by Helen Hardt
“I’m sorry, miss.” A mother trotted over to apologize and grabbed the young boy by the hand, pulling him to her side.
Brown eyes peered at Devon from behind the woman as little hands clenched on his mother’s bright red cotton skirt.
“Ma’am, it’s okay.” Devon picked up the metal car and placed it into the boy’s shaking hands. She offered a smile to the boy with the chocolate-drop brown eyes and got a bashful expression in return.
“And what will you say to the kind lady?” The mother tugged on the boy’s hand.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he replied.
“I used to have a racer like yours when I was little, only mine was red. Tile makes the cars go lots faster.” She turned to the mother. “You have a wonderful boy. He’ll be successful when he grows up. He’s got a creative mind.”
His mother’s eyes softened. “Creative is one way to describe him.”
Devon appreciated that motherhood was challenging, but she’d give anything to have a child of her own. At twenty-eight, she was hyper aware that her maternal clock was beginning to clang more and more loudly with every passing year.
Devon backed away and continued toward the beach. Unconsciously, her hand found its way to her belly while she yearned for the day she would have her own child. Michael Lewis would be the perfect name, a name she’d doodled repeatedly in her college notebooks when she faced a problem not readily solved. And Mike Lewis was a problem. He’d never shown any interest in her. Even now, this fake engagement was a game—a dangerous game for her heart.
What if she showed him how their relationship could be? Maybe this wedding was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see if her Mike Lewis fantasy could be turned into reality.
The only problem was getting and keeping Mike’s attention. He never put his phone down to see what was in front of him. He’d never noticed her flirtations on the rare occasions she summoned enough nerve. Or he hadn’t taken her advances seriously.
During her and Kayla’s graduation from college, Devon adopted the belief that Mike didn’t go for a woman who stocked her closet with black-and-white clothes because designer outfits were beyond her budget. But deep down she knew he didn’t care about material things. He had his sights on improving the way surgery was performed. That was all.
Reaching the white sand beach, she removed her shoes and scrunched her toes in the soft, warm sand, the tension in her shoulders easing as she made her way toward the water. The ocean tides washed over her feet. The wind caressed and kissed her skin, and she fantasized about what it would feel like to kiss Mike.
The consequences of telling the entire world she was Mike Lewis’s fiancée chose this moment to finally sink in.
What had she been thinking? Ugh. What a mess.
She gazed out over the ocean. The sun danced on the waves while the summer breeze whipped her hair about her head and across her face. She breathed in the fresh air as she turned and walked toward the rocks on the other end of the beach, letting the memory of Mike’s reaction to her announcement replay in her mind. The silent meaningful looks, his off-balance fidgeting, and the way he leaned in to hear her explanation—all of his reactions were delicious.
“Devon.”
A hand touched her, and she jumped.
“Jesus, Kayla. You scared the crap out of me.”
“I’ve been calling your name for the past two minutes, but you just kept walking. What’s got you so distracted?” Kayla turned around and walked backwards.
“I…uh…” Should she tell Kayla what happened? Probably not. Knowing Kayla, she’d worry, and more worry was not something she needed right now. “Just work stuff.”
“Work stuff.” Kayla nodded. “And that’s what you’re sticking with?”
I’m in love with your brother, Devon wanted to say, but she kept her expression blank. “I’m fine, Kay-K. You can stop being an annoying pain in the ass.”
Devon found a clear spot to sit on the beach. Kayla sank down beside her.
“I’m not annoying,” Kayla said. “A little pesky, but never annoying.”
“Okay, Miss English lit major, even I know annoying and pesky are synonyms.”
“Well, you may have a point. I’m a teeny-weeny bit annoying sometimes, but it’s because I love you.”
And it was love in the form of late-night chats, spur-of-the-moment cocktails, and last-minute movie nights that Devon coveted. She was going to miss those girl-power moments. Just the thought of it doused her with a melancholy she tried desperately to hide.
“Don’t be sad.”
“I’m not.” Devon forced a laugh and refused to let her friend see the tears stinging her eyes. Time to change the subject. “Why were you looking for me?”
“I want to ask your opinion about the flowers. The florist chose white roses, and I’m worried there should be some color added, but I can’t decide what flowers would work. The bridesmaids’ dresses are blue, but I always think blue flowers are weird-looking.” Kayla drew spiraling circles in the sand.
Time to distract Kayla, and give her a more appropriate task to focus on. “Have you checked on the menu? What about the caterers? Did you talk with them? How did it go?”
“Yes, and yes. The good news is the menu is as I requested. The bad news is my dad got a call from his sister. My aunt and uncle are flying in tonight, so I’ve alerted the caterers to add an extra two plates.” She rubbed her eyes. “I hope there aren’t any more last-minute surprises.”
Like hearing your brother and I are engaged.
“Kayla,” Devon began, doing her best to find a way to tell her friend about the Mike situation, yet not freak her out. Words failed her. There were times she wished she’d been an English major.
“Hey, you know what I need?” Kayla grabbed Devon’s arm.
“A massage?” Devon suggested.
“Oh…that does sound good.” Kayla closed her eyes briefly. “But no.”
“You sure? Cuz I can picture you on the beach, a handsome man rubbing your back with lavender oil.”
“Mmm, don’t tempt me. But no. Right now I need to go greet the family members coming in today.” She gave Devon an elbow bump. “Come with me.”
“Your family is huge. Making sure everyone gets settled will take hours.” Devon played up the whine, hoping it would get her out of meet-and-greet duties. Kayla was the extrovert. Not her, although she could make do in a pinch.
“Tell me about it. A massage would be more fun.” Kayla pushed up off the ground and held out a helping hand to Devon. “Brandon and I are planning to have a couple’s massage after the wedding. I’ll need it after all this is over. This morning I was thinking I should have accepted Brandon’s offer to elope, but my mom would have killed me.”
“Yes, she would have.” Devon nodded. “Keep a positive attitude. Nothing bad is going to happen. It’s your wedding, and it will be the most perfect one ever. Besides, no one could be more beautiful than you.”
“Aw. You’re going to make me cry. I can’t wait to tell you the same thing on your wedding day. That is, if you ever allow a guy into your life,” Kayla teased. “No one is ever good enough for you.”
Except for Mike, Devon thought.
“What can I say? I haven’t found the perfect guy yet.” When the lightning didn’t strike Devon for that whopper, she felt a slight relief.
“Speaking of guys, I forgot to ask about Mike. Were you able to get him away from the paparazzi?” Kayla asked.
“Mike? Mike is fine. He’s more worried about making sure your wedding day is perfect.” Guilt for keeping secrets sneaked in, and Devon had a hard time swallowing. “Kay, I need to tell you something.”
Kayla stopped. “What?”
“It’s just that…” Devon weighed her options. “Well, it seems… You see… Mike and I are sort of engaged.”
“Engaged!”
Devon waved her hands to make Kayla suspend judgment for a second. “No. No. No. I’m only pretending to be his fianc
ée. It’s not a real engagement.”
“Okay.” Kayla looked at Devon, her eyes narrowing. “What happened?”
“I made up this fake engagement excuse so women will leave Mike alone.” Devon blurted out the story and finished with, “and Mike wants me to act the part of his fiancée until after your wedding is over.”
Kayla’s eyes got really, really big. Then she snorted and laughed. “That’s outstanding. No, really.”
“Um…I don’t follow. You’re happy about this?”
“I am. There’s a hiccup in the accommodations, and we’re a room short. The hotel is fully booked, but my uncle and aunt need a place to stay. The hotel is saying there truly are no extra rooms. My mom is dealing with it,” Kayla explained in her typical rapid-fire manner as they walked toward the hotel lobby.
“What do your uncle and aunt have to do with Mike’s and my dilemma?”
“You, my dear friend, have again solved my problem.”
Devon’s skin started to itch when Kayla’s expression turned devious. She was all too familiar with that expression. Kayla was up to something.
“Why do I get the feeling I won’t like what you’re about to tell me?”
“Stop worrying. It’s going to be perfect. You’ll share Mike’s suite with him, and my uncle and aunt can take your room.” Kayla waved her hands in the air like the Good Fairy scattering around fairy dust to make everything perfect.
“Kay-K, I don’t think your brother will go for this.”
“My workaholic brother won’t even notice another human sharing his room. He’ll be too busy. As long as you remain quiet, it’ll be fine.”
A wave of sadness crashed over Devon. Mike’s family had never seen him for the authentic hero he was, then or now. “This isn’t a good idea.”
“I wouldn’t suggest the move if there were another option. Please, Devy, I need that extra room.”
Devon didn’t have much choice. Kayla’s parents were paying for this luxury trip, a vacation Devon couldn’t afford on her own. The all-inclusive resort boasted five restaurants, three pools, a workout center, a five-star spa, and more. The place even had a juice and ice cream bar. “Okay, fine. You win. Whatever will help.”
“You’re the best friend ever.” Kayla skipped up the steps to the lobby. “Let’s go find my mom and tell her we found an extra room. She’ll be too distracted to ask where you’re sleeping, so we won’t need to tell her about you and Mike.”
“What if Mike refuses to let me stay in his room?”
“I’ll just tell him he doesn’t have a choice. I already have two cousins staying with me.”
Devon supposed she could always sleep on the floor or in the bathtub. The whirlpool in Kayla’s room was large enough.
What had she gotten herself into?
4
Mike stood in front of his suite window, gazing out past the palms and white sand beach toward the teal blue ocean and the sun shimmering on the surface…but the memory of Devon with her sun-kissed cheeks pushed the scenic image aside.
The changing expressions on her freckled face were more fun to think about. The woman was a pure study in contrasts. Smart yet innocent. Bold yet restricted. She was a superpower waiting to be unleashed, and he wanted to peel back her layers to find out what lay beneath.
He imagined running his fingers through Devon’s hair, kissing her neck—the daydream ignited a passion he’d believed dormant.
The chime of his cellphone pulled him out of his reverie. With a swipe right, he pressed the phone to his ear. “Mike Lewis.”
“Mike, it’s Greg. We’ve got a problem.”
He tried holding onto the sizzling daydream, but it faded with the panic in his chief operations officer’s voice. The man sounded shaken, which was odd, and maybe a little alarming, for a man so rarely fazed.
Mike took a deep breath. “What’s up?”
“We have parts stuck in customs. I’ve been working to resolve the issue, but it looks like we’ll have to delay the launch of the new product line again. There’s no way around it, Mike. I’m sorry.”
Shit. Mike cupped a hand over his mouth and started pacing. He squeezed his jaw, forcing his teeth apart, so he didn’t crack a crown. “Pull the team together. I want options. Today. Greg, figure out a way to replace those parts. Don’t worry about cost. I need the product line launched on time.”
“Understood. I’ll do my best.”
He hated the doubt permeating Greg’s voice. Mike considered for a moment stepping in to problem-solve, but his father’s wisdom taught him you don’t have a dog and wag its tail yourself. He tossed his phone on the brown-and-teal fabric chair just as he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
He turned—and blinked. Devon was standing in his room, surrounded by luggage. She looked adorable, her hands fidgeting like she didn’t know whether to stand there or leave.
“Devon? How did you get into my room?” He stared at her and did his best to appear calm.
“Kayla was supposed to call you.” Devon took a step forward, even though she looked like she wanted to turn around and leave. “It turns out your uncle and aunt’s arrival was unanticipated, and the hotel is a room short.”
“And?” He crossed the room, wanting to be near her. Her sweet scent of suntan coconut oil hit first, and then the smell of her light perfume.
“Kayla thought that, since you have a suite, you wouldn’t mind sharing your room. I told her about the fake fiancée thing, and she decided this would solve her problem…and yours.”
“My problem?” He chuckled at his sister’s audacity. “You were the one who announced our engagement.” He stopped far enough away to avoid touching her or pulling her into his arms. Peeling back those layers was getting more and more tempting.
He released a breath of pent-up frustration. “This seems like a solution Kayla would come up with to please my parents and avoid my aunt’s complaints. My father’s sister is demanding, and knowing her the way I do, I guarantee she’d complain nonstop if she had the inconvenience of staying at another hotel, even though it’s her fault for not being organized enough to avoid last-minute plans.”
“Don’t blame Kayla.” Devon softened her tone. “Appeasing everyone is her way of showing she cares.”
Kayla was a pain in his ass, always badgering him to take a break, have some fun, and stop working so much. When she started sounding like a video meme on a constant rewind loop, he stopped taking her calls, but then she’d just discover fresh ways to get him to stop working, like sending him tickets to his favorite sports events and the new release of his favorite role-playing video game. He appreciated that she cared, but he wished she were more supportive of his dreams.
Personally, he didn’t blame his sister for her show of concern. They might have their differences, but he adored Kayla. Besides, she just wanted him to be happy and to stop hiding. She’d witnessed two of his very public and messy breakups after neither woman would sign his prenuptial agreement. Both had wanted his wealth and status, not him. Kayla swore there were women in the world who were not like that, but he had yet to find one.
Then again, it could be that one of those rare women was standing in front of him right now, but he’d never know, because his heart couldn’t go there. Not again.
However, the vulnerable Devon looked even more luscious than she had this morning. His head was saying don’t touch, but his heart was sending different signals.
What the hell am I doing?
He had a new product to get launched. If past relationships were any indication, women wanted his time—time he didn’t have to give. He needed to stay focused, and focusing on Devon wasn’t where he needed to spend his time right now.
“I should go. I told Kayla this wasn’t a good idea. I’ll see myself out.” Devon bent to retrieve her backpack.
“And where will you go?” he asked, just to make sure she’d thought her decision through. “You said so yourself. The hotel is fully booked. Staying wit
h me is the only option.”
“There must be a couch or a rollaway somewhere. Like you said, I’m the one who created this problem. I’ll solve it.”
He liked the way her chin lifted a little. “I’m sure you will.”
She crossed her arms and bristled. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Just that. You’re a problem-solver.” And he would have liked nothing better than to have her solve his problems, but his business issues would have to wait. “Don’t make me look like the bad older brother who doesn’t support his kid sister during her wedding preparations. The best solution would be for you to stay here.”
“So you want me to stay?” Her brows hitched to their highest level.
“Yeah. I do.” He walked to the door and closed it.
Devon slung her backpack over her shoulder. “I promise to stay out of your way. I won’t be a distraction. You can work or do whatever it is you do. You won’t even know I’m here.”
“Oh, I’ll know you’re here, Devon. There is no doubt about that.” Mike walked back to her slowly, taking in her long legs, narrow waist, and ample breasts—breasts he’d like to cup in the palm of his hand, feel their weight, and play with until the nipples tightened. “You are a beautiful woman. You’d be very hard to miss.”
“You don’t need to be patronizing.”
“I might be a lot of things, but I’m not blind, Devon.”
A blush caressed her skin from neck to cheek.
“Make yourself comfortable,” he offered. “I’ll call down for an extra set of towels.”
“I don’t want to be a bother.”
“You already are, in the nicest kind of way.” He couldn’t help the tingling anticipation when he imagined exploring Devon’s layers.
Devon rolled her carry-on suitcase over to the couch and pressed on the cushions. “Sleeping on the pullout won’t be too bad.”
“You’ll take the bed,” Mike stated in his normal executive tone, expecting there to be no argument. When her mouth opened, he added, “Kayla would flick my ear for not being a gentleman. Please, take the bed. Don’t make me beg.”
