The Agreement: A Fake It Novel

by Kensie King

  No. Not with his eyelids hooded and needy like that. Not if my boyfriend looked like a god in Gucci. But what was I supposed to do? Kiss him?

  That had disaster written all over it.

  Lucas decided for me. He leaned in, wrapping his arms around me, his breath touching my ear.

  I was immediately transported back to our weekend together at the B&B when it was only me and him and the rest of the world didn’t seem to exist. He was even wearing the same cologne. It hit me so hard and consumed me so fully, I almost forgot I was playing a part.

  “We’ll start here,” Lucas murmured, sending chills racing down my body.

  I swallowed and got myself together. I turned my head, pulling away from him in what felt like a coy, playful action. To the public we’d be fun and flirty—I’d get used to that—but other than that, it was just way to make ends meet.

  I pressed my hand on his chest with a forced laugh. “Save some of that for later,” I joked, pulling open the door to get inside the limousine.

  Lucas got in behind me and slid close enough on the seat I eased away.

  “Just practicing,” he said with a smile.

  “No need,” I told him. “I’ll play my part in public and do a good job.”

  “I don’t doubt that.”

  “Otherwise,” I said breezily, “hands off.”

  He folded his hands in his lap to prove he was keeping his end of the bargain, but his words warred with his actions. “You smell good.”

  So do you.

  But I kept those thoughts to myself and instead asked him about his job. “Have you told your partners about us?”

  He went straight into business mode. “No. I figure I’ll introduce you at our company dinner this weekend and explain more about how we met and how long we’ve been seeing each other. I’ll mention it just got more serious, that we just moved in together. I’ll keep dropping hints, of course, as I see them. How well things are going, how we’re making plans for the future.”

  A future that we both knew never had a chance of happening. But I’d let Lucas handle that while I did my part.

  A year. That was what we’d agreed on. We’d stay together for a year, so it looked reasonable to the public eye. And then we’d break up, as so many couples tended to do, and everyone would believe it was a just a regular relationship that hadn’t worked out.

  It helped to have a time frame. I’d even marked it in the calendar on my phone. One year from today, I’d written, The End.

  It was perfect. All of it. I was going to make sure of that.

  With that thought in mind, I settled into the comfortable seats of the limousine and enjoyed myself while we drove to my new home.

  9

  ____________________

  LUCAS

  This wasn’t working out how I’d planned.

  If I’d wanted a roommate, that’s exactly what I’d gotten. But I’d thought—what? That Roe would want to talk? He’d been so open that weekend we’d spent together. That he’d want to play house?

  I snorted as I arrived in the penthouse and stepped out of the elevator that Thursday evening. Okay, playing house was going a little overboard, but was it wrong to expect we’d at least have some sort of open communication?

  Enough to ease back into...something.

  I wasn’t sure, all I knew was that the more I didn’t see him, the more I wanted to.

  At the very least, we needed to figure out a united front to present to my partners at dinner tomorrow.

  Under the guise of getting our story straight, I marched down the hallway and toward Roe’s bedroom. We’d have dinner, talk, and maybe get on the same page. Maybe share a few jokes and he’d open up.

  Talk to me like he used to.

  I gritted my teeth. No. That wasn’t why he was here. We had an arrangement.

  But when I reached his doorway, I froze, all my plans and thoughts fleeing my mind.

  Roe stood at the foot of the bed, wearing nothing but swim trunks.

  My throat dried. He looked—God, I didn’t know. More grown up? Like he’d been working out? I couldn’t place it, only that my eyes wouldn’t stop straying to his chest, his abdomen, the strong slender line of his shoulders that I remember kissing over and over.

  It hadn’t just been his shoulders, it had been every part of him. Every hard line and soft plane, every smooth patch of skin, and every place that made him groan in pleasure.

  My dick lengthened in my slacks and I shifted in the doorway, not wanting him to see me practically panting over him. But Roe turned at the same time.

  Surprise flickered in his gaze before he fixed me with a level stare. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” I cleared my throat. “What are you doing?”

  “Going swimming downstairs.”

  “I was hoping we could talk. We have that dinner tomorrow—”

  “I know.” He nodded, flashing me a smile and brushing past me barefoot. God, even his feet were sexy. “I’m prepared. I’ve got a suit and I’ll pretend I’m in love with you. No problem.”

  My heart stuttered at the word “love.” Then I realized it wasn’t that he’d said it, but that he’d said it without any warmth. A reminder that Roe was only pretending to have any feelings for me.

  Fuck. Why did that make me want to try even harder to get him to open up?

  And more...I wanted a second chance. I wanted him to see I wasn’t the person who’d left him in the B&B after our weekend together. It had nothing to do with him and everything to do with me.

  I wasn’t prepared to feel anything for him again, even though my thoughts strayed to him often.

  I gritted my teeth as he walked to the bathroom to grab a towel. “We need to talk.”

  “About what?” he asked, slinging the towel over his shoulder.

  “Us.”

  He laughed and brushed past me again. “You mean, the fake us.”

  Fake. I was starting to hate that word. He’d used it more than once. I was beginning to think there was no chance at all of him seeing me as anything other than a way to start over.

  And fuck if I didn’t want to know why this opportunity was so important to him. There was something he wasn’t telling me—some side story or secret about why he needed the money so badly. Why he was willing to put up with being my roommate and pretending to love me.

  “Yes. Everyone is going to want to know how we met and what we like to do together and how long we’ve been together. We have to be on the same page.”

  He shrugged and walked to the elevator. “Write me a list. I’ll memorize it tonight.” He flashed me a smile just before the doors closed. “I promise I won’t embarrass you.”

  Then he was gone. Fuck. He was right. I mean, writing him a list was probably the best way to go.

  But I didn’t want that. I wanted interaction with him. I wanted it to look and feel real. No, I wanted it to be real.

  Grumbling to myself, I walked to my room to change into swim trunks. No way I was letting this go. Roe had been parading around here like I didn’t exist for the last few days and that wasn’t part of the agreement.

  Was it?

  We hadn’t exactly clarified anything more than a time period and a dollar amount. Other than that, it wasn’t like I’d said he also had to keep me company when I got home from work.

  But that was the point. I’d come home from work on time so I could see him, so we could spend time together, and dammit, I wasn’t going to let him have his way on this.

  We were going to have our conversation.

  Even if we had to do it in the pool.

  He was the only one there when I walked inside. Roe did laps back and forth across the large pool, his long limbs toned and beautiful. Longing welled up inside of me as I remembered his arms and legs wrapped around me, making me forget everything but him.

  As I watched, it hit me then. This was my shot. Maybe my only shot to fix it all permanently with Roe. We had a second chance here, a shot at making something
real. We were in this arrangement, but that didn’t mean it had to be emotionless.

  I realized right then, that’s what I wanted.

  Roe.

  But to do that, I had to prove to him that I’d changed. And I had to do it in a way that didn’t make him want to run away.

  The only thing I could think to do at this moment was make him want me.

  I crouched at the edge of the pool so when he reached the side and came up for air, he saw me. When his eyes opened, so did his mouth. He sucked in a mouthful of water and started coughing.

  “Lucas—” he gasped. “You—you scared me—”

  “I didn’t mean to.”

  I reached down to pat his back, but he eased away, holding up a hand. “I’m fine.”

  “You sure?”

  He nodded, coughing again while watching me with wary eyes.

  “Mind if I join you?” I asked.

  Another wary look. “Go ahead.”

  He was still watching when I pulled off my t-shirt. I pretended not to notice his eyes glued to my abs or the way they traced the rest of my body as I slid into the warm water.

  “I didn’t know you were such a good swimmer,” I said.

  He lifted his eyebrows, wading out to the middle of the pool. I immediately cursed myself for saying the wrong thing. Of course I didn’t know that because I hadn’t taken the time to get to know him in the past when I’d had the chance. He’d told me things—a lot of things—but that had been years ago. There was more that we hadn’t had the time to say and more that had changed in the meantime.

  “I was on the team in high school and college,” he said.

  I nodded, moving out to where he stood. His hair was jet-black when it was wet, and he’d scooped it back off his face. It was longer than I remembered it. Enough to grab onto, to run my fingers through if he’d ever let me get that close.

  “This is good,” I said. “Getting to know details about each other so it’s convincing.”

  “Your turn,” he said.

  “Was I a swimmer? No. I played baseball. Just high school. In college, I started down the lawyer route and didn’t stay into sports.”

  “Too bad.”

  Though I didn’t miss how his eyes traced over my shoulders. I didn’t do sports but I still made it to the gym regularly.

  “How did we meet?” he asked.

  “We can say we met at a party last year and hit it off but we both went our own ways. And then we reconnected at the coffee shop you worked at and hit it off again.”

  “Close enough to the truth.” He nodded. “I can go with that. What else?”

  “Family. Are you close with them?”

  He glanced away. The flash of hurt that passed across his face made my heart ache. Fuck. I’d forgotten about his mom.

  I’d gotten so caught up in playing the game, I hadn’t remembered that he’d come to the city because his mom had died. Because she’d encouraged him to follow his dreams.

  Roe leaned back and let himself float on the top of the water, his skin shiny and smooth.

  I waded closer, grasping at ways to take back what I’d said. To fix this again. I was starting to wonder if it wasn’t my destiny to hurt Roe. I’d managed to do so more than once, and I couldn’t seem to stop putting my foot in my mouth.

  Pool water ran down his cheek and I reached over to brush it away. His lips pressed together, and while he still stayed floating on the water, I could still see the tension in his body.

  “There’s no one else here,” he said.

  “I know.”

  He put his feet under him again. “Which means we don’t have to pretend. No one but us.” He frowned. “And we know the truth.”

  The silence that surrounded us was deafening. The truth was he hated me. I could see it so clearly it almost took my breath away.

  “Roe, I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Really, I am.”

  “I said I forgive you.”

  I shook my head. “No, you didn’t. You said you accepted my apology.”

  “Well, I do. Forgive you, I mean.”

  Then he moved away from me like the whole conversation was painful.

  “What’s it going to take for you to mean it?” I asked softly.

  His gaze locked on mine for a long moment before he sighed. “I don’t know.”

  And then he leaned back to float in the water again, dismissing our conversation.

  This time, I wisely kept my mouth shut. It was going to take a lot to get Roe to open up to me, and even more to get him to trust me again.

  But I wasn’t ready to give up hope just yet. I had a whole lot of tricks up my sleeve and an entire year to make them work.

  10

  ____________________

  ROE

  So maybe I’d been a little overconfident when I’d packed and assumed this whole fake boyfriend thing was going to be a piece of cake.

  I stared at the suit before me, cursing myself for not thinking bigger. Like tuxedo. I hadn’t realized the event tonight was more than just a dinner. It was a function. An event. Black tie, according to Lucas, which meant when I’d told him yesterday I was ready with my suit, he’d known perfectly well I wasn’t ready at all.

  I wasn’t cut out for the life of a penthouse boyfriend, with galas and fancy dinners. I’d just come from a community center for Christ’s sake. My everyday life didn’t exactly scream successful businessman. Someone like Lucas.

  I eyed my phone, ready to call Elise and see if Jason might have a tux I could borrow. We weren’t exactly the same size, but I’d make it work. I’d charm the pants off of everyone there enough that they wouldn’t notice how ill-fitted my tux was or how ill-fitted to the lifestyle I was.

  I’d been doing so well, too. Breezy. Laid back. Playing the part of the roommate had actually been fun. Until Lucas had come to the pool, gone and taken off his shirt, and I felt like we were back at square one. Because that alone had almost made me want him again.

  Then when he’d apologized, with nothing but sincerity in his voice and eyes, I’d almost given in. He sounded honest. Like he was truly sorry.

  I wanted to give in. I’d wanted to move straight into his arms and forget it all, even how he’d forgotten about my mom.

  But that wasn’t going to happen. Not this time. I wasn’t about to let him hurt me again.

  “Try this.”

  I whipped around at the voice and saw Lucas in the doorway to my bedroom. He held a raven black tuxedo that mirrored the one he wore. A perfect fit, like he’d been born for it.

  My throat dried, and I had to remind myself for the second time that day that I was here to do a job, not to fall for him again.

  If I made him fall for me, all the better, but definitely not the other way around.

  I kept my voice breezy when I took the tuxedo. “Thank you. I’ll try it on.”

  He waited while I stepped into the bathroom, changing from my jeans and t-shirt into the tuxedo. Just like his, my tux managed to fit me like a glove. The sleeves just right, not too tight around the shoulders, and the slacks slender and comfortable.

  I had no idea how he’d managed to find a tux that fit so perfectly, but then I reminded myself he’d known my body intimately. He’d taken the time to touch and taste every curve and swell. All of me.

  A slow breath shuddered from my lips. Those thoughts weren’t helping at all. They were only making it harder for me to remember that Lucas wasn’t supposed to be on my mind at all.

  When I emerged from the bathroom, I found him quietly checking his watch. But he didn’t say a word when he saw me. In fact, it looked like he couldn’t say anything.

  His mouth opened just slightly, lips parting in a way that suggested he was finding it hard to do anything but stare.

  A rush of triumph shot through me. Good. I already had him speechless and I hadn’t even gone anywhere near him.

  Lucas cleared his throat. “You look great.”

  The sincerity in his words, coupled
with his breathlessness, made my heart shoot into my throat.

  Be calm and cool, I reminded myself. Play the part.

  “Thanks. I feel great in this.” I met him at the door, turning a charming smile in his direction. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

  He caught my hand, fingers warm and strong, and pulled it to his lips. When his breath touched my knuckles, I tried not to jerk back in surprise. What was he doing?

  “Thank you for doing this,” he murmured, eyes locking on mine. “All of this. But also for coming tonight.”

  I extracted my hand from his, trying not to let him ruffle me. “Of course. It’s part of the agreement, right?”

  He didn’t respond, and I didn’t wait for him to say anything. It was supposed to look like I didn’t care. Unfortunately, I was starting to wonder if this was entirely an arrangement to him or something more.

  An unsettling thought occurred to me.

  We had history—bad history—and it didn’t make sense for him to want to keep up this charade with me. Unless he had an outcome in mind.

  Unfortunately, I could only think of one outcome that made sense.

  For us to be together again.

  Fat chance. Fool me once and all that.

  Lucas caught up to me at the elevator and we rode down in silence. I stood as far away from him as I could without looking suspicious, but his smell still filled the elevator. It brought back a flood of memories.

  Of his hands on me, of nuzzling my lips under his jaw while we lay together in the bed at the B&B. Even though I’d washed all my clothes after I’d gotten back from that short and terrible trip, I’d still been able to smell him. I wasn’t sure if it was a memory or he’d made a mark on me in some other way—my hair, my clothes. My heart.

  He’d touched everything, and no matter how hard I’d tried, I hadn’t been able to completely forget about Lucas Stone.

  I had, however, been able to move on. And I was going to prove that to him.

  When we reached the hotel, Lucas held his hand out to me, helping me step onto the sidewalk. My gaze traveled to the other limos pulling up behind us and the line of people stepping inside.

  It was an adjustment I had to make, and quick. Lucas had a different lifestyle than I did. Faster-paced, with more money flowing and social functions to attend. And now I was part of that.