He shrugged. “Not just like that,” he said and snapped his finger. “But as long as you feel like you do right now and she does too, you’ll fight for that. If that feeling is gone, you have to ask what you’re fighting for.”
Well damn, that made a special kind of sense. It was almost too simple to be true, but the way Sterling felt about his wife was no secret. Even a blind man could see how much they still loved each other.
“Thanks.”
He ignored my absent comment and smacked me on the back. “What do you say we take our beautiful women out on the town and make the world jealous while we celebrate your new business?”
I blinked several times. Enough that Sterling probably thought I was having a stroke or lost half my brain capacity.
“I’m not sure if I should play it cool and just shake your hand or hug you like my mom hugs everyone.”
He barked out a laugh. “Your mama does give damn good hugs. Don’t tell Simona I said so,” he whispered before he pulled me in for a hug. “Seeing you emotional like this only confirms that I made the right decision.” He looked me in the eye, the way a man should, and smiled. This was it, the deal was closed. Adventure Chasers would now become a thing, hopefully a big fucking thing if I could help it. And it was in no small part due to Kenzi.
“Thank you, Pete. That doesn’t feel like enough, but thank you. In fact, if you ever find yourself in need of some controlled risk, come see me.”
He looked over at his wife and back at me. “You know, I always wanted to try that water rafting, like that old movie? Minus the criminals though,” he chuckled.
“When Spring comes. I’ll save you a spot.”
He grinned, paid for his wife’s purchases and walked her out with a promise to meet up later.
I turned to Kenzi, cupped her heart shaped face and kissed her like it was the first time I’d ever kissed a woman. Her lips were soft and pliant, her hands roamed over my chest before they settled in my back pockets. She let out a disappointed moan when I pulled back.
“He said yes!”
Her big green eyes flashed with pride and happiness. “He said yes? He said yes!” She flung herself at me and I caught her up in my arms, kissing her as she laughed and we spun around her store. “That’s so fantastic, Chase!”
“It is. And we’re all going out to celebrate tonight. Wear something short and sexy so we can dance. Please?” I steepled my hands and batted my lashes until she laughed. And relented.
“I love it when you beg,” she said on a breathless whisper, eyes lit with arousal. Desire.
“Then later tonight you’ll be over the moon.” I gave her another quick kiss and strolled out of her store with a smile on my face and some energy in my step.
Moving back to Truly had been better than I expected.
“Well kids, it’s just about past our bedtime so we’ll leave you lovebirds to finish the night alone.” Peter smiled wide as he stood and pulled out the chair for his wife to stand as well. “We’ll get together in the next day or so to finalize the paperwork. I promised Simona I’d take her to see Alaska one day and that day starts at the end of the week.”
I grinned, happy to hear the news that they would be leaving soon because it meant the deal would be done even sooner. “You’ll love it up there! That vast wilderness, it’s hard to believe it until you see it with your own eyes.” I’d been to Alaska a few times for work and once for pleasure, every single time it had been amazing.
Simona laughed prettily as Peter helped her with her coat. “I have a feeling we’ll have very different trips, young man.”
I laughed because she was right. I stood, giving them both a quick farewell until finally, blessedly, Kenzi and I were alone. I turned and held out my hand to her.
“Shall we dance?”
She giggled adorably and placed her hand in mind. “I’d love to. Never much pegged you as a dancer.”
“I’m not really, but when I have a sexy woman in a short dress so eager to get hot and sweaty with me, what can I do?” She tossed her head back, laughing as I pulled her to the center of the dance floor as a fast, dance beat started.
“Oh, I’m the one whose eager to get hot and sweaty?” Despite her words, her hips began to swing in a fast figure eight that I couldn’t keep up with, I could only watch. She felt the music. It was obvious in the way she moved so confidently, so freely. It was enchanting. And the way she had those curves pressed up against me, hell yeah that gave me a bigger buzz than the booze.
“I know,” I whispered in her ear as my hands rested low on her hips and I pulled her close. “Don’t worry, Kenz, I’ll give you what you want. Soon.” She shivered as my lips brushed against the shell of her ear, moaning when my tongue wrapped around her ear lobe.
She looked up at me, challenge flashing in her eyes as she began dancing more energetically. More erotically. Then she turned and her ass was pressed right up against my cock, making it throb as my skin overheated. I didn’t know if it was the lights or the crowd, but I had a feeling it was all Kenzi making me break a sweat. She looked up at me over her shoulder and flashed a sultry grin.
“Promises, promises.”
My hands tightened on her hips, holding her close while she moved in tantalizing circles that had me thinking of things like her moving the same way on my cock. That made me think of slowly undressing her and laying her out, thrusting deep while she screamed my name. Her coming all over my face.
“Let’s get out of here,” I practically growled in her ear.
Without saying a word, she clasped her hand to mine and began to pull me through the throng of dancers, stopping at our table just long enough to grab her purse and sweater.
“Ready when you are,” she grinned, a gleam in her green eyes.
I practically dragged her from the restaurant, the thumping music growing quieter as we moved further away. The tension between us so sharp and intense you could cut it with a knife. But it wasn’t a bad kind of tension. More like we were both so aware of the desire humming between us that one word, one touch would spark the flame and we might end up naked and grinding in my car right off Main Street. I pulled into the driveway and shut off the engine before turning to Kenzi…who’d already exited the car and was rushing up the stairs.
“Hey!”
She laughed as she tried to open the door, dropping the key and laughing even harder. “What? Didn’t we say last one inside has to do a sexy striptease?”
I didn’t recall that, but hell I was a red-blooded man and I’d love to see nothing more than Kenzi’s curves being slowly unwrapped for my pleasure.
“Did we?”
The door finally opened and she disappeared, leaving me to follow or possibly get left behind. Inside the house, she stood in the middle of the living room in nothing but lingerie and heels. Fuck me.
“Ready to pay up?”
“A bet’s a bet,” I told her with a slow smile as I worked the buttons on my shirt, pulling each one in short, jerky movements. Her gaze tracked every move my hands made, down my midsection to the button of my jeans where I made quick work of them and shoved them down.
“Keep going,” she urged with hand motions as though asking for my clothes.
Her breath hitched when I shoved the pants down my legs and tossed my shirt in her direction. “Better?”
“Almost,” she told me, eyeing my boxers hungrily until I kicked them across the room to her. “Perfect,” she drew the word out as she closed the distance between us, letting her nails rake up and down my chest, over my shoulders and down my back. “So beautiful,” she whispered.
“Beautiful?”
She nodded, saying nothing as her hands and eyes ate me up. That soft wet tongue flicked over my nipples until they hardened, down the line bisecting my chest until she reached my abs, sucking each one long enough to leave small bruises. “Yes, beautiful,” she said, those green eyes dark and hot as they slammed into mine at the same time her hand wrapped around my cock.
“Kenzi.�
� She tugged again, drawing a curse from me.
“Yes, Chase?” But I didn’t get a chance to answer because the little minx dropped to her knees and wrapped her lush lips around the head of my cock.
“Ah, shit. Kenz,” I groaned, watching her head move in slow, sensual strokes that stoked all the fires within me. Her mouth was hot and wet and she used her lips and tongue at the same time, causing a firestorm of electricity to surge through my body. My hands sifted through her hair, needing to hold onto something because this girl, she was wrecking me just with her mouth. “Kenzi.”
She looked up but never stopped. “Mmm?”
My whole body rocked and shivered as the vibrations went through me and I couldn’t take it anymore. “Enough,” I bit out and stepped back. “I need you now, Kenz.”
She stood and shimmied out of the silky underwear, I’d all but ignored. “I’m down with that.” She stood there, hands on her hips and a challenge in her eyes.
“Good,” I growled and took two steps forward, lifting her in my arms. “Because I’m not waiting another minute.” She smiled giddily and wrapped her legs around my waist, bringing her slick heat right up against where I wanted to be most.
“You better not.” Then her mouth came crashing down on mine, her tongue invading my mouth until I surrendered to her passion. It was hot and hungry, and it only grew more intense when I slowly slid deep into her wet heat. “Oh fuck, Chase, yes!”
The way she grunted my name, the way she bit my lips and clamped around my cock was enough to push me right to the brink. Not yet, I told my cock and moved against the wall, slamming her against the wall a little harder than necessary. “Sorry.”
“For what?” She bit down in my shoulder as I slammed into her body over and over. She was so turned on, so wet the friction was enough to make me lose my mind. “More, Chase.”
With a growl, I leaned into her body and she tightened her legs so there was friction everywhere. My hips moved faster and harder, slamming into her hard enough that the sound of skin slapping could be heard echoing in the room. “So fucking good.”
“Yes,” she moaned, arching her back so those pretty pink nipples were right there, waiting to give me a taste. “Oh, no,” she bit out when I pulled on her nipple, body shattering instantly into a powerful orgasm as I continued to pump into her.
The noises she made were so fucking erotic I had no idea how I was still holding on, but I didn’t want it to end. She felt amazing, fitting around me like a perfect glove, gripping me tight as I slid in and out of her pulsing body. “One more for me, sweetheart.”
Her eyes flew open. “What? No, that’s not happening.”
“It is,” I told her and gripped her ass, spreading her legs wide and pumping with all the frenetic energy in me. Using the wall to anchor us both, I gave her hard, punishing strokes. I felt the flutters deep in her body before she did.
“Oh, Chase. I-I…,” her words trailed off as a second, even more powerful orgasm shook her whole body and pulled mine along for the ride.
“Shit, Kenz…fuck!” My own orgasm thundered out of me in a loud roar, shaking me violently.
Minutes later her body had returned to normal, her sweat slicked skin pink from exertion but her breathing had evened out. “That was, goodness, so damn good.”
“It was a hell of a lot better than good,” I insisted grumpily, which made her laugh.
“It was fantastic.” She cupped my jaw with a small, affectionate smile as she tilted her head to the side just slightly. “Congratulations, Chase. Your dreams are coming true.”
When I looked up at her, my heart slammed to a stop and I knew with absolute certainty that I was in trouble.
Big, green-eyed trouble.
Kenzi
Baking was not really my favorite thing to do. It required such precision with exact measurements and baking times, that it went against my idea of what cooking should be, which admittedly is just pinching a bit of this and a sprinkle of that into the pot, that I just didn’t have fun with it. But I was promoting a sale on the products containing blueberries and I thought blueberry mini muffins would be perfect in the store.
In my amazing CEO brainstorming, It didn’t occur to me until after the fact that I would be the one baking them. But I had three dozen finished and another two in the oven, with enough batter for three more just in case I burnt another dozen or so. I’d just pulled two batches from the oven when the bell rang and the door opened, telling me it was Ken.
“Damn it smells good in here. Chase Donovan must be doing something right,” he snickered, his smile and those big blue eyes filled with amusement.
“Very funny. You’re lucky you didn’t catch an eyeful of something you don’t want to see,” I told him, only half joking. The truth was Chase and I had gotten busy on nearly every surface in this house. I would have to do a thorough cleaning or maybe a sage scrub to get rid of the memories he left behind.
“I watch porn. I’m not opposed to seeing the real life thing. You know, I think I’ll put that on my bucket list, watch live porn.”
I just rolled my eyes. “What are you doing here, Ken?” Before he could answer I shook my head. “That mop of yours need a trim?”
He flashed a dimpled smile that hadn’t changed in all the decades I’d known him. He was hotter and bigger these days, but that smile was still the same. “Yep. Got a date tomorrow and you know she’ll expect perfection.” He raked a hand through his hair, doing his best soap opera dramatic look.
I laughed. “Then why would she be going out with you?” I nodded for him to take a seat at the kitchen table, where I always cut his hair, every six to eight weeks despite my constant nagging that he needed it sooner.
“Because I’m the hottest piece in town,” he joked. “Especially now that the return of the golden boy was cut short thanks to his unexpected engagement.” He laughed, cracking himself up while I gathered my hair cutting accessories. “How long is this engagement and shaking up gonna last, or have you finally decided to stop being stupid?”
“Gee, Ken, don’t hold back.” Why I’d ever trusted him with my most precious secret, I’ll never know.
“Look Kenz, I’m not trying to be all up in your business, but you’ve had it bad for this guy for a long damn time. Don’t you think it’s about time to take your shot?”
I laughed at that. “That’s assuming I have a shot, which we both know I don’t. This is convenient for him, but it’ll be over soon. You’re right, I do like Chase. He’s hot and smart and funny, but I’m under no illusions what this really is.”
“No?”
I shook my head as I spritzed his hair with water, combing out his perfect golden curls, and said the words I’ve been working hard to make myself believe. “No. We’re having fun. We’re also having amazing sex-,”
“Hey, I don’t need to hear that,” he said loud enough to cover my voice.
“Really, mister I want to watch live porn?”
“That’s different, it’s sex. Hearing about it is…creepy unless its dirty talk.”
I laughed at his twisted logic. “Anyway, we’re having amazing sex, but I know it’s temporary. He’s not so different, actually, just more grown up. But if he wanted more than just convenient hot sex, he would have simply asked me out during the months before he needed me.”
That was the other thing I had to remind myself as my thoughts spent more and more time on Chase Donovan. The sex was merely a byproduct of spending so much time together, once that time ended, so would the sex.
“Come on, Kenz. I know you’re not that dense. I’ve seen you guys together, the way he looks at you. The daggers he never fails to shoot at me.”
I’d love to believe that was true, but it wasn’t about me. “That’s just you men and your petty desire to constantly prove you have the biggest dick.”
“I don’t need to prove it,” he said, making a lewd gesture that made me snort.
“You are such a perv,” I smacked his shoulder. �
�I can’t wait to sit back and watch the woman who brings you to your knees.”
“That ain’t happenin’, babe.”
He sounded confident, but I knew that eventually Ken would fall. He was big and blonde and gorgeous, plus he was funny and kind and a firefighter. Hell, if he wasn’t my best friend I might have tried for him, but the moment your twelve-year-old best friend buys your first tampon while you hide in the Burger Hut bathroom is the moment you both mutually enter the friend zone.
“What’s not happening?” Chase’s deep, angry voice interrupted our laughter.
“A woman bringing Ken to heel. It’s going to be a delight to watch, I think.” I laughed, ignoring the dark scowl marring his handsome face. He was my bedmate, my lover and fake fiancée. Not my boyfriend or husband to be, so I didn’t get where the anger or jealousy came from.
“Oh, it is a delight,” Ken said with a little too much glee in his voice for my comfort. “Too bad you’ll never get the show I got. Hey!” His mock outrage at being sprayed in the face like a cat, made me laugh again.
“Hush, you. Or I’ll tell Maisie you’re ready to test her matchmaking skills.”
His blue eyes went round, a terrified grimace making his deep dimples pop. “You wouldn’t!”
I smiled my most devilish smile in answer.
“I brought lunch,” Chase said, impatience dripping from each word as he held up a bag from Golden Pagoda.
“Good because I’m starved.” After spending the morning in the greenhouse doing quality control, I brought back a few bushels of berries to get all domestic in the kitchen. My back still ached even after a long hot bath with four different essential oils. But looking at Chase, even angry, I knew he was the best therapy I could get. “All finished.” I ruffled Ken’s hair and laughed when he swatted my hands away.
“Thanks, Kenz.” He bent down and kissed my cheek the way he always did. “Dinner’s on me next time.”
“Awesome! I’ll have to find a place with really good steak and lobster.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m sure the Bologna Hut would be happy to cut a few chunks in the shape of your favorite surf & turf meal.” He laughed at my pretend barf sounds. “See you lovebirds later,” he sang and walked through the house as comfortable as ever, since he spent more time here than anyone else. At least before Chase had moved in. Temporarily, I reminded myself for the hundredth time. One quick look at Chase and I knew I needed to deal with his caveman behavior. "What’s your problem?”
Fake Fiancé Next Door_A Small Town Romance Page 7
