“You’re right,” she said. “This is stupid. I was just desperate to help my mom and dad, to keep Hannah in college.”
A tear crested her eyelid and spilled down her cheek. How Callum wanted to brush that moisture from her face and then kiss the spot where it had been. He knew that wasn’t an option right now. Would it ever be with her? What was happening to him? This was why he had Isabel set up his dates and never got emotionally invested. Caring like this took too much time and head space.
Callum swallowed hard and said gently, “It isn’t stupid. I need help and you need help. We can make this a business deal.” Business deals he knew. They were safe and familiar. He had to somehow keep himself detached from this business deal, or it would have the power to sink him.
Lexi glanced up at him. Her blue eyes were bright with more unshed tears. He hated womanly tears, but on her they looked beautiful. “The fake fiancée offer is still on the table?”
Callum could sense what it cost her to offer herself like this. He vowed he’d treat her with respect and keep his distance. Though it would be torture to not hold her hand once in a while. “I would love for you to be my fake fiancée.” The whole fake fiancée charade seemed silly right now in the face of her mom getting a kidney transplant, her dad crushing his arm, and her sister being forced to quit school. Yet she wouldn’t take the money as charity, so this would be the best option to help her and her family. And he got the perk of having her by his side in Cancun and avoiding Cambree’s and Kiera’s setups.
She studied his face. “I guess I could settle for the Callum Hawk. Most Eligible Bachelor of the Year.”
Callum chuckled. “Hate to make you lower your standards.” How had they switched to teasing this quickly? He didn’t tease with anyone but his brothers and future sisters-in-law, and sometimes he popped off at Shirlene when she mocked him.
Lexi’s eyes swept over him, coming back to rest on his face. “Sacrifices must be made.”
He laughed again.
“So what are your terms, Mr. Hawk? I kind of blocked everything out back at the office when I thought you were propositioning me.”
Callum winced and pushed a hand through his hair. It was a habit that his dad hated, but he kept doing it—the only thing he’d ever done to spite his father. “Again, I apologize about that. My sisters-in-law are trying to set me up at this wedding, and I hate that.” No need to tell her the stories of his dad instructing him throughout high school which girl was the right quality of individual to take to each dance. His dad had chilled out with his brothers, but Callum was a different story: firstborn, unreal expectations, and all of that.
He continued trying to explain to Lexi. “I kept thinking of you after almost running you over with my bike this morning, and I lied to Cambree and told her I was engaged. I even told her I was engaged to Lexi.” He smiled. “So the whole fiasco at my office was me rushing into an idea that obviously wasn’t working for you.”
She nodded. “I accept your apology.”
He liked her. No fuss with this girl.
“What now?” she asked.
“Well, first of all, I guess we need to settle on a number.” He hated making it about the money with her, which was insane. His life was always about the money.
She scrunched her nose and appeared to be doing calculations in her head. “Is a … hundred thousand too insane?” Her eyes went wide and beguiling. “That sounds insane. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be greedy, but that would pay all the medical bills and the future medications, keep Hannah in school, make it so my dad could hire some help on the farm, and … pay off mine and Hannah’s student loans.” She looked at the scuffed linoleum as she said the last, as if she were asking too much.
Callum hid his smile. “I was thinking more like two hundred and fifty thousand.” He’d offer her a million if he didn’t think it would offend her and make her run away.
Lexi met his gaze again. Her mouth worked and finally she squeaked out, “Are you serious?”
He nodded. “I never joke about money.”
Lexi studied him and then finally whispered, “That would pay off the farm debt too.”
Callum acknowledged that with a head bob. He’d never been in debt but could imagine it was stressful and crushing.
“Thank you.”
Callum moved on quickly. “If it works for you, we’d fly out on Thursday the twentieth and be in Cancun until after the New Year. I’d love for you to work in my marketing department, or whichever department you want to work in. I guess we could start the pretending now, make up a story of how we met, and then the media won’t find any holes. After Cancun, we can break up and move on with our lives.” Would he want to move on from Lexi?
“Will that make things awkward at work?”
He smiled. “I don’t spend that much time with my marketing team. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“I think we should stick to the truth as much as possible.”
“Okay,” he agreed.
“So why don’t we tell people how we met? This morning’s story is pretty great, actually, and we can pretend to fall in love over the next couple of weeks and you can propose and whisk me away to Cancun.”
He nodded. It all sounded pretty good, except for the pretend. He could see himself really falling for this girl.
“I do have some demands, though …” Her voice got small. “Besides the quarter of a million dollars.”
Callum winced. He didn’t like the money being this wedge between them. “Can you please get me a deposit slip and I’ll get your info to my accounting team after I leave here? They’ll take care of rerouting the money in the most tax-efficient and discreet ways, and we won’t have to bring up the money again.”
She nodded and grabbed her purse off the floor. Pulling out a checkbook, she ripped out a deposit slip and handed it over.
Callum slipped it into his pocket. “Okay. Other demands.”
“Could we fly to Snow Valley the day before we need to be in Cancun and see my mom? She goes in for surgery this Thursday, and by the nineteenth she’ll be home and recovering.”
“Sure.” He was going to meet her family. That would be interesting, and unique for him. “You told your parents about the fake fiancée deal?”
“Just my dad. We don’t want to stress my mom.” She smiled. “Don’t worry, he won’t try to whip you.”
Callum laughed. At lunch every day he went to the gym and lifted weights and then sparred with whoever would take him on. Usually it was a massive retired vet named Joseph. Callum gave Joseph a battle every time. He hadn’t been whipped since he was fifteen, when Creed had gotten lucky in one of their fights.
“I’ll make arrangements to fly out the morning of the nineteenth,” he said. “Shall I plan on staying the night with your family or making arrangements at a hotel?”
Lexi’s eyes widened. “This fake fiancée stuff is going to take some getting used to. You can stay at my house, there aren’t many hotels close by. But I have to warn you, it’s clean but definitely no five-star resort.”
Callum inclined his chin. He could handle roughing it … for one night. “Other demands?” This was familiar. The give-and-take of business. Much easier than the hot and cold he felt when he touched her.
“You promised earlier you wouldn’t kiss me or anything, unless it’s in front of your family to pretend we’re in love. Can you stand by that?”
Callum looked at her, really looked at her. She was exquisitely beautiful, but he’d been around a lot of beautiful woman. He’d never had a problem staying in control before. Why did making this promise seem like too much to ask? He leaned closer to her until they were inches apart, holding eye contact the entire time. He didn’t touch her, but he didn’t look away, either. “I’ll make a deal with you, Lexi.”
Her chest was rising and falling sharply. “Y-yes?” she squeaked out.
“I won’t kiss you, unless it’s for the fake fiancée act … until you ask me to.” He held hi
s breath. He was revealing that he was interested in her, independent of the fake fiancée gig. He was bending over backwards for a woman to help her family out financially because he wanted to be around her. He’d never done this before. What if she didn’t return those feelings?
Lexi’s eyes narrowed and she tilted her chin up. “I’ll take that deal, because I’ll never ask you to.”
Those words hurt worse than a cheap shot to the kidneys. Callum held his ground, though, and her gaze. “We’ll see about that.”
“I don’t think so.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Her eyes traced over him. Then she straightened her back and said, “Well, the fact is you’re not my type.”
“Oh really?” That hurt worse than her earlier shot. “What is your type?”
“Definitely not a billionaire workaholic. I like … adventurers.”
He arched an eyebrow. She’d fall for his brother Bridger, then. Ignoring the lurch in his stomach, he tried to tell himself it didn’t matter. This was business. She’d protect him from women at the wedding, and he’d help her out financially. He had to look at the positive: if he wasn’t her type and she had no desire to kiss him, she wouldn’t expect or demand any of his time and he could work on vacation without guilt.
He stood and strode to the door, but paused and looked back at her. “Do you want a ride back to work?”
Lexi’s shoulders relaxed and she smiled at him. “Am I still your marketing temp?”
“Not temp—permanent. If marketing is the job you want. Or we can make something up in another department.”
“I want the marketing job.” She slid into her jacket, picked up her purse, and walked to his side. He smelled that coconut scent. “Let’s go, boss.”
“How about you call me Callum?”
She glanced up at him. “How about I call you Cal?”
“I can live with that.” He arched his eyebrows, liking the intimacy of “Cal.” “Is Lexi okay, or should I just go straight for sweetheart?”
He thought she’d laugh, but the look of desire in her eyes took his breath away. Maybe she wasn’t completely immune to him. She shook her head and blinked. “I don’t think the all-powerful Callum Hawk would call anybody sweetheart.”
Callum wanted to dispute that. He liked that she thought of him as powerful and she was right that he’d never called anyone sweetheart before, but she brought up feelings inside he’d never experienced. Too bad he wasn’t her type and this was a business deal. “I don’t know about that.”
“Let’s stick with Lexi for now. You have to earn sweetheart.”
“I’ll take that challenge.” He swung the door open rather than wait for her response. She was a challenge, and having a fake fiancée suddenly sounded like a lot of fun. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d thought something was fun. If only he could change her mind about what her type was and get her to ask him for that kiss.
Chapter Six
Despite the cold wind biting at her exposed legs, Lexi enjoyed every second of the ride back to Callum’s office with her arms wrapped around his midsection. She needed to ask him what he did to have abs this defined. Was that a question she should ask her boss?
She could hardly believe the change half an hour could make in turning despair to hope. She could also hardly believe how Callum could be so understanding and accommodating. Except for when he told her that she’d ask him to kiss her. Heat seared through her abdomen. She’d have to stay strong. She couldn’t fall for her boss, not when it was all going to end January second. Not to mention, she really wanted to prove herself successful at this job. She’d worked her entire life to get into a school like Cornell, and graduating with a master’s and getting a job for Hawk Enterprises were dreams she wasn’t willing to give up. She wanted to be her own woman, not Callum Hawk’s arm candy, but she would take this deal for her mom’s health and her family’s financial freedom.
Her mind swung back to their deal. Callum was going to transfer a quarter of a million dollars into her account today. Who did that? It seemed like a dream. As soon as the bank would allow the transfer, she’d give most of it to her dad. She only wanted to keep enough to pay off her student loans and buy some clothes for Cancun next week. She would be spending Christmas in Cancun with this beautiful man. She’d miss her family, but Callum was going to fly her to see her mom and dad before they went to Cancun. It was hard to wrap her mind around it all.
Callum pushed a button, and a garage under the building opened up. He eased the bike down and into a parking spot.
Lexi climbed off, stiff and cold. “I still can’t believe you ride this thing in December.”
He grinned at her and gently took off her helmet. He stowed both helmets, then turned to her. “Are you cold?”
“Cold? I’m freezing!”
He chuckled and took his gloves off, putting them in a compartment, then covered both of her hands with his, rubbing his thumbs over the back of her hands. Warmth raced through her that had nothing to do with his body heat, or maybe everything to do with it. She was so confused, she simply stared at him.
“Is that warming you up?” he murmured.
“You have no idea,” Lexi said.
Callum arched an eyebrow, a slight smirk on his lips. He released one of her hands and led her to the elevator. “I’d better get back to work.”
“Sorry to keep you from important work.”
He shrugged. “I never take breaks except for my … lunch appointments. I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t sound fine, but she wasn’t going to point that out. She wondered who he met for lunch. Would he take her to lunch if they were supposed to be engaged? She’d like that … a lot. “Shirlene is going to tease you, though?”
“Oh, for sure.”
The elevator arrived and they climbed in. Callum was still holding her hand. She shivered, and he glanced quickly at her. “Where else is cold?” he asked.
“My legs.”
Callum glanced down, and his cheeks turned almost as red as her legs. “I should’ve gotten you a taxi back to the office.”
“It’s fine.”
“Your legs look like cherry popsicles.” He released her hand and bent down, rubbing both his hands along her thighs as if to warm them up.
“Callum, stop!”
He glanced up at her with a mischievous smirk. “I thought you were going to call me Cal.”
Lexi gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the sensation of his hands on her legs. “Cal, please stop.”
He sighed and straightened. “If we’re going to be engaged, you’re going to have to not freak out every time I touch you.”
“That wasn’t freaking out. You want to see freaking out, I’ll show you.”
He smiled.
“Just don’t touch me … like that.”
Callum arched an eyebrow. He walked over to the control panel and pushed a button. The elevator stopped.
“What are you doing?” Lexi gripped the hand rail behind her back. She wasn’t claustrophobic, but she didn’t know that she could handle being stuck in an elevator with him. How was she going to resist asking him to kiss her for two long weeks in Cancun?
Callum sauntered toward her. He rested his hands on the elevator wall next to her head, effectively trapping her. “Maybe you need to spell out exactly where I can touch you.”
Lexi was panting for air. He was handsome, tall, perfect, and he was right in her space. He waited, and she finally said, “My hand. You can touch my hand.”
Callum ran his right hand across her shoulder, down her arm, and finally to her hand. Lexi trembled from his touch.
“Like that?” he asked in a husky whisper.
“No! I specifically said my hand, not my entire left side.”
Callum had that smoldering look with the elevated eyebrow down to a science. He claimed he didn’t date a lot. Liar. If he wasn’t an expert on dating, then she was a nun.
“I wouldn’t call that yo
ur entire left side.” Then he released her left hand and ran his hand along her hip and the side of her abdomen, then around to her back and slowly up until he brought his hand across her neck and cupped her left cheek with his palm. “That was a little more of your left side.”
Lexi could not catch a full breath. She had no words in her to respond. She simply stared at his handsome face and those beautifully formed lips, and she wished she hadn’t told him at her apartment that he couldn’t kiss her. He leaned closer and closer, and his eyes flickered to her lips, then back up to meet hers.
There was a semblance of rationality left in her brain, and Lexi clung to it. She was a professional. She lifted her hands and pressed them against his chest. “You said you’d only kiss me in public.”
He stared down at her for a few beats. They were both breathing faster and the sound seemed to echo in the elevator. He leaned even closer, and Lexi felt the muscles in his chest against her fingertips. Oh, help.
“Unless you ask me to,” he said in a deep, husky voice that brought shivers throughout her body.
A few moments passed as he stared into her eyes, and she could hardly catch a breath.
“Are you asking?” he murmured, his minty breath brushing her lips.
Lexi panted for air and tried to remember why she wasn’t begging him to kiss her here and now. Her job, her future, her pride. He’d paid her to be a fake fiancée, not to do … other things. She swallowed and finally was able to squeak out of her dry throat, “I’m not asking.”
Callum held her gaze, searching for … what? Sincerity, weakness? Lexi focused on his deep brown eyes, hardly daring to breathe or she’d inhale his spicy cologne and beg him to kiss her.
He finally nodded and released her from his warm touch and gaze. She leaned heavily against the elevator wall. He walked to the control panel and pushed another button, and they started moving again.
What had just happened? How was she going to handle weeks of being this close to Callum Hawk, yet not truly being close to him? She had never been around a man so captivatingly beautiful.
They arrived at the fifty-fourth floor. He hadn’t glanced her way since they’d started moving again. He pushed the button to keep the elevator doors closed, and he spoke, still not looking at her, all crisp and professional. “Thank you. I think this deal will work well for both of us.”
Hawk Brothers Romance Collection Page 29
