Scott’s arm went around Cassy’s waist. She swallowed hard as warmth spread from his splayed hand through the fabric of her dress. Their practice session in his apartment hadn’t prepared her for engagement photos in front of foreign dignitaries and Seattle’s A-list. A flashbulb popped, blinding her.

“Next weekend?” she whispered an aside to Scott as she smiled into the cameras. “You haven’t finished the prototype.”

“I had to grab the opportunity.” He gazed at her with faux adoration. “Engaged? What was wrong with dating?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Kiss her,” someone called out. The crowd took it up, cheering and clapping. Another person tapped their glass with a pen. “Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.”

“We’re going to have to do it,” Scott said, his expression grim.

Cassy’s heart did a backflip. “Anything to shut them up.”

He raised a hand to quell the clamor of the throng. “One kiss. Then I’d like you all to leave us alone and respect our privacy.” He drew Cassy in close. His eyes locked with hers. “We’ll make this quick. Get in, get out.”

“Just to clarify. When you say, ‘get in, get out,’ do you mean tongues? Or not. Either is…”

“I mean, brief.” His nostrils flared. A tiny bead of perspiration dotted his upper lip. “No tongues. We’re not going to feed the vultures.”

“We need to be convincing…”

Oh. The sudden shock of his warm, firm lips on hers was electric. She softened, clinging to his shoulders, kneading his tense muscles beneath her palms. He started to ease back, his eyes confused and dark. With a low moan, she pulled him back in.

“God help me,” he muttered, then angled his mouth to hers with an urgency of someone who needed a savior because he wasn’t able to help himself. His arms tightened, holding her closer.

Cassy parted her lips to allow him access. Dimly, she heard a flurry of flashbulbs going off but ignored them. Heat spread through her, pooling low in her belly, making her breasts ache.

Her brain tried to say, this man is like a brother to you. Her body rejected that notion absolutely. Her heart was confused as all hell.