He’s always been there for me so now I’ll be there for him, as her.
Eli needs help. His job is crazy, absolutely insane, and with a corporate retreat coming up he needs a woman on his arm. He needs to show that he’s marriage material to get ahead.
He asked me to be his girl. To take on the same transformation I do for fun, but to do it for him. He asked me to be her, beautiful and blonde and undeniably feminine.
On the surface, none of this should be difficult. I’ve been a woman before and Eli is a good guy, easy to get along with. Frankly he’s a catch, but then that’s the problem now isn’t it?
Because every moment I spend near him is another where it’s harder to deny the feelings bubbling up in me. Because every time I feel his hand on my hip, I wonder how it would feel to have his touch somewhere else. Because when he looks at me, pretending he’s in love, I wonder how he can be so damn convincing.
This is all supposed to be an act for him, a means to get ahead. My best friend is doing this for the job and the promotion, not for anything more.
But I don’t know how much longer I can resist the allure of it all, this body and this man driving a confusion in my mind.
I want to be enough for my best friend, but what does he want from me in the end?
Excerpt
Eli and I are close, we always have been. Sure we’ve never actually crossed that line but we’re close. Close enough that I don’t feel an ounce of panic when he manages to pin both of my wrists above my head and we end our little struggle with me down on the bed, with him above me, with my legs wrapped around his waist, with his free hand holding my head still.
Breathing hard, the two of us nearly pressed up together. And I’ve been in this position countless times but never with him and it’s all different now and not just because this body of mine is all fresh and new.
No, it’s different because he’s different. Because I know that face and I know those eyes and I’ve memorized those lips even if they’ve never been this close before. I’ve seen him so many times.
But never this close.
With his lips so close to mine and his eyes staring deeply into me and this moment, this connection, that I know that I feel. This spark between us that crackles and sizzles in the air and makes me part my lips just so, makes my eyes flutter just right, makes me dip down into it and steady myself with the anticipation of a connection.
It’s a moment. It’s just the moment before. It’s just one moment.
But it is undeniable to me.
“Kiss me,” I tell him, I practically demand it.
“What?” he asks.
“Kiss me,” I repeat myself, “Kiss me now. Just do it.”
“Why?” he asks, a little breathless and more than a little confused.
“Because I told you to,” is the only reply I can manage, but thankfully it’s more than enough.
Eli presses down fast, his lips closing the tiny gap to push against mine. I sigh and I feel his grip tighten on my wrists and the sensation of that plus his body weight pressing me down from above and oh god the feel of his lips on mine makes me sigh with relief, fluttering in my heart and pressing myself up to meet him.
Parting my lips I taste his breath, I feel his energy. I feel the spark rise within us and set off a wildfire of fireworks beneath my skin.
And I never got a chance to know this body properly. I never had my chance to learn what she wants, what she likes. Never had the opportunity to truly explore desires as her and maybe that’s why it all burns so bright from just a simple thing like a kiss.
But maybe it’s more, for me at least.
And I know that I feel something, but I don’t know that he does. Because after a breathtaking moment, Eli is the one to pull away.
“Do you want to explain why we did that?” he asks me, his voice more uncertain than ragged though both are there.
And I don’t have an answer, but I do have something else. I have a lie.