The Wedding Hoax (3 page)

Damn it. If only her nipples would listen to reason. Currently, they were beaded so tight under his appreciative gaze, they ached with need and begged for his undivided attention.

She folded her arms across her chest, covering the evidence of what his gaze did to her.

His eyes met hers again, looking slightly glazed over for a moment before narrowing. He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Actually your business is my concern right now since the future of my magazine is currently at stake, based on the decision you make about your shop.” He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. “I’m not thrilled with the conditions on this deal, either, but the fact is, we’re both here because we need the money, and this is the deal we’ve been given to work with. So why don’t we discuss it before we decide?”

“Fine. Discuss.” She waved her hand at Cole to continue talking. She may as well let him say whatever it was he wanted to say, and then she could leave and never have to see him again.

Seeing Cole again, energized about his business and sitting there in his dress shirt and tie, looking professional and sexy as sin…she didn’t need this right now. He pulled at the knot in his tie, loosening it slightly so he could undo the top button of his crisp shirt. The newly exposed
V
of his collarbone pointed south, instantly reminding her about the playboy body he kept hidden under his professional attire. He’d damn near had a perfect six-pack of abs last year. What would she find this year?

Nothing, ’cause I won’t be looking.

She didn’t have time to deal with his six-pack, or any other part of him.

She definitely didn’t want to deal with the feelings seeing him was stirring up, either—hurt, anger, loneliness.

Damn it…desire, longing, lust.

She didn’t need any of that getting in the way of making the decision that was best for her boutique. She certainly didn’t need Cole getting in her way.

She pulled her cell phone from her pocket. She couldn’t believe her assistant Tonya hadn’t given her the full scoop about this meeting before convincing her to go.

Why didn’t you tell me Cole would be here?
She sent the text and waited for Tonya’s reply. If she’d known… A moment later her phone vibrated in her lap.

Would you have gone if I had?

Tonya knew her too well.
No!
She typed so hard on the touch screen her thumbs ached.

Then you have your answer. Whatever the deal is, it’s worth considering, isn’t it?

Daisy harrumphed at her phone
. You have no idea what he’s asking.

“Am I interrupting your important texts?” Cole asked. She didn’t need to look up to know he wore his pissed-off face right now. He hated being ignored. It felt good to annoy him. It felt great to know she got under his skin. She’d take this feeling over those other ones he’d been stirring up in her earlier.

She smirked as she opened her handbag to drop her phone back inside. As she zipped her bag closed, an envelope caught her attention—her mother’s homecare invoice, still waiting to be paid.

She sighed, knowing Cole was right. She did need this deal. “You were saying?”

“I don’t think this plan is ideal, either, but it’s all we’ve got right now. So the way I see it, we have two options. One, we can walk away from this deal and be no better off than we were when we walked into this room. Two, we can go along with it, play house for a while, and then walk away with a lot more room to breathe financially. What other kind of investment could we get that would give us this same kind of payoff so quickly?”

He made a good point. But was it good enough? Three hundred thousand dollars would go a long way to providing stability to the design house, and she might even be able to pay herself a real designer’s salary, which in turn would provide better care for her mom. And the marketing and advertising with the magazine and bridal-show expo definitely would help to get her designs out there for potential clients to see.

But could she manage six months engaged to Cole?

He peered at her with those electric-green eyes of his, waiting for her to say something. It had been so long since they’d been together, and yet looking at him now made it feel as if it was just yesterday that her heart had been broken.

If she didn’t go through with this deal, what would happen to the boutique? To Tonya? To her mother?

To her heart?

She sighed and rubbed her hands across her face as if doing so would somehow make her feel better. Truthfully, she knew the only way she’d feel better was to have a secure future for herself and the design house.

“Say I go along with this plan. We’d have to make it look good, or else we’ll all get called out on our scheme, and none of us can afford the bad press right now. At least not before we tell the public about the giveaways at the end. Do you really think you can give up your playboy ways? Keep it in your pants and not flirt with anything in a skirt?”

“I see you still think very highly of me. And yes, I think I can keep it in my pants.” He smirked. “Unless you ask me nicely not to.”

“Oh good, I see your pathetic sense of humor is still intact. That will make time with you go by real quick.”

He smiled. “So does that mean you’re willing to take Bridgewater’s deal?”

“On one condition,” she said. She forced as much confidence into her backbone as she could. She may not have done everything concerning her boutique right, but it was hers, and she was doing the best she could with it.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“You stay the hell away from anything concerning my business,” she demanded. This point was nonnegotiable. The last thing she needed was Cole butting his nose into her affairs where it didn’t belong.

“As long as you stay out of mine,” he shot back.

“Good. Then we have a deal.” She reached out and shook his hand. “And the same rule applies to my bed. Don’t even think about it. Just because we’re going to be engaged doesn’t mean I’m giving you any of the fiancé benefits.”

She took pride in the look of annoyance that flashed across Cole’s face at her words. Until she noticed his jaw clench and his eyes narrow. Uh-oh. She knew that expression of his too well.

Challenge accepted.

Chapter Four

“You really ready to do this?” Cole asked, coming to stand in front of her. His crisp black suit made his eyes vibrant and smile brighter. If she didn’t know him to be a businessman stuck in meetings most of the day, she would have guessed he was a model. Tall and broad and perfectly fit, his suit looked tailor-made for his physique. “Once we go out there, we can’t back out until after the wedding.”

They were tucked into a nondescript room waiting for their grand entrance into the party where they would officially be seen together for the first time as an engaged couple. Everyone they knew was in that room. Plus a bunch of people Mason had invited whom they didn’t know.

And of course the press had been invited, too. What better way to spread the news fast?

Daisy couldn’t have been more nervous.

She resisted the urge to wipe her sweaty palms across the thin satin material of her crimson dress. It clung to her curves and she prayed it would stay cool against her skin since her body felt as if it was overheating.

“Fake wedding,” she clarified. “And yes. I signed Mason’s paperwork, and I intend to go through with my end of the deal. Why? Are you getting cold feet already? Is even the thought of a fake engagement too much for the bachelor to endure?”

“I can handle it if you can,” he said, his voice challenging.

“This will be a breeze for me. Remember, I’m not the one afraid of sharing my life with someone forever. A fake forever is easy peasy.”

If only she felt as confident as she sounded. She did believe in forever, but only with someone she truly loved. And that wasn’t Cole. Maybe she’d thought he was before, but she’d learned her lesson when he’d chosen the single life over her. She’d been silly to let herself fall for the bachelor, thinking maybe her love might be enough to claim his heart forever. The truth was, he would never commit his heart to anyone forever, no matter how good they were together. Cole wasn’t a forever kind of guy, but Daisy was certainly a forever kind of girl.

But why was she thinking about that anyway? This was strictly an arrangement. A business deal. A means to an end. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Is Mason coming to get us, or are we supposed to go out there at some point on our own?” she asked, forcing her thoughts onto something more important than her past, present, or future with Cole.

“We’re supposed to go out there right around now.”

“Then let’s get this show on the road.” She moved to step around Cole, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“In a minute,” he said, his voice sounding serious all of a sudden. “First I wanted to give you something.”

She nodded, feeling slightly caught off guard by his touch. If she weren’t mistaken, she’d have to say he looked more nervous than she felt as he reached into his suit-jacket pocket and pulled out a little black box. His hand trembled as he opened the lid. Was that sweat on his brow?

“I know this isn’t a real engagement, but if we want people to believe that it is, then you should have this.” He thrust the now opened box toward her.

“You’re not getting down on one knee? Nice.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary, do you?”

“I was only kidding.” No she didn’t need him to get down on one knee, so why the hell did she say that? Her brain needed to hurry up and get with the program and stop making things more awkward and uncomfortable than they already were.

“But I’m going to tell people that I did. I don’t want our friends to think I don’t know how to propose properly.”

“Of course not. Just look at the bang-up job you’re doing today,” she joked.

Tucked inside the box sat a huge diamond on a glittering golden band. It was enormous. And totally over the top. Not at all the kind of ring she would pick for herself. Nor one she would have imagined Cole picking out, either. She’d always thought he had good taste in material things, but apparently that didn’t carry over to jewelry. This ring was uglier than possibly any other ring she’d ever seen before, although it might be a status symbol to some people.

Good thing she wasn’t stuck wearing this bad boy for life. Not that she’d say that to him. Even if they weren’t dating for real, she didn’t want to hurt the poor guy. It wasn’t his fault he had no apparent fashion sense.

“Thank you, it’s…lovely. You shouldn’t have.”
Really shouldn’t have.
She tried to sound appreciative. Even if it wasn’t her style, it was still thoughtful of Cole to go out and get this ring for her to add authenticity to their scheme. Of course he also could have asked for her guidance in finding her an appropriately pretty ring.

“It’s hideous,” he said, smiling weakly.

“Oh thank God you think so, too. I was really worried you’d lost all good taste when you broke up with me.”

“It was Bridgewater’s idea…and his purchase. I simply agreed to deliver it.”

“Always the romantic, aren’t you?” She could have been upset with Cole not caring enough to get her a ring on his own or worrying about buying one she liked. But really, who cared? This whole engagement was a joke, so she wasn’t about to take some silly ring seriously. Acting like she loved the ring was no different than acting as if she loved Cole.

She slid the ring on and it fit perfectly. She hadn’t even given Mason her size. The huge diamond weighed down her finger more than she expected, but surely she would get used to it soon.

“What do you think?” she asked, holding up her hand for Cole to see. “Look legit enough?”

He eyed her finger for a moment before answering. “Looks pretty good to me.” He met her gaze again. “There’s one more thing we should discuss. We’re supposed to be a happy couple, and I think they’re going to expect us to act like a happy couple.”

“Of course they are. I act like you’re the love my life and vice versa.”

“You know that may include us having to hold hands, look lovingly into each other’s eyes…kiss.” He cocked an eyebrow at her suggestively.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was in a relationship. I think I still remember how it all works. We’ll be fine.” She walked passed him and stopped with her hand on the door handle. “I’m not too worried about having to kiss you, either. I remember how to do that, too.”

Unfortunately, the memory of kissing Cole made her light-headedness worse, but she didn’t want him to know that a mere memory could affect her so deeply. Best to let him think that kissing him again would be no big deal when in reality, she wasn’t so sure she’d have to fake liking his lips on hers.

The mere thought of his kisses sent her back to the many times he’d pressed her against the wall, pinning her in place with his thigh between her legs and his tongue in her mouth, passion and fire leaving them scorched in a tangle of limbs on the hallway floor. How many times had they failed to make it to the bedroom?

She forced a deep breath into her lungs and pushed the memories from her mind, holding out her hand for Cole. He accepted, his hand fitting with hers exactly how she remembered—the gesture not helping to calm her racing heartbeat at all. In fact, touching him made it worse.

“Let’s get this fake party started, shall we?” He grinned, looking at ease with what they were about to do. If only she felt the same.

…

Cole slipped his arm around Daisy’s waist for the hundredth time that night. Each time he did, the movement became more familiar, more natural. As soon as he’d gotten his hands on her the first time, it was as if his mind took over, and he went into autopilot, falling fast into the old habits of their relationship. It was as if his body remembered dating her in intimate detail, right down to how he used to rub his thumb along her hip bone because she was a tiny bit ticklish on that spot.

She pressed her hand to his, stopping his thumb from moving again, and pulled it around her waist farther so his palm rested against her flat stomach, just below her belly button. The location was far more touchy-feely than he’d expected to get with her, but he didn’t mind in the least. In fact, Daisy felt wonderful tucked into his side. Better than he remembered, actually.

She glanced up at him, a gentle smile on her lips, looking content and happy and full of life. She could light up an entire room when she wanted to, and tonight was definitely one of those nights. She’d been positively radiant the whole evening, talking and joking with friends with so much ease and confidence, he’d forgotten at one point that they weren’t really engaged. He’d been just as caught up in the illusion as the rest of the guests.

But he wasn’t here as a guest. He was the man of honor alongside Daisy—her fiancé.

Damn. He never thought he’d use that word to describe himself, yet here he was, engaged. Fake engaged.

His brother slapped him on the shoulder. “What’s this I hear about you settling down? And with Daisy, no less. I don’t believe it.”

Well, he better start believing it quickly, because neither he nor Daisy could afford to have this deal fall apart now that they’d agreed to it.

“That’s right, Troy. It’s official. I’m off the market,” he said, forcing himself to smile at Daisy.

“Nice to see you again, Troy,” Daisy said, leaning in to kiss his brother on the cheek. He suddenly had the overwhelming and unreasonable urge to deck his brother.

“You too, Daisy. You’re not knocked up, are you?”

She laughed. “I’m not sure if I should hug you for thinking that Cole would allow himself to knock me up, or to hit you for saying I look pregnant in this dress.”

“Smooth, bro. Real smooth.” Cole hugged Daisy closer, stroking his fingers across her lower abdomen where she’d placed his hand earlier. There was no way a tiny belly like this one was knocked up or looked pregnant. “Don’t mind my idiot brother. He never has been good with the ladies.”

“Hey now. It was a legitimate question given your sudden marital change of heart. And I wasn’t implying you looked anything other than completely gorgeous tonight.”

“Thanks for clearing that up,” Daisy said and took a big sip of her champagne. The fact that she was drinking tonight should have been a dead giveaway that they weren’t getting married because of some baby. How many other people were thinking that very same thing? A fake wedding was one thing, but a fake pregnancy would definitely be pushing it too far.

“What’s this I hear about someone getting knocked up?” Cole’s father William said, joining them.

Cole scoffed. “No one’s pregnant. Can we stop staying it before anyone else overhears?”

“Good. A baby’s the last thing you can handle right now.” William laughed a deep belly-shaking rumble as if he’d heard the funniest joke of the century. “Can you imagine, him with a baby? Hell, a wife is bad enough. You’ve barely got your head above water at work as it is and now you think you have what it takes to add a relationship to the mix. That’s naïveté at its best.”

“Dad. Now’s really not the time to discuss the magazine, which is fine, I might point out.”

“Fine? Really? Are your standards so low the last quarter numbers are good to you?”

He swallowed nervously. His father wasn’t supposed to check in on him like this. He was supposed to let him run the magazine on his own without meddling. “I didn’t realize you were privy to those figures. I assure you, I’ve got big plans for this next quarter.”

“I’m sure you do. I just hope you’re able to implement them with this new ball and chain demanding your attention for this silly wedding.” Without awaiting a reply, William wandered off in search of his next victim.

Cole took a deep breath through his nose and clenched his teeth together. He would not rise to his father’s bait. He wouldn’t. Not here.

Even if he was right.

How the hell was he supposed to accomplish everything he needed to and still pay attention to every aspect of his magazine when he was busy planning a wedding?

Thank God it wasn’t a real one and he didn’t give a shit how it turned out. If there was one thing he’d learned from his father over the years, it was that Benton men could only focus on one thing at a time, which is why they made lousy husbands but great businessmen.

Troy wore a smug expression. “So how did you guys hook up again? I thought the big breakup was final.”

“We ran into each other again and sort of hit it off,” he said, being as vague but realistic sounding as he could.

“Where did you see each other? New York is a pretty big city to run into ex-girlfriends out of the blue.”

“At a party,” Cole said at the same time as Daisy said, “At a restaurant.”

Troy’s gaze shifted from one to the other, suspiciously questioning them without uttering a single word.

“A party at a restaurant,” Cole clarified, then took a gulp of his scotch. The liquid burned on the way down but instantly calmed his nerves.

“For a mutual friend,” Daisy added seamlessly.

See, they could pull this off. No problem. No one would ever find out that they weren’t really together until they chose to reveal the truth. Or that they weren’t really going to mean it when they said “I do” at the end of the aisle.

He involuntarily shivered at the thought of the upcoming fake wedding day. He’d need a lot of scotch to get through it. He suddenly understood why flasks were still sold.

“I suppose I should let you get to your other guests and not monopolize all of the happy couple’s time. Cole, the guys and I are grabbing a beer Tuesday after work at the Brew House. You joining us?”

He nodded, thankful for the change of subject and the thought of hanging out with his buddies for a night. Something he was used to. Something that would feel normal again since he hadn’t felt exactly normal since his meeting with Mason a few days ago. “Great. I’ll see you there.”

He held his smile on his face while he watched his brother disappear into the crowd. “That was close,” he said, leaning in to whisper in Daisy’s ear so no one would be able to overhear his words. “We need to be more careful.”

“We have to work out a backstory before our next function, or we’ll out ourselves not knowing simple answers to things. What else have you told people tonight that I should know?”

He didn’t like the look of concern in her eyes. “Nothing. I’ve been at your side most of the night, and when I was on my own, no one asked anything like Troy did. I think we’ll be okay if we stick together.”