“But …” Anna bit her lip. He was right. Of course he was right. But there’d been a reason why her friends had let her get away with the Dave story, and … She felt her face go crimson. “No one will believe I’ve hooked up with a … um, motorcycle guy.”
Jake barked a sharp laugh. “Motorcycle guy? You afraid I’ll come across too blue-collar for your friends?” He didn’t wait for her to protest. “Well, don’t. I think I know the Dave type of guy well enough to fake it.”
“This is all so stupid,” Anna said and sighed, sagging back in her seat and taking her hand with her. “I never should have asked you to come to this.”
“I wanted to come to this,” Jake said. “And now I’ve made my life a hell of a lot easier. Only thing I need to fake is some suck-ass job. What does your boy Dave do, specifically?”
“Financial consultant,” Anna said, worrying her lip. “Company X is in trouble, and you and your firm go in to review their books and make recommendations on how to shore up their financials—cut overhead, sell off assets, whatever.” What had she been thinking? Jake couldn’t bluff his way through that kind of job. She couldn’t even bluff her way through that kind of a job. She didn’t know what Jake did other than tinker around on a bunch of half-built bikes in his garage. Where did he get his money? How did he pay his bills?
And what did she care? She wasn’t dating him; she was faking a weekend with him. The rest shouldn’t—didn’t—matter.
“Excellent.” Jake’s voice brought her back, and she blinked up at him.
“Excellent?” Somehow, that didn’t seem like the right response from him, but Jake just nodded at her.
“Yup. Money guys I know,” he said. “So now, we only need to answer three critical questions between us, and we’ll be set.”
Anna shot him a skeptical glance. “Three questions,” she said. “That’ll do it.” At Jake’s nod her eyes narrowed further. “Did you get these off a cereal box?”
“Nope. Bartender I knew in Durango. You ready?”
Anna grimaced. “Fine. But you have to answer each one first.”
“Fair enough,” Jake said. “Number one: What’s your favorite thing about your job? For me, it’s the flexibility. I get to do what I want, when I want, long as I get the job done by whatever time I promised the client.” He lifted his brows at her. “And you?”
“I can’t see how—”
“What, you don’t like anything about your job?”
“Of course I do!” Anna snapped. This was the stupidest thing ever. “I like the fact that it gives me a lot of money.” That sounded lame and shallow, so she hurried her words, trying to explain. “I mean, you know. My dad died when I was fifteen.” She shot him a glance. “I told you that, right?”
Jake regarded her evenly. “You didn’t tell me your age.”
“Yeah, well.” Anna shrugged. “Anyway, it was unexpected, and we kind of weren’t very well-off after that, not for a long time. I didn’t even know how bad at first, but …” Anna swallowed, keeping her voice even. Jake didn’t need to know everything. This wasn’t her life story, it was the answer to a trivia question. Wrap it up. “Anyway, Mom eventually remarried when I was in college, and she’s fine now. I have a baby half sister and everything. But I always swore I’d never be in that situation again.” She smiled and shifted her shoulders. “And now I’m not.”
“No, you aren’t.” Jake’s tone was easy and nonjudgmental, and he was already on to the next round. “Question number two: What’s your favorite childhood memory? For me, it was a fishing trip with my dad. That was before I was old enough to piss him off just by breathing. I was maybe ten years old. It was the coolest thing ever, heading all the way up to this little lake south of Champlain, spending the whole day with him. Most of my other brothers were caught up in high school stuff by then, but I was still young enough to fall under the spell of the sun and open air.” A faint smile appeared on Jake’s lips and Anna wondered about it. What had caused the split with his dad? But then he was looking at her expectantly and she flushed, realizing that she was supposed to provide an answer, too. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Also a vacation trip. I was eight, I think. We went to a chalet in the mountains. There were all these pretty cabins around us, and a pool and a river and trails.” She smiled, bringing all the images back. “Dad was still alive then, of course, and he told Mom she didn’t have to do anything the whole weekend. He’d cook and pick what movies we’d watch and make a fire and everything. All she had to do was let him take care of her, he said.” She felt the rush of tears prick her eyes, but she willed them to stay put. “Mom was pretty happy.”
“I can see how a girl would like that.” There was a smile in Jake’s voice and she looked up at him, but once again, she saw no judgment in his gaze. “Last question, then,” he said. “Where do you want to go on your next vacation? For me, I’m thinking Mexico. I could use some sun.” He cocked his head and glanced at her when she didn’t respond right away. “And you?”
“I …” Anna’s jaw worked as her mind went completely blank. For real? She could pop off answers revealing emotional childhood memories, but she couldn’t come up with where she wanted to go on vacation? “I honestly don’t know,” she said at last when Jake’s brows lifted. “I travel a lot with work, and I hardly ever get any time off, not enough to actually go anywhere, anyway, and I just—my mind is always on my work, I guess. I never think much beyond the next job, the next meeting, the next assignment.”
For a long moment, Jake just stared at her, and this time there definitely was censure in his gaze. Resentment flared but Jake leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “Thank you for answering the questions, Anna. See? We already know a ton more about each other.”
“We do?” Anna grumbled. “That didn’t seem all that revealing.”
“It was, trust me.” Jake leaned back in his own chair and closed his eyes, but kept his hold on Anna’s hand. “Now just relax,” he murmured. “Nothing but open road ahead.”
She sat back, too, but she was nowhere near relaxed. Open road was the last thing she knew what to do with. And there were a whole lot of people at the end of that road, just waiting for her to screw up yet again.
Chapter 8
Jake tried to ease his body upright without disturbing Anna, but her eyes popped open as soon as he moved. “We’re landing soon,” she said, sounding so perfectly chipper that he had to fight a smile. Wound. Tight.
“Yup.” He released her hand and yawned, more than ready to get off the plane and stretch his legs. Still, he’d had his own time for reflection, and while he didn’t regret dumping the Dave story, he also didn’t want to steamroll over all of Anna’s plans. “We’re heading straight for this beach house, or whatever?” he asked.
“Right, that’s where everyone will be. A lot of them arrived yesterday, but I had no problem begging off that little circle of hell.” She smiled. “We have several hours before the rehearsal, and dinner after that, but if I’ve timed this right, we’ll hopefully miss today’s golf outing and shopping excursion.”
“Or we could go for a ride,” Jake said, testing the waters just a bit.
Anna turned to him, and he didn’t miss the flare of excitement in her eyes. It made him happier than he had any right to be. “A ride? Like on a motorcycle? But …”
Jake shrugged, playing it cool. “While I was traveling this week, I got to thinking it might be fun to ride instead of getting a car. I had a buddy of mine who lives in the area bring one of his bikes to the airport.” He slanted her a glance. “But now it occurs to me that maybe you didn’t want to show up on the back of a motorcycle, the first time your friends see you after however long it’s been.”
“Well …” Anna bit her lip. “What about my bag?”
“Your stuff’ll fit in the saddlebag.” Jake said. He couldn’t believe it. Was she actually going to roll with this plan? Anna Richardson was closer to unraveling than she
realized. “But honey, we don’t have to—”
“No, I like this … I like this.” Anna blew a breath out. “I’ve been thinking on the flight.”
“Uh-oh,” Jake said, with feeling. Anna glanced at him, genuinely startled, and he fought another grin. Had he fallen into such an easy rhythm with her so quickly? Apparently, he had.
“No, seriously, this is going to be good,” she said. “I like your idea. I have kept you under wraps forever, because I didn’t know how my friends would handle you, blah blah blah. So the more outrageous our entrance, the better. Not like flaming circus-clowns outrageous, but just … cool.” She frowned down at her outfit. “Only I don’t look really cool, I have to say. I look kind of frumpy.”
“You could never look that. And your sweater is perfect.” Jake glanced at her trousers and sandals. “But yeah, if you’re going to play the role of part-time biker girl, we should probably stop somewhere on the way.”
She looked at him, her eyes round and big. “You’d seriously take me shopping? For, like, biker clothes? I wouldn’t even know what to get.”
“So, I’ll show you.” And he would, too. There was no end of things he wanted to show Anna Richardson this weekend. The airplane bumped to the ground, the flight attendant’s smooth voice letting them know they could reconnect with the world. “You got your phone handy? We’ll just need to—”
“I’m totally on it.” She giggled, honest to God giggled, and Jake found himself watching her as she clicked through screen after screen, looking for motorcycle-gear shops. “I probably don’t need to show up looking like a Marvel superhero, but what do you think? Jeans and boots? Maybe a jacket?”
“A jacket would be good. If we’re going to do any highway riding, probably a helmet. I asked my buddy to have one with the bike, but sometimes guys forget.”
Anna frowned up at him. “Who’s giving you a bike for the weekend?” she asked. “How are they getting home?”
Jake laughed. “You worry too much about details that don’t matter.” She rolled her eyes and went back to her cell phone, and Jake pulled out his own. A few keystrokes later, and he got the confirmation he needed. His buddy would be waiting for them outside of baggage claim.
And with a bike for the weekend, anything was possible.
Anna stood a safe distance away from the turning baggage carousel and watched with growing interest as Jake strode over to a guy standing off to the side, a guy whose legs looked permanently bowed, both of them with grins a mile wide as they shook hands and slapped backs. Jake’s friend was older, with long silver-gray hair and a weathered face, but he jawed with Jake like an excited little boy recounting his last great adventure. Keys were flipped, but no papers were signed, and the guy waved off Jake’s proffered wallet. He looked past Jake to where she was standing, and his grin turned positively wolfish.
Oookay.
A few more words were exchanged, and more laughter. Then the old guy was on his way, apparently to catch a cab, and Jake’s saunter back to her was even more masculine and sexy.
“Everything all right?” she asked as he came up to her.
“More than all right. Give me that.” He slid her bag off her shoulder and picked up his, causing her to blink. The move was so casual, you would have thought they’d been dating for years, not minutes. They headed out to the parking garage, and found the motorcycle quickly, a beautiful deep-crimson street bike, more cruiser style than rocket. And just as Jake had promised, two streamlined saddlebags hung on either side of the bike, along with two helmets clipped in. They had to unpack their own soft-sided bags and roll them up to get everything to fit—including her truly awful bridesmaid’s gown, which Jake mercifully did not comment on. Then he held out the shiny black helmet and grinned, and Anna felt another layer of propriety stripped away.
“Hello, Anna Richardson, I’m Jake Flynn,” he said. “You wanna take a ride on my bike?”
“Why, hello, Jake Flynn.” Anna grinned back, shaking her head. “How can I refuse an offer like that?”
“Excellent.” Jake laughed, looking as boyish as the guy who’d just lent him the motorcycle. “I promise you, you won’t regret it. The store is close?”
Anna ignored the question for just a moment as she tried to figure out the helmet on her own this time. “Here.” Jake reached around and smoothed her hair back and down, the feel of his hands on her even in so innocent a way sending shivers down her skin. She ducked her head into the helmet and he folded her hair up and inside. “Not the best solution, but since we’re not going far, it’ll work. Just watch your ankles. Those are the absolute worst shoes for riding, but we’ll get you set up. Here we go.”
He sat down on the bike and tilted it toward her, and she slid in behind him once again, as if she’d been doing this for years. This was really happening! Showing up at Kristen’s beach house on the back of a cool-looking motorcycle, with Jake Flynn in front of her? That would get them all talking, for sure.
She slid her arms around Jake’s waist and he fired up the machine, only she forgot to close her eyes this time.
The store proved to be closer than she’d realized. Jake not only outfitted her in the latest biker chic, he showed her how to look and walk the part. He refused to let her pay for anything, either, lending the entire experience a dreamlike quality. A dream that was seriously becoming a memory for the ages. And less than an hour later, Anna found herself peering out from behind Jake’s shoulder at Seagull’s Folly, the enormous beach house she’d practically memorized from the website links and emails Kristen had been peppering her with for the past half year. It looked large enough to bunker a family of twenty-five, a huge sprawling beach house that was more windows than walls.
They were noticed immediately as they cruised up to park along the edge of the driveway. Just like Jake had showed her, Anna removed her helmet and tossed her hair back, trying to keep herself from grinning as a tall, willowy, ash-blonde beauty turned toward the street, then bounded down the stairs toward them. Kristen Andrews could even make bounding look good, and had since the moment Anna first laid eyes on her as a college freshman. That first day, Kristen had brought matching comforters that her mother had sewn for them, and she’d already lined both sets of drawers in their dorm room with patterned paper by the time Anna had shown up on campus. But now Kristen was looking at Anna as if she’d never seen her before. “You guys rode a motorcycle here?” she asked, aghast. “But how? When? And Anna, where is your dress?”
“In desperate need of airing, I’m sure, but it’s in there.” Anna gestured to the saddlebag nearest her and handed her helmet to Jake, who once again took it as if they had been performing this ritual for years. Then she strode forward in her long boots and tucked-in jeans to reach Kristen. Jake had insisted on buying her a motorcycle jacket, and despite the bulk of the thing, she hugged Kristen with more emotion than she’d expected to be feeling.
“I’m so glad you’re here!” Kristen said into her hair, and Anna leaned back to look at her former roommate, still model pretty despite the fact that she’d traded in runways for a job on Wall Street as an investment banker. But Kristen was now looking shrewdly past Anna’s shoulder to Jake, and her eyes were taking in every detail. “And this is, ah, Dave?”
“In a manner of speaking.” Jake had removed his own helmet—and his jacket as well—and now looked like a model himself, his T-shirt tight on his muscled chest, his legs long and relaxed in his jeans and scuffed boots. Jake Flynn carried himself with so much calm assurance that Anna found herself believing his next words, even though they’d carefully worked them out together. “Anna finally spilled the beans on her little charade with you guys. I’m Jake Flynn, not Dave whoever he was. I’m glad to meet you, Kristen.” He held out his hand and Kristen took it, smiling at him with interest.
“Well, Jake Flynn, you certainly aren’t what I expected. But then I guess that was the point?” Kristen swung her assessing gaze back to Anna. “How much of what you told us is true ab
out him, then?”
Jake smiled back at Kristen, but when he spoke he looked straight at Anna. “I guess that depends on what she’s told you about me,” he said. “Maybe I’ll learn something about myself this weekend.” Anna’s heart kicked sideways at the steadiness of his eyes, the easy roll of his words. Okay. He was totally good at this.
“Yes, I think Anna’s going to have a lot of explaining to do. Not the least of which is how in God’s name you’re going to get the wrinkles out of your dress.” Kristen frowned at Anna as Jake turned to unhook the saddlebags from the bike. He slung the bags over his shoulder and the two of them followed Kristen up the short, shell-strewn drive. “Please tell me you guys didn’t ride down here the whole way from Boston! I refuse to believe it.”
“Nah. Friend of mine let me borrow his bike while I’m in town.” Jake’s casual language was just a touch too casual, and Anna didn’t miss the sharpening of Kristen’s eyes. But by then they were up the stairs and through the open doors, and Anna saw her chance to create a distraction.
“Kristen, oh my gosh! This place is beautiful!” Anna gushed, drawing Jake’s hard body close to hers. It wasn’t difficult for her to feign amazement, though. Hardwood floors, large throw rugs, and complete rooms of furniture beckoned in airy welcome. The windows she’d noticed while driving up flooded the area with light. Around a sharp bend she could see the wink of stainless steel fixtures in the kitchen, and yet more glass. A gleaming wood staircase led up and away, with promises of light-filled bedrooms as well. “It’s just … perfect.”
“You like it, honey?” Jake asked, and Anna blinked at the endearment, though of course he would say such things to her. He’d been her boyfriend for the past six months. She needed to remember that.
Fake It Page 7