The Hookup Hoax (15 page)

Thank God the man came prepared, because she certainly hadn’t. Stopping now that he hovered over her again, wasn’t an option she wanted to go with. She wanted Sawyer again, now.

Spreading her legs, she pulled him down on top of her, gasping as his erection pressed against her in just the right place. She squirmed beneath him, begging for more direct contact.

He didn’t disappoint. Thrusting his hips, he rubbed the sweet spot between her thighs. Even with material still separating them, he had enough talent to bring her to the edge and push her over it. But before she got anywhere close, he stopped and sat back on his heels.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, suddenly panicked. “Is someone coming?” What if his family came looking for them? She would die a million deaths of embarrassment.

“Relax, sugar. The only one coming is you. Well, I will too, eventually.” He winked, then slowly untied the strings at her hips, as if he were unwrapping a delicate package. His expression of eager anticipation made her giggle. “Something funny?”

Her response turned into a moan in her throat when his tongue swept across her newly exposed skin, sending her head spinning. The laughter vanished, replaced by deep breaths and shaky gasps. Every flick and swirl of his tongue on her needy flesh was like a shot of electricity through her body. She rocked her hips, keeping pace with his movements, intensifying each one until she felt as if her body was about to explode like a firework. When he finally moved up her body to her breasts, she quivered with aftershocks.

Sunlight warmed her breasts as he pushed the tiny triangles of material to the side. His teeth nipped at her tight buds, sending another round of shockwaves through her body. She wiggled her hips against him, begging him for more.

Grabbing the foil packet, he sheathed himself and inched into her, achingly slow.

She expected him to feel cold from the lake, but instead he was hot and hard and huge moving inside her. Wrapping her legs around him, she thrust her hips, taking him deeper. He groaned and picked up his pace, kissing her neck and nibbling her collarbone.

She stopped him long enough to make him roll over onto his back, and then she climbed on top, straddling his hips. Slowly lowering her body, she took every inch of him, moaning as he hit the spot inside that made her tremble. His hands slid up her thighs until they reached her heat, rubbing circles against her skin.

Clinging to him with every thrust, she called out his name as waves of pleasure crashed over her like the tide on a stormy sea. He responded, pulling her down onto his chest, covering her mouth with his, claiming her.

In that moment, she was his, and she’d never felt more complete.

Chapter Sixteen

Sawyer squinted up into the bright sky. A few puffball clouds drifted past, casting shadows on the ground and providing a minute or two of shade for their sun-kissed bodies. He really should have put on sunscreen earlier, but given his current situation, with Olivia’s body tucked into his side, he really couldn’t complain. Sunburn was a tiny, insignificant price to pay to have this afternoon with her, alone and naked, on the beach at the cabin.

Maybe it was the afterglow of sex talking, or maybe it was simply something she did to him, but regardless, he hadn’t been this content and happy in a long time.

She made him want to change. With her around, he wanted to slow down, take it easy. He still cared about the future of his company, but she had a way of making him forget about it for a few minutes and see that other things were important too.

He finally understood the future she wanted to have someday. Being with someone like Olivia, having a home like the cabin, being successful at work—he got why she wanted all of that now that she was back. Part of him wished he could be the one to give it all to her. She’d done so much for him, with the cabin and work and during their fake relationship. Too bad he couldn’t offer her more than housing and a job reference. She deserved better than that…better than him.

“My dad and I used to come here all the time. It was our little oasis.”

She propped herself up on an elbow beside him, her hand resting on his chest over his heart. He wondered if she could feel it beating, calm and steady, beneath her palm. “What did you guys do here?”

“While everyone else was still asleep, we’d dig up worms and grab our poles and be out on the lake as the sun was cresting that ridge.” He pointed off into the distance. It probably looked like any other hill, but to him it was a reminder of all the things he’d lost. The thought that he might have to add the cabin to that list worried him.

“I bet you miss it.”

“I do. That’s our—well, my—little boat over there. I haven’t been out in a long time. Too busy with work to give up an entire weekend and come here. Sunday dinner is about as much as I have time for. Sterling Enterprises isn’t going to save itself.”

“It doesn’t need to. You’re going to land the Marcus project, I know it.”

Hearing her confidence in his abilities made his chest tighten. He’d never taken so much pride in his work as he did in that moment.

It also made him realize how his work got in the way of so many other aspects of his life, and made him wish there was a better way to balance it all. As it was, he couldn’t stop feeling like he was doing a piss poor job of living. Like she said, he needed to take better care of himself, and exist for more than work, the bar, and soccer.

How the hell did Olivia know him so well? Didn’t he feel better today, here with her, not working, than he had in months? Wasn’t that true the other times she’d been at his side, even while they poured over Marcus project notes, or carpooled to work, or ate Chinese takeout straight from the container?

He rolled to his side, facing her. The bruise on her ribs was another reminder of how he put the wrong things first. “I wish I’d been the one to offer to grab the power washer for Gramps, then I would’ve taken you out on the boat and you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

It took him a good minute of staring off into the distance before he finally met her gaze and cleared his throat. “When I heard you scream, all I could think was that it was happening again. I was losing someone to the lake.”

Cupping his jaw, she peered into his eyes. “No one should have to live through what you have.”

He drew circles on her skin as he spoke. “It took me back to when my parents died. I could barely think straight. I could’ve killed Tyler for joyriding with you.”

She smiled, her eyes twinkling. “Careful, Sawyer. I might start thinking you care about me on a deeper level. That would be bad for your whole carefree-bachelor persona.” Hopping to her feet, she pulled on her sundress and slipped into her sandals. “Come on. We should head back. We can’t hang out here all afternoon. Your family might get the wrong idea about us.”

“What? Like we’re a couple, sneaking off to fool around?” Didn’t sound as terrible as he once thought it would. Did it sound terrible to her?

“Exactly.”

He put on his clothes over his now mostly dry boxer briefs, taking his time as he pulled himself back together. The term
couple
used to send a chill up his spine, but now it didn’t bother him. Of course, Olivia wouldn’t look at them as a couple because she wanted a relationship with someone who could offer her a real future. He still didn’t feel like the guy to give that to her.

So why did he suddenly feel like this thing with Olivia was more than a hookup hoax?

…

Walking the path back to the cabin, Olivia heard talking up ahead, though she couldn’t make out the voice. “Who’s that?” she whispered.

Sawyer paused, listening.

The person spoke again. “I’ll need to make a few improvements over the winter, but mostly cosmetic stuff.”

“It’s Tyler.” Sawyer inched forward.

“I’d like to have it on the market by spring. I’m ready to unload it.” Tyler laughed at something they couldn’t hear, obviously talking on his cell. “Yeah, sounds good. Let me know what the other cabins sell for this summer and what amenities they have. I want top dollar for this place with minimal work.”

When he hung up and started back toward the cabin, Sawyer blocked his path. “What the hell was that about? Are you planning on selling the cabin?” Sawyer’s voice sounded barely controlled. She didn’t blame him at all. Why would anyone work so hard to win the deed only to sell it?

“It’ll be my cabin by then, and yeah, I am.”

“Why would you do that?”

Tyler looked away, fumbling as he tried to shove his phone back into his pocket.

“Tell me. Why work so hard to get the cabin and then sell it?”

“A little extra money—or a lot, according to my realtor—could go a long way to making life more comfortable with the new baby.” He met his gaze for a minute before looking out to the lake. “Things haven’t been stable at work, and with the house and new SUV payments…”

“You could get a second job. Or ask for help. You don’t need to go so far as to swindle the cabin out of the family and sell it.”

“You should talk. If you’re such an honorable grandson, then what the hell is she doing here?” Tyler sneered viciously.

She took a step toward Sawyer’s side. Something about the way Tyler always looked at her gave her the creeps.

“You will not speak to my girlfriend like that. She’s here because I invited her here, and in case you haven’t noticed yet, Gran is thrilled to have her. Think Gran will be thrilled to hear your plan to sell the cabin?”

Tyler shrugged. “Think Gran will be happy to hear Olivia’s some girl you’re using to win?”

Olivia held her breath and peered up at Sawyer. How the hell did Tyler know the truth? They’d been in character and convincing as a couple this whole time, hadn’t they?

Sawyer laughed easily, as if Tyler’s accusations meant nothing. “I don’t know where you got that crazy idea, but it’s not true.”

She bit her lip, looking at the ground. Hearing him say the words, talk about their relationship, made it feel so real, almost as real as her feelings a few minutes ago, when he’d been inside of her and the world around them had disappeared into a haze of lust and love.

Her chest constricted. Did she love him?

Being with him was beyond anything she’d hoped to find in the person she’d spend the rest of her life with, but he was more than that. Every time he let her in a little bit deeper, shared more about his parents, hearing the pain in his voice when he thought she was in danger on the lake…it seeped into her soul, joining them on a primal level. Sure, they made sparks fly in the sack, but never had she experienced this feeling of absolute connectivity with a man. Sawyer had quickly become a part of her entire essence.

He’d claimed her heart.

Tyler puffed up his chest defensively. “On the boat, Olivia was talking to herself about some kind of plan and deal. It didn’t take me long to put it all together. The coincidence of your sudden relationship, and them signing over the cabin, she was in the right place at the right time, wasn’t she?”

Had she mentioned the plan when she was scared out of her mind on the boat? No. Maybe?

Sawyer’s jaw visibly clenched.

“Do you really think we’d be sleeping together if we weren’t a couple?” Olivia asked. “Our feelings for each other are…”

Sawyer continued when she trailed off. “Our feelings are real.”

“I love him and I don’t care what you think you heard,” she added quickly and without thought.

Oh shit. I said that out loud.

Sawyer shot her a questioning look.

“What’s Olivia’s middle name?” Tyler asked.

Sawyer swore under his breath. They were caught.

“I knew it,” Tyler said.

Defending their relationship to the rest of the family wasn’t on her to-do list for the day, not when she was confused about what her feelings really were. Did she love him? Did she simply love having someone like him around? Was the hookup lust clouding her brain and toying with her emotions?

“They’ve always valued loyalty to family over anything else,” Sawyer said. “Regardless of my relationship status, I’ll keep this cabin in the family forever. If I never have my own children, I’ll give it to someone who deserves it, someone who’s blood. Can you say that?”

“Telling them we’re both lying only makes it more likely they’ll decide not to give it to either of us. I’m not willing to risk an outsider getting this place. I’ll keep quiet if you will.”

“Okay, but if you or Sophia so much as whisper a hint about this to anyone, our deal is off.” Sawyer pulled her by the hand toward the house. He didn’t stop until they were back in their room with the doors and windows closed.

Gripping her shoulders, he stared at her as if he were trying to see directly into her soul. “Did you mean what you said back there? Do you…” He paused, searching her eyes for the truth while his hands slid up her neck and into her hair. “Do you love me?”

She did
not
love him. She was only caught up in their act and making more out of the connection she felt with him. That’s all. Sure. She wanted to look away but couldn’t. Did she love him? She didn’t know. The thought of their charade ending soon didn’t sit well in her. But did she actually
love
him?

A raw pain erupted in her chest. She did.

But it didn’t matter. He was a sworn bachelor. He would never love her back. Time and time again, she’d mistaken his fake feelings for real ones, only to have him laugh off their situation. Could she handle it if he laughed off her love for him, too? Nope. She couldn’t deal with that kind of whole-hearted rejection again.

“Apparently my acting skills are improving,” she laughed nervously, hoping he bought her lie.

Something that looked a lot like pain flashed through his eyes as his shoulders drooped. For a second she expected him to start yelling, but then he chuckled and nudged her arm playfully.

“I knew you’d be a great partner in this scam. Impressive.” Without another word, he walked out of the room.