Packaged Husband

by Noelle Adams

  “I’m always glad to hear it again.” He wraps an arm around me, adjusting my position slightly. “What did you want to do?”

  “I wanted to go to Masterson’s this morning—before the reopening. I wanted to walk around the store with you the way you used to with your grandfather.”

  Owen is silent, but I feel an emotional tension in his body. When I glance up at his face, I see why.

  “You want to do that with me?” he asks hoarsely.

  “Yes. I do. I’m so proud of you. And all you’ve done over the past year. I know it’s just one store you’ve redone so far, but it feels like this is the culmination of all your work. I want to walk through it with you. If you want to do that with me.”

  He presses a kiss into my hair. “I do. We’ll have to get there pretty early though to avoid all the hassle just before opening.”

  “I know. I’m ready to get up anytime.”

  “What about sex?”

  I slide a hand down his chest to feel the front of his underwear, smiling when I discover that he’s not hard. “Sex can wait until later. The store is the most important thing right now.”

  WE GET UP, SHOWER, and dress quickly so we’re at the big downtown Masterson’s at just after seven.

  Owen lets us in with his key, and we walk around the beautifully redesigned store, complete with two exclusive collections and a much more trendy, contemporary look than the old Masterson’s. He’s made deals with several more designers over the past months, but it will be a year or two before some of the new lines are stocked in the stores.

  Everything is perfect. I’m so giddy I can hardly keep from giggling as we complete the circuit.

  Owen has been holding my hand the whole time. He’s been quiet, but his grip is tight, and I know he’s happy and emotional too.

  He kisses me when we finish our tour. I wrap my arms around his neck.

  “I’m so proud of you,” I whisper.

  “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  He means it.

  I know he does.

  He was the first man who ever took me seriously, and he’s still the man who believes in me more than anyone else.

  I have no idea who I’d be without him.

  “Are you crying?” he asks, scanning my face.

  I swipe my fingers at one eye. “No. I’m just happy.”

  He catches a tear below my other eye before it falls. His expression is very tender. “Good. I am too. And I actually wanted to... mention something.”

  “What is it?”

  He rubs his jaw and glances away.

  “What is it, Owen?” I ask. “What are you nervous about?”

  He meets my eyes with a rueful look. “Mary is retiring.”

  This is a surprise, so my eyes get big. “For sure?”

  “Yes. In three months. Her husband just retired, and they want to move to Florida. So she’ll be leaving in three months.”

  “Well, you know I love Mary, and I’ll miss her. But this is a good opportunity for you to put someone else in her position.”

  Owen nods. “I know. And I’ve been thinking. I’m going to restructure some stuff when she retires and put a Senior Vice President over that area. So I won’t be directly supervising the buying staff.”

  I nod, listening and thinking. “Okay. That’s a good idea.”

  “I won’t be directly supervising the buying staff.”

  I frown at this since he just said it. “Okay.”

  “I won’t be directly supervising the buying staff.” His voice has gotten low and soft. “Are you understanding me yet?”

  I stare at him, suddenly realizing what he’s telling me. “Oh. Oh.”

  He cups my cheek with one hand. “Chelsea, if you want to find another job when your internship is over, I completely understand. I’ll support you no matter what. But I would love for you to work for Masterson’s. We still need you. I still need you. And I would love for Masterson’s to get all your brilliance and not someone else.”

  I giggle stupidly and cover my mouth with my hand. “I’m not brilliant, Owen.”

  “Yes, you are. And it’s fine if you don’t want that. Or you’re not sure. Or if you want to look around and see if you can get something better. But I wanted it to at least be a possibility for us to keep you.” He clears his throat and glances down. “If you want.”

  I throw my arms around him. “Of course I want to work for Masterson’s! It’s what I’ve always wanted. I just didn’t think there would be a way for us to work it out.”

  “I think we can.” His arms around me are tight, urgent, nakedly needy. “I think we can make it work.”

  I bury my face in his suit jacket. He dressed up for the reopening. “It sounds perfect. It would make me so happy.”

  “If you’re sure. I don’t want you to feel pressured to work for Masterson’s, just because I want you so much.”

  “I don’t feel pressure. I feel exactly right about it. I feel exactly right about everything. I never dreamed I could ever be this happy. I guess all I needed was an old fuddy-duddy.”

  He kisses me one more time. “Well, this old fuddy-duddy is going to be yours forever.”

  Nothing could sound better to me.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE: This was supposed to be the last book in the Trophy Husband series, but I got inspired for one more book—about the grown daughter of Pop’s fiancée. I’m not sure when it will be coming out since I’ll have to fit it into my release schedule, but you can be looking for one last book in the series.

  My next release will be Living with Her Fake Fiancé, the third book in the Loft series. You can find an excerpt on the following pages.

  If you want to keep up with my new releases and sales, you can sign up for my monthly newsletter.

  If you want book discussion and insider information on my books, you can join my Reader Group on Facebook. Just ask to join and I’ll approve you.

  If you want a complete list of my books, including series and tropes, you can go to my Printable Book List.

  Excerpt from Living with Her Fake Fiancé

  CHLOE CAME TO SIT DOWN, slipping off her high heels and folding one leg up on the bed while letting the other dangle. Her eyelashes were thick and dark, and she lowered them almost shyly. “I guess since you got out of there like a bat out of hell, you know what I’m going to ask you.”

  Brent forced himself to speak through the block in his throat. “I’d... I’d be terrible at it.”

  Her eyes flew up, as if what he’d said surprised her. “No, you wouldn’t. You’d be fine. I don’t need a good talker or someone to charm Mima. I just need a male body.”

  Maybe some guys would think her words were an insult, but they actually made Brent feel better. She knew him well enough to understand his concern. “I get so nervous sometimes I can barely talk.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll just tell Mima you’re shy. She’ll probably like that. You’re not going to have to say much of anything. Just let me introduce you to Mima as my fiancé. That’s all.”

  “Just the one time?”

  Her face twisted. “Well, no, it will probably have to be more than once. She’s going to stay for a couple of weeks, so we’ll need to have a few meals with her and maybe you’ll come to Mass with us on Sunday morning and maybe... It will be a couple of weeks’ worth of pretending. I know it’s a lot to ask.”

  He breathed in and then out slowly. He desperately wanted to help her, and she seemed sincere in her belief that his social inadequacies wouldn’t be a major obstacle. “So I could just sit there? Not talk or anything?”

  “Yes!” She reached out to touch his knee, and it caused his skin to tingle, even through the thick fabric of his jeans. “You could just sit there. You’d probably relax a little after a few days, so you could answer direct questions and everything. But I would cover for anything you had trouble answering. And I’ll just tell Mima you’re shy and it takes you a while to warm up with new people. It wouldn’t even be a
lie, right?”

  He gave a huff of dry amusement. “Right.”

  “So you’ll... you’ll think about it?”

  “Yeah.” He swallowed hard, wondering what the hell he was getting himself into. “I’ll... I’ll do it. If you can’t find anyone better.”

  “I don’t want anyone better. You’ll do just fine. Thank you so much!” She was beaming at him, and it was starting to go to his head. “What can I do for you to repay you?”

  He dropped his eyes. “You don’t have to repay me,” he mumbled.

  “Yes, I do. I want to. Is there anything I can do for you?” She paused, obviously thinking quickly. “Do you want me to set you up with a friend of mine? I could find you someone really cute and sweet.”

  He rubbed his beard, feeling his cheeks flush. When he couldn’t get a sound out, he shook his head instead.

  “Are you sure? You don’t date very much. Oh. Are you into... into guys?”

  “No!” He cleared this throat, embarrassed by his vehemence. He just didn’t want Chloe to get the wrong idea. “I like girls.”

  He risked a glance up at her and saw something like relief on her face. He didn’t understand it, but it made his heart skip a few beats.

  “So let me find you a nice girl.”

  “I’m... terrible with girls. You wouldn’t want to do that to one of your friends.”

  “Well, that’s okay. A lot of girls don’t mind—Oh, I know what I can do to repay you! I can help you with girls.”

  “Help me?”

  “Yes, help you. Help you get more comfortable around them. Help you talk to them and everything. How about that?”

  “I don’t need...” He didn’t finish the sentence since it would be an obvious lie.

  He needed all the help with girls he could get.

  “It wouldn’t do any good,” he managed to say instead.

  “Yes, it would. I’m good at that kind of thing. I’ve dated tons, and I know girls a lot better than you do. Why shouldn’t I be able to help you?” Her eyes were wide and questioning.

  She clearly had absolutely idea that he was totally gone on her.

  Since she was waiting for a response, he made himself mutter, “Okay. Thanks.”

  She clapped her hands excitedly. She was always like that. Bright as a ray of sunshine. Spilling over with whatever she was feeling. He’d never known anyone so full of light, bursting into a room and filling it with her warm glow.

  “So have you ever had a real girlfriend?” she asked.

  “Yes.” He was glad he was able to answer at least this question in the affirmative. “I got together with a girl in my senior year of high school and we dated all through college.”

  “Oh. Wow. You were with her a long time. Was she your only serious girlfriend?”

  “Yeah. Pretty much.”

  “When was the last date you went on?”

  “I don’t know. About a year ago. I tried online dating and did okay until it got time to actually meet them in person. Then I always... blew it.”

  “So what do you need most help with?” she asked, clearly ready to get to work.

  Half-embarrassed and half-excited, Brent was too flustered to be speechless. “Everything.”

  “I’m sure that’s not true. You seem to warm up once you get to know people. Is it just meeting women at the beginning that’s the hardest for you? Approaching them? Making the first steps?”

  “No. It’s everything.”

  “Everything?” Her hand had returned to his knee, and she was just resting it there.

  The touch felt like it branded him, and it was so distracting that he didn’t guard his words. “Everything. I haven’t done... anything.”

  He always did this. He couldn’t seem to talk when he wanted to, and then he’d end up blurting out the most inappropriate thing he ever could have said.

  A wave of heat washed over him, killing his earlier chill of nerves.

  Chloe’s eyes were bigger than he’d ever seen them. Her full lips parted slightly as she stared at him.

  She knew now.

  She knew.

  “Brent?” she asked after a minute. “Are you saying... Have you never...”

  His shoulders slumped. No sense in pretending. He was the world’s worst liar. “Never.”

  YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE about Living with Her Fake Fiancé here.

  About Noelle Adams

  NOELLE HANDWROTE HER first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she writes full time, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.

  She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.