Irresistible Lies (3 page)

Still,
it wasn’t like she had many other options. She hadn’t had a boyfriend since
Jamie, and every date she had been on had been a failure. She and Charlie knew
one another, so there was none of that first date awkwardness that made her so
nervous. He was great at his job and a good guy, once you broke through his
outer shell. And it wasn’t that she was after his money, but she liked knowing
that if things got serious between them he could provide for Jake as a father
would.

Not
that she was thinking that far ahead... Well, okay, she was, but only because
Caroline was getting married and it was really freaking her out.

Now
she and Charlie were officially dating, she supposed she could say. After their
third date last week, Charlie had insisted they inform human resources what was
going on, even though he owned the company. Grace didn’t like the idea of her
coworkers finding out and thinking she was trying to sleep her way to the top,
but she needn’t have worried. The company was small, after all, and everyone
there knew how hard she worked to take care of her son.

Last
week when the news had spread, everyone had told her they were genuinely happy
for her and that she was great for Charlie. He needed a good woman to take care
of him, they said.

Maybe
they really were right for one another. Time would tell. For now, she was just
trying to take things slowly and not let the relationship screw up her work
life.

“Are
you available for the next hour?” Charlie asked her.

“Yes,
I am. Why?”

“I’m
meeting with a potential client. I’m hoping to get him to hire us.” He looked
at her seriously, his gray eyes narrowing into thin lines, an expression his
employees loved to mock. “I need you to be there. You don’t have to say much
during the meeting. I’ll take the lead. If we get this account, though, it’s
going to be yours.”

“Mine?”
Grace smiled, excited at the possibility of taking the lead on an account.
Until now, she had only taken on supporting roles. “That’s great news. I’d love
to come to the meeting. Thanks, Charlie.”

“You’ve
earned it,” he said gruffly. “And I think this company will fit in nicely with the
other clients you’ve been working with. It’s a brewery, and since you’ve done
so much work for the winery you’re the best choice for the position.”

Her
first thought was of Jamie and his brewery, the one she never found out what
had happened to. She didn’t want to know if he was rich or poor. She didn’t
care.

Her
second thought was that she could totally handle doing public relations and
marketing for a brewery and that this was going to be a great opportunity. And
Caroline had said she had a bad feeling about the day. What did she know?

“When
is the meeting?” she asked.

At
that moment the phone in the conference room buzzed, and the voice of Charlie’s
new assistant came on the line. “Mr. Bradden? Your 9 o’clock is here.”

“Great,
show him into the conference room, please.” Charlie straightened his tie and
put his game face on. “Okay. Here he is now. His name is Jamie.”

“Jamie?”

 
“Take notes, and if he asks you any
questions, don’t say no to any of them.”

She
nodded her understanding, thinking what a strange coincidence it was that they
were meeting with Jamie from a brewery. What were the chances of that
happening?

But
her confusion quickly changed to shock when the door to the conference room
opened and she found herself looking up into the bright blue eyes of none other
than Jamie Castleton.

When
their eyes met it was like an electric jolt went through her system, and she
instantly was transported back in time five years as though it was just yesterday
that they had said goodbye.

She
whispered his name and in a flash he was standing close enough to touch her, a
great big smile on his face.

“Grace,”
he said, that devilish light in his eyes. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

Chapter 3

What
the hell was Jamie doing in her office? In Virginia?

Grace
was still in shock when he pulled her to him tightly, embracing her. She felt
the muscles beneath his suit hard against her and was surprised that he smelt
the same as he used to, of soap and the outdoors.

Charlie
cleared his throat and Jamie released her, taking a small step back. The big
grin was still on his face, and he looked strangely proud of himself.

“What
a coincidence,” he said, his voice as deep as she remembered. “Funny how life
works out.”

“I’m
sorry. Do you two know each other?”

Grace
realized that she hadn’t yet said a word, and she tore her eyes away from the
ghost in front of her to look at Charlie. She cleared her throat, hoping it
would clear the fog from her brain. “Jamie and I are old friends from college.”

“Actually,
we dated for a long time,” Jamie said good-naturedly.

Grace’s
mouth flew open in surprise, but she said nothing.

“You
must be Charles. It’s nice to meet you.”

Charlie
shook Jamie’s outstretched hand, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Call me
Charlie. Any friend of Grace’s is a friend of mine. Please, have a seat.”

The
three of them sat down, Grace across from Jamie and Charlie between them at the
head of the table. She closed her gaping mouth and took a deep breath, her
heart beating wildly in her chest as she looked over the man she once loved
more than anyone else in the world.

Jamie
wore a gray suit and tie that looked expensive, and his dark blonde hair was
styled in just the right way to make him look professional but approachable.
The light stubble on his jaw was just as sexy as it had been five years ago
when it would graze her cheeks as he kissed her. He never liked shaving and
apparently still didn’t.

His
look was different. He was definitely older. Gone was the 21-year-old in a tee
shirt and jeans with floppy hair just like her son’s. But he still had those
same blue eyes, so bright they were almost mesmerizing.

She
tore her eyes away, wondering what he thought of her staring.

Not
that he wasn’t staring right back.

“So...”
Charlie cleared his throat again, opening the folder in front of him. Grace
could tell he was unnerved because she knew him, but she doubted Jamie could.
“Let’s talk about Four Brothers Brewery. We cannot tell you how thrilled we are
that you reached out to us about a potential partnership. We believe that there
is a lot our agency can do for your company.”

“I
think so, too. I am definitely interested in hearing what you can do for me.”
Jamie was talking to Charlie, but his eyes were still on Grace. He scrutinized
her every feature, finally trailing down her neck and to her cleavage. She felt
his gaze like a caress, and she flushed.

Their
eyes met, and she knew he had noticed the sudden color in her cheeks.

“You
are based in New York, correct?” Charlie asked.

Jamie
finally looked away, giving her a moment to breathe. “Yes, our brewery is
upstate, but our beer has been selling very well all over the east coast. We
think there’s a lot of room for growth, especially in Virginia, Maryland and
North Carolina. We envision ourselves as the beer of small town America, and
that’s why we would love to establish ourselves further in a market like this
one.”

Charlie
slid an article over to Grace for reference, and she looked it over. It was a
clipping from a food magazine. Apparently Jamie’s company was doing better than
she had ever imagined, and they were expanding at an incredible rate all over
the Northeast. She wasn’t a big beer drinker, but Four Brothers Beer sounded
familiar even to her.

So
he was a big shot. He had gotten everything he wanted.

 
She didn’t know if that made her happy
or angry, so she just tried to focus on the conversation happening in front of
her.

“With
an aggressive marketing campaign, you could be the beverage of choice around
here,” Charlie was saying. “We should look to target local bartenders and get
them to push the product, because people around here have real relationships
with their bartenders.”

“Great.”
Jamie turned to Grace, all blue eyes and smile. “What do you think?”

What
did she think? She thought he looked damn good, that’s what she thought.

“I
agree with Charlie,” she said. “A great marketing campaign would do wonders for
you, and it would be a lot cheaper than pouring tons of money into
advertising.”

Jamie
leaned back in his chair and folded his hands together. “Let’s do it, then.
Give me some numbers and draw up a contract. Let’s get this ball rolling.”

“Are
you interested in having us on retainer?” Charlie asked.

“Absolutely,”
Jamie said. “Where do I sign?”

Charlie
glanced at her, and she knew what he was thinking because it was the same thing
she was.

That had been too easy.

“Excellent.
Grace, will you put together a copy of our new client contract for Jamie while
we discuss some figures?”

“Of
course.” Grace stood up quickly, happy to have an excuse to leave the room so
she could collect her thoughts. “I’ll get started on that.”

Jamie’s
eyes followed her, roving her body greedily until she was out of the door and a
wall was between them. She felt her body physically relax as she made her way
to her desk and sank into her chair.

Jamie
was here. She couldn’t wrap her mind around it. Was this a coincidence? Fate?
Or something else?

She
had thought about what she would say to him if she ever saw him again, but in
her mind it was always at a fancy party with her in a slinky black dress and a
wedding ring on her finger. He would take one look at her and know that he had
lost the best thing he had ever had. She would make charming small talk as if
she had forgiven him for breaking up with her, and then she would go home to
her husband and Jake and know she had won.

Jake.

She
felt a chill run through her when her eyes fell on the framed photograph of her
son that was sitting right on her desk, in plain view of anyone who might pass
by. What if Jamie found out about her son and tried to take him from her? What
if he fought her for custody?

The
Jamie she remembered wouldn’t do that, but she didn’t know him anymore. Besides,
Jamie had a definite temper when he was really upset about something. He would
be so angry that she hadn’t told him she had given birth to their child. He
would obviously want to be with his son, and he would expect her to give him
shared custody.

She
had an awful vision of Jake leaving her at Christmas to spend it in New York
with his father. No, she couldn’t, under any circumstances, let him take her
baby. Jake meant everything in the world to her.

Having
Jake had changed everything for Grace, but it was for the better. Gone was the
slightly superficial, naive college party girl with dreams of becoming a New
York City hotshot, replaced by a responsible, dedicated mother. Jake brought
her back down to earth and forced her to grow up and realize the things that
really mattered, like family and love, and sticking by the people who stood by
you.

Jamie
had cut her out of his life when things got too real for him, and when her son
was born she swore to herself that she would never do that to anyone. She was
going to be the best mother, daughter and sister she could be, and she would
never turn her back on the people she loved.

Jamie
may have broken her heart in two, but Jake had repaired it. She still had the
scars, but the pain had finally dulled enough for her to find happiness again.

She
couldn’t let Jamie take that away.

She
put her son’s photograph in her drawer where no one could see it and felt a
little better. Jamie wouldn’t find out about Jake because he was going to walk
right back out of her life when this day was over. Maybe he was working with
Bradden Communications, but that didn’t mean he was working with her. Not if
she had anything to say about it.

Resolved,
she amended the contract to suit Jamie’s brewery and printed it out for him to
sign. Instead of bringing it into the conference room herself, she asked
Charlie’s new assistant to do it. The woman looked a little too eager to help,
and Grace got the feeling that she wasn’t the only one who had noticed how
great Jamie looked.

Well,
she could have him then.

Grace
went back to her desk and tried to take her mind off of Jamie by sinking
herself into her work. She glanced at the office door every few minutes, hoping
she would see him exit.

“Grace.”

The
sound of her name sent a shiver of longing down her spine, and she knew
immediately who was standing behind her. She spun around in her chair to face
Jamie and was infinitely glad she had hidden the photograph of Jake.

“Oh,
hi,” was all she could think to say.

“Hi.”
He was smiling down at her, all height and sex appeal. “I’m so glad we ran into
each other like this. You look amazing. You’re somehow even more beautiful than
I remember.”

She
felt herself blush. “Thank you. You look great, too. Congratulations on the
brewery. I’m so glad it all worked out for you.”

Something
flashed across his face that she couldn’t quite name, taking his smile with it.
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

In
the beat of silence that followed, something passed between them. She suddenly
felt foolish, like they were playing a game of pretend. She couldn’t believe
she was making small talk with Jamie after all they had been through.

“Will
you be heading back to New York now?” she asked as nonchalantly as she could.

“Oh,
no.”

“No?”

“I’m
staying at the Marriott about two miles from here,” he said. “I’m planning to
stick around for awhile and see this marketing plan through.”

Her
mouth dropped open for the second time that day. “But what about the brewery?”

“My
partners will take care of it. They know this is very important to me.”

“Oh.”

So
he was staying. Well, that certainly complicated things.

He
took a step toward her, and she craned her neck to look up at him. Jamie was
about a foot taller than her, and she couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t
one of the tallest men in the room.

She
used to find his height sexy, but now she felt like he was taking up the room
she needed to breathe.

His
leg brushed against her exposed knee, and she gasped.

He
grinned. “Since I’m going to be sticking around, we may as well take advantage
of it. Let me take you to dinner tonight. You can show me around the area and
fill me in on everything I’ve missed these past few years.”

Like
your son? She chewed nervously at her bottom lip, unsure of how to turn him
down without being rude or raising questions. This needed to be nipped in the
bud right now.

Then
she remembered she had Charlie, the perfect excuse. Not that she usually
thought of him as an excuse, but the situation called for every weapon she had.

“I
can’t,” she said, smiling awkwardly. “Charlie wouldn’t like it. I’m sorry.”

“Your
boss?”

“We’re
dating.”

“I
see.”

She
couldn’t help but notice the way the muscle in his jaw twitched, just a little.

“How
long have you two been together?”

“Not
long,” she said with a small shrug of her shoulders. “But we’ve known each
other almost two years, since I started working here.”

“And
he’s your boss?”

She
didn’t like his tone. “Yes, Jamie. He is my boss.”

The
muscle twitched again. “He asked you out?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

“What’s
that? What does ‘hmm’ mean?”

“Nothing.”

“If
you have something to say, say it. Don’t hold back on my account.”

“It’s
not my place.”

“I
never knew that to stop you.”

“Okay
then, I’ll say it. Don’t you think it’s a little inappropriate? He holds a
position of authority over you. Him hitting on you in the first place is sexual
harassment.”

She
felt her cheeks burn with something that felt an awful lot like shame and that
made her mad. Why should she feel guilty? She could date whomever she wanted
to.

“The
only thing that is inappropriate is you speaking to me like this,” she told
him. “I won’t be lectured by you or anyone about my personal life.”

“You’re
right. It’s none of my business,” he said coldly.

“That’s
right.”