That was kind of true, actually. I had been rather abrupt in just asking her to be my fake wife. “I think that she thought I was stark raving mad at first, but her manager knows me and explained that I’m just hopeless when it comes to women.”
“And he’s so kind,” Trudie added. “Laird, I mean, not—well my manager is also a good person, don’t worry, but I meant Laird. When I got to actually talk with him and saw how sweet he was, how thoughtful, I was surprised but… in a good way. I wanted to spend all of my time with him.”
“Lucky for me, because I was smitten,” I said, and as I spoke I realized that I wasn’t lying. I was completely, one hundred percent fucking smitten for this woman.
Trudie smiled at me, and it hurt that she was so good an actress, that she was able to make herself look at me with such warmth that I almost believed it could be real. It certainly looked real enough. Could she tell that I was genuine when I looked at her and told her that I was smitten for her? Could she tell by the way that I talked to her that I was a goner?
I hadn’t really ever been seriously in love before. I’d had a lot of infatuations over the years, but nothing had really come out of any of them. I had briefly dated a few people but no one in the last few years—which explained why my family was all jumping down my throat.
Nobody had ever been like Trudie. No wonder it had taken me until now to realize just how far gone I was.
“You two are just so adorable,” Liam said, “I could puke.”
“Hey, you need to put up with it. I put up with you and Alana doing your cute couple thing for months.”
“We did rather rush into things,” Alana said, “from most people’s perspectives.”
“I think that if you were really solid on what you wanted, then there’s no point in waiting,” Trudie replied. “I do wish some people would wait. I see a lot of people get married too young, or before they’re ready, or because they feel like they have to. Which makes me sad. Marriage is something that should be joyful, not something you feel obligated to do or something that becomes sour because you weren’t really ready but didn’t listen to that part of you. But when you do know… you should go for it. What’s stopping you?”
“Exactly.” Alana grinned and nudged Liam. “See, she gets it!”
“Our parents are glad that we’re married, but they worried it was a bit rushed,” Liam explained. “I’m very impulsive so I think they were afraid that I’d regret the decision later on, even though Alana’s a great person.”
“I’m glad to see they were wrong,” Trudie said. “And I’m sure your parents are, too.”
“My mom’s never been happier to be proven wrong in her life,” Liam promised, chuckling. “Anyway I’m glad to see that some of my impulsiveness has rubbed off on this wanker here. You two seem good for each other.”
“Oh.” Trudie blushed. “I’m so glad… you have no idea how nervous I’ve been about meeting you all. Laird’s family, I mean. We’re going to see them all for the first time at the wedding and everyone’s been warning me that your family is a handful.”
“It’s because they are,” I grumbled.
Liam laughed. “Well, you don’t have anything to worry about. You seem like you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Which is usually more than I can say for this guy here.” He jerked his thumb at me.
“You’re a fucking laugh riot, Liam, you missed your bloody calling as a comedian.”
“Tell me more about what you do, Alana,” Trudie said, deftly changing the subject. “How did that lead to you two meeting? What was your first date like?”
Like all people in love, Alana was more than happy to talk about her job as a reporter on the court, and how that had led to her interviewing Liam a few times, how sparks had flown, and so on. I exhaled slowly in relief. We had most of our cover story down pat but it was hard to play at being in love with Trudie when I was dangerously close to being that way in real life.
The rest of the dinner passed amicably. I noticed, however, that Trudie was doing an excellent job of dodging questions about her past life. Her family, where she grew up, all of that—none of it was mentioned for one reason or another. She kept finding ways to turn the conversation back to being about Liam and Alana, or even about me.
“You’ve probably heard all of his crazy stories already,” Alana said to her at one point as I was talking about a problem we’d had with the magazine once, leading to all of my team pulling an all-nighter as we rushed to redo everything.
“You’d be surprised,” Trudie replied. “He has a lot of crazy stories. And I don’t mind hearing them again.”
It was, once more, a bloody excellent cover. Trudie hadn’t heard this story before. In fact despite all our attempts to try and come up with as much information as we could about each other, she still hadn’t heard a lot about all of my life. How could she possibly, in so short a time? That was why we’d had the lists.
Luckily, Trudie did happen to have some fun stories of her own from work in the coffee shop, so I didn’t think that anyone noticed that she was avoiding talking about the rest of her life.
“We have got to make this a regular thing,” Alana said as we wrapped up the dinner. Liam insisted on paying, and I could see Trudie forcibly restraining herself from thanking him over and over again. If she was my wife, then she’d be used to having money to pay for things and this wasn’t about money, this was about myself and my brother taking turns and being generous with each other.
“Of course,” Liam said. “I’m chuffed we got to meet you, Trudie, it’s clear that you’re a great match for my brother. I couldn’t be happier with his choice.”
Trudie blushed and when Liam hugged her, she hugged him back, not stiff at all but completely relaxed. “Thank you so much.”
Liam hugged me next. “You hold onto that one,” he told me. “She’s the best thing I’ve seen happen to you in a long time.”
It hadn’t occurred to me, until that moment, that my family might be genuinely worried about me. “Wait. Were you guys really worried about me all this time?”
Liam nodded. “Maybe Mum and Dad shouldn’t have been pushing you about marriage so much, but you’ve been barely going out with your friends the last couple of years. People have asked about you. People say you’re a workaholic.”
I tried to think back to the last time I actually went out to a party or something, a social gathering that wasn’t explicitly for work, and I couldn’t remember. Wow. I hadn’t even realized.
“But Trudie looks like she’s got a good head on her shoulders. And you’ve been taking time to relax around her. All those outings you’re doing…” Liam nodded. “It makes me glad. She stops you from being all about work and that’s great.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” I looked over at Trudie, who was saying goodbye to Alana. “Shall we?” I offered her my arm, as usual.
Trudie took it without even looking, just automatically reaching out and sliding her arm around mine. “It was really wonderful, thank you both.”
Liam and Alana waved goodbye, strolling off hand in hand, and I couldn’t stop myself from staring at Trudie. I wanted her so badly, cared about her so deeply, and apparently, she was also good for me? She was someone that my brother felt I should keep in my life.
I couldn’t stop myself. Everything that had been building in me this entire time, ever since I had met Trudie, was starting to spill over. We were on the street, right outside the restaurant—a very swanky restaurant, might I add, crowded with people—but I wasn’t thinking about any of that. Madness had possessed me and before I could think about any of the many reasons why it was a bad idea, I gently wrapped my arm around Trudie’s waist and turned her so that we were pressed up together, chest to chest.
“Laird?” she asked, looking up at me with a bit of confusion. Confusion, but no fear. She wasn’t scared of me. She trusted me.
I pulled Trudie in and I kissed her.
13
Trudie
> I gasped as Laird pulled me in, confused about what he was doing. He had an odd look on his face, one that I had never seen before. It was thoughtful, but concentrated, and it sent heat through me, made me shiver. Even though I’d never seen that look before, I wanted to see it again, and again, whenever he looked at me. It was like being pinned down, a butterfly against a wall, but in a good way.
Then he wrapped his hand around the back of my head and pulled me in, kissing me.
Laird didn’t kiss at all the way that I expected. I would’ve thought that he would be gentle, and soft, like the rest of his personality. Instead he was confident and in charge, sucking on my tongue, drawing out little gasps and whimpers from me.
I had never been kissed so thoroughly before. Laird clearly knew what he was doing, and he was kissing me like he wanted to take me apart and make me melt right into the concrete. I unwound my arm from around his and got one hand in his shoulder, the other clinging to the front of his shirt in a fist. It was all that I could do to hold on as he nipped at my lips, teasing me with his tongue, darting it in just the barest bit and then pulling away again to give me slow, sucking kisses that had me wanting more.
My entire body was heating up and I could feel myself getting wet, slick sliding down and soaking my underwear. I hadn’t wanted a man like this in years, and perhaps never so badly as this.
Someone wolf whistled at us, but Laird didn’t pull away. If anything, he tugged me closer, sliding his tongue into my mouth properly, and I made a helpless noise that I couldn’t even properly name, one that I’d certainly never made before. Fuck, this felt so good, I could only hang on for the ride.
Laird finally pulled back and I gasped, my knees feeling numb, like they might give out on me at any moment. For all of his possessive kisses, Laird’s eyes were still soft and warm when he looked at me. Had anyone ever looked at me with such softness? I couldn’t remember. I felt so safe with him, so cared for, knowing instinctively that I wasn’t just a one night stand to him, and that he wasn’t going to hurt me the way that Pete had. Laird wasn’t anything like Pete.
“I’ve wanted to do that almost since the moment I first saw you,” he admitted, his voice low. His hand shifted to cup my cheek, his thumb lightly swiping at the corner of my mouth. I realized, with a bit of a start, that Laird looked nervous. “Tell me I haven’t ruined everything. That I haven’t… messed everything up, doing this.”
“No.” I shook my head. “No, you haven’t. I… I wanted this.”
We weren’t married, but it looked like the part where we were only pretending to be sexually involved was out the window. I wanted him so badly, more than I had wanted anyone in my life. I felt like I could trust him to take care of me, to make me feel good, and I wanted to surrender myself to him. To feel him inside of me, drawing my pleasure out until I forgot everything except his name.
“I want you,” Laird confessed, his accent getting a little thicker, and it made me shiver with even more heat. I loved hearing his accent, his voice. It didn’t even matter what he was saying so long as I got to hear it.
“Then take me home,” I whispered. I had never been so bold in my life before. Men had always come onto me, strongly. All I had to do was say yes. I had never been the one to do the asking. “If you want me, you have me.”
Laird’s face lit up, almost like a Christmas tree, and I giggled a little, overwhelmed at the idea that I could make someone so happy simply by saying something like that. Did he truly like me that much, care about me that much? It was an overwhelming possibility, but in the best of ways, a good way. Pete had often overwhelmed me but in a way that had made me feel small, powerless, a way that felt like I was choking.
Now it was more like I just couldn’t handle how happy I felt. I had never let myself think that Laird could like me the way that I had found I was starting to like him. How could he, when he could have any woman that he wanted? Even if he was shy around them, even if he did stumble, he could still do better than my messy ass. He could still find someone who didn’t have a past she was running from, someone who was more interesting, better educated—someone who better suited him.
But whether or not I suited him better, at least on paper, didn’t seem to matter to Laird. He wanted me. He wanted me. And I wasn’t going to step back and say no, not when I also wanted him.
Laird kissed me again, this time softly, sweetly, more like how I had imagined he would kiss when I had dared to let myself think about it. “Then let me take you home.”
“Yes, please,” I breathed shakily into his mouth.
Laird possibly broke a couple of speed laws driving home, but I just couldn’t keep the smile off my face. He kept glancing at me as he drove, like he was waiting for me to change my mind and back out of it, say that I didn’t want this after all. As if I could possibly change my mind about wanting to be with him.
We got to his condo and I could feel the heat spiking through me again, anticipation thrumming through me, making me feel like my fingertips were vibrating. Laird helped me out of my coat and it was like I could hardly breathe properly. I wanted him so badly—now that I knew I could have him, all that I had been holding back was just letting go and rushing through me like a river, threatening to overrule me and consume me. It was heat and desire like nothing I had ever felt before and I wanted to melt with it.
Laird gently brought his hands up to my shoulders, his thumbs rubbing back and forth. “Are you sure about this?” he whispered. “This isn’t just because of… the role, or the money? I don’t want you to feel like you have to do something. You don’t have to do anything.”
“Thank you, for asking. You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that.” I couldn’t explain why it meant so much, not without diving into all of my past, and I still didn’t know how to share that with him, to unburden myself in that way.
Laird smiled at me like he understood anyway.
I realized I hadn’t actually answered his question. “I want this. I want you. Regardless of the money, or the job. So please…” I trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence, just knowing that I wanted him.
Laird’s smile went soft, then darkened and sharpened into something sexy and determined. “Then let’s get you out of these clothes,” he purred, his accent thick and his voice dark and soft. I had to swallow down a whimper. If he had just talked at me in that voice, I think that would’ve been enough to get me off.
He kissed me, deep but deliberate, like he was clearly determined to take his time and make this good for me. The idea that he cared so much about my pleasure was sexy as fuck, and I clung to him as he walked me slowly backwards into what must be his bedroom.
Laird peeled my clothes off slowly, one by one, and I shivered with heat at the feeling of his fingertips trailing over each patch of newly-revealed skin. “Look at you,” he rumbled, his mouth moving along my shoulder. “You’re gorgeous, fuckin’ gorgeous.”
I was glad that it was dark in the room, because I knew I was blushing. Pete had never complimented me like that. Not after the beginning of the relationship when he’d been flattering me to lure me in. Sometimes he would talk about how I looked good, but only in the context of how other men would try and steal me from him, or when he wanted to take me somewhere to show me off to make others jealous. It had made my looks feel somehow both useless and a curse.
But Laird sounded like he was awed, like he couldn’t quite believe it, like he couldn’t stop himself from saying things like that. “You’re not so bad yourself,” I pointed out, which was an understatement.
Especially once I got his clothes off and could see all of him. God, he was so handsome, his body firm, solid, clearly the product of working out and keeping active. A trail of hair led down between his legs to where his cock was jutting out, and my mouth watered so fast I was almost choking on it. I wanted to get my mouth on that dick.
Maybe not right now, though, because Laird had a determined look in his eye, as he stepped back i
nto me and wrapped his arms around me. “Lie down on the bed, love,” he told me, kissing my jaw, my throat, making slick slide down my legs.
I did as he told me and Laird spread my legs, giving me a smirk before kissing the inside of my knee. “I’ve touched myself thinking about this,” he told me, in between slow, sucking kisses up the insides of my thighs. “Came so bloody hard thinking about tasting you, getting my tongue inside of you.”
He avoided where I wanted him and kept setting his mouth to my legs, my stomach, only occasionally darting his tongue through my folds like he was sampling me. I struggled to hold still, and Laird finally took my wrist in his hand, bringing my fingers to his hair, so that I could clench my fingers in the soft strands and anchor myself.
When he finally set his mouth to me, I nearly sobbed with relief. It felt so good, better than I could’ve imagined. I had never had anyone eat me out before. It wasn’t really something I’d given much thought to one way or another before Pete, and then after Pete… well, God forbid he ever do something like that, God forbid he ever think about giving someone else pleasure without getting something out of it himself. He was all about what made him feel good and he hadn’t cared too much if it made me feel good as well.
But this was—this was insane. Insanely good. Laird kept teasing me, pulling away when he thought I was close, adding his fingers to stretch me out, licking against my clit and around where his fingers were inside of me. It was nothing short of obscene and I found my nails digging into his hair, into the bedsheets, my body shaking and writhing uncontrollably. I’d never felt so good before, and before I knew it I was begging him to let me come.
Laird gave in at once, like he couldn’t stand to hear me not get something that I wanted. He sealed his mouth over my clit, sucking, and I cried out, my hips thrusting, my brain going white and fuzzy as pleasure filled me. I was pretty sure I even cried, just a little, it was all so overwhelming. I had never orgasmed like that before, never felt taken over with it.
Fake Bride: A Fake Marriage Billionaire Romance (Forbidden First Times Book 2) Page 9
