The house where we were staying in Napa Valley two days later was nothing like I had imagined. It was a two-story freaking mansion. A gorgeous, freaking mansion built from stone with lots of archways and a generous curving driveway. Even the clay roof shingles were curved. Everything about the place made me think of the Mediterranean.

This was the kind of location where you expected celebrities to live.

“And out back is the heated pool and hot tub,” Kelsey explained as she showed us around the house. She and Trent had already been there for two hours. Josh, Holly, and Travis had been practicing the dance routine this morning for the upcoming fundraiser, so we had only arrived ten minutes ago.

Had I seen the routine yet?

No—it was still top secret.

And according to Travis, I wouldn’t get to see it until the day of the big fundraiser.

And yes, we had begun selling tickets for it. Despite The Unicorn being a decent size, the tickets were almost sold out. The pub had even offered to donate half the profits that night to the youth center.

Several businesses in the building had also stepped up to donate prizes for the silent auction.

Everyone was excited—but no more than I was.

And yes, Fanny and her friends had bought tickets. I just hoped they didn’t have heart attacks from seeing so many hot half-naked guys in one night. As far as Travis and I could tell, we had passed Jennifer’s report with flying colors. Fanny and her cohorts still believed he and I were dating.

“This place is amazing,” I said to Kelsey. “Have you stayed here before?”

“No, not in this house. But we rented another one two years ago that was almost as nice.”

On the second floor, we stopped in front of two closed doors opposite the hallway from each other. Kelsey opened one of them. “This is your room, Emma. Travis is across the hallway.”

I entered it. “Wow,” was all I was capable of saying.

“I know,” Kelsey said. “All the bedrooms are gorgeous. And they each have their own private bathrooms.”

I was vaguely aware of Kelsey and Holly taking Travis to his room as I continued staring at the furnishings in mine. If there was one word to describe it that would be romantic—but not in an overly girlie way. It was a mix of modern and antique, with dark wood furniture and a four-poster bed. The walls were a soft moss green.

Welcome to my dream bedroom…if I ever lived in a place like this.

I opened the balcony door and stepped out. The balcony, with its wicker patio furniture, stretched between my room and the neighboring one. I paused at the black metal railing and took in the incredible view: the peaceful, well-maintained gardens leading up to the house, the vineyards, and the gentle rolling hills in the distance.

In all the years I’d lived in foster care, not once had I imagined being in a location like this. Of course, I also never imagined pretending to be Travis’s girlfriend back then either, so clearly I was on a roll.

“So what do you think?” Travis asked behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder, smiled at him, then went back to appreciating the scenery. “It’s breathtaking. Could you imagine living out here all the time?”

“Probably not. I’m used to living in the city.”

“Me, too.” But I was also used to living in foster care and I got over that soon enough.

A bird chirped from the nearby tree. Another one answered it. Travis placed his hands on the railing, caging me in. A combination of his man scent and aftershave wrapped around me, and I leaned back against him. Oops. Hadn’t meant to do that.

Not at all.

We stood still for a few minutes, looking at the surrounding grounds. You’d never guess the battle waging inside me at his close proximity. Part of me wished to see if Travis would open up to me some more. The horny part just craved to drag him to bed and have wild sex with him.

Was Travis facing the same battle? If he was, the horny side of him was winning. Big surprise there. He was a man after all.

His hand covered mine and drifted up my arm, slowly igniting each and every nerve.

At my elbow, his hand moved to my ribs. My girls, their nipples now perky, silently begged for his hand to move up slightly. As if heeding their needy pleas, Travis caressed my side for a moment with his fingertips, then shifted one hand to cup my breast.

Oh, God, I whispered in my head. At least I hoped it was in my head.

“Christ, I want to be inside you so badly, Emma,” he murmured in my ear, the sound so low it was almost a growl.

My body screamed out, Give the man what he wants.

I turned around in his arms and gazed into his beautiful hazel eyes for a heartbeat. “I want that too,” I whispered.

And with that, his mouth was on mine, and we began savoring each other with our eager tongues. At some point, Travis dipped down, grabbed the backs of my thighs, and lifted me up. My legs instantly wrapped around his hips. My dress bunched up around my hips. The only things between his thickening length and my throbbing core were his jeans and my panties.

If he hadn’t been stepping into my room, I would’ve been dry humping him.

Oh, what the heck. I did it anyway.

He swallowed my moan and placed me on the bed so I was sitting.

Our lips still attached, I started unfastening his shirt buttons. His shirt was already untucked from his jeans, and I slid my hand through the newly created opening and trace my fingers along the ridges of his abs.

Not wishing to miss out on the fun, Travis trailed his fingertip along the pink lace edging of my demi-bra. The cream satin material with small pink roses pushed up my breasts, giving him quite the view. “I swear this is my new all-time favorite bra.” His finger slipped under the lace and shoved the fabric down, revealing the taut nipple. “Definitely my new favorite bra.”

His teasing finger brushed against it and I whimpered. Wetness rushed to my core. I squirmed on the bed, my clit pleading for his finger to brush against it next.

He bent down and took the greedy bud into his mouth. My fingers knotted in his hair. I might have even gently yanked the soft strands.

A moment later, his skilled fingers had removed the bra, and the other breast was appreciating his lavish attention. My hands slipped between his collar and the skin of his neck. I needed to touch him all over, and I needed to do it now.

Luckily for me, Travis could read my mind—or so it seemed. He quickly removed the offending shirt and tossed it to the side.

Ooh, that was more like it.

I stood up and let my dress fall to the floor, leaving me in nothing but matching panties.

Travis’s eyes adopted a heated look. A volcano couldn’t have gotten any hotter than the way his gaze was taking me in. A level of confidence I’d never had before with men glowed inside me, and suddenly I wanted to be the one calling the shots.

“Remove your jeans,” I said, my voice rough and sexy and demanding.

At least I hoped it was all of that.

Travis’s mouth curled up to one side. “As you wish.” He removed a condom wrapper from his back pocket and set it on the bedside table. Then he slowly unzipped his jeans and pushed them down his legs. His cock strained against the fabric of his boxer briefs and I licked my lips in anticipation.

“Now the underwear.”

He did as I said, and then to tease me further, he took his cock in his hand and pumped his fist along the length.

And I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me wetter.

I shimmied my panties down my legs and kicked them to the side. Then I knelt in front of him and wrapped my fingers around his hard length. Pre-cum leaked from the opening, and I licked him like he was a lollipop.

That primal growl? Definitely him.

Which only made me feel more confident. Nothing said you were driving a man crazy in a good way than when he made that sound.

I slipped his cock into my mouth and gently grabbed his balls. I’d read somewhere that men loved it when you did that. Might as well see if it was true.

And…it was.

“Christ, Emma. You’re going to be the death of me.”

Did it sound like I would be the death of him?

Maybe if death and orgasm were the same.

Let me point out here that I’d never gone down on a guy before…not even with my ex-boyfriend. Couldn’t say with him I’d even been curious or interested. But it was different with Travis.

The way I felt with Travis was different—even though he didn’t feel the same way about me.

Taking him as far as I could, I cupped myself and brushed my finger against my clit. I released a strangled sound that was a cross between a hum and Oh, God.

Needing to see his reaction to what I was doing to him, I peered up. What I hadn’t expected was to find him looking at me. If I was to rate the level of heat and lust and want in his eyes from one to a hundred, it would be a definite one thousand.

Hello, girl power!

“Keep touching yourself like that, Emma,” he said, voice rough. “Keep touching yourself and let me know how much you enjoy it.”

The low growl of his voice caused a new rush of moisture to my core. I’d never realized before this just how much of a turn-on dirty talk could be.

With my gaze still on Travis, I let his noises guide me as I moved my mouth along his length. Well, as far as I could go. I hadn’t yet mastered the fine art of taking him deeper without annoying my gag reflex.

“I’m going to come,” he said after a few minutes, voice strained.

I slipped his cock out of my mouth. “Thought that was the general idea.”

“It is…if I didn’t want to come inside you. But I do—more than you could possibly know.” His gaze dropped to my hand still pleasuring myself. Or rather that had been pleasuring myself. I had to stop a moment ago because I’d been so close to coming, I was afraid of biting Travis’s cock off.

I pushed myself to my feet and climbed onto the bed. Travis followed.

“Bring your knees to your chest and open yourself up to me, Emma.”

I did as he asked. Instead of feeling vulnerable and exposed as I would have expected, I was even more turned on.

Travis touched my sex and I came close to launching off the bed. That smug, satisfied smile of his grew, and he grabbed the condom wrapper from the bedside table. After he slipped the condom on, he positioned himself against my entrance, and with a quick thrust, buried himself inside me.

It didn’t take long for us to fall off the edge of ecstasy together and letting everyone in the mansion know exactly what we were doing.

Oops.

That hadn’t exactly been on my agenda for this trip, especially since Josh and Trent were aware that our relationship was fake. But since we were two consenting, horny adults, what else did they expect?

After he had dealt with the condom, Travis returned to the bed and kissed me. But unlike the hungry kisses of a few minutes ago, this kiss was tender and sweet.

This was the kiss of happily ever after—if I had been living in a different fairy tale.