Fake It

by Jennifer Chance

  “Well, what’s not to like?” she finally managed to say, and he smiled, squeezing her hand.

  “Yeah, this place is great,” Kristen said, looking around. “Friends of my father’s rent it for vacation a few times a year, and they were able to get it for a steal for this weekend, or so they said.”

  “Can we pay you anything for our stay here?”

  Kristen rolled her eyes. “We’re still fighting with them about that actually. Thank you for offering. If we get an actual contribution price out of them, I’ll let you know. You can chip in whatever you want, but I suspect we’re all staying for free.” She checked her watch. “We don’t have anything going on until four, when the bridesmaids and groomsmen will return from the golf outing. That’s where Scott is, too. He’s the lucky one.”

  “Has it been difficult to get everything in place in time?”

  “Scheduling, I can handle. It’s the people that are driving me bonkers,” Kristen said with a weary smile. “But here, let’s go up to your room.” She grinned. “I assume you’ll be staying together?”

  Anna felt her skin turn pink, but Jake answered for her. “That’d be ideal. If there’s no room, though, we can always stay somewhere else.”

  “Are you kidding? I’ve planned for Anna to have a date all along,” Kristen said, winking at Anna, who of course knew she’d been planning no such thing. Or at least she hadn’t been totally sure about that plan. “You guys are in the first room upstairs on the right. I’ll just—” Kristen’s explanation was stopped by the chirping of her phone. She looked down at it with a scowl. “You’ve got to be … Guys, I need to get this, do you mind? I’m sorry.” She’d thumbed on her phone and was talking before she’d fully turned away from them, explaining something about a portfolio and risk aversion.

  Jake frowned down at her, and Anna shrugged. “She’s an investment banker now. Her life is her work.”

  “But isn’t she getting married? No, don’t answer that. All of you people are crazy.” He pulled her hand toward the wide veranda, with the winking, glittering Atlantic beckoning them down the long boardwalk. “Let’s go for a walk. According to what I read in your file, Dave had a real thing for the beach.” He reached out to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “And since I plan on making love to you out here sometime this weekend, that works just fine for me.”

  Chapter 9

  Jake’s pulse surged as Anna’s grip tightened on his hand, but she didn’t say anything as they paused to kick off boots and socks on the back porch. The beach house was obscenely huge, one of the nicest houses he’d ever been in, but he wanted Anna alone. Judging from the number of cars in the lane, they were going to be surrounded by people all too quickly, and he wasn’t yet in the mood to share.

  They had gone about two hundred feet from the house when Anna finally let herself speak.

  “You’re not serious are you? About making love to me on the beach? Are you serious? Or was that part of the act, because it was an awesome part if so, but don’t feel like I brought you here … I mean, it’s not like I expect anything, or—”

  “Anna.” Jake pulled her closer as they stepped off the boardwalk onto the still-hot sand. “Relax. We’re not doing anything this weekend that you don’t want to do. That said …” He rubbed his thumb against the inside of her wrist as he drew her toward the water, and he heard the ragged sigh she tried to mask. “That said, if you do want to … get to know each other a little better, it seems like it would fit your story very well.”

  “Yes, but …” Anna blew out a long breath, then turned her head to stare at the ocean as they walked. He let her gather her thoughts, but it really didn’t matter. Anna was his this weekend, and at some point over the next forty-eight hours, she was going to be in his arms. He hoped like hell she was on board with that plan, but if she wasn’t, he was more than willing to convince her. Then Anna gripped his hand more firmly, and she found her words again.

  “I really appreciate you coming and doing this for me, Jake,” she said. “You’re being so great with Kristen already, and—”

  “Look, let me make something clear.” They’d walked far enough away from the beach house that a large dune topped with waving grasses blocked their view of it. “Here, turn around.” He unbound her long hair from the leather thong they’d bought to keep it tame, and he threaded his fingers through the soft mass of it before turning her to face him again. He tilted up her chin with his finger and finally gave in to the temptation of her mouth, delicately tracing the edges of it, softly, gently, until her breath hitched and she shivered. “I’m here because I want to be. Because I’ve spent the last six months watching you walk by my door, and wondering what it would be like to kiss you. To taste your skin, feel your hair.” He smoothed her curls back now to emphasize his point. “You don’t need to act so surprised, Anna. You know I watch you. I assume you like that I watch you.”

  Her cheeks colored and she glanced away, but he drew her face back around so that their gazes met. “So you did like it? You do like it?” he asked quietly. “You like that I think about you. That I want to be with you?”

  “You can’t—”

  “Why are you having such a difficult time believing this? We’ve done this once already.” Exasperated, Jake took one of Anna’s hands and guided it to where their bodies were almost touching. When her fingers grazed the clear evidence of his arousal, she drew in a sharp little breath, her gaze rushing back to meet his. “You see what I mean? This is me, pretty much anytime I’m around you. So, I’m clearly into you. That’s not a problem.” He twined his fingers with hers, drawing her closer to his body. She was taller than a lot of women and fit against him right. Like she wouldn’t break the moment he touched her.

  Just that thought was enough for his mind to trail down paths that made his blood begin to pound in his veins, and he leaned down toward her, close enough that their lips brushed when he talked.

  “It seems to me that we have a win-win situation here, darling,” he murmured, thrilling to the half sigh she allowed to escape as he pressed against her mouth. God, he was going to enjoy exploring her body, to see how all of those hollows and curves responded to his touch. He wanted to know her as well as he knew the finest machine under his care. He was known for making motorcycles purr … growl … sigh … roar. He wanted that with Anna, too, wanted to feel her arch beneath his hands, tremble in anticipation, shatter in ecstasy. He’d take her right now in the sand if he could, but also he wanted to wait, to savor her growing need, to wrap her desire tight in his hands until only he could release it.

  He knew it was going to be good between them—had known it from the first time her hips had swayed into his field of vision. He pulled Anna even closer, and kissed a trail up her jaw and over to her ear, where he whispered, low and soft. “I’m not involved, and you’re clearly not involved, or I wouldn’t be here. Am I right?”

  “Yes,” Anna said, and her hands were moving now, steadying herself against him even as her fingers crept around to hold on to his waist. He liked the feel of her there, holding on tight, needing him to keep her balance. He liked it more than he really cared to examine too closely.

  “Well, then. You also have an entire house full of people who not only think we are in love, but that we are very, very into each other. And you already know I’m into you.” He lifted a hand then and slid it up the side of Anna’s sweater, dragging it higher on her waist. She froze, and he chuckled against her lips. “Shhhh,” he said. “It’s all right. I’m not going to strip you in public.” Yet, he promised himself. Because that suddenly sounded like one of the best ideas he’d had so far this year. But even though he wasn’t going to act on it now, he didn’t let her off the hook completely. He moved his hand up another few inches, palming her breast through the soft knit of her pink sweater. It felt every bit as good as he’d remembered, and he spread his fingers wide to explore more of its weight. “God I love your breasts,” he all but moaned, enjoying Anna’s groan at his
words. “I can think of no better way to spend this weekend than with your body wrapped around mine, on this beach.” He dropped a light kiss on her neck. “In bed.” He grazed his lips against her jaw. “Bent over my bike.” He pressed his mouth to hers, the movement suddenly urgent, his tongue pushing in even as she parted her lips beneath him, letting him in, letting him explore. So she liked that idea, too? The woman was going to kill him. He spoke his next words against her lips. “I want to make love to you until you can’t see straight, Anna. So you just say the word, and it’s going to happen.”

  “Jake,” Anna heard herself say, except she didn’t recognize the voice as she swayed in Jake’s arms. It sounded throatier than hers. Sexier. She liked the sound of this new Anna, and she liked that Jake did, too, as he drew her closer and dropped his hands to the small of her back, his fingers just riding the curve of her hips.

  “Anna,” he said, his mouth curving into a smile. She blinked and realized that she’d been staring at his lips. When she lifted her gaze to his, though, she didn’t know what she would do with the intensity of emotions bared there. Was she actually seeing this correctly? Was he truly interested in her body? The concept was … completely foreign to her. She’d had men appreciate her sense of humor, her ability to hang out. She’d had men even comment on how smart she was, how insightful. But nobody wanted her for her body—she wasn’t thin, she wasn’t buff. She had a few too many curves to fit into any current style of clothing in stores. And yet there was no denying Jack’s physical interest, and her own sensual response. Could it really be that easy?

  She tried again. “Jake, I would like that. For you … for us, to make … I mean, not to make love, that’s overstating. I mean, I barely know you, and—ah!”

  Jake had taken the opportunity while she was trying to construct intelligent sentences to lean back while keeping his hold on her lower waist. The movement put the hardest part of his body in intimate contact with the neediest part of hers, and Anna felt her mouth fall open, her breath caught in her throat.

  “I don’t think you need to explain yourself any more, Anna,” Jake said, his voice now deeper as well. “In fact, the more you keep talking, the more I think we should lose the beach house and just check into a hotel now, before anyone or anything—”

  “Hey! There you are!”

  Jolted out of Jake’s hypnotic spell, Anna half-whirled in his arms to see Kristen trooping down the beach toward them, leading a crew of a half-dozen people from the house. She recognized about a third of them, but the guy second in line behind Kristen made her heart shrivel up into a tight little ball.

  “You okay, Anna?” Jake’s words were low, but there was no mistaking the sudden intensity in his voice. “Is this the guy?”

  “Yep,” Anna said. She stood a little straighter and moved away from Jake, still close, but not hanging on to him. She didn’t want to be hanging on to anyone when she dealt with Todd. She felt the sun beating down on her, trying to melt her into the sand. But she kept her smile bright and wide. “Hey there!” she called back. “I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve seen some of you guys!”

  “See?” Kristen said triumphantly. “I told you she’d arrived with her mystery man. Everyone, meet Jake. Jake, everyone. You’ll never remember all of the names, but at least we can make the attempt.” She waggled a finger at him. “Don’t you dare be as antisocial as Anna usually is.”

  “Jake?” Todd stepped forward and stuck out his hand, which Jake took easily, not even trying to crush the guy’s hand, even though Anna would have been completely okay with it if he had. “Todd Moreland. I thought Anna said your name was Dave.”

  Jake smiled easily, turning to greet the other guys in the group. “Yeah, Anna told me all about her stories,” he said. He shrugged, as if to say, Who can understand women?

  “Uh-huh, I think she just wanted to keep you all to herself,” Kristen teased. “But here, let me introduce you around.”

  Anna kept her face in a smile as Kristen pulled Jake away, but she didn’t miss the shift in Todd’s body language the moment her supposed boyfriend was preoccupied. “Hey there, Anna,” he said unnecessarily.

  She could be cool about this. They’d been working together again for a few weeks already, and though it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t like the guy was going to assault her. He was just … persistent. She’d already turned him down for lunch, dinner, sex—even for just a walk to get coffee. She could do it all over again here if she needed to. After all, she reminded herself, he was the one who’d broken up with her, and for a really shitty reason. He’d told her their relationship was “distracting” him, that he’d need to focus when he was on his new assignment.

  Since they’d been dating for months by then, and had both been working at high-powered jobs the whole time without any evidence of “distraction,” Anna had assumed this was just Todd’s code for wanting to be free and easy while he was across the country. Only now he was back, and suddenly interested in resuming their relationship, distractions be damned. Well, she wasn’t letting that happen, even though he still seemed like the perfect catch—hardworking, attractive, focused, a go-getter. But none of that mattered, she reminded herself. Because he was also a tool.

  “Hey, Todd,” she said, all polite and professional. “You have a good trip down?”

  “Um, yeah. The Yokomata deal heated up this week while I was in New York.” He cocked a glance at her. “Though I assume you already know that?”

  “I’m aware of our conference call on Sunday night, if that’s what you mean.” Sunday night. That seemed like an impossibly faraway time right now, but it would come eventually. And she’d be on the phone with a roomful of Japanese businesspeople when she should be asleep in her own bed.

  Or in Jake’s arms. The thought made her smile, which, of course, Todd took the wrong way.

  “Exactly,” he said, his own smile warming. “I’m so glad you’re on the team, Anna. We need your dedication and focus, and all of that intern work you did in school is really paying off.”

  “It is,” she said. He didn’t even know how well, but Anna was a girl who liked to be prepared. When she’d gotten word that Todd was returning to Boston to take lead on the Yokomata client acquisition, she’d known he’d swoop in and try to commandeer everything the group had already done. He wasn’t doing it as a personal attack or anything; it was just the most expeditious thing to do as the team lead. It was all business.

  Even if the business of business sort of sucked in that regard.

  Anna frowned, surprised at her rebellious spurt of annoyance, then realized Todd was waiting for her to say more. “I’m glad you were able to break away, though, and still make the wedding,” she lied.

  “I wouldn’t have missed it. I brought stuff with me to review, of course, but there’s plenty of time for both work and play.” Todd was staring at her with a look she could only describe as hungry, except he didn’t wear it as well as Jake did. On him it seemed a little annoyed, a little put out. Like she should be recognizing the awesomeness that was him, and reacting to it with far more energy. “You look really good, Anna. When Kristen said you’d actually shown up here with your guy friend, I admit I was still hoping it was all a joke.”

  “Nope, no joke. No joke at all.” Speaking of jokes, what was Jake doing? He was still in Kristen’s loose group of friends, his thumbs hooked into his jeans, his stance loose, leaving her to stand here and deal with the most obnoxious man in the universe. She supposed she should appreciate the fact that Jake thought she could fight her own battles and maintain normal conversation in public as if she was an adult, but no. She didn’t, actually.

  “Right.” Todd at least looked embarrassed, and Anna was unable to ignore the twinge of remorse that he hadn’t been her knight in shining armor after all. It also sucked that Todd still looked like everything she’d always wanted in a guy. Tall and lean and blond, with all-American sex appeal, he’d graduated just south of summa cum laude. But he’
d still done all right, landing a job with Morris-Winston International in a tight market and immediately getting placed on some major accounts right out of “boot camp.”

  They’d met during that Morris-Winston International training program, and they’d immediately clicked, or so she’d thought. He was perfectly matched to her workaholic ways, driven and focused, detailed and shrewd. And, again, he had introduced Kristen to Scott, during a trip when both she and Todd had been down in New York City. Then Kristen had gotten engaged, while Todd had dumped Anna. Life was full of irony.

  “Well, I don’t expect your man to let you free much this weekend,” he was saying now. “But maybe we can have a drink tonight at the rehearsal dinner and catch up? This new work development keeps getting more interesting.”

  “Interesting how?” Anna frowned at him, her innate sense for business politics pinging in the back of her mind.

  “It’s no big deal.” He brightened. “Kristen tells me she found this absolutely insane location for the dinner tonight. Some plantation house out in the middle of nowhere that’s been turned into a reception hall. Sounds totally cool. So I’ll see you then? We can talk over the details, maybe work out a plan of action.” He smiled. “We’re really good at those, you know.”

  “That would be … great, Todd,” Anna said, relieved that Jake had finally turned to look back toward her. He raised a hand and she felt like sprinting toward him, though of course she was way too cool for that. Of course. Still, she wasn’t going to let the opportunity to escape Todd pass her by. “Whoops, I think Jake needs me. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Anna—,” Todd began, but she was already turning away, striding through the soft sand. She heard Kristen outlining the plan for the rest of the day, even for the few short hours they had until the wedding rehearsal, and her heart felt unaccountably heavy. They were wall-to-wall with activities, and she wouldn’t get to be alone with Jake until late that night. She knew she shouldn’t care—he was her date, not her captive—but she wanted to enjoy this brief break from reality to the fullest.