“All what?” She seemed to think she knew something she shouldn’t, but Peaches was a stubborn old woman and my glower did nothing but amuse her.
“Whatever it is you and Kenzi think you’re doing. You know she used to be over the moon for you, don’t you?”
I laughed because I had some idea, but when I leaned in and whispered, “I’ll bet you didn’t know I was over the moon for her too,” she gasped, but that twinkle in her eye told me she liked the news.
“Well then, I’ll even add some of those disgusting sprouts she likes. Go on, I’ve got it.”
“You are a goddess, Peaches.”
“Hmph, don’t you forget it, wanderer.”
Now I had to do something I really hated. Something that would help with this charade of ours. But it was also something I was pretty sure would end with me getting kicked in the balls. I headed to my car and pulled onto the road and did something I tended to avoid at all costs.
I went shopping.
For hours. Without eating, except for one of those big ass cinnamon buns they have at the mall and a steak burger. I hated shopping, and because I traveled light I didn’t need to buy much other than socks and underwear. And I bought them online. Because there were no crowds online, no moms on the prowl and toddlers’ stained hands to dodge. No overeager salespeople to avoid.
By the time I was finished in the mall, I’d felt more exhausted than when I spent two nights in the Amazon for my syndicated travel column. But I survived that, just like I survived the mall, barely. Kenzi would probably castrate me for this, but I couldn’t help but think it would be worth it to watch her green eyes flame with anger, luscious breasts heave with exasperation.
Yeah, it would be totally fucking worth it.
I thought about that in depth as I made the drive back to Truly and set all the bags in my living room. I was even more confident in the shower, washing away the mall stink. Then my phone rang.
“Hey Mom.”
“Chase, honey, how are you settling in?”
I couldn’t help but smile at my mom’s question. “It’s been a few months, so I think I’m pretty settled.”
“You’ve been gone a long time, some things have changed.” I heard the strange tone in her voice and knew immediately, she was up to something. “Have you heard about the land yet?”
I didn’t want to lie to her, but I also didn’t want to tell her about the fake engagement because I didn’t want her to start getting ideas. “Not yet, Mom. It’s a work in progress.” And that progress relied on me convincing Kenzi I am not the man she thinks I am, and convincing Sterling that we were a couple.
Mom was silent for a few long moments. I let her think about what she wanted to say while I finished getting dressed. I was used to her long silences, being the only son of an over-involved mother. “I heard you and Kenzi are engaged,” she said lightly, but suddenly I didn’t feel so light. “She was such a sweet girl and my goodness, she is such a knockout now. You could do worse than a woman who put her life on hold to take care of family. That’s special.”
I couldn’t agree more, except none of it was real. “He has done worse!” My dad called out down the line.
“Thanks, Dad.” My parents had always been the opposite of most. Mom gave every girl a chance, no matter what she thought about them, but my dad never liked any of them. It pains me to say it, but he was right. Every single time.
“Just being honest, son. You have terrible taste in women, but Kenzi, well that’s a high quality woman.” He was right again. I should probably listen to him since he was smart enough to hang onto mom when he had her.
Unlike me with Kenzi.
Mom sighed and I held my breath for the lecture I knew was coming. “I don’t know what you’re up to honey, but be careful. Please.”
“Mom, Kenzi is safe with me. We’re just two friends helping each other out, not going off to war.”
“Old friends, huh?”
Shit. “Well you know we were neighbors all our lives. And we are again.” Even though she was doing her best to pretend I didn’t exist. “She’s safe with me.”
“It’s you that I’m worried about, you big lug. I love you Chase, I really do, but Kenzi is special. If you can’t be what she deserves, your charm won’t be able to save you. Be careful.”
“I’m always careful,” I told her with all the arrogance of a man unwilling to listen to sound advice.
“Sure you are. Love you.” She disconnected the call, leaving that one thought to fester in my mind, like a bomb, ready to detonate at the most inopportune time.
“Not today, Mom.”
I refused to let her little thought bombs sidetrack me from my mission. I grabbed the bags and pulled the door closed by hooking my foot around it, and then I made my way to Kenzi’s place.
Kenzi
“Coming!”
Another unexpected visitor at my door. I was willing to bet it was the same pair of laughing light blue eyes as it was the last time.
Fresh from a much-needed shower thanks to a bad reaction to testing a new product, I raced to the door. Half breathless and half annoyed as I pulled the door open.
“I was kind of hoping you’d wait for me to make you come.” There he stood, all six-feet, four inches of smiling, charming man. “But I’m game to watch first and join later.”
With my poor neglected hormones, that was literally the best offer I’d gotten in forever. “Did you stop by to proposition me for sex, or did you have a valid reason?”
“A proposition isn’t a valid offer?”
“From you? Hardly.” He looked offended for about half a second before he must have remembered it was the truth. He held up one of the fancy paper bags he was carrying. “It’s a little late for housewarming presents, I’ve been here a few years.”
He laughed. “Funny. Actually, I brought a few things to make this space look like we both live here.”
I froze. “Why would you need to do that, Chase?” Fear rose in my body and blood rushed in my ears as I took in what I could see in the bags. The edge of a throw pillow, a clock box and some kind of stand.
He stepped forward, but I didn’t budge, blocking his path into my house until I had a clear idea about what was going on. “Can I come in? Please?”
“Start talking, Chase.”
He grinned and took another step forward, my hand nothing more than an annoying little gnat on his chest. His hard, wide chest. He took another step and another, a sexy grin on his face as he forced my feet back.
“Look, it just kind of happened Kenzi so don’t get mad.”
“Don’t get mad about what?” His purposely vague words did make me angry.
“Sterling called because he’s coming to town with his wife and wants to take us to dinner. Before I could stop my mouth, it was inviting them to have dinner at our house.”
“We don’t have a house!”
“I know, which is why I took it upon myself to go shopping and us-ify this place.” He grinned so wide and so proud, as though he hadn’t created the problem he’d just so graciously solved. “I’ve got pillows and frames for us to fill, lamps that don’t match your place so it looks blended.”
That was actually pretty damn thoughtful. “Despite the good drugs you must be taking, this was the perfect fix.”
“Thanks,” he said proudly.
“For a problem you created.”
“Noted,” he groaned as he dropped the bags and draped an arm around my shoulders. “So, are you okay to make dinner for four?”
I glared up at him, wishing I could be mad for this clear violation of our agreement. I should give him hell for promising my time for his charade. But I couldn’t because he would help me too. Eventually. “What were you thinking?”
He shrugged, full of boyish charm even though he was pushing thirty. “It just kind of came out and then he was on board, waxing poetic about home cooked meals before I could take it back. Are you breaking up with me?”
“I should,” I poked a finger at his chest. “But I will cook and allow you to invade my home. Temporarily,” I reminded Chase and myself. Because whenever he was around, it was hard to remember he was the boy who’d pretended to be my friend, only to hit it and quit it. Those thoughts though, helped no one.
He nodded. “Unless you decide to keep me.” He wiggled his eyebrows and sniffed the air. “Have you eaten?”
“No, but I got a few trout from Earl if you want to stay. You can tell me if you parked your horse and buggy when you picked up these frames.”
He laughed. “Real couples will have photos of themselves all over the place. Trust me, Mom and Dad have them everywhere. Everywhere.”
I laughed. “I do trust you, but I have a few digital frames that can show a few different photos. Photos fade so I digitized the ones of Gran and Grandpa so I could have a copy forever.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
“Sure is. Now how’s about you goin’ to get some coal for the stove?” He glared at me and I laughed.
“I never realized what a horrible smart ass you were.”
“Really? Interesting.” He glared again, sending me into another fit of laughter, the same way he’d always done. “We actually have to take pictures now, you know that?”
He nodded and glanced around the room. “Fine. Since you are my bride to be,” he pulled the t-shirt over his head, “I’ll let you take a few naughty photos of me.” As the shirt flew to the sofa behind him, my gaze was riveted to his chest. So golden and wide, hard and well muscled. So damn delicious I felt my core clench tight as I imagined sliding my hands and then my mouth all over those miles of smooth muscles.
I cleared the lust from my voice. “If you insist.” I held up my phone and snapped several photos that I absolutely would not use later when I pleasured myself. “Smile for the camera. You’re fabulous, darling.”
He laughed and the photo I took just then stole my breath. “You want to see more?”
“Sure, but you shouldn’t. You absolutely should not remove more clothing, Chase.”
He flicked the button on his jeans and sucked in a breath. I licked my suddenly dry lips. “Why not?”
“It would be a bad idea.” A terrible, horrible, wrong in every sense bad idea. “Yep, bad,” I said before turning on my heels and heading into my safe space. The kitchen.
His footsteps were so light behind me, I didn’t realize how close he was until his body heat enveloped mine. “Tell me why, Kenzi.”
I shivered at his warm breath on my neck, his big hands leaving scorch marks up and down my arms. “Because last time-,”
He cut those words off with a kiss.
A kiss that should have a word better than kiss, because it wasn’t your average kiss. It was intense, without a doubt. But it was also hungry and urgent, like he couldn’t get enough. My head spun and my hands curled around his biceps as I sank into his kiss. I gave in. Caved. Acquiesced. I was weak. Aroused as all hell. My nipples grew tight and hard, my panties were damp even as my chest heaved, breathing him in. His scent was all man and earth and salt. And when his hands snaked down my back to cup my ass, I groaned at the feel of his hard cock, long and pressing right where I was wet and throbbing for him.
“You ready to let me explain?”
I sucked in a breath at his games. “Absolutely not! You are-,”
Damned beast cut me off again with another kiss. It was deeper and hungrier than before, so raw and gritty as he ground his cock into my core. I knew my lips would be bruised, my skin chafed from his scruff. And as suddenly as it started, it stopped. “That’ll happen every time you bring up the past without letting me explain.”
I didn’t know if it was a threat or a promise, but I was worried.
And titillated.
If I had a dollar for every time that those kisses blasted through my brain over the past few days, I’d be rich. Filthy stinkin’ rich, because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Dammit. My mind was so distracted with thoughts of Chase and that kiss, that I’d ruined two batches of my lavender face cream because I screwed up the ratios. And now several days had passed and I still didn’t have it right.
Damn you, Chase Donovan!
It wasn’t just work that was driving me insane either, it was thoughts of that whole hot encounter in the kitchen. That kiss and his hands haunted me. His long cock had my body writhing in a sleepy passion every damn night, sliding deep. Pushing and pulling against my walls. My body ached and screamed for what I refused to give it. Which is why I made myself scarce, hiding from him and what he did to me.
Like a coward.
I was totally okay with that because the last time I shared my body with Chase, he’d left in the middle of the night and I hadn’t heard from or seen him until he moved back to Truly. Three months ago. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t go there. Especially with us being neighbors again. It would be too messy, and I stayed away from messy since…, well since the last time shit got messy.
So, I took my sexual frustration out on the weeds growing near one of the fences. If you let those fuckers grow, they’ll screw up everything. I yanked hard but carefully, relishing digging my fingers in the dirt to pull them from the root. It was gratifying since I wouldn’t be having any sex any damn time soon. With anyone but myself.
“Now that’s a sight that says I’m so sorry for avoiding you.”
I froze with my ass perched in the air like an offering to the gods, turning to peek over my shoulder at a smiling, chop-licking Chase.
“You need to stop doing that.”
He grinned and crossed his arms. “When I get a surprise like that,” he motioned to my ass, “why would I ever stop?”
“Because you want to kill me and steal my fortune?”
He laughed again and stopped beside me, casting a long shadow that felt kind of nice under the glaring sunlight. I took his offered hand and let him pull me up. “I heard from Sterling today. He’s in town and wants to do dinner on Thursday.”
“Okay. Why do you look so nervous?”
“I’m not. But I do think I should bring over some of my clothes and stuff, so it looks natural you know.” His lopsided smile sent a thrill through me and dammit, made me think of kisses all over again.
I wanted to say no, badly. To tell him to go home and screw this silly plan. But I needed him as much as he needed me, so we were in this thing together. “Fine. Come back later with your things and I’ll show you to your room.”
“Perfect!” He turned and went to the porch, returning immediately with two bags and a box. “After you, honey bunny.”
I rolled my eyes, already regretting this setup. Not because of anything he’d done, but his presence spelled trouble for me and I knew it. I could feel it.
“Down this hall is the office, half bath, laundry room and linen closet.” I felt his eyes on my ass as I climbed the steps and, feeling naughty, I put a bit more swing in my step. Enjoying that deep guttural groan he let out. “Okay, this is my creative space, but you can use it to map out obstacle courses or whatever. This door is the guest room with an en suite bathroom, and just down there is my room.”
“And that one,” he pointed directly across the hall.
“That room has only ever been a nursery so it is currently out of commission.”
“Noted.” He turned and grabbed the knob, pushing the door open with a wide-mouthed stare. “Um, sweetheart, this is a little rustic, even for me.” There were no linens on the bed in addition to the thick layer of dust coating everything in sight. And somehow, the bed was the worst. “I’m pretty sure no adult human male could fit on that bed.”
He was right. “Not even sideways?” But I wasn’t ready to consider the alternative. Yet. I loved my bed, I’d splurged on a big one with a pillow top mattress and linens as soft as clouds. But his look told me his thoughts on that. “Fine. I’ll give this room a good scrub and I’ll stay here until Sterling leaves town.”
“Nope. Absolutely not,
Kenzi. Come on.” He nudged me down the hall towards my bedroom where I stopped and glared at him. “Don’t give me the evil eye, woman, just open the door.” When I refused, he reached around me, broad chest brushing against mine until my nipples beaded and he pushed the door open. “Yeah this will do just fine. We can share this bed, it’s huge.”
“No.”
He turned with a cat that got the canary smile and smacked his hands together. “Why not? I can myself. If you can.”
“We both know how well you can help your-,” he kissed me again. His tongue swept into my mouth deep and insistent. But as quickly as it had begun, it was over and he was smirking down at me.
“I warned you Kenzi. Now though, now I’m starting to think that maybe you like my kisses.
I did.
Too damn much.
Chase
Given all the work I’d already done to make sure Adventure Chasers was a success, I hadn’t considered the paperwork would be such a pain. But after spending nearly a full day at Town Hall talking to the Mayor, the mayor’s assistant, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and the Truly Office of Economic Development, I felt mildly sure that I had all the right documents to make sure everything would be covered when Sterling sold me that land.
“Is this it?”
“I promise that’s everything. If you have any questions, give me a call.” Baily Solomon flashed a sweet girl-next-door smile, but her outfit and that look in her eyes were all predatory.
“Yep, thanks.” I sent the mayor a wave as I hurried out of the ice-cold town hall building and into the early evening sunshine. It still wasn’t warm outside, but the illusion of warmth existed from the splashes of red and pink and purple across the sky. I needed to unwind. To relax. To get my mind off everything except the evening ahead. Kenzi had been avoiding me since I kissed her senseless, and while I wanted to be upset about it, my male ego was perfectly soothed by that. It had been a hell of a kiss and I wanted to repeat it.
Fake Fiancé Next Door_A Small Town Romance Page 3
