“Dana, I hate to bother you but I need to talk with you about something important.”
Her eyes widened. Whatever he had to say sounded serious. “All right.”
She stepped aside to let him in and closed the door behind him. “Can I get you something to drink?” she asked, leading him to her living room.
“No, I’m fine,” Jared said, but feeling anything but fine. His conversation with his father had thrown a monkey wrench into what he’d planned to tell his mother. Out of the corner of his eye Jared saw Tom race from where he had been near the sofa to the vicinity of the kitchen.
Jared took the seat Dana offered him on the sofa and watched as she sat in the chair across from him. With everything on his mind, the last thing he needed was to notice the skirt and blouse she was wearing. But he hadn’t been able to look away when she sat down and he caught a glimpse of thigh that her short skirt revealed. Nor could he dismiss the way her blouse hugged her breasts.
“Jared? You said you had something important you needed to discuss with me.”
Her words reminded him of the reason he was there and he met her curious gaze. “I went to see my mother this morning to clear up the misunderstanding, but things didn’t go the way I had intended. She wasn’t home so I talked to my dad instead.”
Dana nodded. “And you told him the truth.”
“No.”
“Oh?” Dana said, confused.
“There seems to be a problem,” Jared said, knowing that he needed to tell her everything. He decided to start at the beginning.
“Three years ago my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. The lump was removed and she went through eight weeks of both chemo and radiation. She had good days and bad days and my father, brothers and I saw just what a remarkable woman she was.”
The sincerity in Jared’s words touched Dana. She could imagine what Jared, his brothers and father had gone through. After spending time with his family yesterday, it was easy to see just how much Sarah Westmoreland was adored by everyone.
“Anyway,” Jared said, reclaiming Dana’s attention, “I talked to Dad this morning and before I could tell him the truth about us, that there really wasn’t an ‘us,’ he told me that the doctors found another lump in my mother’s breast and if it’s malignant, we might be talking about cancer treatments again.”
“Oh, no,” Dana whispered and immediately moved from her chair to sit next to Jared on the sofa. She reached out and touched his arm. “I’m sorry to hear that, Jared,” she said in all sincerity.
He slowly stood and shoved his hands into his pockets. Her touch had elicited sensations throughout his body, sensations he didn’t want to deal with right now. He had to stay focused.
“So am I,” he said slowly. “However, knowing my mother, she will handle this like the fighter that she is. But there’s something I can do to make the fight a little easier for her.”
“What?”
Jared met her gaze. “It’s a crazy idea but at the moment I’d do anything for my mother, including lie.”
Dana frowned, wondering what he would lie about. “Jared, what do you need to lie about?” she asked, rising from her seat to come stand in front of him.
His jaw muscles tightened and he briefly glanced away. When he met her gaze again, his eyes were intense and her breath caught at the tormented look she saw lodged there.
“Jared, what do you need to lie about?” she asked again.
He hesitated for a moment then said, “Us. My father made me realize just how happy my mother is, believing that I’ve finally decided to settle down and get married. Considering everything right now, I don’t want to take that happiness away from her.”
Reeling in confusion, Dana felt the need to take a step back. “What are you saying?” she asked, not sure she was following him.
“I have a proposal for you,” he said, holding her gaze.
Dana swallowed. “What kind of a proposal?”
He gave her a not-so-easy smile. “That we continue to pretend we’re engaged for a little while longer…for my mother’s sake.”
It would have been easier, Dana thought, if she had been sitting down instead of standing up. Nevertheless, the impact of Jared’s words slammed into her.
She stared at him, looked for some sort of teasing glint in his gaze that indicated he was joking. But all she saw was an expression that said he was dead serious. Her mouth went dry and her heart began hammering in her chest. “Pretend we’re engaged?” she finally found her voice to ask.
“Yes.”
She inhaled slowly, deeply. “B-but we can’t do that.”
For several seconds he just looked at her. His shoulders straight, his gaze intent, clear. “Yes, we can. I never realized how much seeing at least one of her sons settling down meant to Mom. Now I do and I will do whatever I can to make her happy.”
“Even get married?”
He frowned. “I hope I don’t have to go that far, Dana. I think her believing I’m engaged will help at least until the worst part is over.”
“And then?”
“Then I tell her things didn’t work out between us and that we broke our engagement. It happens.”
Deciding that standing wouldn’t work, Dana sank back onto the sofa. “Trust me, I know all about broken engagements, Jared.”
He sighed deeply. “I’m sorry. I know it’s a lot to ask of you, considering your broken engagement with Luther, but I don’t know what else to do.”
The warmth in his gaze touched her. She wet her lips and leaned back in her seat, trying to absorb everything he’d told her. She couldn’t help but admire him for his willingness to be a sacrificial lamb. He had no intention of ever getting married and had made that fact very clear. Knowing that, she was sure he didn’t want to get involved in any of the trappings that led to marriage, either pretended or otherwise. Yet, for the love he had for his mother he would do what he felt he had to.
She lifted her chin and rubbed nervous hands against her skirt. “If I went along with you on this, Jared, just what would you expect of me?”
Jared moved to sit in the chair across from her. He was glad she was at least considering his proposal. “I’ve never been engaged before but you have. How were things with you and Cord?”
Dana sighed. “In the beginning I could actually see us spending the rest of our lives together. But now I have to admit that I wanted to marry him for all the wrong reasons. Love had nothing to do with it. He was handsome, successful—”
“And gay.”
Dana raised a surprised eyebrow. “You knew?”
Jared shrugged. “I wasn’t absolutely certain until I met you. The first thing that crossed my mind when you walked into my office was that no straight man in his right mind would let you slip through his fingers.”
Dana couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. “Thanks. I had no idea about Luther’s sexual preference until recently. He came to see me and told me the truth. I can only appreciate that he broke our engagement when he did.”
Jared nodded. “The two of you dated for over a year and you had no idea?”
Dana shook her head. “Not even a clue, although I realized afterward that the signs were all there but I ignored them.”
Jared’s brow furrowed. “What signs?”
Dana met his gaze. “Sex for instance.”
A knot formed in Jared’s throat. Silence grew between them—rather awkwardly, then he asked in a strained voice, “Sex?”
“Yes, sex. We decided that we wouldn’t sleep together until after we were married.”
Jared nodded. “Soo.” He drew the word out, as if his mind was befuddled. “Whose idea was that?”
Dana bit her lip before answering. “It was Luther’s idea and of course I went along with it since sex is overrated.”
Jared’s gaze was puzzled. It wasn’t overrated in his book and he wondered how she could think such a thing. “Is it?”
“Yes.”
She had him cu
rious and he couldn’t resist asking for clarification. “Why would you think that?”
She shrugged. “I’m not a virgin, Jared. I’ve had sex before and frankly I’ve never experienced anything worth losing sleep over.”
He wondered who the men were who had disappointed her? He met her gaze, locked on it. “Maybe you haven’t done it with the right person.”
His softly decreed words spurred a hot little quiver that moved down the length of Dana’s spine before blossoming out to every part of her body. She couldn’t help wondering if a tumble between the sheets with him would make her think differently, then decided it was something she would never know. But still the thought caused a warm pool of heat to form in her belly.
She cleared her throat, needing to regain control of her senses. “Trust me, twice was enough. I can possibly understand the blunder in college, but I was involved with someone a few years ago and my opinion hasn’t changed.”
He leaned back in his chair, surprised that she was able to dismiss such a profound intimate act from her life just like that. “A few years ago? How far back was that?”
“Three years, closer to four.”
Jared raised a dark eyebrow. “Are you saying that you haven’t slept with a man in almost four years?” he asked, not sure if he had heard her correctly.
Dana lifted her chin, wondering how they had gotten on such a personal subject, but decided to answer anyway. “Yes, that’s just what I’m saying.”
Deciding she had given him enough information about herself, she said, “So tell me what things you expect us to do during this pretended engagement?”
He watched as she licked her lips again and wished it were his tongue at work instead of her own. And if that wasn’t bad enough she crossed her legs and his gaze moved down the length of them, catching sight of the thigh he’d gotten a glimpse of earlier. His gut clenched when he thought of licking those legs and thighs.
Damn! He couldn’t help but curse his bad luck. He was still way too attracted to her and the last thing he needed was a reason to spend more time in her company. In this situation, his mother’s needs came before his own. But boy did he have needs and the enormity of those needs was hitting home—in this case right below his belt. He shifted in his seat to relieve the strain he felt behind his zipper. He could definitely use some sexual playtime and would’ve loved to suggest a purely physical relationship, with no emotions involved. But after her broken engagement, the last thing he wanted to do was take advantage of the situation by suggesting such a thing.
He cleared his throat. “What kinds of things did you and Cord do together?” He gave her a lopsided grin. “You’ve already told me about one particular activity the two of you didn’t do.”
Dana smoothed down her skirt. He watched as she then rolled one shoulder, which made his gaze move from her legs to her breasts. Suddenly he felt tension in his fingers. He would give just about anything to cross the room, lift her top, unhook her bra—if she was wearing one—and take his fingertips and graze her flesh before taking his mouth and latching on to a nipple and sucking—
“Luther and I went out a lot,” she finally said, snatching back his focus. “We attended concerts, plays and parties. He was a sales representative with his company and often had to do a lot of socializing.”
For several seconds Jared looked at her, thinking because of his clientele he often did a lot of socializing, as well. However, recently he’d cut back because of his workload. “We can do those same things. However, my mother is big on family gatherings and would expect us to also attend any. Can you handle that?”
Dana thought about how much she had enjoyed herself yesterday, almost too much. “Yes, I can handle that. Like I told you yesterday I think you have a wonderful family. But I’d hate deceiving them.”
“It’s for a good reason.” A grin turned up the corners of his lips. “And I’d like to think that a pretended engagement with me wouldn’t be so bad. I’m a pretty decent fellow.”
Decency was the last thing on Dana’s mind at the moment although she knew it shouldn’t be. Heat was curling in her stomach just from staring at him. “How long do you think this pretended engagement will have to last?”
“That will depend on my mother’s condition. If this is a false alarm, then we’re only looking at a couple of weeks. But if we’re looking at treatments, the last time they lasted for eight weeks. Will that be too long for you?”
Dana sighed. Any length of time would be too long as far as she was concerned. “No, umm, that would be fine.”
Jared hated the uncertainty, the wariness he saw in her eyes but knew those emotions mirrored his own. He swallowed hard as he stood, shoving his hands in his pockets. “So, you’re willing to keep on pretending to be my fiancée?”
Several tense minutes passed before Dana answered. She knew she might be asking for trouble, considering how attracted she was to him. But under the circumstances, there was no way she could turn him down. “Yes.”
A relieved smile touched Jared’s lips. He crossed the room and taking her hand he pulled her from her seat. “Thanks, Dana. Now I’m the one who’s in your debt.”
Having Jared in her debt stirred strange sensations in Dana’s belly. She licked her dry lips, tried to smile and said teasingly, “That’s okay. I won’t demand anything that I don’t think you’ll be able to deliver.” As far as she was concerned that left the options pretty wide-open.
Jared’s gaze was drawn to Dana’s lips; lips that were still moist from the recent sweep of her tongue. They stood so close that all he had to do was lean down and capture what he wanted most in his mouth and feast on it.
“So what’s first?”
Her question made him lift a dark brow. He was about to say that a tongue-sucking kiss wouldn’t be so bad, but changed his mind. “What’s first?”
She smiled and he wondered if she knew what he’d been thinking, since his gaze was still glued to her lips. “Will your family need to see us together again anytime soon?”
He inhaled slowly. It’s a good thing she’d asked. He had almost forgotten. “Yes. My brothers are remaining in town until Sunday, except for Quade. He had to get back to D.C. and flew out this morning. The folks are planning a cookout on Saturday evening.”
Dana nodded. After spending time with Jared’s family she knew his brother Quade worked for the Secret Service; Durango was a park ranger who lived in Montana; Ian was a ship’s captain whose luxurious riverboat cruised the Mississippi River and whose home was in Memphis, and Spencer was a financial advisor, who lived in the quaint and quiet community of Sausalito, California. Jared and his youngest brother, Reggie, were the only ones living in the Atlanta area.
“Do they know what’s going on with your mother’s health?” she asked.
Jared shook his head. “No, and knowing Mom she’ll tell us as little as possible and only what she thinks we need to know. It’s her way of protecting us. But I’m going to tell them what I do know. We’re meeting for dinner at Chase’s Place in an hour, and I’ll call Quade with details later tonight.”
“Will you tell them the truth about us?”
Jared shook his head. “No. The less people who know the better. I won’t take a chance on one of them letting something slip. I don’t want to give my mother any reason not to think our engagement isn’t the real thing.”
Dana nodded. Suddenly, she remembered something. “The ring!”
Jared frowned. “What about it?” His gaze went to her left hand. He had noticed earlier that she wasn’t wearing it.
“I don’t have it anymore. I took it to a jeweler during my lunch hour. I needed the money to pay off some bills.”
Jared rubbed the back of his neck. Although he hadn’t much cared for seeing Cord’s ring back on her finger, that ring symbolized their engagement. “Where did you take it?”
“Garbella Jewelers. Do you think they still have it?”
Jared inhaled as he checked his watch. Garbella was a
well-known jeweler that was frequented by a lot of high-profile individuals. “Even if they do, chances are the shop is closed now. I’ll check with them first thing tomorrow. If they still have it, I’ll get it back.”
“And if they don’t?”
Jared inhaled again. “Then I’ll get you another one.”
“B-but your family saw that ring. They will think it’s odd for me to start wearing a different one.”
Jared nodded, knowing that was true. “Then I’ll have to think of a good reason to tell them why I changed it.”
Dana nodded. Whatever reason he came up with would have to be good. “All right.”
He checked his watch again. “I need to leave if I’m going to be on time to meet my brothers for dinner.”
Dana focused on putting one foot in front of the other as she walked him to the door. Concentrating on him was too mind-boggling.
They stopped when they reached her door. She lifted her gaze to his. His eyes appeared darker, the same color they had become right before he’d kissed her yesterday.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said huskily. “Will there be a problem with me calling you at work?”
“No, there won’t be a problem. Wait, I’ll give you my business card.”
Jared watched as she quickly crossed the room to a table, tempted to let out a low whistle. Heat flared through him as his gaze wandered down her hips, thighs and legs. He took a deep breath and released it. Dana looked particularly sexy in her short skirt. She definitely had all the right body parts for it.
“This has all of my contact information,” she said, returning to where he was standing.
He took the card from her and felt her shiver when their hands touched. “Thanks.”
She cleared her throat when he didn’t make a move to leave. “Is there anything else, Jared?”
Her question made him realize that, yes, there definitely was something else on his mind. “It would be a good idea to seal our agreement and I think this way is more appropriate than a handshake.”
Before she could gather her next breath, he leaned down, slanted his mouth across hers and captured her lips in his, tasting her the way he had wanted to since entering her home. He heard her purr, felt her nipples tighten against his chest, all the way through his jacket, which only made him intensify his hold on her mouth as his tongue continued to devour her.
Jared s Counterfeit Fiancée Page 4