Falling for Mr Wrong

by Joanne Dannon

  “Like I didn’t know that,” he muttered from clenched teeth before sliding to the other passenger seat.

  She turned towards the window pretending to be interested in the spectacular desert views. Since leaving the hostel, Nate had been a comforting presence, especially with her jangled nerves over the reporters discovering her. How had they? Nate’s warm breath caressed her neck whilst whispering reassuring words during their Great Escape making her forget about the men chasing her for the story. Again, for a few minutes she was a young woman having fun, on holidays, away from the stress of the past.

  His solid presence, holding her close, had been enough to wave away the apprehension swirling in her belly. Once they had passed the hostel’s gates, Tilly had barely considered the reporters. Her focus revolved around the cosy confined space, his strong arms holding her close and the sticky warmth gluing them together. It did not take long for her jumbled thoughts to venture to more intimate ones, revolving around hot, sweaty, naked bodies.

  How could she remain detached when his generosity knew no-bounds?

  “Are you okay?” He touched her arm with a gentle press of his fingers.

  “Fine,” she lied. Keeping her eyes fixed on the outside view meant her eyes could not steal another glance of sculpted male body. His lean muscles and flat stomach looked as if they had been poured into his dark jeans and fitted black tee.

  How dare he look so delectable?

  “We need to work on our story. How we met.”

  Tilly risked a quick look and wished she hadn’t. Flutters in her tummy reminded her she was now ‘engaged’ to Mr. Gorgeous seated next to her. “They’re not going to believe us.” Her voice lifted an octave.

  “As long as we keep to the story, we’ll be fine.”

  His assurances did little to quell the butterflies performing an Israeli hora dance in her tummy. “What about your sister? My family?”

  “I’ll speak to Bea,” he reassured, with a quick pat on her knee.

  Silence settled between them. Her palms grew damp. “No one is going to believe we’re engaged. It’s all come out of the blue.”

  Nate took her hand into his. “We’ll convince them.”

  The body warmth seeped into her fingers making her insides turn gooey. She shook her head but did not remove her hand from his soothing hold. “I can’t. I’m not an actress.”

  She bit her tongue to avoid blurting out how delighted her family would be when they would hear about it. Surprised, yes. Excited, definitely. A man like Nate to care for their daughter and sister? She could already hear the champagne corks popping from Australia. But it was all a lie. Yet another one to add to the list.

  It was for the greater good and it would work itself out, however, all too soon, she and Nate would part. She would return to being on her own and nursing an all to-real broken heart.

  In the short time since they met, Tilly felt an affinity for Nate. A connection she assumed was love. And what of Nate’s consideration for her? Hadn’t that been the cherry on the pie? The icing on the cake? All those metaphors and more. She had never had that with Travis.

  Shaking her head, she said,“you’re well known in London and I’m an ordinary girl from a country town in Australia. You’re kidding yourself if you think the press will accept our fake engagement.”

  “We’ll make them. We’ll do it together.”

  Her gut coiled. Together. Not facing the reporters alone had her neck muscles relaxing in relief. “You make it sound so easy.”

  He looked puzzled by her admission. “You’re making it to be harder than it is. When the press ask questions, I’ll answer and you smile.”

  She raised her eyebrow. “Like a monkey?”

  A slight frown creased his brow. “Fine, I’ll smile and you talk.”

  Her stomach turned itself inside out at the thought of dealing with the barrage of questions. “No thanks, I’ll do the smiling.”

  He gave her a slow, sexy smile that had her heart race. “See? We’re a brilliant team already.”

  “Great!” She forced enthusiasm into her voice. After this performance, she would deserve an Academy Award.

  With a rapid determination that would have impressed James Bond, Tilly and Nate were soon driving to Jerusalem in a hired car.

  “I can’t believe you packed, checked-out and organised transport in half an hour.”

  “Actually, Ilan organised the car for me before returning to work.”

  “It was very nice of him to help us out.” She made a mental note to write a thank you card to Ilan, at a later stage.

  “It was.” He gave her a warm smile. “Anyway, I had a chat with Bea.”

  Hearing Bea’s name had Tilly’s nerves in twisted knots as her heart collided with her ribs. “Wh-what did she say?”

  “I told her we were heading for a romantic break in the Greek Islands.”

  Her head spun around to face him. “You didn’t tell her we were going to Jerusalem?”

  “No.”

  She nibbled her lip. “What about the engagement?”

  “Of course I told her, as it’ll be in the newspapers. But she promised she would not say anything to the press.”

  Yeah right. Tilly would bet her treasured Gran’s engagement ring that Bea would sell the story. Unfair assessment? Perhaps. But there was something about Bea that made her thoughts turn hostile. Fiddling with her hair she asked, “What did Bea say about the engagement?”

  “She accepted what I told her,” he said in a flat tone.

  “That tells me a lot,” she said in a voice that clearly implied the opposite. “Did you tell her you were engaged to Summer from New Zealand, or Tilly from Australia?”

  “You, as in Tilly.” The tightness around his mouth increased. “I told her I’d been seeing you for a couple of months and that we’d kept it quiet especially after the whole Sebastian debacle. I told her circumstances forced me to announce the engagement to the press.”

  “She didn’t think it was strange?”

  “She did. But I have a public presence, so she just accepted it even though I could tell she had a million questions burning on her tongue.” His voice lowered, “I’ll tell her everything later.”

  She nodded. “Just so you know, I’m not telling my family the truth.”

  “You’re not?” His eyebrow arched.

  “And make me a bigger loser than I already am?” she bristled.

  His head jerked up. “I didn’t think being engaged to me was that bad?”

  She blinked furiously. “You haven’t been labelled the Naughty Nanny and chased around London like a criminal.” She stopped and caught her breath. “Do you honestly think I want my parents to know we created a fake engagement to divert attention?” She crossed her arms tightly across her chest. “Sheesh!”

  His gaze flicked to her then back at the road. “I’ll keep that in mind for when we end it.”

  “Thank you.” Clamping her lips together, her gaze ventured out of the car to the desert landscape. It may have been incredible and stunning, but her thoughts consumed her. So much to think about.

  Lies. Deceit. Nuptials.

  A knife twisted in her belly. Lying to her family. Again!

  Her heart slid, it was only a few months ago she boarded a plane to London, full of excitement, anticipation and naivety. It was supposed to be a working holiday, a chance to work in a large, exhilarating city, meeting new people and doing touristy things.

  She humiliated her family, but now she had developed some back-bone and stood up for herself. Look at how she outsmarted the press and now with Nate. Her heart sank thinking about hurting him but she could not return to London, not ever. She belonged in Jerusalem, in the warmth and security of her aunt’s love.

  Nate’s question broke her thoughts. “I think you owe me the real reason you want to go to Jerusalem.”

  Her heart leapt to her throat. Either the man was a psychic or her facial expressions revealed too much. Darn him. Time to do a
course on achieving that perfect poker face.

  She could lie or tell him the truth or a bit of both. She decided to go with option three. Despite everything he had done for her and her falling for him, she had been let down so many times that she was unwilling to leave herself totally exposed.

  She drew a deep breath and stayed closer to the truth than lying. “Someone I trust is in Jerusalem.” A flicker of pride zipped along her spine at her determination to being honest with Nate.

  “You stayed there when you left London?” His eyes flickered from the road to her.

  “Yes.” She paused. “With my aunt.” She looked at him and saw his jaw tightened. “Is that a problem?”

  “No, not all.” He gave her knee a reassuring squeeze before returning his attention to the road. “So tell me about your aunt?”

  She cleared her throat. “She’s actually my great-aunt, as she is my Gran’s younger sister and has been living in Israel for years. She was the reckless daughter, the one who travelled overseas when she should’ve married a local boy.”

  “Quite the rebel?” He grinned. “Like you?”

  “Not like me at all, I wish I had her spunk.”

  “Pardon?” Nate said so loudly she swivelled to look at him.

  “I was saying—”

  He cleared his throat. “I think there are some differences with our slang.”

  “Oh.” She felt her cheeks warm. “I’ve always been the good one and have never done anything wild—”

  “Except shagging a married MP destined to be a Prime Minister while his wife was undergoing chemo?”

  She threw him a furious look before catching the smirk tugging at his lips. “Well yes, apart from my wild sex romps.”

  He chuckled. “Why did your aunt come to Israel?”

  “To do a spiritual tour. But she met the love of her life, got married and stayed.”

  “Her husband was Israeli?”

  “Actually no. He was from England, also visiting. They met on tour and within two weeks they were married.” Maude and Jack’s falling-in-love-story gave her hope that she would one day meet the right man as well. She thought she had found true love with Travis, but she had been blinded by her own misgivings. Was she also blind sighted when it came to Nate? It was too early to be in love, despite everything he had done for her. Perhaps she was confusing admiration and gratitude with love. A glance at her watch told her the time was not good to ring Australia. She longed for a voice of reason, a friend who would be able to help her. For the time being, she was on her own. Her heart sank with the realisation.

  “Why live here?” His question broke her thoughts.

  “They loved Jerusalem and wanted to share that love with tourists, so much so, they started a company specialising in small group tours for the devout.”

  “Her husband is still alive?”

  Her throat grew tight. “Uncle Jack passed away a couple of years ago. It’s been really hard for Aunty Maude on her own. Mum and I want her to come back to Australia but she’s very strong-minded and refuses.” She rubbed the grit from her eyes. “I worry about her.”

  “I’m sure you do.” Sympathy creased his brow.

  She stole a look and her shoulders slouched seeing he was not ribbing her. His face was calm and resolute, while his gaze remained fixed on the highway and the traffic.

  She continued. “You live in London. A visit to Europe or the Middle East involves a plane trip of between one and six hours.” She brushed some hair that had come lose from her ponytail and secured it behind her ear. “From where I live it’s an eight hour drive to Sydney and then twenty-four hours flying time plus connections.” She gnawed on her bottom lip. “I need to see Aunty Maude and explain everything to her in person, not over the phone. She and Gran have been such a positive influence in my life. Over the past week whilst hiding here, she’s been incredible supportive and sympathetic.”

  “Okay.” He may have sounded okay, but she could see the tightness around his jaw which indicated he was not at all happy. “But I’m in charge of your safety,” he said with a determined voice.

  A sudden weariness washed over her. The lies, the running, the whole debacle. She could not wait till the next best news story bumped her off the front pages of the newspapers. Couldn’t a Royal get pregnant? “I just wish they’d leave me alone.”

  “Tilly, you’re hot property at the moment. As an engaged woman you can counteract those infidelity claims and I’ll be there to back you up.” He scratched his chin. “We also need to have a solid reason for where I was and why you came to Israel instead of hiding at my apartment.”

  “Good thinking. We’ll have to align our stories.” She stole a look at him and her heart sighed thinking how he was fighting for her, helping her out. Shame she had to lie to him but that could not be helped. She would explain everything afterwards and sort it out then. “And in case I forget to thank you later, thank you. I mean it. This crazy engagement idea may just work.”

  He gave her a warm smile that lit up his blue eyes. “You’re welcome. And as I said before, if anything happened to Bea, I’d hope someone could be there for her.” His gaze flicked to the GPS map. “We’re half way there. We should work out the details of our story.”

  She sagged into the softness of her seat. “It has to be plausible.”

  Nate shot her a look of a father reprimanding a child.

  She ignored it. “Working backwards, we need to have started seeing each other a few months back. Sorry to ask, but were you seeing someone?”

  “No. You?”

  She looked at him warily. “Really?”

  “Yes really.”

  Nate was single. The knowledge made her hot in all the wrong, or should she think right, places. Who would have guessed it? “I told you I was single on the beach.”

  He nodded in reply. “How did we meet?”

  “Online dating?” She chuckled. Nate dating online? As if. He probably had to fight off women.

  “I hope you’re joking.” His mouth twisted into a wry smile.

  Her toes curled in her sandals. God she loved the sound of his deep, English-accented voice.

  She grinned triumphantly. “Guilty.” An odd expression crossed his face. “What’s so funny? You dating online, or you selecting me?” She winced imagining him dismissing her photo on a dating website.

  His smile faded. “More like me finding the time to do so. In the little spare time I have, I work out, read or watch TV.”

  He sounded so normal. She was expecting him to have a more active social life. “You don’t go out?”

  “I’m a writer. We’re reclusive. I go out if I have to.”

  “Anywhere famous?”

  He shrugged before mentioning a number of celebrity do’s he had recently been invited to.

  Impressed, she sucked a breath in. “Wow, I saw pics of that function in the newspaper, it looked really swish.”

  “It was nice,” he muttered.

  “Nice? It looked bloody amazing.” She laughed. “So what do you like to watch on TV?” She fiddled with the dial on the air con.

  “Documentaries.”

  “Boooooor-ring!” she sung out.

  He turned to her, frustration jagged his eyebrows. “This is me. I work long hours, exercise and spend time with Bea. My life isn’t a glorious re-enactment of The Brady Bunch, like yours.” His chest rose as he breathed in deep and then expelled loudly.

  Her lips compressed together. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You’re a smart girl, work it out!”

  She drew back in surprise. “What’s gotten into you?”

  “Give it a rest,” he growled.

  She looked out the window, chewing her lip and considering his outburst.

  Spinning around to face him she said, “I don’t think you’re boring. I was joking.”

  His glare softened.

  “In fact, I think the opposite.” You’re totally hot.

  The car swerved vio
lently to the right, moving towards a look-out area. She stifled a scream, clutching the arm-hold. “What are you doing?” Fear seized her and the muscles in her throat froze.

  He swerved around a parked car, sending up a cloud of dust before slowing near an unoccupied area. The gears crunched, the car stalled, he jerked the handbrake up hard.

  What was going on? “Nate…” She managed to say through parched lips.

  Her words were lost as he tugged her close and his mouth crashed on hers. Heat streaked through her body.

  While his lips urgently demanded, his fingers gently held her head in place. His high-handiness and barked words were forgotten while he kissed her, like he never have another opportunity to do it. Vulnerability forgotten, excitement zipped up and down her spine while his mouth assaulted hers and their tongues duelled.

  Nothing had prepared her for a kiss of this intensity. Not even what had happened in the resort lobby. Shrugging off any uncertainty, she opened her mouth, relishing his out-of-control behaviour.

  Her insides melted as his hands moved and his fingers tugged at her ponytail. The elastic tie was flicked off so his hands could weave through her hair, massaging her scalp.

  Cries of delight erupted from her lips with the pure bliss of his massage. He continued to nibble and kiss her mouth whispering endearments.

  Her breathing grew ragged. Longing pulsed through every cell, insisting on more. Her skin tingled as lust shivered along her spine. She needed more, yearned for more. Her hand sought the clip of seat belt and blindly tried to release it. Four tries later and she was finally free.

  Nate freed himself from the confines of his safety strap and two seconds later his hands came around to clutch her waist. He lifted her with the ease of a bodybuilder and she found herself seated on his lap facing him.

  Despite the cotton of her shirt, the heat of his body warmed her already burning skin. As though making up for lost time, his mouth continued to suck, nibble and kiss hers. Tiny flames of desire licked her veins.

  Breathing in his clean, refreshing, male scent, she melted against him.

  With her knees bent and thighs parted, she pressed herself against his body. She felt the press of his erection through their layers of clothes. Her heart thumped with elicit excitement. Everything except his kiss was forgotten. Her body hummed in anticipation.