“So...you want us to spend the week publishing all the posts Cristina and I worked on and taking photos to go with them, like we’re a married couple?”
James hesitated. “Yes, that’s the gist of it.”
“The campaign is ready to go,” Cristina added. “We just need you two on the ground to execute it.”
Adrian was silent, and Ruby had no idea what to say. Her plans for a quiet Christmas had just turned into a week in a cabin with the grumpy CFO...pretending to be a happily married couple. Right. This was getting wackier by the minute.
James leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “I know it’s a big ask, but we really need to disappear for a week. The Kalani is a niche luxury resort, so I’m hoping you’ll be able to enjoy it, even under these circumstances.” He looked from Ruby to Adrian. “We’d be so grateful.”
So grateful. Those were the words she had used when Cristina and James had hired her straight out of college, based on her internship and senior thesis. Now at the ripe old age of twenty-five, she could see how she had probably sounded unprofessional and extra-young. But for a company looking to appeal to a younger generation, she had more than earned her keep. Now, Cristina and James were asking for a favor. James almost certainly hadn’t intentionally used the same phrase, but the point wasn’t lost on Ruby.
The room was quiet. She took a deep breath, trying to make sense of what Cristina and James were asking. Almost everything about this offer was appealing—spending the holidays in Hawaii instead of alone in her apartment, the much-needed financial bonus, while still getting time to work on her photography portfolio—everything except the other half of her new fake relationship.
Adrian’s expression looked pained, but he hadn’t said a word to protest. He was a big boy, and he could deal with whatever his problem was. She could put up with him for a week...and ignore any future sex-fueled thoughts. And hopefully he could keep his mouth shut.
“Just let us know what you decide,” Cristina said to her. “I hope this goes without saying, but if you can’t do this, we’d understand. This isn’t in any way an obligation. But you worked hard on this campaign, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to follow through with it.”
Ruby nodded. “I’ll get back to you soon with my answer. Send me the details of when we’re leaving and anything else you’d like me to consider.”
She started to stand up, slowing as she caught Adrian’s gaze. His eyes narrowed, and the tension in the room tightened in the silence, ready to snap. Yes, she knew he didn’t like her much, but James and Adrian had been close forever—everyone in the company knew that. Was Adrian contemplating turning down his friend’s request? After all the times Adrian had implied that she was young and immature, was he going to pull that middle-school attitude right in front of her boss?
She gave the CFO a sweet smile. “Do you have any questions for me before you decide?”
“No.”
She had no idea how that word slipped from his tightly drawn lips, but it came out, clipped and definitive.
“Good,” she said, scooping up her belongings. “Because I’m pretty sure I’m a yes. Just send me the details.”
CHAPTER TWO
ADRIAN CLOSED HIS eyes and massaged his temples as Ruby walked out and the office door clicked shut. Fuck, fuck, fuck. When James had mentioned taking his place at the Kalani, he’d initially said yes, but if that involved spending a week in a confined space with Ruby Bisset? If the request hadn’t come from one of his closest friends, his immediate answer would have been hell no. Why had’t it occurred to him that if he was taking James’s place, someone would be taking Cristina’s?
“Adrian?” he heard James say. “Let’s talk in your office.”
Adrian opened his eyes and tried to force a smile, but he could tell by Cristina’s reaction that it wasn’t working. Adrian really didn’t want to discuss this topic, but maybe James would give him some idea of why they’d made this bizarre request in the first place.
“Fine.” He nodded in Cristina’s direction and then headed for his own office. James followed him in, closing the door behind him.
Adrian planted both hands on his desk, gathering his last ounce of restraint for this discussion. “This is a really bad idea.”
“I understand this is a lot to ask, but two hours ago you were okay with it. You said you had no plans.”
“I can’t do it anymore.”
“I’m getting that vibe. Strongly. I just don’t understand what changed since we talked, besides the fact that Ruby will be there,” his friend continued. “Honestly, I thought it was going to be Ruby that needed the hard sell. She’s the one stuck in a cabin with your grouchy ass all week.”
“Agreed.” Adrian swallowed. “But she’s so...” he massaged his forehead, searching for a way to say this “...young.”
“—upbeat?” James finished the sentence at the same time as Adrian, but his eyebrows shot up when he heard Adrian’s answer. “Oh.”
Young. It was one word, but the strain in his voice clearly conveyed every single thing Adrian hadn’t wanted to say. That despite every effort he had made to steer clear of her, he was terribly, inappropriately attracted to a woman who was too young for him. A woman who looked like she was straight out of some college surrounded by cornfields, bubbly and carefree and everything a thirty-eight-year-old man should not be attracted to.
Despite that—maybe even in the darkest recesses of his mind, because of that—he found himself fantasizing about things he shouldn’t. Not the kinds of things a wide-eyed twenty-five-year-old wanted, like holding hands and walking down the beach. Instead, his mind usually went straight to dirty scenarios, the kind that would make the entire HR department gasp. Because he was on the executive team, which made Ruby off-limits. Completely. Period.
It was why he’d stayed far, far away from her. He didn’t even like her. Ruby and her sunny smile, innocently walking by the finance department while half his team drooled. It irritated the hell out of him, especially since her smile wasn’t so sunny when she directed it at him.
James was looking at him with new eyes. “Oh,” he said again, driving home just how bad this was.
“Now do you understand why this won’t work?”
James shook his head slowly. “How did I miss this? You’re so...indifferent with her.”
“Of course I am. I keep a professional distance.”
“That’s one of the reasons I asked you to do this—you’d never step over the line. The whole company knows that.”
“I’m equally asshole-ish to all employees,” Adrian muttered. “I’m fair that way.”
His friend chuckled. “I was trying to be diplomatic.”
James was right. Even if Adrian wasn’t on the executive team, he wouldn’t have any interest in an office flirtation, as his sister called it. She’d used that term when not minding her own business one evening, and Adrian had mocked her ever since. But Sydney had gotten in her share of digs, so she had it coming. His sister’s heart was in the right place, but she should have known better. She’d seen him at his lowest, after the miscarriage, after Victoria left, and she wouldn’t have forgotten it. Adrian had, in fact, “moved on from the past,” as Sydney put it, but he would never, ever repeat it.
James knew his history, and his friend had done his own share of well-meaning prodding about not spending the holiday alone. Which was probably why he’d asked...though now the man was looking more conflicted about the request.
“Do you want me to explain to Cristina why you can’t—”
“No.” Adrian grimaced. “Don’t tell Cristina. It’s a nonissue as far as anyone else is concerned.”
James’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, A. I’d back out of this but... I can’t.”
“You really can’t tell me why you need me to do this?”
“I prom
ised Cristina I wouldn’t.” James had that mixture of pain and a little hope Adrian had seen before in his expression. The last time he’d seen it was when Cristina’s miscarriage had started, when they still hoped they could stop it. James had come to him, knowing his history, and Adrian had never seen his friend so anxious. Whatever was happening this week, it was definitely serious. James took a deep breath. “You just need to trust me that I wouldn’t ask if this wasn’t really important.”
“Got it. You really need this.”
James nodded. The office was quiet, the city buzzing below them. “You know, you’re being a little hard on yourself. She’s young, but not that young.”
“She wore a goddamn cheerleader costume for Halloween. I left early that day.”
James’s eyes widened, and he put his hands up. “Okay,” he said quickly. “I get where you’re coming from. But she’s in her twenties, and desire is different than actions. Just keep to your side of the bed.”
“What?”
“Just kidding. But the place only has one bed, so one of you needs to take the couch. I’m sure it will be a nice one, considering the price of this place.” James rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry. We really weren’t planning on this scenario.”
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” Adrian grumbled.
“One more thing.” By the look on James’s face, Adrian was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like this thing either. “This resort is all about granting guests’ wishes. Ours was to surprise us with romantic dinners from around the world, and we planned a few romantic outings, too. The staff takes these requests very seriously.”
Adrian squeezed his eyes shut. “Fantastic.”
* * *
Ruby held up the top half of a red-and-white string bikini, inspecting it...or what there was of it. It was tiny and fun, and after her minimalist purge last spring, this was her only swimsuit. It was also true to the minimalist spirit, size-wise. Was wearing a barely there bikini a good idea, considering she was going to spend the week trying to ignore her very unprofessional fantasies about Adrian? Should she even ask herself this question?
Hell, no. She could keep her hands to herself...probably. And she was definitely not in charge of Adrian’s. Was he debating the wisdom of wearing his swimsuit around his coworker? Probably not.
Besides, the idea of Adrian in anything but a suit was impossible to imagine. Even in the most lurid of her fantasies, he was always dressed, with just his pants unzipped. She, on the other hand, wasn’t. She’d reach in and take out—
Ruby squeezed her eyes shut. She was definitely not thinking about that.
She grabbed the bottom half of the bikini and dropped both pieces into the suitcase next to her cover-up. This was, in fact, her most practical choice in that it took up less room than a one-piece, which was why she had opted to keep this one in the purge. Currently, the only suitcase she owned was a rolling carry-on, so everything she packed for the week needed to fit in there, including her camera and lenses.
Was calling Cristina and saying yes to this crazy plan a mistake? Her finances could definitely use the boost. Cristina had made it known that her assistant also posted on her account, so Ruby decided that one more person posting wasn’t too much of an ethical stretch. And pulling off this campaign for Cristina would be great for her career—that was certain. Her mother would say she should go. This was exactly the kind of adventure her mother had spent the last twenty-five years feeling like she’d missed out on. But it was making Ruby a little nervous.
A week with Adrian Wentworth? He was the definition of a hothole: a hot asshole who didn’t deserve his looks and made her question the biological wisdom of physical attraction.
How could she have sex dreams about this man? She dated easygoing guys like Jimmy. Raj was her type, or he would be if he hadn’t suddenly started avoiding her. She’d never been interested in the kind of guy who told her flat out that she was wrong in that bored, irritated voice of his. She was from Ohio, where niceness was practically a religion. She’d never met anyone so blunt—and so smug about it.
There would definitely be taunting this week. Would she do something stupid?
Well, she was still allowed to make stupid mistakes up until her thirtieth birthday. That was the point of her pact with her mother: Ruby promised she’d keep her twenties for herself. She’d do what her mother had never gotten to do: take chances, pursue dreams, et cetera. Her mother’s rationale: when Ruby’s thirties came around, she’d be ready to make compromises without regrets—and by compromises, her mother meant marriage and family.
There were times when this route was a little lonely, especially since most of her friends who’d stayed in Ohio were already married, and a few had kids. Sometimes it was hard to even talk to them without wanting those things, too. There were also times when she felt like she was following her mother’s lost dreams more than her own. But parenting a newborn Ruby instead of finishing college and starting her career had been hard on her mother. Ruby had never quite shaken the feeling that she owed this time to her mother.
Still, her mother’s advice had paid off so far. She’d dumped Jimmy and applied for long-shot dream jobs in New York City, and she’d gotten one. Now she lived close to art galleries she’d give anything to be represented by, and her roommate, Dena, was the most interesting friend she’d ever had. Yes, their apartment was the size of her Ohio State dorm room and just as outdated, and yes, she regularly ate ramen to make ends meet on a salary that would have bought her a two-story house back in her hometown. But she was in New York City. Even after three years, it was still hard to believe. The other things she wanted? When she hit thirty, she’d worry about that part.
Ruby dug back into the bin marked Summer Clothes, which she’d dragged out of the closet. She sifted through a small stack of tank tops, shorts and sundresses, picking out a few favorites in holiday-themed colors. Low-cut red dress? Yes. Flowered halter top and matching skirt that showed off her stomach? Hell, yes. Working in an air-conditioned Manhattan office year round meant that she rarely had the chance to wear true summer outfits, so she had kept very few, only her favorites, all more adventurous than her office choices.
Ruby lifted her favorite red tank top from the bin. As she debated, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen. Dena.
Her roommate had been gone less than twenty-four hours, and frankly, Ruby had expected a call sooner, though she still hadn’t decided exactly how to handle the conversation about her change in plans. She really didn’t want to lie, so that left her with the plan of intentional vagueness and an attempt to keep her mouth shut as much as possible. There was a ninety-five percent chance that Dena would attempt to coax out the location of her getaway and about a twenty-five percent chance that Ruby would accidentally slip and say something important. All of which meant she had to keep this conversation short.
“Hey, Dena. How’s Southampton treating you?”
“Good so far. The snow is beautiful out here, and I haven’t strangled my mother yet. How is life in our empty apartment?”
“Quiet.”
Ruby looked around at the sparse decorations that had made the cut in her spring purge. A red tablecloth and some red and silver ornaments in a glass bowl, plus live pine trimmings she had paid way too much for at the flower shop downstairs. It was a little empty without Dena around, but less clutter, less stress...and hopefully, more focus.
“Don’t forget that the Long Island Railroad makes trips out here every day,” Dena said. “You can change your mind at any time.”
“Um...thanks.”
When Dena had found out that Ruby was not, in fact, planning to visit her parents in Ohio for the holidays, she immediately invited Ruby to join her and her boyfriend to spend the holidays at her family’s house in the Hamptons. But the fact that Ruby would be the only single person there made her turn the offer down.
The line was
quiet, and then Dena let out a sigh. “You really shouldn’t spend Christmas alone.”
Ruby massaged her temples. “Well...as it turns out, I won’t be.”
“What?” Another pause. “Are you having a mystery guest?”
“Nope,” she said quickly. “I’m going on a secret...uh, retreat.”
“With other people?”
“Yes.”
Dena was quiet again, and Ruby held her breath, hoping this topic would die.
“Are you going with a guy?”
Oh Lord, how did she answer that? She wasn’t going to lie about the trip, especially not to her best friend. “Kind of?”
“What does kind of mean? And where?”
Ruby rolled her eyes. “I just said it was secret, girl.”
“Even from me?” Dena sounded a little hurt. “Fine. But you better be posting some good photos on your account.”
“Uh... I don’t think so.” She bit her lip, waiting for Dena to reply.
“Are you involved in something shady?”
“No,” Ruby said quickly. “Really. I’ll tell you more about it when I get back.”
But as she ended the call, she wasn’t even sure she wanted anyone to know about this setup—ever. No matter how much Cristina and James allowed her to reveal in the future, spreading the word that she’d gone on a fake romantic holiday vacation with Adrian Wentworth wasn’t the best career move. The last thing she wanted was for her colleagues to ask about—or speculate on—what happened in Hawaii. In a cabin with only one bed.
Luckily, she was almost sure that, for once, Adrian would agree with her.
CHAPTER THREE
ADRIAN WALKED OUT of the airport toward the car. The warm humidity of Hawaii seeped through his dress shirt and up the legs of his pants. He unbuttoned his collar and tugged at the neck of his undershirt. After eleven hours on the plane, he was beyond uncomfortable. The sooner he could change, the better. Which meant getting into this resort as fast as possible.
Pure Satisfaction--A Hot Holiday Romance Page 2
