Zac was pretty sure he’d lost all circulation in his fingers. Carmen was holding his hand so tight, and the stupid diamond was cutting into his skin, but he’d signed on for this and he intended to make sure the weekend was a success.
He kissed Carmen’s cold hand and tucked it near his heart, milking the moment for all it was worth. “We purposely kept it under wraps. You know how brutal the rumor mill at the hospital is, and my Carmen loves her privacy. Plus, we wanted to make sure things were solid between us before announcing it to the world.”
Lance watched him closely, gaze narrowed. “But you never once mentioned it to me either, and I’m your best friend. In fact, I’ve never even seen you two together, except for that crazy holiday party. Wait! Did you two hook up that night? You did, didn’t you?” Lance leaned forward, his gaze darting between Zac and Carmen. “Well, I’ll be damned. And you’re okay with moving to California if she gets this job, huh? Never thought I’d see the day you’d leave your beloved Alaska.”
Uncomfortable heat rose beneath the collar of Zac’s shirt, but he resisted the urge to fidget. Lance was right—both about him and Carmen hooking up and about Zac leaving Anchorage. The thought of moving away from his beautiful home state felt like a punch in the gut. Still, he needed to play along, because that was what he’d agreed when he’d signed on for Carmen’s weekend of deception.
Besides, having a grain of truth mixed in with the lies should make them more believable. And the fact that he knew that—again courtesy of his father—made him even more queasy. His gut cramped and disgust flooded his bloodstream.
This is not the same. I’m not like him. Not at all.
He was only pretending in order to help out a friend, to help someone he cared for.
Never mind that his father had claimed the same reasons—said he’d lied to protect Zac and his mother, said it had only happened one time.
Old memories and pain rose, threatening to overtake him if he didn’t get up, get off this plane, get back home where he’d be safe.
Thankfully a flight attendant came to make sure they were prepared for takeoff and to get their drink orders. The captain announced on the PA that they were completing their preflight checks and that once they received clearance from the tower they should be airborne.
Zac took a few much-needed deep breaths and concentrated on the in-flight safety checklist a second attendant was going over with them.
By the time the first flight attendant returned with their beverages he was back to normal again. Or about as close as he was going to get on this trip. It helped that Lance and Priya had been directed to swivel their chairs forward during takeoff, giving him and Carmen a reprieve from their inquisition—at least for now.
Zac exhaled, glad the spotlight was off him for the moment. They taxied down the runway, Carmen still hanging on to his hand for dear life.
He wondered if she was a nervous traveler. They’d never really discussed it. They’d never really discussed a lot of things.
Zac turned slightly to glance her way and lowered his voice. “That seemed to go about as well as could be expected.”
She released his hand at last and took a long drink of her wine. “Yeah? You looked like you were going to throw up there for a minute when Lance was grilling you.”
“I’m fine. Considering we didn’t prep what we were going to say ahead of time, it just threw me a bit off-kilter, that’s all.”
Liar.
He looked over to where Lance and Priya faced away from them, their heads together, most likely discussing their impromptu engagement.
The fact was, the prospect of heading straight back into the lion’s den was shaking him more than he cared to admit. His mother might have been the bigger person and forgiven his father, but Zac hadn’t been able to do the same. It had broken her heart, but he’d left out of respect for her. He loved his mother more than anything, and he hadn’t wanted to disrupt her life further by constantly arguing and fighting with his father, so he’d gone.
He missed her every day, though—and, much as he liked to think he’d gotten over the hurt a long time ago, perhaps it wasn’t as far behind him as he pretended.
As soon as the seat belt light went off he unbuckled and shifted in his seat. “Where’s your dossier? I want to be prepared the next time those two come at us.”
He stood and pulled his own dossier out of his bag in the overhead bin and handed it to her. It had seemed stupid to put his paltry list of ten things in a binder, but he didn’t want Lance and Priya to see it accidentally.
“It’s not much, but it’s all I can share with you.”
“All you can share?” She opened the binder and looked at the paper inside, then back at him. “Are you working for the CIA?”
“No. There are just things about me that I don’t tell people.”
“I’m not people,” she whispered. “I’m supposed to be your fiancée.”
“Fake fiancée,” he corrected. “Look, this flight’s only an hour. Maybe now would be a good time for you to fill me in on your list and anything else you think I should know.”
She finished off her wine, then reached into the tote near her feet and pulled out her own folder, which she handed to him. “Unlike you, I have no secrets. Everything about me is on there.”
He read her papers, then raised a brow. “You even wrote a meet-cute for us? I’d been chasing after you for years and you finally took pity on me?”
“It’s better than the truth, yeah? Which Lance has already guessed, darn him.” She reached into her bag again and pulled out a pair of reading glasses. He raised an eyebrow “What? Working on all those charts makes my eyes tired.”
He snorted. “Sure. I like them. Makes you look like a sexy librarian.”
“Don’t get any ideas, mister.”
“Can’t help it when I’m around you.”
Carmen gave an aggrieved sigh. “Save the flirting for when it counts, okay? It’s wasted on me now.”
“But it wasn’t back then, was it?” He laughed, resting his head back against the seat. “Do you remember that night? I do. That little red dress you wore...with the neckline down to there and the split up to—”
“Stop it.” She smacked his arm. “It wasn’t that bad. Besides, you weren’t much better, Mr. Tight-Jeans-and-T-shirt. Looking all sexy on the dance floor.”
“You thought I was sexy, huh?” He waggled his brows. “You were the sexy one. Shaking your booty. And, man, when we slow-danced.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “I can’t hear that song now without thinking of you.”
She chuckled. “What was it again? Oh, right. ‘Havana’ by Camila Cabello.”
He shifted slightly, knowing he was treading on dangerous ground by flirting with her, but unable to stop himself. A night didn’t go by when he didn’t remember her at that party, looking like heaven on earth in that dress, holding her, kissing her, making love to her all night long.
“You were scorching hot, lady.”
“You weren’t so bad yourself, mister.”
She turned her head to look at him, her full lips parted and her eyes sparkling with heat. Then the attendant stopped by to refill their drinks and the spell was broken.
Carmen faced forward and frowned down at his dossier. “Best concentrate on this right now. Like you said, the flight’s only an hour.”
Right.
Zac straightened and went back to memorizing the stuff on her papers. Father deserted the family when Carmen was just a kid...raised by a single mother...caregiver for her younger sister...worked her way through nursing school. No wonder they got along so well. They were very much alike. Well, except for the father leaving part. Unfortunately, his father was still right where he’d started.
Zac had been the one to do the leaving.
“So, tell me what’s not on here.”
She gave him a side-glance and a frown. “I told you—it’s all on there.”
“One thing isn’t.”
“What’s that?”
She crossed her arms, drawing his attention to her breasts before he looked away fast. Apparently not fast enough, though, if her perturbed look was any indication.
“Why did you choose me to bring this weekend?” he asked around the sudden constriction in his throat.
Because darn if more memories of that night after the holiday party weren’t shoving their way into his brain. How her soft curves had felt in his palms, the way she’d sighed and held him closer, how he’d taken her taut nipple into his mouth and licked and sucked gently...
Nope. Nope, nope, nope.
Not going there. Not now and definitely not later.
Keep it together.
Carmen was the opposite of the kind of woman he normally slept with. Usually he went for girls who liked to party. Women who weren’t looking for more than a night or two and then left with a fond farewell. Carmen had forever written all over her, even if she denied it.
Knowing she wasn’t his type should be making keeping his distance this weekend easier. Except it wasn’t.
“I told you that day in the cafeteria. You’re a friend. I trust you. We have chemistry, and I thought that would make this whole charade easier. Don’t read more into it than is actually there.” She scanned his list again. “You’re a Capricorn? I would’ve guessed Leo, or maybe Scorpio.”
“Scorpio, huh?” he said, going along with her explanation for now, even though his gut told him there was more to her reason for asking him than she was letting on. “How’s that?”
“Because you obviously like your secrets.”
“I don’t like secrets. What I like is privacy. I’ve seen from experience how rash decisions can hurt people and I—”
“Aw...trouble in paradise already?” a female voice interrupted.
Zac looked over to find Priya and Lance had turned toward them again, clearly ready for a new round of questions.
Yeah. It was going to be a very long weekend.
“So, spill the beans,” Lance said, focusing his laser-like attention on Carmen. “How did you two get together? How long has it been going on? Mostly, how in the hell did you manage to keep it a secret so long?”
“Oh, well—” Zac started.
But Carmen held up a hand to stop him.
“We hooked up at the hospital holiday party and we saw each other off and on after that. Things got more serious recently and we got engaged.”
“Really?” Priya narrowed her gaze and crossed her arms. “That quick?”
“When the love bug bites...” Carmen said, stiffening slightly beside him.
“That’s odd...because just last month you told me you had no intention of getting involved with anyone. You said your career and your family were too important to you and took up too much of your time. Did that change?”
“No.” Carmen frowned down at her hands in her lap and fiddled with the zip on her down vest. “I mean, yes. I mean, perhaps I just had a change of perspective. Meeting the right person can do that to you.”
“Hmm...” Priya looked completely unconvinced. “Is this about the job? Are you faking this to try and get the job at the California clinic?”
Zac coughed to cover his surprised laugh. Nothing like having your ruse ruined before it had even started. “No. Of course not.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. My qualifications speak for themselves—as do yours. I don’t need a man to win a job.” Carmen lifted her chin defiantly. “Zac is here because we’re in love and because this weekend is a chance for us to spend some quality time together away from the hospital. That’s it. Right, doux-doux? ‘Every bread have a cheese,’ as my mama says.”
“What?” Zac scrunched his nose.
“‘Every bread have a cheese’,” Carmen said. “It’s an old Trinidadian saying. Every person is bound to find a soul mate. And Zac is mine.”
He barely had time to nod before she kissed him soundly.
Her lips were just as sweet and soft against his as he remembered. Dangerous, that, since talk of soul mates wasn’t in his vocabulary anymore. Still, he’d just begun to lose himself in the moment, cupping her cheeks to keep her close, when Lance cleared his throat.
“Dude, get a room,” his buddy said, breaking them apart.
“Dude, we are,” Zac countered, sitting back, but keeping hold of Carmen’s hand, lacing his fingers through her chilled ones, hoping to convey some strength and solidarity through the gesture.
A beep sounded through the cabin and he glanced up.
“The seat belt signs are lit up again. You two better turn around and buckle up. It could get bumpy.”
Priya gave them both another pointed stare before slowly turning her chair around to face forward. Lance followed suit, giving Zac and Carmen a small modicum of privacy again.
“Okay?” he whispered, turning his head to look at her.
Her full lips were compressed into a thin line and he had the urge to kiss her again, just to get her to relax. But he thought better of it. Talking seemed like a safer option at this point, given the way his blood pounded and his heart still slammed against his chest.
“Hey, don’t worry about them. We can avoid them once we get to the resort. We got this.”
She didn’t look convinced at all.
“Tell me some more about this job. Why now?”
She gave a small shrug, staring out the window beside her. “I’ve been at Anchorage Mercy for nearly a decade now. I have a chance for something bigger and I’m taking it.”
“Because of the money?”
Ambition and money, he understood. He’d grown up around enough of it. Another reason his life in Anchorage suited him. Laid-back, straightforward. No fuss, no muss. No lies and betrayal. Well, present situation excluded.
He sipped his ale straight from the bottle and watched her over the rim. “You’d be a manager at this new clinic in Big Sur?”
“Yes—if I get the job. I’ve worked hard my entire life and I don’t want to risk losing what I’ve gained. That’s why it’s important we avoid any...complications.”
“Complications?” Zac blinked, considering that a second.
He assumed she meant sex. But in his mind sex wasn’t complicated. Commitment was the real complication.
Commitment couldn’t be trusted. Commitment was made to be broken.
He’d learned that lesson the hard way, thanks to his father.
They sat in silence for a while, Carmen flipping through a magazine while Zac napped. Finally Carmen nudged him with her elbow and he straightened, scrubbing a hand over his face to clear his fuzzy head.
“What? Did I miss something?”
“No.” She chuckled, and the sound seemed to brighten the interior of the cabin. “You were snoring.”
“Was not.” He frowned. “You’re just saying that because it was on my sheet.”
“One of the very few things on there.” She set her magazine aside and turned her attention to him again. “There’s nothing on there about your family or your past.”
“It’s not important.”
“I disagree.” Carmen shifted slightly, settling back into the corner of her seat to face him. “Family is everything. It shapes us, defines us—it’s our beginning and our end.”
“Very poetic.”
Her foot bumped his and a fresh zing of awareness zipped through his system. He looked away and took a large swig of ale to get his damn fool head back on straight.
“My dad’s a businessman and my mom stays home. My father runs his own company. We had a falling out. I haven’t spoken to either of them in years. My family is the last thing I want defining me. I’m my own man.”
“Whatever you say.
But the fact you cut them out of your life and won’t speak about them is telling me a lot about you right there.” Her gaze met his and held.
Zac coughed and straightened in his seat. “Drop it.”
“Fine. For now.” She lowered her voice. “But eventually you’re going to have to tell me more, in case it comes up at the reception tonight. My potential new bosses will be there. Besides, I’ve laid myself bare for you.”
“Bare?”
The images that word conjured were triple X. She’d leaned in, close enough for her warm breath to fan his face, and the sweet scent of her perfume surrounded him. A few millimeters more and he could kiss her again, taste her, see if she was as delicious the second time around...
The plane hit a pocket of turbulence, jarring them hard.
“Please be sure your seat belts are fastened,” the flight attendant said, passing by.
Carmen sat back, pushing the curls away from her flushed face. “Dammit.”
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and gave a rueful smile, staring out the window, away from him. “Yuh cyah play mas if yuh fraid powder.”
“Sorry?” Zac frowned as he fastened his seat belt. “Is that more Trinidadian?”
“Yes. It means don’t get involved in something if you can’t handle the danger.”
Touché.
“Dangerous” seemed the correct word for the heat shimmering between them. Their chemistry had always been hot and volatile, ready to boil over at any second. Which had been fine back in Anchorage, because they’d both been able to escape easily. Now, though, they were stuck on a plane, somewhere over the frozen Yukon, with no way out but through even if their choice to fake an engagement this weekend had been a bad one.
* * *
Frustrated in more ways than one, Carmen sat facing away from Zac for as long as she could—until she got a crick in her neck and her butt was numb from staying in the same spot so long.
A Weekend with Her Fake Fiancé Page 5
