Raise Your Game

by Cassia Leo

  I blow on my fingernails and buff them against my T-shirt. “Thank you. I’m quite proud of that throw.”

  “You see?” Logan complains, just the way we rehearsed. “She doesn’t even acknowledge that I landed my axe on the bull’s-eye on the second try. On the bull’s-eye. She’s constantly cutting down my manhood.”

  Mahoe tilts her head. “How does that accusation make you feel, Sophie?”

  I gasp. “It makes me furious! And it’s totally not true. I don’t cut down his manhood, unless by manhood he’s referring to his dirty, stinking lies!”

  Dr. Mahoe opens her mouth to speak, but Logan cuts her off.

  “Lies?” he replies incredulously.

  “Yes, lies! L-I-E-S. Lies. You know, that thing you do every time you open your mouth.”

  “Name one time I’ve lied to you?”

  I open my mouth to reply, but he cuts me off the same way he cut off Dr. Mahoe.

  “And I mean lied to you specifically. Not anyone else, just you. When have I lied to you?”

  I swallow hard as I realize he’s going off script. My mind scrambles for a way to steer the argument back toward the fake marital problems we discussed this morning, but the fierceness in his eyes is so damn sexy it’s muddying my thoughts.

  “I’m… I’m not going to get into a he-said-she-said argument with you in front of Dr. Mahoe.”

  His piercing gray eyes are locked on mine. “I’ve never lied to you.”

  I tear my gaze away and face Dr. Mahoe. “Sometimes, when I go to sleep before him, he’ll…” I pause as I try to remember what fake breach of trust I’m supposed to bring up here, but my mind is blank. “He’ll… Sometimes, he’ll…”

  “Watch you sleep?” Logan offers, which is not at all what we agreed I should say. “Can you blame me? You’re adorable with that pineapple on your head.”

  I draw in a deep breath. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

  “What were you going to say, Sophie?” Mahoe prods.

  “I was going to say…that… Sometimes, he stays up too late watching porn.”

  Mahoe turns to Logan. “How does this accusation make you feel, Logan?”

  He shrugs. “It’s true, but it’s only because of her rules. She has all these rules that make it forbidden to touch her. But all I want to do is touch her…all day. I can’t think of anything else.”

  What the hell is he doing?

  He chuckles. “I mean, come one. Look at her.”

  Mahoe squints as she tilts her head again. “Tell me more about these rules you have, Sophie.”

  I flash Logan a peeved look for forcing me to improvise. “I don’t know why he’s calling them rules. I don’t have rules. I have…guidelines. You know, just to keep us from straying from our marriage vows.”

  “Hmm,” Mahoe ponders this for a moment. “Can you be more specific about these guidelines? For instance, do these guidelines determine when and where Logan can be intimate with you?”

  I am going to murder him when we leave this office.

  “Go ahead, honey,” Logan says with a satisfied grin. “Tell her about your rules.”

  I shrug as my confidence returns. “It’s really not a big deal. I don’t like public displays of affection, so I’ve asked him to please stop groping me in public.”

  “And how does that make you feel, Logan?”

  “It makes me frustrated,” he replies with ease. “As long as we’ve been together, she still drives me crazy. I crave her like a junkie craves a fix. I just want her to feel loved and desired.”

  Oh, man, he is really busting out the charm.

  Mahoe nods. “I see. I think I’m starting to get a picture of what’s going on here. Unfortunately, this is only a ten-minute intake session, and I have other couples to counsel. I’m going to wrap up this session by asking you both what you hope to get out of this retreat? Sophie?”

  I shake my head as I try to come up with something that doesn’t make me sound like the prude Logan has made me out to be. “I just want to be able to trust him. I don’t… But, you know, once a cheater, always a cheater. I don’t know if I can ever trust him.”

  Logan is silent for a moment before he grabs my hand and gives it a light squeeze. “I just want to earn her trust back. I want to be Team Ka’pipi forever.”

  Dr. Mahoe smiles. “That’s beautiful, Logan.”

  “Thank you,” he says as I wrench my hand from his grasp.

  Chapter 7

  LOGAN

  As we’re leaving Dr. Mahoe’s office, I can feel the hot fury coming off Sophie while we make our way down to the hotel lobby. “Are you going to ignore me all day?”

  Sophie stops in the middle of the elevator vestibule, which opens onto the lobby. “Exactly what were you trying to do in there? Are you trying to blow our cover? Because if that’s what you’re trying to do, that little performance in Dr. Mahoe’s office was a great start.”

  I chuckle, but judging by the raw anger in her hazel eyes, that was the wrong reaction. “I know you had your whole script planned out for that therapy session, but in my line of work — and I am semi-successful in my line of work — I’ve always found that shooting from the cuff works better than prepared statements when trying to convince someone of your sincerity.”

  She opens her mouth to respond then closes it again to think quietly for a moment. “Well, next time you want to change up the strategy, a little forewarning would be appreciated. We are supposed to be a team, right? And this little operation we have going on is equivalent to the World Series championship. I think our team needs to stay on the same page. Got it?”

  “You’re right. There’s no I in team. Anyway, that script sucked. I considered just making up some stupid marital problems. Like, my wife is furious at our next-door neighbor who likes to sunbathe naked in her backyard. Personally, I’m on the fence. Then, I realized I’d get a more honest reaction from you if I just said something to piss you off. But that thing about the pineapple is totally true. It’s fucking adorable.”

  She rolls her eyes. “So, what are we doing now? We have, like, three hours before the next activity on the agenda.”

  I pull my phone out of my pocket to check the time and see I have a text notification. “I have a message from Everett. Let me check this.”

  I tap the notification and read the first sentence aloud:

  * * *

  Everett:

  Meet me in the hotel bar at 1 PM.

  * * *

  I don’t read the second sentence in his message, which reads: We need to discuss the findings from the ethics committee’s investigation.

  “Why would he want to have lunch with you? Don’t you two hate each other?”

  “He probably just wants to talk business. We did just buy out a $320 million publishing company, remember?”

  Sophie doesn’t seem to be paying attention to me anymore. Her eyes are focused on something in the lobby. But when I turn my attention in the same direction, I realize she’s looking beyond the lobby, past the glass exit doors, toward the pool, where Kitty is lying on a pool chair lounging with a beverage in hand.

  “I have to go talk to her,” Sophie declares. “Can you go to this lunch with your brother without me?”

  I try not to show my profound relief. “Of course. It’s more important that you try to plant the seeds of friendship with Kitty. I wish I could find Jason to do the same, but I really shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to babysit my brother. The more I keep him in my sights, the fewer opportunities he has to bribe someone to help him sabotage us.”

  She shakes her head. “Your screwed-up family almost makes me glad I have no family of my own,” she says. “So, I guess I’ll see you in a few hours in Dr. Mahoe’s penthouse for ‘Exploring Tantric Intimacy’?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  I have a strong urge to reach for her to give her a parting kiss. She stands there for a moment as we both seem to be deciding how to part ways. But the
moment I decide I’m just going to do it, I’m going to kiss her, she turns on her heel and heads toward the lobby.

  Jesus Christ. She must think I’m such a fucking amateur.

  I set off toward the hotel bar, which is just off the east end of the lobby. I am anxious to hear what the ethics committee at Angel Investments has decided, but I am not concerned about them finding any fault with my negotiation tactics at Brunswick Publishing.

  I’ve been in contact with Helen Brunswick since our squeaky encounter in the employee break room closet, and she has agreed to corroborate my version of the events. According to Helen and me, the encounter in the closet was a natural progression of a friendship formed over long nights of negotiation and compromise. It had no bearing on her decision to sell her shares of the company to Angel Investments.

  When I enter the hotel bar, I spot Lindy sitting at a table near a wall of windows, but Everett is nowhere in sight. As I approach, her face splits into a wide smile.

  “Please, don’t get up,” I give my standard line, so she doesn’t attempt to get hands-y with me. “Where is Everett?” I ask, praying the answer will give me an out before I take a seat.

  “Have a seat, Logan,” she insists. “Everett couldn’t be here. He has a conference call with Lugo Investments. They’re very interested in investing in Open Sky.”

  “Well, then there really is no point to this meeting, so I’ll just be on my way. Enjoy your lunch, Lindy.”

  “Actually, Everett asked me to deliver the news about the ethics committee’s decision for him,” she replies smoothly.

  A waiter arrives at our table. “Can I get you something to drink, sir?”

  I want to tell him that won’t be necessary, but my curiosity about the investigation gets the better of me, despite the fact I have every confidence they’ve found in my favor.

  “Yes, please. Can you please bring me a Kamikaze bourbon. Neat.”

  I take a seat across from Lindy, and the smile plastered on her face gives me the heebie-jeebies. “So, what did the ethics committee come up with?” I ask confidently.

  Lindy chuckles as she reaches for her glass of white wine and takes a sip. “How about you start off by telling me how you got this Sophie woman to agree to be your pretend-wife for an entire week? Did you already sleep with her or is she just that naïve?”

  I lean back in my chair and smile. “Wouldn’t you love to know? But we’re not here to talk about Sophie. So, why don’t you tell me what the committee found, and I’ll be on my way?”

  She purses her thin lips. “I smell another ethics investigation on the horizon, but that is neither here nor there. As you have so tactfully reminded me, we are here to discuss the current investigation. And I am sure you will be very pleased, and not at all surprised, to hear that Helen Brunswick defended you to the bitter end. And the ethics committee has dropped the investigation. Your little deal with Brunswick Publishing is expected to go through after the SEC’s enforcement authority has done their due diligence on this acquisition.”

  “You are right. I am not at all surprised. Though, I am surprised at your apparent disapproval of the ethics committee’s findings. I thought we were both on the same side, Lindy?”

  She narrows her eyes at me. “You and I haven’t been on the same side for years.”

  The waiter arrives with my bourbon and asks if I would like to order some lunch, but I decline based on Lindy’s demeanor.

  “Well, I have to say I find your open hostility kind of sexy,” I reply, as I realize Everett’s absence gives me an opportunity to extract information from Lindy.

  She cocks an eyebrow. “I’m not falling for that, Logan. You forget that I learned my lesson with you the hard way, and that’s the kind of lesson a girl never forgets.”

  I guess the claws are out. But I have a feeling I can still make this kitty purr.

  “You’re certainly right. What I did to you was un-gentlemanly, and I don’t believe I ever properly apologized. So, let me take the opportunity, now, to say that I was a complete idiot. You deserved better than me, and I’m certain you’ve found that in Everett. But…”

  Her icy-blue eyes are rapt with attention, hanging on my every word. “But what?”

  I shake my head and feign a naughty smile, as if I have a dirty secret. “Nothing. It’s not important.”

  “Just spit it out, Logan,” she demands.

  I chuckle. “It’s just that sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if you and I had ended up together. I know it’s stupid, but I often think about that time we had sex on top of my father’s desk in his study, and Everett and my father walked in on us. Do you ever think about that?”

  Her pale face flushes crimson, and she takes a few gulps of white wine to douse the flames. “I try not to think about that part of my life.”

  “Really? Because I thought we were pretty good together. I think we could still be good together, you know, if you weren’t married to my brother,” I reply, leaning forward to encroach upon her personal space. “Speaking of Everett, how are things between you two? I thought you two were solid, so I was very surprised to find you’d attended this retreat in the past. Is my brother treating you well?”

  She shrugs, clearly loosening up a bit. “We have our ups and down. You know Everett. He can be a bit of a workaholic.”

  I shake my head. “Still selling yourself short, Lindy. You’re a beautiful woman in her prime. You deserve to be cherished,” I say, sliding my hand across the table to grab hers. “You deserve to be worshipped.” I hold her gaze for a moment as I softly brush my thumb over the back of her hand. “I just wish that Everett and my father weren’t standing in our way, or I would get us a room right now, so I could worship you all…night…long.” I let go of her hand and sit back. “Everett and my father have a habit of standing our way, don’t they? They’re probably scheming against me as we speak.”

  I take a sip of my bourbon and wait for Lindy’s mind to mull over the implications of my words. I don’t enjoy confusing her, but she signed a deal with the devil when she married my brother. And she obviously agreed to help Everett in his attempts to sabotage Sophie and me.

  For all I know, Everett’s absence at this lunch could be part of a larger plan to distract me. I’m merely trying to get some information that will help me protect Sophie from my brother’s schemes.

  Lindy glances around the bar before she opens her mouth to speak. “Everett doesn’t have a conference call with Lugo Investments today. He already reached an agreement with them this morning. Right now, Everett’s on a call with our attorney. They’re preparing to have your father’s shares transferred to Everett next month.”

  “Before the December 10th deadline?” I ask and she nods.

  I maintain a poker face as I focus on steadying my breathing. It’s not as if I didn’t expect my brother and father to pull something like this, but I didn’t expect it would feel like a knife being slowly plunged into my heart.

  Lindy’s eyes seem filled with hope. “Maybe we should go somewhere else and talk about this?”

  I take a few more slow breaths as I consider my options. “First, I need to know that I can trust you. I need to know this won’t get back to Everett. Not yet anyway.”

  “Of course, it won’t.”

  I shake my head. “I really feel for you, Lindy. You’re married to a man who will, most likely, be indicted on racketeering or insider trading charges in the future. You know as well as I do that Everett’s taste for bribery is only surpassed by his love of Star Wars action figures. But if you help me this week, I promise that you will come out on top, no matter what happens to Everett. And you never know, we may find we like working together. Can I trust you to be on my side, Lindy?”

  She narrows her eyes as she ponders my question. “What exactly does being on your side entail?”

  “Nothing illegal, as my brother would have you do,” I reply smoothly. “If you can get me a copy of all the files for the Sever acquisition fro
m last year, I can put my law degree to good use and look through it, see where you may be vulnerable. Help me protect you, Lindy. Do this for me and I promise, when all this is over, Everett and my father will never get between us again.”

  Her shoulders slump as she realizes she’ll have to wait to get a taste of this Magnum pie. “I’ll see what I can do. But in the meantime, how about we reenact that moment on your father’s desk. I brought that pineapple-flavored lube you introduced me to. Everett hates it.”

  I venture a soft smile, though inside I’m grinning from ear to ear. “Oh, look,” I say, glancing at my wristwatch. “I’m going to be late for a…couples scuba lesson. I really should get going.” I stand up quickly and drop a couple large bills on the table to cover our drinks and a generous tip for the waiter. “Remember, Lindy, all good things come to those who wait.”

  Chapter 8

  SOPHIE

  I’m about to push my way through the glass doors, when I realize I’m not dressed appropriately to lounge poolside with my new best friend. I spin around and immediately return to our suite, where I change into my yellow bikini. Grabbing a robe off the hook in the bathroom, I wrap it around myself and slip my feet into some flip-flops before I rush back downstairs to the lobby.

  As I pass the entrance to the hotel bar, I glance inside to see if I can glimpse Logan and his brother. I am stopped in my tracks at the site of my fake husband sitting at a table with his real sister-in-law, whose name I can’t recall at the moment because my heart is suddenly galloping so loudly I can hardly hear my thoughts. Logan is leaned over the table with her hand clasped in his.

  Last night, Kitty spotted him having drinks with some bikini babes at the neighboring hotel’s beach bar. He claims it was innocent, but now this. Am I supposed to believe this is also innocent? He said he was having lunch with his brother. This proves he’s a big, fat liar.