The Beauty Series Bundle (4 page)

As the child of a single mother, I neither want nor need a child. I catch a rigor thinking about it. “Definitely not.”

Casual sex. Can I do this? At least when I was sleeping with Blake, I thought I loved him. As beautiful as he is, I don’t know if I can be intimate with Lachlan when I feel no love for him. Hell, I don’t even know him, but he says I will. And soon, it seems. “Is it difficult to end the relationship when it’s over?”

He’s so casual about the whole thing. “I’ve never had a problem with it. There’s no kind of attachment because we’re not together long enough, and we’re both aware of how things will end.”

But we wouldn’t be together for three to four weeks like his other relationships. We’d be together for three months. That seems like a big difference to me, but what do I know? I’m not the one who has done this before.

“So, in all that time, I wouldn’t meet your friends or family?”

“No. Meeting those people who are closest to me is too complicated. It would be impossible for you to meet them without learning who I am, and I don’t want the task of lying to them about what we are to each other.”

“So, they’d never know I existed. Of course, that makes sense.” I swallow hard. Am I really thinking of agreeing to this total madness? To becoming someone else’s secret? Haven’t I played that part enough already?

“Are you accepting? Because it sounds like you are.” His intense blue eyes smolder, begging me to tell him I will be his for the next three months.

“I’m not saying yes yet.”

“But, you’re not saying no.”

He wants this badly. “The only thing I’m agreeing to do is spend time with you. We’ll see how things go from there.”

He beams. “I need something to call you besides Yank or American girl.”

If I don’t know his real name, he doesn’t deserve to know mine. I try to think on my feet, but it’s hard to come up with an alias I’d like to be called for the next three months. I go with my middle name and my sperm donor’s last name. “Paige Beckett.”

He reaches across the table and strokes my fingers with his, igniting a swarm of butterflies low in my gut. “It’s very nice to meet you, Paige Beckett.”

I
already see
Paige Beckett isn’t going to make this easy for me. The others never made me wait for an answer. This is something new, but I like the thrill of not knowing. I don’t need to hear her say yes tonight because working to win her over is going to be so much more fun.

“And you are Lachlan who?”

Everyone knew me as Jack, but my mother called me Jack Henry my whole life, so I go with something that feels familiar. “Lachlan Henry.”

I’ve never used a name so similar to my real one, but I know why this is a first. Being coy with myself is useless; I don’t want to hear her shout another man’s name when I make her come. I want to hear her say my name, or at least some semblance of it.

I smile as I think about the things I will do to hear her call out my name. “And how old are you, Miss Beckett?”

“Seventeen.”

“What!” There is no way she’s seventeen. I inspect her face, studying it intently, but don’t know what it is I hope to find. Laugh lines maybe?

She watches my face. “Is my age a problem for you?”

“Hell, yeah, seventeen is a problem.” I throw my napkin on the table. All of this has been a waste. “Forget it all. This whole thing is off.”

“I don’t act seventeen. I’m very mature for my age.”

“No way. You’re not even old enough to be drinking that wine.” I lean in and whisper so no one will overhear. “I’m almost twice your age.”

“I don’t mind. I have daddy issues.” She breaks into a huge grin and I hear a girlish giggle. That’s when I realize she’s fucking with me and has the ability to lie with a straight face. I’ll have to remember that for future reference.

I’m not amused. “I see I have a comedienne on my hands.”

She’s still smiling, seemingly pleased by my sharp reaction. “I’m not really, but you walked right into that one and I couldn’t resist. Relax, I’m twenty-two, at least until the groundhog comes out in search of his shadow. How old are you?”

None of the women I’ve been with have been playful like she is. Since I always choose older women, she’s quite a bit younger than what I’m used to. At least fifteen years. Maybe twenty. Will she wonder if I’m too old for her the same way I’m wondering if she’s too young for me? “I’ll be thirty next month. Is that a problem for you?”

“Nope. I hope to be thirty in about eight years.”

All right, Jack. You could have your hands full with this one. Are you ready for her and what she could bring?

“Are you in school or do you have a profession?”

“I’m a musician.”

Oh, that explains why she sings and plays the guitar so well. “I heard you at the club the other night.”

“I didn’t know if you were there when I sang.”

I decline telling her I was the guy sitting in the corner being a creepy stalker. “You’re very good. I’ve never heard ‘Crash Into Me’ sound quite like that before. I won’t forget it anytime soon.”

She blushes like she’s not used to hearing compliments. “Thank you. It was a pretty big coincidence that we ended up at the same vintage dinner after running into each other at the club.”

Should I tell her how I worked everything out so I could see her again? Oh, why not? “I don’t think it can be called a coincidence since I already knew you were going to be there. I paid my waitress to find out if you’d be accompanying your friend’s brother.”

She gawks at me. “So, that’s why that waitress was so damn nosy?”

I smile with pride. “Yes, and I arranged for your friend’s wine to be temporarily misplaced so I could lure him away from you. You do realize he’s quite smitten with you?”

“You’re a master of manipulation.”

I notice the way she chooses to not acknowledge my comment about her roommate’s attraction and I wonder if she is well versed in the game of manipulation as well. “I prefer to call it determination.”

“And are you always that determined to get what you want?”

I go to extreme measures to have my way, but I think I’ll keep that to myself. “Within reason.”

“I’m not certain I want to hear anymore about the tactics you use to get what you want.” That’s probably a wise choice.

I decide to let her choose our new topic of conversation. “So, what would you like to hear about?”

She shifts her attention to the glass of wine in her hand. “Tell me more about what you do in the wine industry.”

That is an easy one. I can recite this in my sleep. “My employer owns a vast majority of the wineries across Australia and New Zealand. You can call me his right-hand man. I travel from vineyard to vineyard to oversee everything from the books to the harvest.”

She nods. “I see. Do you have family?”

“Yes.” She’s waiting for more of an answer, but I don’t budge.

“Do you see them often?”

“I visit when I’m in between vineyards.”

She gives me a quizzical look. “This is like pulling teeth with you. I just want to understand you better. I’m not asking you to tell me anything identifying.”

None of the other women were interested in knowing about my family, so I’m not well prepared for how to answer. “My oldies live outside Sydney. I have a younger brother. He’s married and has two little girls. I also have a younger sister still living at home. She’s a year younger than you and studies at a culinary institute.” That’s all she’s getting from me. “What about your rellies?”

“It’s just my mom and me.”

She doesn’t have a father? “What about your old man?”

“That’s a long story.”

Maybe it’s not fair of me to ask since I’m unwilling to share much about my family, but I want to know her story. “I don’t have anywhere to be.”

She looks like she’s settling in for a long explanation. “My mom was a rising musician when she got pregnant with me. My sperm donor was a famous country music star. They met when my mom signed with his label.” She shrugs. “He was married so they started having an affair. His wife didn’t take too well to finding out about her husband’s pregnant mistress, especially since she was pregnant too. I have a half-brother I’ve never met and he’s almost the exact same age as I am. Isn’t that charming?”

She lifts her wine glass to her mouth. “So, as you can see, I wasn’t joking when I said I had daddy issues.”

“That’s why you immediately asked me if I was married.”

She’s pushing food around her plate. “It’s only one of the reasons.”

“You didn’t eat much. I thought you weren’t scared to eat on a date.”

She shrugs again. “Nervous stomach, you could say.”

“If you’re finished, you want to get out of here?”

“Sure.”

We leave through the same revolving doors we used the previous night, but under very different circumstances. We stand on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant and Daniel pulls to the curb from across the street where he’s been waiting. He gets out to open the door, but I don’t have a clue where I’d have him drive us since I’m unfamiliar with Wagga Wagga. “It’s a beautiful night. Do you feel like walking?”

“Sure.”

I tell Daniel, “I’ll call when we’re ready to be picked up.”

He shuts the door. “Of course, sir.”

“Which way? Lady’s choice.”

She glances in both directions and shrugs as she points to her right. “Always go right and you’ll never go wrong.”

We start walking and I remember the shoes she’s wearing. She looks great in them, but there is no way they will be comfortable for walking. “Those heels are sexy as hell but don’t they hurt your feet?”

She laughs. “I’m used to wearing high heels. I’ll be okay. But it’s very considerate of you to think of my feet.”

I’m not sure if she’s being honest. “I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable, so please tell me if they hurt and I will call Daniel to pick us up.”

“I will.” She surprises me by looping her arm through mine. “Thank you for the beautiful flowers and breakfast you sent. Addison and I were almost drunk by ten o’clock. It was great.”

Flowers and breakfast were nothing compared to what I would give her if she agreed to be with me. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked the champagne. What about Australia? Are you enjoying it?”

“I like it very much, but I can’t get use to the idea of Christmas during summer.”

I had forgotten December is winter in the US. “I’ve never thought of it being any other way.”

“Will you spend Christmas with your family outside of Sydney?”

Her questions aren’t identifying, but they still make me uncomfortable. “Yes. Everyone gathers at my parents’ on Christmas Eve and we spend Christmas Day together. It makes for an interesting night with my brother’s kids waiting for Santa to come since the oldest is three now.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun.”

I can tell she’s an only child. “It is fun for about two minutes, and then everyone is sick of each other.”

She stops dead in her tracks and places her palms against the glass window of a store. “Look at that. I think it’s a Martin D-45.”

I inspect the guitar on the stand in the window and see nothing special about it. It just looks like any other to me. “I take it that’s good?”

I think she might be amused by my question when I see her grin. “Yes, that’s very good. I’ve dreamed of having one forever.”

“Why haven’t you gotten one?”

She gazes into the window and reminds me of a child wishing for a toy at Christmas. “Because a D-45 costs about twelve grand.”

“Shouldn’t you have one if you’re going to be a successful musician?”

“Sure, I need one, but that doesn’t mean I can afford it. I have my mom’s guitar to get me by until I can afford one. It’s older than I am, but it’s still good.” Her hands are still splayed against the storefront glass. “She’s never told me so, but I think the sperm donor gave it to her. Sometimes I catch her playing it and she looks like she’s been crying.”

She wasn’t kidding about having daddy issues.

“I’ll have a Martin one day,” she sighs as she steps away from the storefront.

We continue our walk until we come to the next street and I see the sign for Stout Avenue. “The Blues Club shouldn’t be far from here. You want to swing by and see what’s happening?”

“Sure. Which way do you think it is?”

“One way to find out.” I pull out my phone and use an app to find it several blocks to the north. “It’s six blocks that way.”

She lifts her foot from one of her shoes and inspects it. “I don’t know if I can walk six blocks. My heels are starting to rub.”

“You said you would tell me if they hurt. I don’t want you to be in pain. I’ll call Daniel.”

She lifts the other foot and inspects it. “Would you think I was weak if I let you?”

“I don’t think for one minute there’s anything weak about you.” I spot a bench on the sidewalk. “We’ll wait for him here.”

While awaiting Daniel’s arrival, we sit on the bench and I reach for her feet. “Let me see what we’ve got going on here.”

She resists as I try to pull her feet into my lap. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m going to rub your feet while we wait for Daniel.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.”

She gives in and twists on the bench to put her feet in my lap. I slip off her shoes and begin rubbing the first foot. “If you say yes, I will pamper you everyday like a princess.”

She laughs, clearly not realizing how serious I am. “That certainly sweetens the offer and makes it more tempting.”

I slide my palm from her foot up her calf. “I don’t want my offer to be tempting. I want it to be irresistible, so tell me what it will take for you to say yes.”

She studies me and grins. “I need time, and I need to know you better.”

She’s always guarded, but I’m impatient, so the time she needs for getting to know me is the one thing I don’t want to give her. Doesn’t she understand we can do that after she agrees?

In a fine example of Daniel’s impeccably wrong timing, he pulls up as I am trying to warm Paige to the idea of us. I slip her shoes back onto her feet. When she stands, I scoop her in my arms and carry her to the car where Daniel is waiting with the opened door.

Her arms are around my neck and she gives me a disapproving look. “I think this is a little over the top.”

“I tend to be that way, and you’d do well to remember that. I meant it when I said I didn’t want you in pain and I’d pamper you like a princess.”

She giggles again like that seventeen-year-old girl she pretended to be earlier. “I think I could’ve managed the few steps it would’ve taken me to get to the car.”

We slide across the backseat. “This is me trying to persuade you to say yes, Paige.”

“I thank you, but it’s quite unnecessary. And I hope you don’t think you’re carrying me from the car into the club because that’s not happening.”

“We’ll see.”

Daniel stops on the street in front of The Blues Club. “I’m not getting out unless I’m walking on my own. No sneaking to scoop me up again. Got it, Jack?”

I whirl around before I get out of the car. She has called me Jack for a second time. “Yes, ma’am.”

I get out of the car and offer my hand. “Thank you.”

She’s standing in front of me and I can’t resist asking, “Why do you call me Jack?”

“I don’t know. It’s something my mom has always said, so I say it too. Sort of like when I asked you if you wanted to dance when we were trying to dodge around each other.”

“Oh.”

We walk into the club and sit at a table close to the stage. There is a full band tonight and I recognize “Every Breath You Take” by The Police.

Paige pecks the tabletop with her fingertips to the beat and a waitress comes to our table. We’re sitting right next to the speakers, so she yells out over the music, “What can I get for you?”

Paige smiles and winks at me when she places her order. “I’ll have a screaming orgasm, please.” Hell, yeah. She’ll have plenty of those over the next few months if I have anything to do with it.

“And for you?”

Interesting drink choice. Interesting enough that I think I might need to try one. I stare at Paige as I call out my order. “I’ll have a screaming orgasm also.”

I slip out of my jacket and toss it across the empty chair next to me. “Do you always wear a suit?”