Shit, maybe my parents were right . . . just a tiny little bit. Not that I’d admit it to them, ever.

Maybe after this pretend relationship is over and Violet and I have had our respectable breakup, I should think about actually settling down. This could be like a trial run to see if I’m cut out for that lifestyle. The thought surprises me but might be worth a bit of consideration.

I’m about to continue when there’s a knock on my door, and I look up to see Violet opening it slowly, Archie peeking over her shoulder. “Hey, honey,” she says with the practiced ease we worked on over the weekend. “Is this a bad time?”

“Not at all, babe,” I reply, getting up and going over to the door. I pull her in close, my hands clasping around her waist before I kiss her hard. This is one part I don’t mind at all. Violet’s lips are delicious, and as she moans against me, I reach down to cup her ass, squeezing lightly and causing her to whimper into my mouth.

“Honey . . . we have an audience.” Violet gasps as she pulls back, blushing even as she scolds me.

“I don’t mind one damn bit,” Archie answers for himself, hip-bumping his way past us and into my office. He sits down in the chair next to Courtney. “By all means, feel free to carry on.” He waves his hand like he’s the queen, encouraging us to kiss again. I wink at him and press one more chaste kiss to Vi’s lips as Archie grins evilly.

He looks to Courtney, whispering conspiratorially. “Ain’t love grand?” Her brows shoot together and he laughs. “You should see your face. Speaking of face, I can see the resemblance. You must be Courtney, the sister? I’m Archie Hornee, the one tasked with keeping Violet in line—no easy task, mind you.” He shoots Violet a glare, but it seems to be in jest.

Courtney looks gobsmacked. Whether it’s by Violet’s appearance in the office, our steamy kiss hello, or Archie’s over-the-top comfort with basically everything and everyone, I don’t know.

I take advantage of her momentary silence and look Violet up and down, virtually salivating. She’s stunning, her work pants sexy but professional, her blouse hugging her curves perfectly. And now . . . she’s all mine. Or at least, I get to pretend she is.

“Courtney, I’ll have to cut this short,” I comment over my shoulder as I stare into Violet’s eyes and feel my head start to spin. “But I’ll see you at the meeting today?”

“Meeting?” Violet asks, and I nod. “I didn’t know you had a meeting. Is this a bad time?”

“Sorry, babe. I was so caught up in . . . well, you, that I forgot about the weekly Monday meeting,” I tell her, linking my arms around her waist to keep us as close as possible. I stare into her eyes deeply, wondering what’s going through her head, what she thinks of my office, and what she thinks of me.

There’s a small piece of me that worried she would freak out once we separated this morning to go to our respective offices. But if she did, she’s got the part of dutiful fiancée down pat now, and she looks lovingly back at me as if she missed me in the few hours we’ve been apart. I realize with a start that I did miss her.

Courtney hums under her breath as she walks past us, and I know the war’s not over, just this round. “I’ll see you there, Ross. Nice to see you again, Violet, and to meet you, Archie.”

I shut the door behind her, giving us the room. “It’s fine. The meeting’s no big deal, more of a weekly informal pow-wow. Normally pretty cut and dry because we hash everything out via email beforehand. But Dad likes to do things old school and look people in the eyes so he doesn’t miss anything. Speaking of which . . . I missed you this morning, you know that?” A truth I didn’t intend to share, but it came tumbling off my tongue before I could stop it.

I don’t want to think about the whys of that, nor do I want Violet to, so I lower my lips to hers. There’s no Courtney, Kaede’s still going to be gone for a little while, and Archie doesn’t matter because he’s in on the whole ruse.

But I do it anyway, kissing Violet simply because I want to. She’s a beautiful woman, she’s in my arms, and kissing her makes us both feel good.

Behind us, Archie makes a pretty good wolf whistle, and I pull back, both of us flushed and feeling the heat in the small space between us. “Wow,” Violet whispers quietly, looking up at me before shaking her head, seemingly to clear it. I fight back the victorious grin at having made her lose herself for a moment.

“So, your office?”

For the next hour, we talk ideas for my office suite. Violet’s spent the past two days living in my penthouse. She knows my style well enough, so her suggestions are on point. Archie adds ideas here and there and takes copious notes. I can see that Violet and he are a great team, built on creative genius and respect, much like Kaede and I are.

“So, a basic update, nothing major,” Violet summarizes. “We’ll add some warmth for a more welcoming feel, using wood and brass instead of the blacks and steels of the penthouse. Silk drapes on both ends of the window, even though you’ll probably never close them with a view like that. It’ll frame it nicely and draw attention to the main feature of the space. New chairs for guests in a subtle pattern, and a casual seating area with a couch and coffee table for less formal meetings.”

“Isn’t that going to be a lot of unnecessary clutter?” I ask, looking around the sparse space. I’m one for function and efficiency—desk, chair, bar, and a chair or two for guests. I don’t need much else, and honestly, I only got the guest chairs because Kaede refused to continue rolling his chair into my office to have a place to sit.