“Where’s the lie?”

She lifted her chin. “I’m a goddess, huh?”

“Every inch of you.”

Chattering pierced our bubble of solitude, and a soft melody began to play; a signal that we would begin shortly.

Bane looked around as people began claiming chairs. “I better find a seat.”

“Sit anywhere you’d like.”

She spotted one behind me. “I’ll take that one in the back.”

“Sure you don’t want to sit closer? You can fawn over me in a tie with a better view.”

She rolled her eyes, the sparkle of her eyeshadow catching the light. “So full of yourself.”

A few rows away, Aamar motioned for me to meet him.

“We’re about to begin,” I told her. “I have to go. Try to enjoy yourself. It’s an all-expenses-paid wedding, you know?”

“Lucky me.”

“Which means reception afterward.”

“I know.”

“If you’ll be okay. I know it’s a lot of people, but if you’re drained or bored—”

“I wouldn’t ditch you.” She smiled and walked past, brushing my arm with hers, her hand gliding across my stomach, which had me instantly clenching my abs.

I had to calm down around her. As much as I enjoyed teasing her, I was pretty sure she was teasing me back, trying to get to me in order to win some unofficial game we’d been playing, to best me at something we were both so good at doing.

Bane took a seat in the very back, adjusting her dress as she sat. Damn, it was hard to peel my gaze away from her as we moved into place. Sejal grunted at my side as if having to be paired with me was her worst nightmare. But it was easy to ignore her when Bane had established herself so fully in my headspace.

I even found myself smiling.

Aamar gave me a look.

“What?” I asked, clearing my throat.

“The sparks between you and Bhanu could start a fire.”

“You’re imagining it,” I replied. Bane was just very good at playing girlfriend.

He wagged his brows to stand by his claim.

The intro music picked up and we walked down the aisle, each groomsman with a bridesmaid. Then everyone stood to welcome the bride as she walked down the petal-laden walkway behind the flower girl. April looked radiant, grinning and eagerly looking at her groom. Sam looked infatuated with her, and I got why he wanted me to have something similar.

Sam had it all. Looking around at our friends, they had it all, too. I was the odd one out, even if they didn’t know it. In these past few days of faking a relationship, my loneliness had become nonexistent. Not because I was literally never alone, but because this fantasy vacation was burrowing deep into me. To the point where I had to remind myself that none of this was real. None of this would last. As soon as we set foot off this island, everything we “had” here would dissipate like Seattle morning fog.

I staved off the pain from knowing such a thing. At least until I had to leave.

The ceremony was short and sweet. That was the great thing about destination weddings. Everyone wanted to come together, watch an official union be born, and then get back to the vacation.

An explosive applause went off when the couple exchanged vows and Sam swept his bride into his arms for that first kiss. We whistled and hollered. My eyes skimmed over the pleased crowd, landing on Bane. She was the most collected, awkward in her little corner with a smile. She was gawky in a crowd that wasn’t hers, but she was here for me.

I shoved that thought out of my head. No. The truth was, Bane was here because she got us into this mess and felt she had to save me from an atrociously grumpy time around my friends.

Bane caught me watching her. She gave a thumbs-up, as if I were a kid who’d just had the best recital of my life. I shook my head at her. She was so damn cute.

Aamar elbowed me in the side. “Haven’t seen you cheese like that in a while.”

Ah. I was grinning like an idiot, wasn’t I? “I haven’t heard anyone use the word ‘cheese’ that way in a while.”

“You seem really happy with her, man.”

Either our acting skills were impeccable, or…nah, we were being great liars. There was no other explanation as to how we were pulling this off. “If you say so. Thought we bicker too much.”

“Maya reads lots of rom-coms. She calls your guys’ antics as classic sexual tension.”

The blood drained from my face. “What?”

He elbowed me again. “You better be making the most of coupling at a romantic place like this.”

I cleared my throat. “No way I want to discuss that with you.”

“Ah, right. You like to keep that to yourself. But a bro can tell.”

Was it written all over my robotic face?

The wedding planner called us over and off we went to take a million pictures on the beach.

“You should bring Bhanu,” April insisted, seeing that everyone would have paired off for the few non-wedding-party-only pictures.

“No,” I said with a shake of my head. “We just got together.”

No way in hell was my fake girlfriend going to end up being in their perfect wedding pictures only for me to tell them weeks from now that we’d split. I was not set up to have to hear about Bane for the rest of my life every time my friends showed these pictures.

But April wouldn’t hear of it as she waved over Bane, who reluctantly eased toward us. She slipped up beside me, our arms touching, and I’d never wanted to get out of a suit faster. Not just the heat, I wanted to feel her skin against my skin.

“You look so beautiful!” April exclaimed.

“That’s what I’m supposed to be telling you!” Bane replied. “You looked gorgeous during your nuptials, truly. You’re glowing and it’s everything.”

“Oh, you’re so sweet! Thank you. I was just telling Sunny that you should come be in our pictures. We’re going to the beach to take them.”

Bane hugged my arm, sending me a whiff of the floral scent that was trying harder than ever to get me to my knees. If she kept pressing against me, I’d be ditching the rest of my duties, taking her back to the villa, and more than happy to get on my knees.