by Nina Croft
Nik was in New York right now. According to his schedule, he was supposedly flying back tonight. But if the past few weeks were anything to go by, he wouldn’t be around for long. Though this time, he had to stay in London at least a few days. It was his mother’s birthday, and he was going to the party on Saturday. Alone, as far as she could tell, though it was possible he’d stopped adding his dates to his schedule. Maybe he thought it was none of her business. Or maybe he thought she might be upset.
She sniffed. As if.
“Hey, beautiful.” Sam came to a halt in front of her, a glass of white wine in one hand, a beer in the other. He held out the wine to her, and she took it with a slightly forced smile. “Darcy said you needed a drink,” he said. “You were looking far too serious all alone here in the corner.”
They were at one of the local pubs not far from home. Danny had arranged a get-together to celebrate the anniversary of his first date with Sherry, and Summer had thought it would be nice to get out. Now she wished she was at home. Sam was a complication she didn’t need right now. She was quite aware that Darcy was matchmaking. But while she liked Sam, her life was far too much of a mess to even contemplate a relationship. Besides, it didn’t seem right to lead Sam on when her dreams were full of hot sex with another man.
“Thank you,” she said, taking a sip of wine. “How’s the computing coming along?”
Danny and Sam had become friends. Sam was teaching Danny how to fight, and Danny was teaching Sam all about computer hacking.
“Total crap.” He sounded cheerful about it. He was such an easygoing guy. Things would be so much easier if she could fall for him instead of…
Stop thinking about him.
“How’s the job?” he asked.
She was betting Darcy had put him up to that. She was quite aware that both Regan and Darcy were curious about her job.
“Total crap,” she replied, and Sam grinned.
But that wasn’t true. She was actually enjoying the work. For the first time since she was fourteen, she felt almost normal, part of real life instead of just looking on. She was still a little wary about meeting people at work who might remember her, but as time passed, she relaxed more.
She’d even made friends with a couple of the other executive PAs and occasionally went to lunch with them. Like a normal person.
Unfortunately, though, she still spent way too much time thinking of her boss in an inappropriate manner. And she still woke up in the night, hot and sweaty and so turned on…
Friends!
Danny appeared at her side, Sherry close by. She didn’t look happy.
“Happy anniversary,” Summer said, reaching up to kiss Danny on the cheek. As she backed away, she caught the expression on Sherry’s face. Her lips were tight and her eyes narrowed.
“Thanks.” Danny wrapped his arms around her and gave her a huge hug. Probably not the best thing to do in front of his girlfriend. This wasn’t the first inkling she’d had that Sherry didn’t like her. In everything else, she seemed to be such a confident woman. So why didn’t she have the confidence to see how Danny felt about her? It was sad. Danny was crazy about her and seemed totally oblivious to the waves of resentment radiating off his girlfriend. Summer pushed herself away and straightened her clothes.
“Hey, you look great,” he said, and she almost rolled her eyes.
She was wearing some of the clothes she’d bought on her makeover day with Darcy. Tight black jeans and a silky purple tank top. She looked better than she ever had, not that Nik had noticed. He seemed oblivious to her change of image.
And why did she care?
Sam was talking to Sherry, but the other woman was merely pretending to pay attention, while casting her and Danny sharp little glances. Summer’s heart sank. The last thing she wanted was to drive a wedge between her best friend and the love of his life. Sherry had been good for Danny. She ensured he stayed totally legal, which took a weight off Summer’s mind.
Maybe she should back out of his life. But he was her best friend. She loved him…like a brother. Though Sherry didn’t believe that.
Time to give the other woman a little space. “I just need to ask Darcy something. I’ll see you all later.”
She found Darcy and Regan propping up the bar, drinking beer. Neither looked particularly happy, but then, Darcy was getting nowhere with her plans, and Regan was coping with a potentially disastrous love life. She’d made the mistake of falling for the detective who had led the case against her, and while she said she knew what she was doing, Summer didn’t see any way it could end well.
“Sherry doesn’t like me,” she said as she came to a halt in front of them.
“She’s jealous,” Darcy said.
“There’s nothing to be jealous of.” They both gave her a look. “There isn’t,” she protested, and Regan grinned.
“No smoke and all that. And I’ve got to say, if I were Danny’s girlfriend, I’d be a little concerned.”
“There’s nothing like that between us.”
“Maybe not now. But I’m guessing there was.”
“It’s over.”
“Who finished it?” Darcy asked. “You or Danny?”
Summer pursed her lips, not liking the direction this was going. Why couldn’t things be simple? “It was mutual.” But that wasn’t quite true. She’d had an on–off relationship with Danny for years. It had been fun but had never developed into anything serious. And after she’d met Nik, she’d not wanted that sort of relationship anymore. Best not to think of the reasons why.
“You know what you need,” Darcy said.
“No. But I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“You need a boyfriend. To show Sherry that you’re not after her man.”
And why did an image of Nik flash up in her mind? He so wasn’t boyfriend material. “Couldn’t I just tell her?”
“I doubt she’d believe you.” Regan considered her, head tilted to one side. “Do you want to stay friends with them both?”
She nodded. And it wasn’t merely their friendship she valued.
Sherry was a social worker, and she and Danny were working together on a project. It was an idea Summer had come up with while she was in prison, a mentoring program that got people high up in big companies involved in mentoring children in the foster system. A way of giving something back and offering the kids some much-needed encouragement and a view of an alternative life. Not only work placements but personal one-on-one contact. Eventually, Summer wanted to be involved—it had been her idea, after all—but that wasn’t going to happen if Sherry didn’t get over her jealousy.
“Then Darcy is right. You definitely need a boyfriend. Or at least a pretend boyfriend.”
“I don’t want a boyfriend.” She sounded whiny, but she couldn’t help it.
Darcy ignored her. “Sam would be perfect.”
“No, he wouldn’t.” Sam might help her, but she knew he wanted a real relationship, and she wasn’t going there.
If she wanted a fake relationship, then she had to look somewhere else. She needed someone who didn’t want to date her for real. She needed a friend.
But an impressive friend. Someone superrich and sexy as hell, so Sherry would be totally convinced.
Hmm, where would she find someone like that?
Chapter Eleven
Four weeks into the friendship thing, Nik had come to the conclusion that he was his own worst enemy. What the hell had he been thinking? He didn’t want to be friends with Summer. He wanted to take her to bed and make love to her until he forgot everything. Forgot who she was, what she’d done…
Other women were out of the question. He just wasn’t interested. He couldn’t imagine kissing another woman, let alone taking one to his bed.
He’d only survived this long by staying out of her way. Once he’d realized just how hard the friend thing was going to be—unfortunately, not as hard as his dick—about half an hour after he’d made the suggestion, he’d reorgani
zed his schedule. And he’d managed to find a whole lot of meetings he had to attend in person, in other countries. So he’d spent most of that time away from the office, just popping back now and then to make sure she was okay, that she didn’t have any of those problems he’d told her to talk to him about.
He’d had to come back now, though. It was his mother’s birthday tomorrow and there was a gala at the Ritz. And he couldn’t not attend, though he hated big parties. His mother was not taking this birthday well.
A knock sounded at his door, and a moment later, Summer popped her head around. “Do you have a moment?”
“Of course.” Or an hour or three, if she was willing to spend them in his bed, wrapped around him, with his dick deep—
“Nik?”
“Sorry, I was just thinking about…business.”
She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.
Hell, they didn’t need to go to his bed. They could do it right here, in his chair. He’d been having this recurring fantasy, ever since he came across her that day, spinning.
She looked relaxed, almost happy. She’d put on weight and her skin and hair glowed. And she’d also bought some new clothes, simple ones that suited her. Today she wore a black pencil skirt that hugged her hips and finished just above the knees and a blue silk tank top that matched her eyes and skimmed her breasts.
She was fucking beautiful, and she was his goddamned friend.
Though now that he looked closely, she did have a frown on her face. She rubbed at the little line between her brows. Then she licked her lips, and heat shot to his groin. “There’s something different about you,” she said.
“Is there?”
“It’s your clothes. You’ve stopped wearing jeans to work.”
He couldn’t face wearing a suit and tie, but he was now within the dress code provided by his HR department. Dark gray pants and a white shirt. He’d even tucked the shirt in. “I thought I’d better start abiding by my own rules.”
She smiled, and something twisted inside him. “Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”
“Is that what you came in to see me about?”
“No.” She shifted from foot to foot, a sure sign she was uncertain about whatever it was she had to say. Curious, he kept his mouth shut and waited.
“You know you said I could come see you…if I had a problem?”
“You have a problem?”
“Sort of. And you might be able to help me with it.”
“Go ahead.” She sounded definitely shifty. Was she going to ask him to break the law? Receive stolen goods?
“I have this friend. Hey, don’t look so surprised, I do have friends. Anyway, Danny is my oldest friend. I’ve known him since we were kids.”
Was this the man she’d been with the second night she was out of prison? When he’d done his stalking thing? He wanted to ask, but didn’t want to give away the fact that he’d been there that night. She might think it was a little…creepy. Hell, it was creepy.
“And…?” he prompted when she went quiet.
“He has this girlfriend.”
That was good. He just stopped himself from smiling.
“He really likes her. Plus, they’re doing this…work thing together and he can’t afford to break up with her. It will mess everything up.”
He couldn’t see where this was going. “So what’s the problem?”
“She thinks there’s something between me and Danny.”
“And is there?”
“No!” Was she too emphatic? “But she doesn’t believe that.” She shrugged. “I don’t want to cause problems, but he’s my friend and I don’t want to lose him.”
He still had no clue where this was going. “How can I help?”
“Well, I thought if I had a boyfriend…”
He could feel a grin spreading across his face. “You want me to be your boyfriend.”
“I want you to be my pretend boyfriend. Just for one night. Just so Sherry can meet you and finally see that I’m not after Danny, because I have someone of my own.”
“You think I’m a better boyfriend than this Danny?”
She shrugged. “You’re rich and you’re okay-looking.”
Talk about being damned with faint praise. “Hey, don’t go overboard. I might get bigheaded.”
She bit her lip, and then a smile broke through. “You’d make a pretty impressive boyfriend. Besides, I don’t have any other options.” She pursed her lips. “Though I suppose I could ask Sam. He’d help me out. But I don’t want a real boyfriend, and I suspect Sam would try to make it real.”
His hands fisted at his side, but he kept his expression bland. Was she playing him? Probably. “Definitely don’t ask Sam then.” He studied her for a moment, but she wasn’t giving anything away. “And you don’t believe I would want to make it real?”
She snorted, and an expression of disbelief washed over her face. “You might want to sleep with me, but men like you do not go out with women like me.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘men like you’?”
“Rich assholes,” she muttered.
He almost laughed. She really did have a low opinion of rich men in general and him in particular. “Where did you get your high opinions of billionaires, Summer?”
Her eyes widened in what he was sure was mock amazement. “Are you really a billionaire, Nik? Wow. I’m so impressed.”
“No, you’re not. For someone who went to enormous lengths to get her greedy little hands on large amounts of money, you don’t really seem interested.” She was such an enigma. Her simple clothes, lack of jewelry, the fact that she shared a place with her friends—all of it revealed her as someone who didn’t give a toss about material goods. So what had she done with his money? Maybe he’d get Harry to start up that investigation again. Perhaps the money trail would finally reveal who she really was.
She shrugged. “Maybe I gamble. Badly.”
Could that be it? Perhaps he’d take her to the casino and watch. But he didn’t believe it. Because if it was true, she wouldn’t have told him. His Summer liked being an enigma.
“So you’ll do it?” she asked. “The boyfriend thing?”
“I don’t see why not.”
Her smile widened. “Thank you. It means a lot.”
“When do you want to do this?”
“As soon as possible.”
“Dinner tonight?”
“I’ll call Danny and set it up.”
He allowed himself to smile as she walked away, watching her ass sway beneath the tight black skirt. It looked like he had a girlfriend.
…
Summer had arranged to meet Nik at the Indian restaurant not far from the gym. Nik had wanted to pick her up—he said boyfriends did that. But she’d persuaded him otherwise. She hadn’t seen him again after he’d agreed to help her. He’d been in outside meetings all day, but she’d phoned him with the details.
She got there early, but he was already waiting outside. He looked gorgeous in black jeans and a white shirt, loose over the top, sleeves rolled up over his arms. Something melted inside her as she took in his long, lean figure. He was lounging against the wall, his arms crossed over his broad chest, but he straightened when he saw her and strolled toward her.
“You’re early,” she said.
“So are you.” His gaze ran over her, lingering in various places on the way. She’d made an effort with her clothes tonight, wearing a white strappy dress printed with blue flowers. It was pretty and showed off plenty of skin, but that really had nothing to do with Nik. Honestly. She’d planned on wearing jeans, but Darcy and Regan had both said no way. If she wanted to convince Sherry, then tonight, she had to look like she wanted to impress a man. And Nik certainly seemed impressed, if the length of time his gaze lingered on the curve of her breasts was anything to go by. He finally turned his attention to her face, but a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“You look beautiful tonight.” He appea
red to consider what he’d just said and gave a shrug. “Not that you don’t normally look beautiful. But tonight, you look especially radiant. Very girlfriend-like.”
“Thanks,” she muttered.
His smile turned to a grin. “Just doing the boyfriend thing. You’ll have to tell me if I get it wrong. I haven’t had a lot of practice.”
Why did she find that hard to believe? “What about Giselle?”
“Giselle and I don’t really have that sort of relationship.”
And why did she want to question him about just exactly what sort of relationship they did have? Still, it was none of her business, and she should keep reminding herself of that. Tonight was playacting. Totally unreal. Nik was just doing her a favor. Because he was a nice man. And he wanted to be her friend.
Actually, no, he wasn’t nice. “Nice” didn’t describe him at all. He was doing this for his own reasons. She suspected he wanted to check out Danny, though as to why, she had no clue.
“Does Giselle know that?” she asked.
“Of course. We’d only just started seeing each other when you came out of prison, and now it’s over. We never slept together, if that’s what you want to know.”
Of course, she didn’t want to know. It was none of her business. “Why?” The question was out before she could think better of it.
He leaned a little closer. “Because I don’t sleep with one woman when I spend most of my waking moments thinking about fucking a different one.” He straightened and grinned. “Actually, not just my waking ones. I dreamed about you last night.”
“Oh.” Very intelligent reply. “I thought we were just friends.”
“We are. Unfortunately, my dick hasn’t taken the news too well. Don’t worry, it’s under control.”
Time to change the subject. “Perhaps we should go in.”
He grinned. “Does it embarrass you, to know that I think about fucking you? That I remember what it felt like to be—”
“Yes,” she snapped. “It does. And friends don’t set out to embarrass each other, so shut up about it.”
Without waiting for him to say any more on the subject, she pushed open the door to the restaurant. Sherry and Danny had not arrived yet, and the hostess showed them to an empty table set for four. She took her seat, and Nik took the place at right angles to her. The table was small, and his leg bumped against hers as he settled into his chair. They both ordered a beer and then sat back.
