Together in the Wild: Clean Romance Novella (Alaska Adventure Romance Book 4)

by Hart, Renee

  “Sounds like you know just what you want,” Jeb said. “I respect that. There's no time in life for being wishy-washy. Once you decide on what you want, the only thing to do is to make it happen.”

  “That's why I didn't hesitate to propose,” Shea said. He smiled at Jane, his expression filled with adoration. “I knew once I found the right woman that I didn't want to let her go. It's amazing how finding the one you want can change your perspective on things. Make you realize what you really want out of life, and help you to know that there's no reason to put things off when you can start being happy right then and there.”

  Jane started to feel teary-eyed at Shea's words. She almost believed, almost wished, that they were true.

  In the moment, she couldn't help feeling the urge to kiss him. They hadn't discussed what lines they would or wouldn't cross in the “roles” they were playing, but she didn't even think about that. She pressed her lips against his, the gesture short but sweet. Then she caressed his cheek, looking into his eyes.

  “You two make such a cute couple,” Anna said.

  “I'm looking forward to the wedding,” Jeb said. “Though before then, you two have to come have brunch with us. If you're going to be my granddaughter-in-law, I want a chance to sit down and get to know you, not just at a party like this.” He gestured around the room. “This isn't the place to get to know your future family.”

  “I'm looking forward to it,” Jane said. She didn't even have to fake the smile that spread across her face.

  Chapter 14

  They chatted with Shea's grandfather awhile longer, before he had to leave them to go mingle with the rest of the crowd. “Like it or not,” Jeb said, “I'm still the boss, and I've got to schmooze a bit.”

  He put his arms around Jane, hugging her like she was family. “I'll see you next week, dear,” he said. “I'm glad you and my grandson found each other.”

  “Me too,” Jane said, fighting back tears. Jeb was being so sweet that it touched her, and made her feel welcomed and accepted in a way she hadn't felt in a long time. At the same time, it broke her heart to know she was lying right to his face.

  Once Jeb walked away, Jane led Shea into one of the offices so they could talk in private. “I don't know if I can do this anymore,” she said.

  “What are you talking about?” Shea frowned, crossing his arms. “We have a deal, and we have to be seen in public together several more times before the end of the year.”

  “It's going to break his heart,” Jane said, gesturing towards the other room, where Jeb was mingling with his guests. “Have you stopped to think about what it's going to be like for him when we have to break up? Have you even thought that far ahead? What are you going to tell him? How are you going to explain why we end up not getting married?”

  Shea fidgeted uncomfortably. He scratched the back of his head. “Well, ahh, I guess I haven't thought that far ahead yet.”

  “My God.” Jane crossed her arms and turned her back on him. “This was a mistake. I thought we were just going to be putting on a show, making you look like the responsible guy who was ready to settle down. But he's in there talking about family. And he's such a sweet man. I can't lie to him like that.”

  Shea stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “It's okay, Jane. We'll figure something out. Remember everything that's at stake, here. Besides, it's a bit too late for us to back down. What do you think will happen if we don't go see him next week like he asked?”

  Jane turned back around, looking up at Shea with tears in her eyes. “That's not fair.”

  “But it's the truth,” Shea said, touching his fingers under her chin to tilt her face up towards him. He pulled out a silk handkerchief and carefully dabbed at her eyes to wipe away her tears without smearing her makeup. “We dug ourselves into this, and that's how it is. You can break his heart today, or you can do it next month. If you do it today, you can be guaranteed he won't be handing the company over to me when he retires. And then a lot of people will lose their jobs.”

  Jane wanted to yell at him. She wanted to shout about how this wasn't fair. That what they were doing wasn't right. But she knew that what Shea was saying was true. Like it or not, keeping up the charade was the best way they had of saving the company. Along with Jane's jobs and the jobs of all of her friends from the factory.”

  “Can we just call it an early night tonight?” she asked him, her voice a hoarse whisper. “I think I've had about all of this that I can handle for right now.”

  “That's fine,” Shea said. “We made enough of an appearance for now. I usually don't stay at these things for much longer than this anyway.”

  He finished dabbing her tears, but when he started to pull his hand away, she reached up to stop him. She held his hand against her cheek, closing her eyes for a moment. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

  “All right,” she said, standing up a bit straighter. “Let's go.”

  They headed back out to the party to say their goodbyes. Before they could quite finish making the circuit, a man in a black silk shirt, with his hair slicked back with a bit too much product, walked over to them. “Shea,” he said. “You're not about to slip out of here without introducing me, are you?”

  Shea forced a smile. “James,” he said, “I'd like you to meet my fiance, Jane.”

  James shook her hand, and Jane immediately got an uncomfortable feeling from the way he looked at her. “It's a pleasure,” she said, forcing herself to keep smiling.

  He looked her up and down with the same disdain the snobby rich women had looked at her with earlier. “I heard through the grapevine that you work in one of the factories. Though it looks like you clean up nice, at least.”

  Jane's smile disappeared. She had to fight the urge to slap the man. “Could you excuse us, please?” she said. “We were just leaving.”

  They started to leave, but James grabbed Shea by the arm before he could get away. He leaned close and whispered, “Do you really think this is going to work?”

  “I don't know what you're talking about,” Shea said, his expression carefully neutral.

  “Please,” James said. “You found yourself a little blue collar trollop to parade in front of the old man, and you expect that to fool everyone? Like anyone would believe you're the type to fall in love and settle down. I'm sure you have a house already picked out with a white picket fence and plenty of room for the kids and the dog, right?”

  “I don't have to stand here and listen to this,” Shea said. “Excuse me.”

  He pulled away from James and led Jane to the elevator. Jane glanced over her shoulder at James as they walked away. He watched her the entire time. The look on his face sent chills up her spine.

  Shea drove her out of the city and back to the suburbs where her apartment was. He walked her to her door, and there was a brief moment where Jane couldn't tell if this was like being dropped off at the end of a date, or if it was more like the end of a business meeting. He took her hands while they stood by the door, and for a moment, she thought he was going to try to kiss her. She wasn't sure if she wanted him to. She'd kissed him briefly at the party, but that had been a spontaneous thing when she had been swept up in the moment. Having him kiss her now would feel different, and not the least of which because he was paying her. She didn't want to think about what that would make her.

  “I'm sorry this night turned out to be so stressful,” Shea said. “I'll try to make sure things are better next time. We might not have to go someplace so public again. Brunch with my grandfather will be a quiet, private thing. Probably just us, him, and Anna. Unless he invites my sister, of course.”

  “If it's all the same to you,” Jane said, “I'd rather avoid meeting any other members of your family, if that's at all possible. I don't want to drag anyone else into this lie.”

  “Jane...”

  “No,” she said. She touched a hand to his chest. “We need to do what we need to do, and I accept that. People'
s jobs are on the line. But we don't need to sell this to anyone but your grandfather, and I'd like to keep it that way.”

  “I can't make any promises,” Shea said. “But I'll do my best to keep it a limited gathering. But if my grandfather invites anyone without telling me...”

  “Well, we'll deal with that if we have to.” Jane looked down at her feet, not sure what else to say.

  “Good night, Jane.” Shea took her hand and squeezed it, giving her a small smile. “Thank you again, for this. I really appreciate it.”

  He turned and walked away. Jane stood still, watching him go. Part of her wanted to stop him. To ask him to stay a little longer. Maybe even invite him inside. But she reminded herself that she couldn't fool herself into believing her own lies.

  She headed inside the building and found a stack of boxes piled up beside her apartment door. The rest of the clothes she and Emily had picked out earlier that day. She sighed and unlocked the door, then hauled the boxes inside. She stacked them up in a corner without bothering to open any of them. She didn't want to look at those clothes anymore.

  Chapter 15

  Going back to work on Monday felt weird. Jane walked into the factory, wearing her coveralls, and with her fancily curled hair tucked up under a scarf to keep it out of the way. Without the fancy makeup and the nice dress she'd worn on Saturday night, she was back to being just Jane. It served to remind her just how much the role she'd put on for the party had been nothing but a lie.

  She kept glancing over her shoulder all day at work, expecting to see Shea walk in the door. But then she remembered that today was the day he was giving his big presentation. She wished that meant that today would be the end of the whole charade, but she knew that Jeb wouldn't be making his final decision for a couple more weeks, at the end of the year. Which meant the fate of the company would still be up in the air for awhile longer, and she would need to keep putting on the show.

  She was almost grateful for the dull, boring routine of her work. It kept her mind off of things she'd rather not think about. She felt like she was back in her normal, simple life. At least, until it was time for lunch.

  When she sat down at lunch with her friends, Laura looked at her with a conspiratorial grin. “So,” she asked, “how was the party on Saturday?”

  Jane's sandwich fell out of her hands, lettuce spilling out of the roll and scattering across the table. “What?”

  “We heard you got invited to the big company Christmas party over the weekend,” Holly said. “Did you have a good time?”

  Jane stared at her friends, her jaw hanging open. “You...how did you hear about that? It was...it was a last minute thing. How did you hear about it?”

  “My friend Tracy,” Holly said. “She works at the main office. She's a receptionist. We talked over the weekend, and she said she met someone who worked here in the factory with us. Asked me if I knew you.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Jane held her breath, trying to keep herself calm. She started picking up the bits of lettuce that had fallen out of her sandwich.

  “So how come you didn't tell us you were engaged?” Laura asked.

  “And to an executive!” Suzanne said, clasping her hands in front of her and grinning like a schoolgirl.

  “I...well...I...” Jane swallowed a lump in her throat. It had never once occurred to her that word of her deception might somehow leak its way back into her own life. Lying to Shea's coworkers and family was one thing. Even though she felt bad about it, they were at least people that she would never see again once the whole debacle was over. But lying to her friends...

  “So, come on,” Holly said, grabbing Jane's hand and giving her a little shake. “Tell us! How did you meet this guy. Is it true he's the CEO's grandson?”

  “God, you're gonna marry rich,” Laura said, leaning her elbows on the table and propping her chin in her hands.

  Jane looked at each of her friends, one after the other. They all had excited, expectant looks on their faces as they waited for her to tell the story of her engagement. She didn't know what to do. If she started spinning the same tales she'd told at the party over the weekend, she would just be digging herself deeper into the lies. If she said anything that contradicted her and Shea's story, it might get back to Jeb, and then they were completely screwed.

  “Excuse me,” Jane said, getting up from the table, leaving her sandwich behind. “I'm not...I think I ate something that...”

  She made vague gestures towards her stomach, then hurried out of the cafeteria and towards the ladies room.

  She locked herself in a stall and pulled out her cell phone. She sat down and dialed Shea's number, then rocked nervously back and forth while she waited for him to answer.

  “Jane?”

  “Shea, this is getting more and more messed up.” Jane kept her voice low, hoping no one would come into the bathroom while she was hiding in there.

  “Jane, what's wrong?” Shea asked. “Did something happen?”

  “My friends,” Jane said. “They know.”

  “Know? Know what?”

  “About us! I mean, about the fake us.” Jane leaned over and peeked under the stall doors to make sure she didn't see anyone's feet.

  “Wait, who knows? They know about the fake engagement?”

  “They don't know that it's fake,” Jane said. “I mean, I don't think they do. But one of my friends is friends with someone from your office, and you know how gossip can get. They know I was there! As your fiance!”

  “Okay, just calm down.” Shea was silent for a moment, while Jane sat there with her eyes closed, trying to control her breathing. “This isn't that bad. Just don't tell them anything.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jane asked, practically shouting into the phone. “This is not okay! They're my friends, Shea. And they think I'm engaged. And by the end of the day, everyone I work with will know. It's not like I can just avoid them. What am I supposed to do?”

  “You'll have to keep up the charade. You know we can't back out of this now. There's too much at stake.”

  “But I don't want to lie to my friends,” Jane said. “I don't want to drag them into this. And then next month when we 'break up,'” she made air quotes with her fingers, forgetting that he couldn't see them, “I'll have to deal with all the questions, and the sympathy, and everyone treating me like I'm the poor, heartbroken girl who got dumped by her fiance.”

  Shea sighed into the phone. “Look, I'm really sorry, Jane, but you're going to have to find a way to deal with this. I need to go.”

  “You need to go?” Jane scowled, wishing he were there in front of her so she could smack him. “What the hell, Shea? You're part of this mess too, you know?”

  “I know, and I understand that, but my presentation is in less than ten minutes. You remember, the presentation that I need to use to convince the old man not to sell the company and lay off all your friends.”

  Jane leaned back against the wall, a sick feeling settling into her gut. Her friends. Shea's presentation, along with the fake engagement, could determine whether any of them still had their jobs next month. “I'm going to have to keep lying to them, aren't I?”

  “I don't see any way around it,” Shea said. “Look, I know this situation sucks. And I'm sorry that I dragged you into this. I really am. But it's just for a couple of weeks. I'll tell you what...maybe I can pull some strings, get you an extended Christmas vacation. Tell everyone we're taking a trip for the holidays. That would be an easy way to explain you not being around, so that you can avoid digging yourself any deeper.”

  “Do you think that would work?”

  “It's the only solution I can think of. The factory is closing early this week for the holiday anyway, right? I'll get you the whole week off. We do brunch with Jeb this Wednesday, then we have to at least make an appearance on Friday for Christmas, then after that, I'll make sure you have paid vacation until New Year's. I owe you that much. Then when you get back to work after New Year's, you tell yo
ur friends whatever you need to...that we had a fight during the Christmas break and we ended up breaking up. And that you're too depressed to talk about it. At least until enough time passes that you can brush it all under the rug.”

  “That...might work,” Jane said. “I mean, I guess.”

  “If there's anything else I can do, you just let me know. But right now, I really need to go. This presentation needs to happen.”

  “All right,” Jane said. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks. I'll call you later today, after I figure out the rest of this.”

  They hung up, and Jane hid in the bathroom for awhile longer, trying to steady herself. By the time she got herself together and got out of the bathroom, the lunch break was over. Which was fine by her. She managed to avoid talking to her coworkers for anything not work related for the rest of the day, then she hurried home as soon as her shift ended.

  When she got home, she poured herself a glass of wine and sat in her living room, staring at the stack of boxes she still hadn't opened, with all of the fancy, expensive clothes Shea had paid for.

  Just a brunch, then a Christmas visit, she told herself. Two more social calls with her fake fiance on her arm. She could do this.

  She finished off half a bottle of wine that night, trying to convince herself that she could do it.

  Chapter 16

  Shea's proposal went about as smoothly as could be expected. He noticed the old man nodding thoughtfully a few times during the presentation, particularly when Shea brought up the variety of cost-cutting measures he had come up with that could help the company thrive without being forced to do anything extreme, like laying off workers. It was a solid, stable plan, one which worked to build sales back up gradually over the course of five years, with a minimum of risk.