Unmasked

by Stefanie London

  “You’re going to need all weekend at the rate you’re eating that croissant.” He nodded to the barely touched pastry sitting in front of her.

  “Would you prefer it if I stuffed the whole thing in my mouth at once?” She sucked on her lower lip, stifling a smile. “That’s not very ladylike, is it?”

  Damian’s serious expression broke, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and he laughed, low and throaty. She needed to see him laugh more often.

  “Since when are you ladylike?”

  “Good point.” She grinned.

  Her phone vibrated against the glass table, Corinna’s picture flashing up on the screen. Lainey’s smile faded; she didn’t want to talk to her best friend right now. Guilt twinged low in her gut.

  Ugh, why did they have to be related? Or rather, why couldn’t she only want the physical with Damian? Why did she need more than their memory-obliterating night in bed? There was nothing wrong with some serious, scream-the-roof-off fucking. She knew that. Dirty, impolite sex was her favourite kind.

  But with him...it was always going to be more.

  “What’s with the expression?” he asked. “You look like you’re plotting a murder.”

  Lainey wrinkled her nose. “Plotting a murder, huh? How would you know what that looks like?”

  “I picked you up from that freak’s house one time, remember? I’m pretty sure if I’d walked past a mirror my face would have looked exactly like that.”

  “Which freak?” She rolled her eyes. “There have been so many.”

  “Why do you always have to date idiots?” He drained the last of his coffee and tilted his face up to the sun. “Aren’t there any normal guys left in Australia for you to choose from?”

  “Despite what you might think, I don’t always get my pick of the litter.” She rolled her shoulders back, stretching her arms in front of her. “Besides, you rejected me.”

  He pressed his lips into a flat line.

  Yeah, and it has nothing to do with Corinna or Jenny. It’s because you’re not forever material. You’re not good enough for him.

  She would ban all doubts until the weekend was over. She would get Damian back into bed and she would forget about the fact that she was leaving everything she knew in under two weeks, all because she couldn’t have the man she wanted with all her heart.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  GIVEN THE EVENTS of last night, Damian didn’t want to heap his personal problems on Lainey. Because that would take them squarely away from casual sex and into...not-so-casual sex. Either that or he was still so ashamed about the divorce that he couldn’t bear to talk to anyone about it. Not even her. His family and Aaron knew what’d happened, but they’d all been sworn to secrecy.

  It was his business. His private shame that he hadn’t been able to keep his wife happy.

  “So you sold the apartment because you think you haven’t gotten over the divorce?” she pressed as they exited the café.

  “Well, it was never going to be my place,” he said, slipping on a pair of sunglasses to shield himself from Lainey’s intense stare. “No matter how much time passed, I could still feel her there.”

  “And you want to move on?” She looked at him with earnest eyes, glimmering with hope. That was exactly what he didn’t want from her.

  He knew Lainey had a crush on him when they were growing up, because she was as subtle as a sledgehammer. Problem was, as time went on, he grew more and more attracted to the chaotic girl with the heart of gold. It pained him to admit, but she’d been in and out of his fantasies since his divorce.

  He shoved the conflict aside, making a silent promise that it would be a single indiscretion. An isolated incident—well, except for the night of the ball, since that time had been out of his control—and that he would send her home...later.

  “I’m ready to move on, yes.” He paused. “But I’m past that whole fairy-tale bullshit thing now. Moving on does not mean looking for someone else to marry.”

  She considered that for a moment, her head bobbing slowly. He wondered if she might want further details. And he was ready to shut her down if she did.

  “Sounds like you made the right decision to move...but a hotel? Really?” She frowned, her brows crinkling. “That’s not a home. You don’t even have a proper kitchen.”

  “I want to find the right place, and I’m not going to rush things this time.” With the apartment or with a woman. “And the hotel owner is a client.”

  Trees lined the patch of greenery that ran parallel to the river. Chairs dotted the edge, most of them occupied by couples and families enjoying the summer warmth. Arm in arm, Damian and Lainey would have looked like any other couple. Their footsteps dropped in perfect unison, a synchronicity that only developed after years of being around one another.

  “I can help you move on, you know.” Her voice turned coy, a sly smile spreading across her lips. “I want to help.”

  “I don’t need your help.” Against his better judgement, he reached out and touched her hair; the long red waves looked as though they belonged on a mermaid. On a mythical creature. Not on this crazy, impulsive woman.

  “But you might want my help.” She stepped closer.

  “I don’t.” The words stuck, and Damian had to force them out. “Want” was too high up in his vocabulary when it came to Lainey.

  “Why are you so uptight?” she asked, tilting her head. A cool breeze swept past and ruffled her hair, sending the vibrant waves across her shoulders. “What are you trying so hard to repress that you’ve turned into this...”

  “Curmudgeon?” he offered.

  “I don’t even know what that is, but it sounds about right.” She threw her hands in the air and huffed.

  “It means killjoy.”

  “Yes, killjoy. That’s exactly the word I was looking for.” She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “I am going to make you have some fun.”

  He wrapped his hands around her wrists and lowered them, hanging on to her for a moment longer than necessary.

  “Why don’t we find you an apartment?” she said.

  Now, that wasn’t a bad idea. A few property inspections would keep them away from his hotel room, and talking about kitchen layouts was a hell of a lot easier than talking about his divorce...or why Lainey was such a risk to him.

  “Fine, apartment hunting it is.”

  Half an hour later they were following a brisk-mannered real estate agent into a penthouse apartment in Southbank. Turned out she was a huge fan of Australia’s Most Eligible and the name Damian McKnight meant she dropped her other appointments quicker than a hot potato.

  “This apartment was previously owned by a CEO who lived in Sydney and needed a base in Melbourne,” the agent said as she held the door open for them. “As you can see, it looks brand-new.”

  “It would have to be for three million,” Damian said under his breath.

  Lainey stifled a smile, standing close to him as he inspected the kitchen fittings. Marble benchtops gleamed as sunlight poured in from floor-to-ceiling windows. The kitchen was sizable, and all the fittings looked as though they’d never been used. He could correct that.

  “Couldn’t you see us in this kitchen, Damian?” Lainey asked, loud enough so the agent could hear.

  Her hazel eyes sparkled with mischief, hands knotted in front of her as she beamed at him. He shot her a look. What the hell did she think she was doing?

  “We could make such a mess in this great big space.” She smiled at the agent, wrapping an arm around Damian and giving him an affectionate squeeze. “You know, I do most of the cooking at home.”

  The agent arched a brow, her gaze sweeping over Lainey as one might inspect something on the bottom of their shoe. Lainey’s dress left miles of long, creamy leg on display, and her smudgy, sexy eye makeup was more suited to midnight than midday,
but that didn’t give anyone the right to judge her.

  “I’m sure you’ll find all the fittings here to be of the highest quality, Mr. McKnight,” the agent said, continuing to move through the room. “It would be a shame for a man like you to waste your money on something not up to standard.”

  He didn’t miss the quick flick of the agent’s eyes toward Lainey. Luckily, she was too busy trailing her hand along the edge of the marble countertop and looking out at the view to take notice. Damian’s jaw clenched.

  “I make it a point never to waste my time on things that don’t meet my standards. My fiancée knows I have very particular tastes.”

  Lainey’s head shot up and she grinned at him. “Yes, dear. You are very particular.”

  The agent looked at him in disbelief, her mouth popping open for a second before she snapped it shut and walked toward the lounge room. “The living area is open plan, as you can see, but there is an additional space for recreation. If you follow me through here...”

  “Recreation, hmm?” Lainey tugged him after the agent. “That’s very important. We should make sure it will fit all our recreation...equipment.”

  Damian stifled a laugh. The agent’s face had turned the deep shade of a tomato, and she scurried along in her heels, changing direction and gesturing for them to follow her to the bathroom. He knew it was wrong to pay the agent back for being a bitch...but it had been so long since he’d had any fun.

  It was true. All work and no play had made him a very dull man indeed.

  “You can see the bathroom is very generous. There’s a double shower and a deep tub. The towel racks are heated. You can control them with the switches here,” she babbled, unable to look either of them in the eye.

  “Double shower would be great,” Lainey said in mock seriousness. “The last thing we want is to break the glass like we did at that holiday house.”

  Damian smothered his laughter with a cough. “Yes, that was rather expensive.”

  “We had fun, though, didn’t we?” She walked past him and brushed her hand brazenly along his crotch.

  Unfortunately for Damian, while the words were joking, her touch had a very real effect on him. As she wandered out of the bathroom, she shook her hair out so that it tumbled unrestrained down her back, and his pants tightened considerably. That merest touch, a graze of her fingertips, had made him rock hard in an instant.

  He followed Lainey into the master bedroom, watching her walk. The hem of her dress was borderline indecent, but she had such fantastic legs it would have been a crime for them to be hidden away. He was thrust into a memory. Last night. His lips on her, those smooth, perfect thighs parted for him. Only him.

  “Is this a king-size bed?” Lainey asked the agent, who looked more than a little annoyed that she’d ended up dealing with his fiancée.

  “Of course it is, ma’am.” The agent nodded stiffly.

  “Please, don’t call me ma’am,” Lainey replied with a saccharine smile. “I’m way too young for that.”

  If Damian had a drink he would have choked on it. Perhaps his earlier assumption that Lainey hadn’t noticed the older woman’s attitude toward her was incorrect. She seemed to be enjoying herself far too much.

  Stop it, he mouthed at her.

  As the agent made her way into the enormous walk-in closet, Damian grabbed Lainey by the arm. He brought his lips close enough to her ear that he brushed her earlobe as he spoke. “If there’s a report on some gossip site tomorrow that I enjoy dating young women, I’m going to blame you.”

  She laughed, the deep, throaty sound sending whatever blood was left in his brain straight down to his cock. Turning her head, she batted her eyelashes at him. The bronzy smudges of makeup around her pale eyes wound him up even more. He wanted those eyes looking up at him while he drove into her mouth. He wanted to see her blink as he pressed between those lips. Pushing as far as he could, seeing how much she could take.

  Stop that shit. Right. Now.

  “I haven’t even told her how you like me to dress up as a schoolgirl yet,” she teased.

  “Liar.” He squeezed her arm, pulling her tight against him. “Don’t. You. Dare.”

  “Or what?” She blinked at him. “You’ll punish me?”

  He wanted to press her up against the bedroom wall and kiss her until her knees gave out. “Don’t tempt me.”

  She stepped out of his grip, following the agent into the closet. Bending forward, she pretended to inspect the finish of the built-in shelving. Her hem rose higher, inching toward the pleasures that lay beneath. Knowing there was nothing to cover her under the dress was bad enough. Waiting to see if he’d catch a glimpse was pure torture. He turned, facing the endless stretch of glass that revealed Melbourne’s skyline and adjusted himself. His cock strained against his jeans, and he had nothing with which to hide himself. Nothing to conceal that Lainey had far more of a hold over him than he wanted.

  Her laughter rang in his ears as she materialised beside him. Up close, the smell of his soap on her skin stoked his desire. The heat of her body pressing gently against his tested his barriers.

  “Enjoying the view?” she asked.

  “It is a fantastic one,” the agent chimed in. “People pay a lot for a view like this.”

  Lainey cupped her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. Damian watched her from the corner of his eye. Pink had spread across her cheeks, her red-lacquered nails shimmering against porcelain skin.

  “I do appreciate the view,” he said, not daring to look at her directly.

  “Can’t you imagine waking up to it every morning? Going to sleep with it every night.” Lainey pressed on, linking her arm through his. “Watching the moon.”

  He snorted and tried it cover it with another cough. He needed to get out. The longer he imagined what it would be like to see Lainey standing stark naked against the window, the creamy flesh of her backside presented for him, the harder it was going to be to compose himself.

  “So what do you say, Damian? Do you want to pay for the view?” Her hand squeezed his bicep.

  “I need to think about it.” He nodded at the agent. “Thanks for showing us around. We have to talk before we can make a decision.”

  “There are several other properties I could show you.” The agent hurried over to him, plucking a business card from a fancy silver holder in her leather notebook. “We could make a time—”

  “I’ll get in contact if I’m interested in seeing more.” He cut off her sales pitch and made his way to the front door, Lainey in tow.

  “Oh, you’re interested,” Lainey whispered as they left the apartment and headed toward the elevator. “I can tell.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Apart from the fact that your jeans look a little...snug?”

  “A little?”

  She laughed. “A lot.”

  By the time they made it out to the street, Damian had managed to calm himself down. Okay, so he was attracted to Lainey. He knew that already. She was fun, hot and confident. What wasn’t to like? Any guy would have the same reaction.

  It wasn’t a big deal. He’d simply sit her down when they got back to his hotel and tell her that he cared about her too much to have her as anything but a friend. He’d made a mistake, but he wouldn’t let it get between them. In the meantime, he had to deal with this crazy, pent-up sexual frustration. But screwing his way out of it wasn’t going to work...that much was damn clear.

  “It’s boiling,” Lainey moaned as they wandered back to the river. She fanned herself with one hand. “Let’s get ice cream.”

  “You haven’t had lunch yet.”

  “Thanks for the nutritional lecture, Dad.” She swatted him. “I can have ice cream for lunch if I want.”

  He shrugged. Ice cream actually sounded like the perfect antidote to his overheated state. They strolled
along the tree-lined boulevard as he tried to settle his mind. Everything about this situation screamed potential disaster, but he couldn’t force himself to put an end to it.

  Does it matter? She’s leaving the country soon. You have an end date.

  But that was the thing with Lainey—she never played by the rules. Never stuck to the plan. He needed her to know why he couldn’t engage in anything serious.

  Perhaps he should tell her the truth about his divorce. Then she might understand his actions better.

  Even thinking about it brought heat to his face that made his skin prickle and his chest feel tight. It’d been four years, and still the shame burned as brightly as it had the day he’d caught Jenny and Ben. All he’d ever wanted was for his marriage to fulfil him and his wife, and he had believed that Jenny wanted that, too. Unfortunately, when tested, it was clear that what Jenny had really wanted was for him to sacrifice his career ambitions to spend more time with her...or else she’d get revenge.

  The sun beat down on them as they walked. Lainey had ditched the white shirt again, and perspiration beaded along her bare arms and her chest. The dress clung to her like a second skin.

  “Why so serious?” Lainey asked, tilting her head up to him and shielding her eyes.

  “I was thinking about the apartment,” he lied, fishing his sunglasses out of his pocket and handing them to Lainey.

  She slipped them on, the large mirror-like lenses obscuring her eyes. “Why were you frowning, then?”

  “It’s a big decision.” He spotted a café with an ice cream counter up ahead. “I’m weighing up my options.”

  “What are your must-haves? The things that you absolutely won’t compromise on.”

  “You mean aside from a great view?” He smirked. “Space for a big desk, a bigger bedroom.”

  “What else?”

  “Somewhere to relax and zone out. A place where I can think.”

  Lainey shook her head. “You think too much.”

  “I thought we were talking about the apartment.” They joined the long, snaking line for ice cream.

  “We are, but the apartment is a representation of you.” Lainey pushed the sunglasses on top of her head.