by Jae
“That too, but mostly because she doesn’t seem to be your type.” Vanessa turned and swept her gaze over Lana, who was just reaching for a glass of champagne.
Claire looked over at her too. Lana’s dress was off-the-rack and couldn’t keep up with her own mauve satin dress or the designer gown Vanessa wore, but she looked stunning in it anyway. The lavender faux wrap dress hugged her full hips and breasts, while a wide sash concealed her belly. The hem brushed her knees, and with the three-quarter-length sleeves, both scars and the tattoo were covered.
“Not my type?” Claire blinked at Vanessa as if she had no idea what she meant.
“Well, no offense, but she doesn’t seem anything like Abby.”
“Thank God,” Claire said, and to her surprise, she didn’t even have to act. “I like Lana just the way she is.” Damn. I should have said love, not like. Then she tried to relax. No one would expect her to declare her love after such a short time, would they?
“Good for you.” Vanessa smiled and patted her arm. “I’d hate for you to settle just to avoid being single.”
Claire wanted nothing more than to grip the hand on her arm and rip it off. “It’s not about settling. It’s about finding someone that fit me better.”
Lana rejoined them, with Vanessa’s husband in tow. Her glass of champagne was already half empty, and Claire suddenly wished she had requested one too. Instead, she accepted the glass of orange juice Lana handed her.
“Thanks, honey,” she said to Lana.
Vanessa’s curious gaze rested on them, heavy like an anvil. Like Claire, her colleague was trained to observe the body language and physical interaction of couples. Under Vanessa’s watchful eyes, she leaned toward Lana. Considering they hadn’t exchanged one civil word in the past twenty-four hours, she didn’t dare aim for her lips but instead pecked her cheek.
Vanessa, however, laid a passionate kiss on her husband when he handed her a glass of champagne.
Great. Claire secretly rolled her eyes. Did Vanessa have to outdo her at every step?
When the lip-lock ended, Vanessa turned toward Lana. “So, Claire tells me you’re a lawyer.”
“Did she now?” Lana drawled.
Oh shit. Had she forgotten to tell Lana about that?
Lana wrapped one arm around her and lovingly trailed her hand over Claire’s hip.
Her palm was warm, even through the satin of Claire’s dress, leaving a trail of fire in the wake of her touch.
Under the pretense of caressing her hip, Lana pinched her—hard.
The pleasant tingles gave way to a flare of pain. Ouch. Somehow, Claire managed to conceal her flinch.
“Honey, you know I don’t like it when you brag about me,” Lana said.
“Can I help it if I’m so proud of you?”
Vanessa sipped her champagne and studied Lana over the rim of her flute. “So what kind of law do you practice?”
A drop of sweat pooled at the base of Claire’s spine. She should have listened to Lana and told her colleagues that Lana was a barista. No shame in that, right? But no, she’d had to make up a more impressive job for her fake girlfriend. If they crashed and burned now, it was her own fault.
“Oh, my firm handles pretty much everything you can think of,” Lana answered with only minimal hesitation.
She was good at improvising; Claire had to give her that.
But Vanessa wasn’t done digging. “How about you personally? What kind of cases do you handle? Tax evasion? Corporate stuff?”
“No,” Lana said with a sweet smile. “Divorces.”
They all stared at her, including Claire; then Vanessa started to laugh. “Oh my God. That’s hilarious! A couples therapist and a divorce lawyer!”
“Most of my dates were pretty freaked out when I told them what I do for a living, but not Claire, of course.” Lana wrapped her other arm around Claire too and squeezed a little too hard. “She doesn’t have any prejudices about my job.”
Okay, okay. Message received. Claire gave her a nod of grudging respect.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to imply that I have anything against divorce lawyers,” Vanessa said.
“Of course not,” Lana answered. “Our jobs are not that different, after all.”
“Uh, they aren’t?”
“Well, we’re both helping couples through an emotionally raw time.”
“True.” Now that Vanessa no longer had the upper hand in the conversation, she looked around. “Oh, there’s Renata. I haven’t seen her yet. If you’ll excuse me, I have to show her my book. The copies I ordered arrived today. How exciting, right? I’ll have to sign a copy for you later.”
“Uh, sure.” Claire somehow managed not to scoff. Of course Vanessa had to bring her book to the party, making sure everyone took notice of it. Well, if Claire had chosen to self-publish too, she could have had an entire series of books out by now. But she’d held out for a traditional publishing deal because she’d wanted the prestige of a New York publisher. Hopefully, Vanessa would stop her obnoxious showing-off once Claire’s book was out.
With a touch to Claire’s arm, Vanessa was gone, dragging her husband off with her.
Claire blew out a breath and downed half of her orange juice as if it were a shot of liquor. “Divorce lawyer?” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “You’ve got to be kidding me! That’s like the natural enemy of couples therapists! Why the heck didn’t you say you’re a tax lawyer or something?”
“I went through three divorces with my mother, so I know a thing or two about what divorce lawyers do. Besides, it’s the only type of law that I was sure she wouldn’t want advice on.”
Claire had to give her that. “All right. I’ve got to admit you handled it well.”
“I wouldn’t have to handle it if you hadn’t lied about my job,” Lana hissed, her voice low so that no one else could hear.
“I couldn’t very well tell them you’re an actress.”
“Why not? Actresses aren’t exactly out of the ordinary in LA.”
“Yeah, but what if anyone gets the wrong…or, in this case, the right idea and figures out that,” Claire lowered her voice to a whisper, “you’re only playing the part of my girlfriend?”
“Okay, I’ll give you that. But then why not tell them I’m a barista? Just because Vanessa has a stick up her ass the size of a sequoia doesn’t mean you have to play her game.”
Claire had just taken another sip of orange juice. Now it shot back out of her nose as she started to laugh, then cough.
“Good evening, ladies.” Of course, Renata chose that moment to join them. She patted Claire on the back in a motherly way. Her warm gaze went from Claire to Lana. “You must be Lana.”
So Vanessa had already told her Lana’s name. Claire’s hackles rose as she wondered what else she might have said about Lana.
“And you must be Renata,” Lana said as she shook Renata’s hand. “Claire speaks very highly of you.”
“Well, she hasn’t told me much about you, but that’s our Claire for you.” Renata patted Claire’s back again. “She’s always been very tight-lipped about her private life, preferring to suffer her heartache over the breakup in silence. It’s great to see her laugh again, so thank you for performing that miracle.”
Claire wiped a drop of orange juice from her nose and hid her blush behind a tissue. She felt like a heel for lying to Renata, who was almost like a second mother to her. But she had started this, so now she had to stick to the script.
“Oh, Claire is a very easy woman to please,” Lana said with a smile.
The last sip of orange juice nearly shot through Claire’s nose too. She sent Lana a hidden glare. What did I tell you about not embarrassing me?
Lana gave her an affectionate hip bump. “Get your mind out of the gutter, tiger.” She made good use of her sexy actress voice. “
I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that all it takes to make Claire happy is some coconut-lime shrimp, a glass of Pinot Noir, and cuddling up on the couch to watch The Philadelphia Story for the fifty-third time.”
She said it so convincingly that Claire could almost imagine them spending every evening like that. It was a surprisingly nice thought, even though they’d done nothing but argue for the past twenty-four hours.
“I’m glad to hear that you’re getting her to relax at home,” Renata said. “She’s too much of a workaholic at times.”
Renata and Lana exchanged knowing glances.
“Said the pot to the kettle,” Claire murmured.
Renata gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Well, this is a classic case of ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ I want you to have a long, successful career and achieve everything you want, but not at the price of your personal happiness.”
The warmth and sincerity in her eyes made Claire feel even worse. “Don’t worry. I’m very happy with my personal life.”
Lana slid an arm around her waist as if to prove it.
“To happiness and new beginnings, then.” Renata lifted her glass and toasted them both.
Claire was glad that she’d already emptied her glass so she didn’t have to add to her deception. But Renata was right about one thing: a new beginning was in order. With the trip to New York coming up next month, she and Lana couldn’t continue like this, arguing whenever they were alone and pretending to be head over heels whenever someone else joined them. With her acting background, Lana might have been able to pull it off, but it was giving Claire emotional whiplash.
As soon as Renata moved on to the next group of guests, Claire lightly clasped Lana’s elbow. “Can we talk?”
“What did I do now?”
“Nothing. I just… I’d like to talk to you alone.” She led Lana in the direction of her office.
“You know they are totally thinking you’re dragging me to your office so you can have your way with me on your desk, right?” Lana commented.
Claire stopped abruptly. “What? Nonsense. No one is thinking any such thing!”
“If you say so.”
Claire huffed, but just to make sure no one could accuse her of unprofessional behavior in her office, she pulled Lana into the courtyard instead. The gurgling of the small waterfall feeding the koi pond would drown out their conversation, so no one could overhear them, and maybe the serene surroundings would soothe Lana and make her more willing to forgive her.
A turtle lifted its head out of the water, took one look at them, and dove back beneath the surface, disappearing between the ferns reaching into the water.
Claire wished she could do the same, but she knew there was no hiding from this conversation. “Listen.” She took a deep breath. “I wanted to…” Before she could say apologize, movement caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.
Vanessa stood by the entrance, leaning against the metal gate, a cigarette dangling from her fingers. She was watching the smoke curl up, so she hadn’t seen Claire and Lana yet, but if she turned her head a bit or went back inside, she would discover them. The cigarette was smoked almost down to the filter, so it could happen any moment.
Shit. Claire’s gaze darted around, but the slender palm trees and ferns wouldn’t provide any cover.
Vanessa would catch sight of them any second, and she would know immediately that Claire and Lana were arguing. Their body language—facing each other with their arms stiffly by their sides and their shoulders up—screamed arguing couple. Besides, what other reason could they have for sneaking away from the party? At least Vanessa with her cigarette had a good excuse.
No doubt Vanessa would offer them relationship counseling or recommend a chapter from her book—unless Claire could convince her that she hadn’t dragged Lana here to argue.
Lana’s words echoed through her mind. You know they are totally thinking you’re dragging me to your office so you can have your way with me on your desk, right?
Vanessa threw her cigarette stump down and crushed it with a twist of her nine-hundred-dollar stilettos—the same way she would crush Claire’s reputation if Claire didn’t stop her.
Just as Vanessa turned around, Claire stepped forward, right into Lana’s personal space.
Lana’s hazel eyes widened. “Wh—?”
No time for long explanations. “Please don’t slap me,” was all Claire whispered before she dipped Lana back against a palm tree and kissed her.
Lana went rigid.
For a moment, Claire thought she’d get punched or at least pushed away, but then Lana parted her lips and kissed her back, and all thoughts stopped.
Lana’s lips were so incredibly soft and warm and pliant against hers.
A breathy gasp escaped Claire as Lana’s tongue stroked along her bottom lip then gently touched her own. Lana tasted of champagne and something fruity. Her body melted against Claire’s, all hints of resistance gone.
Lana slid her hands up Claire’s back. Her fingertips grazed Claire’s neck, sending shivers down Claire’s spine, and then her fingers tangled in Claire’s hair so she could deepen the kiss.
Several strands came loose from Claire’s pinned updo. Not that she cared at the moment. The warm glide of Lana’s tongue against hers sent spirals of sensation through her entire body. Her mind spun, and she gripped Lana’s hips with both hands to keep her balance. Oh holy…
Someone cleared her throat next to them.
Reality washed over Claire like a bucket of ice-cold water. Vanessa. Right. That was why she’d kissed Lana.
She backed away from Lana, but it took several seconds before she could tear her gaze from her.
Lana stared back, her lips red and her cheeks flushed.
Was it a physical reaction to their kiss, or was part of it anger at being ambushed like that?
Claire didn’t have time to figure it out.
“Well, well,” Vanessa said. “Looks like you two made up.”
“Who says that we were arguing?” With trembling fingers, Claire tried to pin her hair back up. Her scalp still tingled where Lana had touched her.
Vanessa let out a huff. “Please. If you’d read my book, you’d know it was obvious.”
“And if you’d read Claire’s book, you’d know that the best part of arguing with your lover is the making up,” Lana said, her voice low and seductive. She stepped next to Claire and pressed against her side, her body hot and soft against Claire’s. “Right, honey?”
“Right.” Claire’s own voice was husky without her having to act.
They turned their heads and looked at each other, their gazes catching and not letting go. What was going on behind those hazel eyes? For once, even three degrees in psychology weren’t going to help Claire figure it out.
“Well, good for you,” Vanessa said stiffly. “As you probably know, our target audience doesn’t like self-help authors who don’t practice what they preach.”
Claire narrowed her eyes. What was that supposed to mean? It sounded almost like a threat. Did Vanessa suspect something?
But that was impossible. Their kiss had been entirely convincing. Claire’s libido had certainly bought it, hook, line, and sinker.
“You’ll have to excuse me now. I bet Daniel is already looking for me.” Vanessa strode past them, back toward the party, leaving them staring after her, hesitant to look at each other.
As soon as Vanessa disappeared around the corner, Lana slumped against the palm tree Claire had pressed her against. Her senses were still reeling. Where the hell had that come from? She hadn’t thought of Claire as a passionate person, but if this was how she kissed when it was fake, Lana had a feeling she wouldn’t survive a real kiss.
Not that she and Claire would ever share one, of course.
“Oh God.” Claire rubbed both palms across her
face, then stopped abruptly as if remembering that it might smudge her makeup. “I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have ambushed you like that, but I saw Vanessa standing there and knew she’d assume we were arguing and then she turned around and I didn’t know what else to do…”
“No, no, that was good.” Really, really good, actually. “Um, I mean, it was a good thing to do to convince her we’re happy together and not in need of her services as a couples therapist.”
Claire exhaled and leaned against the palm tree next to hers. “I also, um…” Ferns rustled as she shuffled her feet. “I think I also owe you an apology for last night.”
Lana was speechless for the second time within minutes. She certainly hadn’t expected an apology from Ms. I’m-always-right. “An apology for what?”
“You’re going to make me spell it out, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Lana held her gaze. “An apology is not an apology if you don’t have the guts to admit to what you did wrong.”
Claire fiddled with the pins that held up her hair, trying to tame an escaped strand. “I apologize for possibly overreacting a little when we were at the restaurant…and in the car.”
“Possibly?” Lana gave her the look she had perfected playing a strict governess in a B movie.
“Okay. I did overreact. And I’m really sorry if I upset you in the car…or scared you. That wasn’t my intention. It’s just… I don’t like feeling humiliated in front of people.”
“You weren’t—”
“I know,” Claire said. “I said feeling.” She sighed and gave up on trying to secure the stubborn strand of hair. “Maybe I’m overly sensitive right now because of this whole situation.” She swept her arm in a gesture that included Lana, the office building, and the party guests. “It’s really important to me to have the respect of my colleagues and not look like a fool in front of them.”
Lana’s anger, fueled by that spike of fear she’d felt in the car last night, dissipated like fog in the California sun. But she still struggled to understand why Claire had reacted so strongly. “Is it really that important to you what people think?”