretty handsome yourself,” I whisper in his ear.

  I feel his erection twitch beneath me.

  “I’m more than just a model, you know. I just graduated from UNLV with a business degree. I’m planning on going to law school this fall. This is just a way to pay the bills.”

  I don’t know why he is saying this, but he seems genuinely proud of what he has accomplished. It’s no Harvard, but I am impressed.

  “That’s impressive,” I say.

  His eyes look lustful now as they drop to my chest and then come back to my eyes. “I don’t usually do this. I don’t usually ask models I work with out on dates. I don’t like mixing business and pleasure. But you’re not one of the typical models I work with, and I just can’t help myself. Will you go out with me?”

  My eyes grow wide. I’ve never been asked out by another model. It’s the cardinal rule that you never break. I glance over behind the camera to see what Killian is doing. My heart still has hope that we can work things out together. I’m still holding out a small bit of hope that last night was more than a one-night stand. His body language earlier made it seem like he was jealous, but I’m not sure if jealousy is enough for him to want anything more to do with me.

  When I spot him, I see him talking to the spunky makeup artist. He’s laughing. She’s flirting. He’s flirting back. I’m nothing to him but a problem he needs to get rid of.

  I turn my attention back to Cedric. He’s handsome. He seems nice. He even has a future planned out beyond modeling. And I need to get over Killian.

  Who knows? If this turns into something, Granddad might think Cedric is capable of helping me run the company.

  “Sure. I’m free tonight,” I say.

  Cedric’s smile and erection grow in unison. His body presses closer to mine. “Tonight is perfect.”

  He lowers his lips to mine, which surprises me because Brock never told us to kiss. This kiss is real. It’s not planned. It’s tentative and gentle, just testing the waters in a way that most first kisses are. When I kiss him back, wrapping my arms around his neck, I try to keep myself from comparing this kiss to Killian’s. Cedric deepens the kiss. His tongue easily slides into my mouth, like he has practiced this many times before. I don’t care though. I feel his hand slide up and cup my breast, and I moan.

  Shit, I moaned. I’m on camera, moaning, as a man I just met is feeling me up.

  “Cut!” Killian shouts.

  I look up and am shocked that he was the one yelling cut. He looks angry, but I don’t know why. He walks over to us. His face is bright red, and his nostrils flare with each step.

  His eyes travel to Cedric’s and then mine. “This isn’t a porno. Just kiss her, and then deliver your lines.”

  I gulp nervously as Cedric’s body stays plastered to mine, but Cedric seems unaffected.

  “Sorry, boss.” He looks back to me, winking as he does. “It’s just hard not to get lost in a beautiful woman. I forgot I was doing a job.”

  “If you don’t just do your job, you won’t be getting paid, Cedric,” Killian says.

  Now, I’m glaring at Killian. That’s taking it a little too far.

  “Sorry. It won’t happen again—at least, not until tonight,” Cedric says, winking at me.

  I giggle at Cedric. It wasn’t the most suave of lines I’ve ever heard, but I don’t care. I’m having fun, flirting with Cedric. I’m excited to see where he takes me to dinner tonight. That’s two dates in two nights. I’ve never had my beauty work so well in my favor, but maybe that’s the strength I should be playing up. Everyone has always told me I’m beautiful. I’m sure I can find a man my grandfather likes more than Killian. It was my father who was in love with Killian after all, not my grandfather. It might not be Cedric, but if I spend the next month dating, I’m sure I can do better.

  I smile, happy to have a new plan. It’s my own plan for my life.

  “What does that mean?” Killian says.

  “Kinsley agreed to go out with me tonight,” Cedric says.

  “Is that true?” Killian asks, looking at me.

  My smile drops when I see a hint of sadness in his eyes. I don’t know why he’s sad. This is what he wanted—for me to live my own life.

  “Yes,” I say weakly.

  Killian shakes his head. “Just finish the shoot. I’m not paying for overtime.”

  I watch as Killian walks away, but this time, he doesn’t stop. He walks back into the hotel. He doesn’t finish watching the shoot. And I have no idea why he reacted like that.

  I turn my attention back to Cedric, back to the job at hand. And I do my best to erase any thoughts of Killian from my brain.

  I hear the knock on my door. I glance down at the time on my phone—seven fifty-five. He’s five minutes early. I finish applying my red lipstick before I head to the door. I check through the peephole first before I open the door. Cedric is standing there in a suit. I exhale, happy that I wore appropriate clothing for once.

  I am happy with the response he gives me. His eyes drop to the cutouts on each side of the black dress before dropping lower to take in my exposed legs. When his eyes find mine again, I see the appreciation there.

  “You look even more beautiful, if that’s possible.”

  “It’s possible. You look beautiful yourself,” I say, eyeing his tailored suit and toned chest that is visible because he left the top two buttons unbuttoned. “I mean, you look handsome,” I say, flushing a bright shade of pink already.

  “Don’t be.”

  He holds his arm out for me, and I take it.

  We walk down the hallway and into the elevator in relative silence. It’s when we get to the casino floor that I realize that Cedric doesn’t know that I’m Kinsley Felton, daughter of Robert Felton. Maybe he won’t notice the stares as we walk through the casino floor, arm in arm.

  “Good evening, Kinsley,” one of the bartenders says.

  I nod my head in her direction, smiling. I try walking faster to get us out of here as soon as possible, but Cedric doesn’t take the hint. Instead, he seems uneasy, and more and more employees begin staring at us. Some seem shocked to see me walking, hand in hand, with a man. Others just smile knowingly. And others just give me a friendly nod of recognition as we walk through the floor.

  It gives me time to see Killian. He’s sitting at the bar in the center of the casino floor. He’s not alone. A young woman is sitting with him. She touches his arm and smiles. He smiles, too. I thought I was the only one he really smiled at. I thought I was special. I’m not.

  I tear my eyes from them as Cedric escorts me out the doors.

  “Do you work here?” Cedric asks when we are outside.

  “You could say that.”

  He stops us, as my answer didn’t cure his curiosity.

  “My name is Kinsley Felton. My father used to ow
n the company. Everybody in there knows who I am because of it.”

  I run my hands through my long blonde locks. I twist and twirl them as I wait for him to change how he acts around me, but he doesn’t.

  “That’s cool.” He shrugs. He begins walking again, but then he suddenly stops.

  I curiously look at him. “Something wrong?”

  “Wait…you don’t work as one of the slutty bartenders or something? I’m not sure I could handle dating someone who has men ogling them every night.”

  I laugh. “No, I’m not a slutty bartender, but I am a model. What do you think men do when they see my ads or magazine covers?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

  “Good point.” He sighs before he softly kisses me on the lips.

  It’s a nice kiss. It doesn’t send fireworks exploding throughout my body though.

  He pulls away with a look of contentment on his face. “I guess I’ll just have to be jealous then.”

  I smile against his lips. “I guess so.”

  “I do like jealous sex.”

  I twist away from him. “Me, too,” I say. But I’ve never had jealous sex before, and even though we spent half the day making out while mostly naked, I’m not sure I’m ready to have sex with this man.

  Cedric quickly catches up to me and loops his arm back around me.

  “Where are we going?” I ask.

  We walk less than a block when Cedric stops. “Right here.”

  I smile without looking at the restaurant we are stopped in front of. I already know which one it is. It’s one of my favorites. My father has taken me here hundreds of times.

  “Is this okay?” he asks.

  “It’s perfect.”

  We take a seat in the beautiful restaurant. A piano player plays softly in the background, and red roses sit on the center of the table.

  “Do you like red wine?” Cedric asks.

  “Yes,” I say.

  I glance down at the wine list and find that my favorite is listed, the one Killian got me hooked on. I’m just about to suggest it, but Cedric interrupts me.

  “I think we should share a bottle of the house cabernet. Is that okay with you?”

  I sigh. I’m not going to get my favorite. But that’s okay. I don’t want to be thinking about Killian anyway. And drinking that wine will make me think of him. It will make me wonder if he has already convinced the woman he was with to go to his hotel with him—although I don’t think Killian would have to do much convincing. I think most women he meets would willingly jump into bed with him. That means, if he’s asked, she’s already made her way to his bed.