Faking It

by Diane Albert

  She shoved her last picture into her box and, without bothering to wait for security, walked out.

  …

  Three days later, Stephanie sat in her empty apartment with a roll of packing tape in one hand and a Sharpie in the other. She had the rest of the month left on her rent, but there was no point in waiting when it was unlikely she’d find a job before the next check came due. She couldn’t move in with her parents again. They now lived in a one-bedroom apartment in the city, leaving her with only one option. Aaron.

  She had no idea what would happen with her life from this point out. She’d only wanted to help people, and instead she’d just made a huge mess—and driven away a man who’d only wanted to help her fix it. She hadn’t heard a single word from Derek. Not so much as a phone call or an email. Was she really surprised? She’d told him to go home. Maybe he had.

  She sighed and looked around the barren living room. Maybe she’d end up in a gutter somewhere. It would serve her right. She felt like she’d personally let down the entire underprivileged population of Miami, and could picture them shaking their heads at her in mutual disappointment.

  She heard her front door open. Must be Aaron. She bowed over the box she’d just filled and slapped on a row of tape. “You’re early. The boxes in the kitchen are ready to go, but I’m still working on these.”

  “All right,” Derek said, his voice hard. “But where are you moving?”

  She froze, tape still stretched between her fingers. She was sweaty, wearing cut-off jean shorts and a ratty tank top. Her hair was a mess. She was a wreck, and of course he had to show up now.

  And of course, when she looked up, he was heartbreakingly flawless in his impeccable suit and tie.

  Not fair.

  She blew out a breath. “I thought you went home.”

  “Not yet.” His gaze slid over her. “Where are you going?”

  She couldn’t stand to look at him. She lowered her eyes to the role of tape, turning it between her fingers. “I’m moving in with Aaron until I find another job.”

  “So the rumors were true.”

  She winced. “Rumors?”

  “About a whistleblower spilling the dirt on an investment scheme targeting Wheeler Enterprises.” There was a touch of admiration in his voice. Respect. The one thing she’d craved, and now she wanted more. Or less. God, she didn’t even know anymore. “I’m not surprised your boss fired you.”

  She laughed bitterly. “It wasn’t so glamorous as all that. I just…had to make a choice.”

  He said nothing. His blue eyes betrayed nothing, though the dark circles beneath them promised he hadn’t been sleeping well. Slowly he sat down, settling on a box labeled Kitchen and propping his elbows on his knees.

  “I made a choice, too. Apparently the wrong one,” he said. “I helped you because I couldn’t not help you. Don’t you understand that?”

  “No. I don’t.”

  “I helped you because I care about you too much to stand by and watch you struggle.” His hands clenched and unclenched spasmodically. He stared down at them, his jaw working. “When you care about someone, you do everything in your power to make them happy. I care about you.”

  He cared about her. Such platonic words. She shook her head. “You went behind my back, Derek. You betrayed my trust.”

  “I’m sorry for that. Every day, I regret it.”

  “Yeah. I’ll bet. How much did you give him?”

  He frowned. “What?”

  “How much did you give Rodgers? He got what he wanted, right? To work with you.”

  His expression darkened. “I haven’t answered a single one of his calls.”

  “Ah.” Her throat clogged, tight and choking. “You can’t just apologize and think it fixes everything. It doesn’t.”

  Gently, he pried the roll of tape from her fingers, set it aside, then clasped her hands. His touch burned. “I can help you find another job. You could even—”

  “No.” Christ, even now he wouldn’t quit. She pulled free and crossed her arms, hiding her hands away in the crooks of her elbows. “I need to be able to take care of myself.”

  “You accept help from Aaron. Why not from me?”

  “He’s my brother.”

  “You won’t let me help you when you fall. You won’t let me…anything. Is there really no reason for me to stay?” For a moment that impenetrable gaze cracked, and he searched her face. “None at all?”

  She blinked back tears. “No,” she whispered. “None.”

  “If that’s what you want.” He cupped her cheeks, his touch gentle. “But I’ll ask you one last time. Let me help you, Stephanie. Let me. I won’t push anything on you this time.”

  “You can’t help me.”

  He stepped closer, his eyes on hers. He seemed so determined to help her. Almost as determined as she was not to accept help any longer. “I can. I can give you money to hold you over until you get a job. I can give you a job, or talk to people who can. That’s not charity, Stephanie. You’re talented. I’ve seen your work. Anyone would be lucky to hire you.”

  He wanted to hire her. That was just wonderful. She would never forget that night she’d spent in his arms, joined body to body, heart to heart…and all he could talk about was her employable skill set. He’d made it painfully clear how he felt. There was no point in letting her emotions get involved.

  She withdrew from his touch. “That’s a kind offer, but I’ll have to decline.”

  “Don’t. Don’t go cold on me.” He faltered, struggling for words, and she held her breath. Hoping. Wishing. “I’m your friend. I want to see you happy.”

  Friend. That one word was a death knell, and the final proof she needed. She was an idiot. She’d wanted to find truth in a lie, but in the end she’d only been lying to herself.

  She could no longer restrain her tears. She reached behind her neck and unclasped her necklace. She hadn’t been able to make herself take it off before, but it was time. Time for him to go, and take his false promises with him.

  The ring slid off her finger with difficulty. She clasped it and the necklace tight against her palm for a moment, then thrust them both at him. “Goodbye, Derek.”

  But he made no move to take them. He only looked at her, his brilliant eyes so very haunted. Now she could see what hadn’t been apparent before: the dark hollows of sleeplessness, casting that bright blue into shadow. “I don’t know how to tell you how I feel about you, Stephanie. So I tried to show you. And I failed.”

  She opened her mouth to speak—but his expression was already icing over, and he turned away. She said nothing to stop him. Did nothing to stop him as he walked out of her life, just as she’d wanted.

  She sank down to the floor, hugged her knees to her chest, pressed her lips to his ring, and cried until she had no more tears left.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Footsteps sounded in the hallway. Stephanie’s head snapped up. Derek? No. No, he wouldn’t come back, not after she’d… How long had she been lying there?

  Long enough to realize he wasn’t coming back.

  Aaron strode into the living room. “Derek just nearly ran me over. And I’ve never seen that look on his face before. Entirely at odds with his personality profile.”

  Stephanie sniffled and wiped her arm across her eyes, then stood and picked up the packing tape again. She wouldn’t break down in front of her brother—and out of habit, she slid Derek’s ring back onto her finger. “Guess so.”

  “Want to tell me what that was all about?”

  “I thought you had my apartment bugged.”

  “I’m serious, sis.” Aaron leaned against the doorframe. “I’m trying not to stick my nose in this, but it’s getting hard. Neither of you will talk to me. I’ve given you plenty of time to resolve this on your own, but frankly? You both suck at relationships.”

  “And you’re the authority on healthy relationships?” She spun on him, glaring. “She’s been dead for three years, and you still refus
e to date.”

  He stiffened. Her charming—if bizarre—brother disappeared behind the mask of the unfeeling agent. Damn it. She shouldn’t be lashing out at him.

  “Don’t go there,” he said flatly. “Don’t bring Charlotte into this. She has nothing to do with your issues.”

  “I’m sorry. You’re right, I just…I…”

  “My fiancée died because some idiot couldn’t call a taxi when he’d had one martini too many. I can never get her back. Ever.” His entire body trembled; his hands curled into fists. “And now I have to sit here and watch you two idiots out-stubborn each other for who’s going to push the other away the hardest? No. Whatever happened, you can fix it. At least for you it’s not too late.”

  Not too late. All she could see was Derek’s face before he left. Derek asking her—asking her—to let him help her. Derek refusing to take the ring. Derek, Derek, Derek.

  She picked up the Sharpie and scribbled Crap on the box. “It sucks, but we’re done. It’s over. We’re not you and Charlotte.”

  “Don’t feed me bullshit. Give me one good reason why it’s over.”

  She slammed the Sharpie down atop the box. “Why do you even care, Aaron? This has nothing to do with you. Nothing.”

  “I love you both. He’s my closest friend. You’re my sister. You’re making each other miserable, when before you made each other so happy. I refuse to stand back and let you both make the biggest mistake of your lives.”

  “Is it?” She covered her face with her hands. “I’ve spent more time crying in the past three days than I have my whole life. You call that being happy?”

  Aaron’s arms closed around her. Safe. Warm. Familiar. She almost broke down crying again, but instead only clung to him. He brushed her hair back with a sigh. Even now, he was still there for her. She’d just rubbed salt in a wound that might never heal, and he was the one comforting her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said—what she’d been wanting to say for years. “I shouldn’t have said that about Charlotte. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when she—”

  “Shhh. That’s in the past, and it’s my problem to deal with. Tell me what happened,” he said. “Tell me everything.”

  She sniffled. “He kept trying to help me, and I didn’t want him to.”

  “And that’s it?”

  “No.” She pulled away. “He helped me anyway, and did my proposal by himself. Then he turned it in to my boss behind my back.”

  Aaron frowned. “That doesn’t sound like him at all.”

  “He did it.”

  “So that’s what this is all about? You asked him to butt out, and he didn’t listen?”

  “It’s more than that.” Stephanie sighed. “Sit down. I’ll start from the beginning.”

  By the time she finished the story—skimping on the details about the night at his hotel—the sun was descending toward the horizon. “And when he came here,” she finished, “he offered me a job. Again. I said no.”

  Aaron leaned back against the wall. “But you kept the ring.”

  “I tried to give it back to him. He wouldn’t take it.”

  “What are you going to do with it? Sell it?”

  “For a few bucks? No.” She looked away. “I couldn’t. Ever.”

  Aaron raised a brow. “That thing’s worth more than a few bucks.”

  She curled her fingers tight, thumb sliding over the ring as if she could protect it. “I don’t care if it’s worth a million, I’m not selling it!”

  “Ah.” Her brother gave her a knowing look. “So you’ll take his ring, but not his help. Doesn’t make much sense to me.”

  “It makes sense to me. Someone always wants to help me. I’ve never been able to stand on my own. You cosigned for this apartment. You gave me the recommendation that got me my job.” When Aaron stared at her, Stephanie lifted her chin. “You thought I didn’t know about that?”

  “Sneaky.”

  She shrugged. “Runs in the family.”

  “You’re in the wrong trade.” He sighed. “I just wanted to help.”

  “I know, and I love you for it. But this? I wanted to do this on my own. The whole fake engagement may have been an accident, but you tried to set me up with Derek so he’d help me with the contract. Instead I fell for him. But just because I liked him doesn’t mean I wanted him—or you—to do my job for me.”

  “I’ve tried to stop interfering.” He winced. “I’ll try harder.”

  “It’s okay. I forgive you.” She forced a smile. “I know you do it out of love.”

  “Did you ever think Derek does, too?”

  She faltered. Love? Derek didn’t love her. “What?”

  “Derek loves you, Captain Obvious. That’s why he’s doing stupid things without thinking.” Aaron smiled, a touch sadly. “Love turns your head upside down until you don’t know what you’re doing, only that you’d do anything to make the other person happy. Even if sometimes it’s the wrong thing.”

  The pain in his eyes, the soft mist of memory, made her remember how he’d been with Charlotte. How in the middle of a crowded room, they could see only each other. Yet suddenly she saw Derek, how he always seemed to be watching her, never looking away even when she blushed and tried to hide. Like he could see nothing else.

  Like he wanted to see nothing else.

  She shook her head. “It was just an act. He was just playing along.”

  “Derek. The Terminator. The man can barely act human, what makes you think he can fake love?”

  “I…I don’t know.” She ran her thumb over the ring and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, okay? I told him I couldn’t forgive him and I sent him away. He’s gone. It’s over. I just want to pick up the pieces of my life.”

  “So pick up the pieces,” Aaron said. His hand curled gently against her shoulder. “But don’t cut the most important piece out.”

  “I’m not—”

  “For once in your life, stop arguing. You love him. It’s written in the mascara all over your cheeks.”

  She scrubbed at her face, flushing. “It doesn’t matter if I do. I already told you it’s too late. He’s probably already on a plane back to D.C.”

  Aaron checked his watch. “Not yet, but his flight leaves shortly.”

  “How shortly?”

  A crafty gleam entered his eye, and he fished his phone from his pocket. “As it so happens, there’s a problem with the landing gear, and takeoff will be delayed indefinitely.”

  Stephanie laughed and stretched up to hug her brother tight. “You’re the best.”

  “Don’t I know it.” He gave her a little shove. “Go get yourself cleaned up, sis…and then let’s go get your man.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Derek thanked the airline attendant and traded his suitcase for his boarding pass, then checked the bank of screens overhead for his flight number. Delayed. It figured. He wanted nothing more than to see Miami disappearing below the wing of the plane, and JetBlue was conspiring to keep him here as long as possible.

  He followed the overhead signs to his gate. His steps were steady, but his mind was painfully off-balance, his thoughts ping-ponging everywhere. Stephanie’s face when he’d given her the ring. The way she’d nearly wilted when she’d tried to give it back. Her passion-glazed eyes, when he’d asked her to stay—and the fury in her voice when she realized he’d gone behind her back.

  Would she ever stop haunting him?

  He wanted to forget her. The good and the bad—all of it. Every single memory. For a short time, she had shown him how good his life could be, which only made it harder to accept that he could never have her in it.

  At least he was finally going home. Back to his old life. Back to work—and a company that didn’t need him as much as he thought it did. His VP had emailed this morning. The merger had gone off without a hitch, even without Derek there to control every tiny detail. He’d hired good people. It was probably time to step back and let them do their jobs. His role as CEO was to suppo
rt and guide them, not control them…and maybe if he wasn’t so busy micromanaging, he could find more worthwhile ways to spend his time than making money. There was no point having it if he didn’t use it for something that mattered—and there were so many people who needed help.

  It was too bad he’d had to lose Stephanie to learn that.

  At his gate, he found an empty seat and dropped his carry-on bag on the chair at his side. From here he had a clear view of the tarmac. The bright, sunny afternoon had turned into a gray, overcast evening. Exactly the kind of night where Stephanie would forget her umbrella. He smiled to himself and bowed his head ruefully. He’d probably think of her every time it rained. That memory, he thought, he’d never be able to let go.

  A pair of black leather shoes stopped directly in front of him. “Ready to leave already?”

  “I suppose.” He raised his head. Aaron stood before him, watching him closely. Too closely. “What are you doing here?”

  “Came to see you off,” Aaron said a little too glibly. “You all right?”

  Derek shrugged. “I’m fine.”

  “Did you talk to Stephanie again?”

  Derek looked at him, but didn’t say a word. He wouldn’t talk about her with her brother. Not now. Not ever. Aaron had been pestering him for details all week, but Derek hadn’t said a word. That wasn’t going to change now, just because it was over.

  “Sensitive subject?” Aaron pushed his carry-on aside and claimed the seat at his side. “Forget I asked.”

  Derek rubbed his temples. Even talking to Aaron reminded him of her. And it hurt. “I have to board the plane.”

  “Really? Have you checked the departure schedule recently?” Aaron cleared his throat. “But if you have to go, first—I have a friend who’s looking for an investor. They need help. They’re ready and willing to work with you. Nice change of pace, I’d say.”

  Derek gritted his teeth and stood. “Plane. Now.”