The Tycoon's Fiancée Deal. Katherine Garbera

He needed someone like Bianca because she was respectable, well-liked and not the kind of woman Marnie would ever believe he’d coerced into being his fiancée. A smart man would remember that instead of reaching out and touching a strand of Bianca’s hair as it blew in the summer breeze—and possibly blow his chance of her going along with the fake engagement.

      A smart man would be taking two steps away from her instead of one half step closer and letting his hand brush the side of her cheek. Her skin was soft, but really that wasn’t a surprise. She looked like she’d have prefect skin. The scent of her perfume once again drifted on the breeze and he couldn’t help himself when she tipped her head to the side and her eyes slowly drifted closed.

      She wanted his kiss.

      He wanted to kiss her.

      He leaned in and felt the soft exhalation of her breath over his jaw just before he touched her lips with his. Just a quick brush. That was all he intended but her lips were soft and parted slightly under his and he found himself coming back and kissing her again. He angled his head slightly to the right and she shifted as well and the kiss deepened. His tongue slipped into her mouth. She tasted of Indian summer and promises.

      He shifted his hand on her head, cupping the back of her neck as he took all that she offered in the kiss. She was like the sweetest addiction he’d ever encountered and he knew that walking away, just forgetting this, wasn’t going to happen. He wanted her.

      He felt the stirring in his groin and his skin felt too tight for his body. He started to draw her closer to him but stopped. He didn’t want to rush any second of this. He wanted this embrace to last forever.

      Because this was Bianca. The girl who’d always been too pretty, too smart and some would say too good for him. He didn’t want the kiss to end and her to come to her senses.

      Maybe it was the moon or the night or the warm breeze making her forget that they were friends. That she’d friend-zoned him a long time ago but he knew he wasn’t going to want to let her go. Not tonight.

      But he had to.

      He pulled his head back, looking down at her. Her lips were parted, moist and slightly swollen from his kiss. Her eyes slowly blinked open.

      “Derek...that was...”

      He put his finger over her lips. He didn’t want to discuss it. “Just a kiss between friends. We’re doing each other a favor and tonight, seeing you here in the moonlight, I just couldn’t resist.”

      She chewed her lower lip for a second and then nodded. “Do you think it was an aberration? That maybe it won’t happen again?”

      Lying to himself was one thing, but lying to her was something else. “Honestly, I think we’d be kidding ourselves—or at least I’d be kidding myself—if I said I wasn’t going to be tempted to kiss you again.”

      “Me, too,” she admitted. “I was sort of afraid that you didn’t feel the same.”

      “That kiss was...”

      “Magic,” she said. “Like you intimated earlier it was probably the pale moon and the balmy night that are making us a little crazy. We’re friends. We are doing each other a favor. Complicating things by kissing each other and thinking about each other in a non-friend way—”

      “Non-friend way?” he interrupted. “I didn’t realize friends couldn’t kiss each other.”

      “You know what I mean,” she said, crossing her arms under her breasts in a defensive pose.

      “I do. But I wanted you to know that your friendship comes first. I have to admit I’ve thought about kissing you since you came home this summer. I hadn’t realized how much you’d changed. You’re prettier than I remembered, which is saying a lot, since you were so beautiful when we were teenagers.”

      “Thank you. That is one of the sweetest things I’ve ever heard. I should be getting home,” she said.

      He took her hand in his and led her up off the footbridge to the sidewalk in front of her house. She didn’t say anything else and neither did he. He felt like there had been too much between them for this one night. He needed her.

      For his career.

      And he wanted her.

      For himself.

      And never had he been so conflicted about what he wanted.

      “I guess this is good-night.”

      “Good night,” he said. “I’ll see you and Benito in the morning?”

      “Yes. Probably around eight unless that’s too early.”

      Normally eight on a day off would be too early but this was Bianca. And he had a feeling he was going to spend a restless night remembering that kiss. And trying to figure out how he was going to keep from repeating it once she moved in with him. Unless he could sleep with her and then let her walk away. But since he’d promised to stay friends with her and her son, Derek thought it would be wiser to try to keep them from becoming lovers.

      And his gut seemed to say that her answer would be yes. That they were going to be living together.

      He needed a plan to keep himself together when that happened.

      “That’s perfect,” he said.

      He stood there until she entered her house and then headed back to the club.