His 24-Hour Wife (The Hawke Brothers 2) (3 page)

* * *

By the time the mission was complete and they were on their way back to Adam’s car with Summer walking beside them, almost an hour had passed.

“That went quite well,” Summer said brightly.

Callie returned the smile but couldn’t match the wattage. “I think they’re disappointed in me.”

Adam whipped his head around to face her, his dark brows drawn together. “They should be proud of you. Any parent would be proud to have a daughter like you.”

Callie stilled. It was the first compliment Adam had given her since the night of their wedding. And even then, he’d been light on the complimenting front. It sent a happy buzz through her bloodstream, to her fingers and toes, and she was appalled. She couldn’t let a simple compliment from Adam Hawke affect her this much. It would be granting him power over her.

She braced every muscle in her body, bringing her reaction to him under control.

“Thank you,” she said through tight lips.

Without looking at her, Adam gave a quick nod, and then thumbed the keyless lock.

Summer watched the exchange with a thoughtful expression before she added, “They’re not disappointed. They’re just surprised. It will take them a little while to process it all, but they’ll be fine. It will take everyone a little time before it feels natural. Including you two.”

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Callie said.

“That’s true.” Summer folded her arms under her breasts and regarded them both. “I’m just going to come out and say this. You two don’t look like a couple in love.”

Adam shrugged. “If you’re looking for someone who gushes, you’ve got the wrong man.”

Summer shook her head. “It’s more about how comfortable you seem around each other. Or, more precisely, how uncomfortable.”

“We’ll be fine when the curtain goes up,” Adam said dismissively.

Callie bit down on her lip. Summer was right. No one would believe the story they were going to try to spin if it wasn’t backed up by nonverbal communication between them, and she and Adam weren’t in the least at ease in each other’s company.

“What do you suggest?” Callie asked.

Summer tapped her index finger against her lips and considered them. “A bit of rehearsal time should do it.”

Callie suppressed an involuntary shiver at the thought of
practicing
touching Adam. Since she’d arrived in his office this morning, they’d barely touched. But memories of touching him freely—of being touched by him—were burned into her brain. No one had ever made her come alive like Adam. She might have been under the influence of alcohol when she said her vows, but she’d been equally influenced by the man himself. By his touch. By his hands. By his mouth.

Even now, in her parents’ driveway, she felt her heart pick up pace at the prospect of experiencing his touch again.

Adam, however, seemed unmoved. His decision about their marriage must have been mainly a result of the alcohol. If she wasn’t careful, she would make a fool out of herself while they rehearsed. What she needed was a chaperone. Someone to remind her that this was all make-believe.

“Will you help?” she asked her sister.

Summer smiled. “Of course. How about now? We could grab some takeout and go back to the apartment.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary,” Adam interjected, everything about him screaming reluctance.

Callie took a step closer, until she was a hand span away, and reached up to cup the side of his face with her palm, ignoring the part of her that demanded she take it further. His jaw was lightly stubbled, and his skin was warm and enticing.

Adam’s eyes widened with surprise and his spine went ramrod-straight.

With great effort, Callie took a step back and met his gaze, hoping that nothing in her own betrayed her. “That’s what Summer’s talking about. We need to be comfortable enough with each other that our reactions to unexpected touch won’t give the game away.”

Adam blew out a breath and leaned against his car. “And you’re suggesting we practice.”

Callie nodded. “Don’t worry. It will be aboveboard. Summer will be there as our outsider point of view. If we’re going to do this, we need to do it properly.”

“Okay. How about you go back with Summer. Give me directions to your place and I’ll pick up some food on the way.”

As Callie told him how to get to her apartment, her stomach fluttered. She was going to spend the evening practicing touching Adam Hawke.

Or, more precisely, she was going to spend the evening pretending to be unaffected while her husband touched her. And she wasn’t even sure that was entirely possible.

Three

A
dam shifted the bags of food to one hand and pressed the buzzer for Callie’s apartment. When he’d woken this morning, he’d grabbed a quick coffee before heading for the gym. His head had been full of thoughts about the day ahead: a meeting with a potential supplier and some paperwork he needed to catch up on. Not once had he even come close to imagining how the day would truly unfold.

Less than twenty-four hours since Callie had crashed back into his life, his schedule, his family and his life were all in a mess.

He was used to being the one who solved problems, not the one in the middle of the trouble. But one day with Callie Mitchell had turned the tables on him.

And worse, he might be getting ready to participate in a sham of a marriage, but he’d learned one thing today—his desire for his wife was anything but imaginary. It threatened to overwhelm him anytime she was near. But he had to keep any reaction to her buttoned down. If he was to survive what was coming with his sanity intact, he’d need to keep a very clear line between what was real and what was part of the PR plan.

The door buzzed and opened, and he headed into the foyer and took the elevator to the sixth floor.

Callie was waiting in the doorway to her apartment, giving him a nervous smile, and his shoulders relaxed a little. He was glad he wasn’t the only one uncomfortable about the situation.

He held out the bags in offering. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got sushi, Chinese and pizza.”

Summer popped her head around the corner. “Great. I call dibs on the sushi.” She grabbed the bags and headed back into the apartment, leaving him in the doorway with Callie.

She’d changed into jeans and a sky-blue top, and her long, caramel hair was caught up in a sleek ponytail. She looked understated and utterly desirable.

“Look,” she said, digging her hands into her pockets, “I just want to say how sorry I am that you’re caught up in this.”

He frowned, not quite following her thinking. “I signed the marriage license right beside you.”

“But no one would ever have known if it wasn’t for my job. And my slimy coworker.”

“Still not your fault,” he said dismissively. “Besides, you never know what journalists would have found once they started digging for dirt when Liam and Jenna’s wedding drew closer.”

If anyone was to take the lion’s share of the blame, it should be him. Among his brothers, he’d always been the one who could be relied upon to be the most responsible, a trend that had started when they were kids and his parents would leave him in charge of Liam and Dylan. It was one of the reasons they’d voted him CEO of the entire Hawke’s Blooms company.

Whenever he’d relaxed his guard too much in the past, bad things had happened. Like when he was thirteen and making out with his first girlfriend behind the sheds after school, and a ten-year-old Dylan had wandered off and been missing for two hours. Adam had been frantic. He’d eventually found Dylan safe, but with cuts and bruises from a fall. Adam had been more careful to watch his brothers after that.

Then there was the time he’d let himself get rolling drunk on a trip to Vegas and wound up married...

He followed Callie into the spacious apartment and across to the kitchen. Summer had pulled out some plates and cutlery and she handed them to him to take to the table.

As he watched the sisters work together, a thought occurred to him. “Have either of you had to do this with clients before?”

Callie’s brows drew together. “Pretend to marry them?”

“Ah, no,” he said as he put down the food. “I meant coach people to act like they were...”

“In love?” Summer observed, and he gave a curt nod.

Callie pulled out a chair and sat across from where he was standing. “No, this is a first for us.”

He should have been disconcerted by their lack of specific experience, yet part of him was glad. If she’d been a professional at being able to fake adoration, while he was an amateur, the situation would have been too uneven. He hated feeling like he was in someone else’s hands.

“Actually,” Summer said, “we should be starting now. You two sit beside each other.”

His instinct was to keep more distance between Callie and him—to keep out of arm’s reach—but the suggestion was reasonable. A couple in love would take every opportunity to be close. He crossed around to the other side and sank into the chair beside Callie’s.

This close he could smell her coconut shampoo. It immediately brought back memories of his fingers threaded through her glossy hair. Of it spilling across the pillow while he was above her. His skin heated and suddenly his tie was too tight around his throat. He loosened it and tried his best to appear impervious, which was easier said than done.

He glanced casually at his wife as he spooned fried rice onto his plate. “I assume your plan is that we spend some time near each other so we become accustomed to the other’s presence.”

“Pretty much,” Callie answered. “Though we should do some deliberate things, as well, not just passively sit beside each other.”

He stilled. He was only just coping with sitting this close. “Define
deliberate things
.”

Callie shrugged as she grabbed a sushi roll from the platter. “Occasional touches. Holding hands. Just so when we do it for the cameras, neither of us flinches. We need to seem used to it.”

He relaxed again. That made sense and didn’t seem too intimate. As long as he had his reactions to her under control, it wouldn’t be a difficult task.

Bracing himself, he reached over and threaded his fingers through hers. “Like this?”

“Just like that,” she said, her expression professional. But there was a small catch in her voice. “And we should talk about our jobs, and things that married people would know about each other.”

Talking. Far preferable to more touching. Holding hands and talking. He could do that.

He rolled his shoulders back, trying to relieve some of the tension that had taken up residence there. “What do you want to know?”

While they ate their meal, she asked questions about his company and he answered. The entire time, he was pretending to be a man unaffected by the woman he was pretending to be in love with. And it was so far from the truth it was laughable—pretending not to be affected was taking so much of his attention he was lucky he didn’t stab himself in the eye with his fork.

“This is going well,” Summer said, taking another sushi roll. “Adam, how about you feed her something?”

Erotic images of feeding his new wife strawberries in his Vegas hotel room flooded his mind, and he froze. He’d had so much to drink that day that he shouldn’t recall it clearly, but he did. He thumped his chest once with his fist to get his lungs working again.

Suddenly, he realized he hadn’t replied, and his face probably had a weird expression. He coughed to try to cover it. Summer and Callie, however, had noticed, and each raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” he said. “This is just awkward.”

While Callie looked down at her plate, Summer regarded him with a quizzical expression. “You’ve never held hands with a woman or fed her food? That’s all this is.”

“If I was involved with a woman,” he assured her, “these things would definitely happen, but organically.”

Callie drew in a shallow breath and met his gaze, and he was certain she was remembering the same moments he was. When she’d laughed and flirted with him at the conference cocktail party. When he’d rested a hand on hers at the bar. When they’d kissed and his world had tilted. When they’d only just made it back to his room before tearing each other’s clothes off. When they’d shared more champagne in the bed and accidentally spilled some on their bodies...

The air felt thick with the memories, and Callie’s eyes darkened. Most of the blood in his body headed south, but Adam refused to let himself get carried away. He flicked a glance at her sister, who was watching the interplay from across the table, and sighed. This situation wasn’t about what he wanted in this moment. It wasn’t about fun or entertainment—they were practicing so the world thought they were in love, and he had a responsibility to play his part. He would do that and do it well.

He locked down every physical reaction to the woman beside him, every stray thought or memory. Then he found a fake smile and gave it all the enthusiasm he had, and fed Callie a spoonful of his rice.

She gave him the same overly bright smile back and opened her mouth to receive the fork.

“That’s better,” Summer said. “Though, Callie, can you put your fingers around his wrist to hold it steady?”

Callie complied and Adam refused to react to the warmth of her hand encircling his wrist. To the scent of her skin as she leaned in. To the effect on his body of seeing her lush mouth opening.

“Great,” Summer said. “Now look into each other’s eyes.”

Holding his expression in place, Adam focused on Callie’s silver-blue eyes, and thought about the pile of paperwork waiting for him on his desk. Spreadsheets and graphs. Anything to ensure he didn’t let himself get caught up in a moment that wasn’t real.

Callie looked back at him as she gripped his wrist a little too tightly and ate the food from his fork.

Summer sighed. “That wasn’t believable. How about we clear these plates away and try a few poses in the living room?”

Callie winced. It was a small movement, and if he hadn’t been this close and focusing on her face, he might have missed it. He turned his wrist so he could grab her hand and gave it a slight squeeze, offering reassurance. As he realized what he was doing, he felt like laughing. He’d never had trouble attracting women in the past—hell, he’d even attracted this very woman in the past—yet here he was, offering reassurance because she was going to have to spend a few minutes touching him.

After the table was cleared, they moved into the living room and Callie’s sister spent ten minutes arranging them in various poses. It was awkward and he’d pretty much rather be having a root canal than be arranged like puppets by someone he’d just met. Worse was that he was still fighting the simmering desire for his fellow puppet.

Finally, Summer said, “Hang on. Let me show you something.” She grabbed a digital camera and hooked it to a laptop, then took a few photos of Adam with an arm around Callie’s waist. “Have a look at these.”

Adam moved to the laptop screen and saw the image. He looked stiff and unnatural, and Callie looked almost pained.

“That’s not good enough,” he admitted.

Callie bit down on her bottom lip. “We’re going to have to try harder.” She spun away from the laptop and the evidence of their awkwardness, and took in the room. “What if we put on some music? Maybe we could dance. That would give us something to actually do so we didn’t feel self-conscious.”

“Good idea,” he said. In one sense the closeness of dancing could be dangerous, but if he and Callie took back control of the situation he also might be able to regain control of his body. It was worth a try.

Summer headed for the sound system in the corner, and seconds later, a modern day crooner’s voice filled the room. Adam held out a hand to Callie. “Shall we?”

She smiled at the formality of his offer and took his proffered hand. “We shall.”

Her palm was smooth and warm; the friction of her skin sliding over his set off a depth charge down deep in his belly.

He guided her to an open space between the living room and the entryway that had polished wood floors and less obtrusive lighting. Then he pulled her into his arms and led them in a simple dance step. With the music filling the air, it felt more natural than the poses they’d been trying.

“You were right,” he murmured. “I do feel more comfortable.”

“Me, too,” she said. “Is it okay with you if I move a little closer?”

He chuckled. “We’re supposed to be in love. I think you’re allowed to get as close as you want without asking permission.”

She stepped in and leaned her head on his shoulder. She felt good there. Felt right. As if his body remembered their intimacy. He took his hand from her waist and wrapped it around her, securing her against him, and she let out a contented sigh.

He imagined leaning down, finding her lips and losing himself in her kiss. Then taking her by the hand down the hall to her bedroom...

Except they had an audience.

And they were pretending.

This wasn’t real. He couldn’t let himself be lulled into falling for the very story they were spinning for the press. He released Callie and stepped back.

“I, er,” he said, and then cleared his throat. “That seemed to go better.”

Callie nodded. “I was less self-conscious. What did you think, Summer?”

Summer held up her camera and pointed to the laptop. “Excellent. Once you two started dancing, it was totally believable. Just remember how you did it when photographers ask you to pose.”

“Sure,” Callie said, her voice a little husky. “We’ll pretend we’re dancing.”

Adam rubbed two fingers across his forehead as he contemplated having to repeat this. “Will do,” he said, throwing a glance at the door. He needed some space to clear his head. And to rein in his body. “Look, I should head home. Thanks for your help, Summer.” He stuck out his hand, and Summer shook it. Then he turned to Callie. “Callie, let me know when you have an interview set up and I’ll clear my schedule.”

“I’ll get on it first thing in the morning.”

He nodded. After the dance they’d shared, it seemed ridiculous to offer her the same handshake as her sister, but then again, they weren’t actually dating. He settled on the same greeting he gave his brothers’ fiancées and kissed her cheek.

Then he left the apartment. Quickly. Because the stupid part of his brain had told him to kiss her again. And this time, not on the cheek.

Once he was safely inside the elevator with the doors closed, he thumped his head back on the wall and swore. Next time, he’d have better control over his reactions to Callie Mitchell. Next time, it would simply be like two actors in a scene.

Next time...

He groaned and thumped his head against the wall again as he realized this was only the beginning.