Trouble with the Fake Boyfriend (The Rock Bottom Series Book 3)

by Holly Renee

  “Speaking of the devil,” Chloe said only loud enough for us to hear, but I still picked up my glass and chugged the rest of the vodka.

  I wasn’t prepared to see him. He looked as handsome as ever, but there was something about him that seemed different. It was as if there were two different Liams and this was the one I barely knew. This was the one who had known where to draw the line between us.

  “Can I get another one of these?” I handed my glass to Chloe.

  “Of course. Jerry, can you make Brooke another vodka soda?” She said it loud enough for the whole damn restaurant to hear, and even though we were friends, I wanted to climb across the bar and wring her neck.

  She knew exactly what she was doing, and it worked. Liam looked up as soon as she said my name, and it only took a moment before his eyes landed on me.

  I held my breath as he straightened and set his clipboard on the bar. He looked as if he was contemplating whether or not to come over to where we sat, and I didn’t blame him.

  But he made his way over to us with a smile on his face, and he leaned on his elbows on the bar right in front of Kennedy. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite Mrs. Did you miss me?”

  “Of course.” She reached out and patted his cheek. “But I missed her more.”

  He looked up at me and the smile he gave me made my stomach turn. It was so fake and forced and nothing like the smiles he gave me when we were in Tennessee.

  “I returned her in one piece.” He said it so matter of factly but he was wrong.

  I felt like I was in a million little pieces, and I didn’t know how to put those pieces back together. Whatever Liam had done to me, I didn’t know how to get back to the girl I was before him. Before we screwed everything up.

  “I’m just happy she’s home. Did you all have fun?”

  “We did.” He nodded. “Well, I did. I don’t know about Brooke.”

  “I did.” My answer was instant.

  “Did you have everyone fooled?” Chloe set another drink down in front of me.

  “I think we did a pretty fantastic job of that.” He pushed is hair back out of his face, and he looked as uncomfortable as I felt.

  “Mr. Gentry,” the hostess interrupted us, and she looked nervous. Apparently he had been in a bad mood. “I’m sorry but your party is here for your reservation.”

  He looked past her to the front of the restaurant and all three of us followed his gaze to the pretty brunette in a pencil skirt and a blazer.

  I had no right, but jealousy still overwhelmed me. It didn’t matter what we were or weren’t, my heart apparently wasn’t keeping up, and I hated how instant and severe the feeling was.

  “If you ladies will excuse me, I’ve got a quick meeting scheduled.” He looked over at me, and me only. “It was good to see you.”

  It was good to see me? Good to see me?

  Did he really just say it was good to see me? I wanted to jump over the damn bar and pound my fists into his chest. He was about to have dinner with some woman while I wasn’t even sleeping and all he has to say to me is it was good to see me?

  I was irrational. I knew that, but that didn’t make it any better. I knew that I was the one who told him we were a bad idea, but he had instilled that idea in my head.

  He had given me every reason in the world why we wouldn’t be good together, and I had finally believed him. But now? Now, I wanted to take it all back.

  I wanted to lay claim on him right here in front of everyone, especially that damn woman he just hugged and motioned to sit at his table.

  “Down, tiger.”

  My gaze snapped up to Chloe.

  “What?”

  “You look like you’re about to attack someone.” She nudged my vodka soda closer to me. “That’s his lawyer.”

  “What?” It was apparently the only word I could think of.

  “She’s married and has a few kids. I’ve been to plenty of meetings with her about the restaurant. Stop planning her death.”

  I looked back over at them, and sure enough, she had pulled a file out of her bag and had paperwork laid out on the table.

  “I wasn’t planning her death.”

  “You totally were.” Kennedy laughed. “But I was plotting it for you too.”

  “He can have dinner with whoever he wants.” I was still being petty even though Chloe had just told me who she was.

  “You’re cute when you’re jealous. It’s a good look for you.” I narrowed my eyes at Chloe, but she didn’t care. I didn’t think that girl was scared of anything.

  “So, you definitely caught feelings.” Kennedy wasn’t asking me. She just stated the facts.

  “It doesn’t matter.” I looked over my shoulder at him again, and this time he was looking back at me. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, I never could, but I was dying to know. I would give anything to know what was running through his mind.

  “Why wouldn’t it matter?” Kennedy sounded completely perplexed.

  “We already decided that it wasn’t a good idea. We’re about to start working together and it’s just not a good idea.” I turned back toward them, and they were both looking at me like I was a complete idiot.

  “Why can’t you work together and be together? You’re both professionals.” Chloe was actually serious.

  “Right? Like when I professionally fucked him at his mama’s house during our fake relationship?”

  “I knew it.” Chloe held her hand out in Kennedy’s direction, and Kennedy huffed before pulling a hundred dollar bill out of her pocket.

  “What the hell was that?” I pointed to the money as she put it in Chloe’s hand.

  “Just a little bet.” Chloe smiled like she had just hit the laundry. “Don’t let your husband forget that he owes me too.”

  “You all bet on me?” These bitches. They were supposed to be my best friends and here they were placing bets on whether or not I could keep it in my pants.

  “Technically, we bet on Liam. Chloe said that he couldn’t resist you, but I just didn’t see it coming. I didn’t think you were really into him.”

  “That’s because I’m not.” The lies were just rolling off my tongue.

  “Let me get you another drink while you keep lying to yourself. I’ve got a couple extra hundred to burn through.” Chloe fanned her face with the hundred and I wanted to kill them both.

  Nineteen

  I Don’t Love Tucker

  Liam

  Brooke had left before I got a chance to talk to her. I hadn’t been intentionally avoiding her, but I was swamped after missing so much work and I didn’t even know where to start.

  I could hear her in her apartment at night, and I wanted nothing more than to go over there and climb into her bed. I wasn’t sleeping well, everyone at work was pissing me off, and I was just in a piss-poor mood overall.

  And it was her fault.

  Everything about this was.

  Before her, everything was fine, but she flipped everything on its head.

  I knocked on her door even though it was nearly ten o’clock. The meeting with my lawyer tonight was to go over some things with the purchase of the Marshall building.

  But I had seen the way she looked at her.

  That wasn’t a girl who thought we were a bad idea. She looked like a girl who was about to lay her claim, and I would have welcomed it.

  “Hey.” She was in her pajamas, and she looked sleepy.

  “I’m sorry. Were you asleep?” Shit. Maybe it was too late to come by.

  “No.” She shook her head. “I was just watching a movie. Come in.”

  She opened the door and I stepped into her dark apartment. There was nothing on but the TV, and I smiled as I looked down at her tiny shorts and thick wool socks.

  I stood in her living room awkwardly, and she looked like she was feeling as awkward as I was.

  “I brought this over.” I held out the paperwork my lawyer and I had just signed, and Brooke took them from my hand.

&nbs
p; She clicked on a lamp, drowning the room in soft light, and sat down on the edge of the couch. She looked over the papers before she looked up at me with a soft laugh. “I don’t know what any of this means.”

  I took a deep breath and searched her eyes. I had no idea how she was going to take this. I didn’t have a clue how she would react.

  I pushed up my shirt sleeve and sat down beside her. My thigh touched hers and that one simple touch was like a shock to my system. I missed touching her. Even if it was fake, I missed being able to kiss her any time I wanted.

  I looked at the paper in her hand and pointed to our names. “Well, this right here is showing that the property has been transferred from my name to yours.”

  “What?” She was searching the paper as if staring at it would somehow make her see it more clearly. “What does that mean?”

  “It means that the Marshall building is yours.”

  She looked up at me then with no expression on her face. I didn’t know what was about to happen. I didn’t have a clue as to what she was thinking.

  “What do you mean it’s mine?” She shook her head. “You bought the building. You said I’d be responsible for everything else.”

  “I know.” My lawyer had told me this was a horrible decision, but this was one thing that I didn’t give a shit about her opinion on. I had made up my mind on the drive home from Tennessee. I knew what I was going to do whether Brooke liked it or not. “And that’s still the case. But the building is yours now.”

  She looked back down at the papers then back up at me. “Why are you doing this?” Her voice broke, and I hated it.

  “Because you’ve worked your ass off. I’d still love to be in business with you, but I don’t want you to think that I can hold that building over your head. The building is yours no matter what happens.”

  She stood from the couch and paced in front of her coffee table. She was reading the papers, really reading them, and I sat quietly on the couch while she did. I knew there was a strong likelihood this decision would piss her off, but it was an easy decision to make.

  If the building was mine, Brooke would always think she owed me something, and she didn’t. No matter where we went from here, she didn’t owe me a thing.

  “I can’t accept this.” She held the papers out to me as if I could just take it back.

  “It’s already done. I’ve already signed everything.”

  “No.” She shook her head and wiped at a tear that fell down her cheek.

  “Don’t cry.” I stood up and took a step toward her. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

  “What did you think this would do?” She shook the papers at me.

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged and moved even closer to her. “I thought you’d be happy. I thought you’d be relieved.”

  She threw the papers down on the table and ran her fingers through her hair. “I didn’t ask you to buy me a building. I didn’t want this.”

  “What do you want then, Brooke? Just tell me what to do.”

  “I want you to treat me like you would treat any other business partner. Is this how you’d treat Tucker?”

  “No.”

  She threw her hands up at my answer, but I wasn’t through.

  “But I don’t love Tucker.”

  She stopped her pacing then and she stared at me. “You don’t love me.” Her voice sounded so small and nothing like the girl I loved.

  “Don’t tell me what I feel. Regardless of what you feel, I love you.”

  She took a step back as I stepped forward. “We had a great week, Liam, but you’re confused. Your mom and your dad…”

  “Know everything.”

  Her head snapped up.

  “Katie told them the truth before we left. Apparently she overheard you and Sophie talking about it at the football game.”

  Her hand slid to her neck. “Your mom.”

  “She’s just as in love with you as she was when she thought you were my girlfriend.” I wasn’t lying. My mom had been blowing me up nonstop to find out if I had fixed this yet. I was pretty sure she was going to disown me if I didn’t.

  “What did your lawyer say about this?” She pointed to the discarded papers.

  “She told me it was a horrible idea, but apparently I love horrible ideas.”

  She was shaking her head, but I didn’t know what she wanted from me. I didn’t know what she wanted me to say.

  “What do you want, Brooke? If you want the building, it’s yours. If you don’t want the building, I’ll take it back. Just tell me what you want.” I sounded as desperate as I felt.

  “I can’t. I don’t.” I knew she hated the next words that came out of her mouth. It was written all over her face. “I don’t want to depend on you. I don’t want to depend on you and you to change your mind about me.”

  I didn’t let her keep her distance. I closed the space with a few steps, and I buried my hands in her hair. She tried to look away from me, but I refused to let her. “I will never change my mind about you.”

  “You don’t know that,” she whispered, but she was wrong.

  “Yes. I do.” I kissed her forehead then pulled away slowly. “You’re all that I think about. You’re all I see. I couldn’t change my mind about you if I tried.”

  She reached her hand up and gripped my hand with hers. “Promise me.”

  “I promise.” I pressed my forehead to hers. “I love you, Brooke.”

  “I love you too.”

  I picked her up and slammed my mouth against hers. I couldn’t take another second without tasting her. I wanted to know what those words felt like coming off her lips. “Say it again.”

  “I love you.”

  I fell against the couch, and she held on as she settled into my lap. I couldn’t stop touching her. Kissing her.

  I never wanted to stop ever again.

  She reached between us and jerked her shirt over her head in an instant.

  “I love your body.” I ran my tongue over her nipple before running my nose along her breastbone. “I love your tits.”

  She laughed and ran her fingers through my hair.

  “I love your lips.” I kissed her as she laughed again, and I swear it was my favorite kind of kiss. I had never seen anyone as beautiful as Brooke when she laughed.

  “Is there anything about me you don’t love?” she teased as she started grinding against my lap.

  “No.” I shook my head and kissed her shoulder. “I especially love it when you do that.”

  She laughed and moved harder against me as she started fumbling with the buttons of my shirt. I didn’t stop her. I reached down and unbuckled my belt before opening my slacks.

  I had no idea how I had survived so long without her before, but right then, I felt like I was going to die if I didn’t touch every inch of her.

  She lifted to her knees as I pulled my cock from my pants and she slipped her shorts to the side before sitting back down against me. She rubbed her wetness against me slowly causing us both to groan before she lifted again and lined herself up with me.

  I kissed up her neck as she slowly settled against me taking me into her fully, and I had to stop myself from lifting her up and slamming her back against the couch.

  I knew she needed this bit of control, and I would give it to her. Especially now. Especially after her telling me she loved me.

  Her fingers dug into my shoulders as she lifted and dropped against me. The way her body moved was sinful, and I couldn’t do anything but lean my head back against the couch and watch her.

  Whoever had made her ever feel like she wasn’t good enough had never really seen her. If they had, there would never had been a doubt in their mind.

  This girl was pure fucking magic, and I was a fool for not seeing that before.

  I reached into her shorts, finding her clit, and I rubbed circles to match her pace. She bit her lip as her eyes became heavy, and I wrapped my spare arm around her hips to force her closer to me.

&nb
sp; I thrust into her as she fell back against me. I could feel her body tightening, and I was thankful because I didn’t know how much longer I would last.

  Being with her was unlike anything I had ever felt with anyone else. Her body was so in tune with mine. Her mouth felt like it was made for me.

  She gave just as good as she got, and she was never shy about letting me know what she loved. I didn’t think she could hide it if she tried.

  “Liam.” My name sounded like a prayer on her lips, and I wanted to give her everything.

  Whatever she wanted, whatever she needed, I would give it to her.

  Her thighs locked against mine, and I slammed up into her as she fell apart above me. I felt like my hands were bruising her skin, but I couldn’t stop. I wanted her closer, I wanted more, and I was never willing to let go.

  “I love you, Liam,” she whispered, and there wasn’t a chance in hell that I wasn’t following her over that edge.

  I buried myself in her and bruised my lips against hers. I couldn’t get enough, every touch only fueling my addiction.

  But she was an addiction I would happily fall to my knees for.

  “I love you.” I came inside her, harder than I had ever come before, and exhaustion hit me as she laid against my chest but I wasn’t done with her.

  I would fall again and again, and I would never get enough.

  Twenty

  A Mess

  Brooke

  I could hear someone at the door, but I didn’t care. The couch was against my back, and Liam’s warm chest was against mine.

  A very smooth chest, a very naked chest. I ran my fingers down his side to an also very naked hip. He let out a soft, sleepy groan and pulled me in tighter to him. Everywhere he touched, I could feel his skin.

  “Wake up, sleepyhead.” I registered Kennedy’s voice about the same moment it clicked in my mind that we were each wrapped around each other completely naked. I reached for the blanket that was tangled at our feet, but it was too late. “Oh my God. Tucker, close your eyes.”