She did as he said and spread her legs, completely open to him. “Look at you.” He traced a finger down the inside of her thigh, and her nipples tightened in response.
“How is me being naked making up for my psychotic mom?”
“My mood is rapidly improving by the second.”
“I like the way you look at me.” She liked to see Aaron get a little wild in his eyes. It called to her in the most basic, primal way.
He pulled away suddenly and propped her back up onto the bar stool. “Can’t take it any longer. Need to have you.”
“Mmm. I like when you start talking caveman to me.”
“Me need you.”
She giggled but obeyed, digging her heels into the rungs on the chair and sliding her legs open to expose herself to Aaron. He gave an appreciative growl and grabbed the chocolate syrup again.
He turned the bottle over and drizzled the chocolate over her stomach, down, down, down until there was a direct path to the space between her thighs. She shuddered as the cool liquid hit her sensitive skin.
He looked at her and gave her a smile that made everything clench.
Jill’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as his tongue swept across her belly button and curved down. When his tongue circled around her clit, she fisted his hair in her hands and pulled him closer.
“Patience, princess. I’ll give you exactly what you need. Let me take my time.”
She knocked her head back against the counter as he resumed his slow pace, his tongue flicking and swirling, fingers massaging the insides of her thighs.
Would she ever get enough of this man?
No.
And she was okay with that.
“Jill?”
She opened her eyes, staring down at him kneeling before her. “Yeah?”
“You’re absolutely perfect.”
And with that, his tongue was on her again, relentless, so intense, she couldn’t even think straight or process his words.
She bucked against his mouth as the flat of his tongue elicited a wave of orgasms that came one after another.
By the time he pulled out a condom and sheathed himself, she could barely sit upright. She looked into those deep blue eyes as he entered her, and she knew everything was going to be okay. Things would work out. For once she had someone she could count on, and even if it was only going to be for a couple of months, she’d take it. It was worth the heartbreak when he’d inevitably need to leave.
“Mama, for the last time, I do not need to come in the church on a Cleopatra chair.” Jill pressed her palm to her temple and took a deep breath as she talked to her mother on the phone. This was getting out of hand. “Remember—small ceremony. Just you, Aaron’s parents, and that’s it.”
“What about Emily?”
“I told you, she is going to stay with Kate—Aaron and I are taking it slow. We want to make sure Emily is ready for all of this before Aaron moves in.”
Lies, lies, lies. She had a mountain of them. In fact, it’d take her a whole week with a pickax and climbing gear to get to the top. “It didn’t help that an accelerated timeline was required by Grammy.” Another lie, but she’d use any excuse to protect her kid, even if she earned herself a first-class ticket to hell for this.
Get married. Get the money. Get out. The plan was simple. Her growing feelings about her name next to Aaron’s on a marriage certificate complicated things a bit.
“What about flowers? You’ll need proper flowers. Will you come with me tomorrow?”
The doorbell rang, and Jill mumbled a quick “Yeah, sure, fine,” to appease her mother and quickly got off the phone.
Really, her mind was spinning with how fast everything was happening. Less than a week away from her birthday—the next few days were going to be one hell of a ride.
She swallowed back nerves as she walked toward the door. She’d invited Aaron over to hang out with her and Emily, just the three of them. Just a friend, that’s what she told Emily.
As she opened the door, a flicker of relief settled in her tense muscles when Aaron smiled down at her. “Hey.” Then he frowned. “You look stressed.” Damn him for always being so in tune to her. She was going to miss this because she doubted she’d ever be able to find someone else who just got her without having to say a word.
“My mother.” She waved her hand, dismissing it. “Are you ready to hang out with us?”
Aaron’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Yes.” He gave a reassuring smile, but she knew him well enough to see that his nerves were frayed under that cool facade. This was the first time he’d come over while Emily was there. To spend time with her daughter.
Emily came bounding down the hallway moments later and skidded to a halt inches from Aaron. “Aaron! You have to come play ponies with me.”
Before Aaron had time to respond, Emily grabbed his hand and dragged him to the living room where she had a sea of My Little Ponies on the floor. The corners of Jill’s lips edged into a smile. Maybe it wasn’t her daughter that she had to worry about after all.
Jill followed them into the living room, and Aaron and Emily were already seated on the ground.
“Who are these?” Aaron asked.
Emily began to list all of them and then went on to show Aaron her Shopkins collection. He was getting the seven-year-old royal treatment tonight.
She sat down next to Aaron, and they shared a quick smile. The niggling image of a life where she didn’t have to do the whole parenting thing solo edged in the peripheries of her mind. To have someone to share all the memories with. To have a man in Emily’s life that would be a good influence, unlike Jake.
She tried to shake off the thought, because, come on, she wasn’t delusional. In two months, life would be the same, just with a fatter bank account. But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if she could find someone and have the real deal. Could she do that to Emily?
Then again, wouldn’t it make Emily really happy to have someone in her life, too?
Aaron ended up staying until Emily went to bed that evening. He’d even had the honor of reading Pete the Cat, only if she and Aaron promised not to tell Uncle Gage they’d read it without him.
After putting Emily to bed, they sat down on the couch.
Aaron put his arm around her, and sitting there staring into the abyss with him after Emily’s bedtime routine felt so normal. “She’s an awesome kid. You’ve done a really great job with her.” His thumb brushed against her bare skin, and her eyes fluttered shut. Such a simple move, the stroke of a thumb, but able to elicit so many feelings. Ones Jill had thought she’d locked away for good.
“Thanks. She seems to really like you.”
“What’s not to like?” he mused.
She pushed at his chest and nearly sprained a finger. Damn, those pecs could be lethal weapons. Hell, his whole body was. “You’re so modest.” But it was true. There wasn’t anything to dislike about Aaron. In fact, she more than liked him.
Three little words popped into the back of her mind, and she bit back the sudden sting of tears. She’d never cared for someone this much, and it scared the living shit out of her.
Chapter Ten
“Jill!”
Jill bolted upright in bed and bit back the scream forming in her throat when she spotted her mother sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of her room.
“Mom.” She pulled the covers over herself. “What the hell are you doing in my room?” She glanced at the clock. “At six-forty in the morning.”
“Honestly, Jill, it’s a wonder Aaron wants to marry you with that mouth of yours. And the snoring. You really should get that checked out. They do say it’s the root of over half of divorces nationwide.”
Jill wrinkled her nose. She did not snore. Did she? “Mama. Again, what are you doing in my room?”
“I’m ready to go flower shopping with you. You agreed to it yesterday.” She gave Jill a knowing look. Of course Jill hadn’t bothered to ask what time they were going, b
ecause normal people didn’t wake up and look fully put-together before the clock hit seven. “We have less than a week, and all you’ve picked out is a cake. It was lucky that Reverend Morgan had time to marry you the day before your birthday. He’s booked solid, but I had him bump someone else’s wedding to later that evening.”
“Mom!”
“I can’t help it if I’m very persuasive.”
More like scary as hell. But she kept that comment to herself. “None of the florists are open this early.”
“They will be by the time we pick up Aaron. Gage is flying into town tonight, too, so I want to make sure everything is squared away before I make him a few treats.”
“You said Aaron is coming with us?”
“Of course. I took the liberty of calling him. We’re family now. I wish you would have told us sooner that you two were dating.”
The poor guy. Seriously, he’d had no idea what he was getting into when he proposed this crazy idea. “Mama.” She grabbed her phone and shook it at her mother. “There is a six preceding all other numbers on my alarm clock.”
Her mother strode over to the bed and pulled the covers off Jill. “Which means we only have a few more minutes until we need to pick up Aaron. Emily is already up and ready to be dropped off at Kate’s house.”
“Wait—” How was she supposed to think this early? Before her coffee? Words barely made sense at this point.
Her mother patted the end of the bed. “See you outside.”
She knocked her head back into her pillow. Dammit, her mother was good.
Jill’s head spun as she sat on the wooden bench in the flower shop. Too many flowers. Which wasn’t surprising since, well, it was a flower shop.
“What do you think, Jill?” Aaron gave a tight smile. She didn’t know how he did it—managed to be a saint while doing possibly the most boring thing in the world. When she was little, she, Mia, and Kate would dress up in Kate’s mother’s dresses and pretend they were queens from far-away lands, or pop star divas, or really anything that required a dress and a badass hairdo. But one thing Jill never fantasized about was the white dress, fairytale wedding. There was no brave knight that saved her from a high tower. Jill wanted to find her own key to unlock the tower of gloom and doom. She was her own savior.
And yet, here she was, staring at the one man who time and time again had been there for her. The one to pick her back up when she was at her worst. Fooling her entire family in order to attain a large sum of money probably qualified as rock bottom, and yet he was still here, holding her hand. When she wasn’t strong enough to save herself, he was there to pick up the pieces. And now she’d just subjected him into the fourth circle of hell by coming with her mother to pick out flowers. God, she was a horrible friend. Lover. Whatever this was.
“I like the calla lilies,” she told her mother.
“You can’t have those. Those are funeral flowers.”
“It’s fitting.” Death of my independence. The thought slammed into her so hard that it nearly stole her breath. She’d spent all these years raising her daughter, and she was forced into the one thing she didn’t believe in because of money. How pathetic.
She couldn’t even look her mother in the face. She’d lied to her, made her believe this whole charade. She’d be crushed when she found out.
“Will you excuse me for a minute?” She pushed back from the table, trying to be as polite as possible to the florist, who patiently flipped through pages with her mother.
She made her way out to the parking lot. Jill didn’t smoke, but the events of this week could definitely cause her to start. She knocked her head back against the red brick exterior of the shop and sucked in a lungful of cool, humid air. March fifteenth. Six days from now.
“Getting cold feet on me?” Aaron joined her, leaning his shoulders against the brick.
“Our families know. This was not how it was supposed to happen.” One slip up and this whole charade was a disaster. And now she was picking out flowers she didn’t even want.
“Yep.” He took her hand in his and lightly massaged her palm with his thumb.
“What am I supposed to tell my daughter? She’s going to be so confused.” Lying to her mother on the phone was one thing, but what happened when Emily asked questions? And with that child, the questions would come in droves. Ones Jill didn’t know how to answer. “I’m pretty sure the PTA will be up my ass about this, too.”
“Why?”
“They’re up my ass about everything. I’m that mom.”
He chuckled. “If you want, I can fend them off.”
“Even a superhero like you are no match for PTA moms.”
“I think there’s some shark repellant in my Batmobile.”
A smile ticked at her lips. “Noted. You might need more than one canister.”
He squeezed her hand. “If you don’t want to go through with it, you don’t have to. This is your rodeo, Jill.”
“More like my circus, and my monkeys are out of control.”
“Still, you say the word and it’s off. My offer still stands if you’d rather do a loan. We’ll handle it together. “
Together. That word tantalized her. Aaron made her feel like she could conquer anything with him, any obstacle, without the added bonus of wanting to curl up in a fetal position and rock in a corner. She had to admit, she did like the idea of having him around, having someone else to depend on.
“You’re too nice to me.”
“I can be even nicer if we sneak off to my truck real quick.”
Such an enticing offer. She’d give anything to get lost in his touch for a few minutes. “Don’t tempt me.”
“I could get you off before they even notice you’re gone too long.” A warm hand slid up the back of her shirt, thick callouses grazing roughly against her skin. His other hand cupped her ass, and she let out a groan. God, she wanted this so bad. And she was going to hell because her mother was waiting in there to pick out flowers for her fake wedding.
“Did anyone ever tell you you’re a horrible listener?”
“I’m listening to the fact that you’re using me as your own personal climbing wall. The heat is pouring off of you, especially here.” His hand slid down her waist, his thumb slowly gliding over her clit. “Wouldn’t even have to take your clothes off. Just slip my hands underneath your panties…” His index finger traced over the button of her jeans and dipped inside. “Let me take care of you. Come to the truck.”
Yes. Make like the Nike slogan and Just Do It.
Her conscience kicked in full force, reminding her that she was no longer her hormone-crazed teen self. She was better than this. She could think straight for two seconds. Maybe. “Aaron. We need to get back inside. My mother.” She pulled away, even though her body screamed, Get in the truck, girl!
“You’re right. Sorry. Got carried away.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, his wild gaze not helping the ache between her thighs. Was she ever going to get enough of him?
The answer was simple.
No.
...
“How you holding up, son?”
Aaron stopped sanding the headboard he’d been working on and immediately regretted that decision. “Managing.” Stressed out of his goddamn mind. Between the twelve-hour shift he pulled to make sure the renovations got done at the Wilkin’s house, and the flower shop fiasco this morning, he was ready to pass out while standing up.
“I want to thank you for helping out the past couple of months.”
“No problem.” He’d do anything for his dad, and had enough money stacked up that he at least had the luxury of being able to help.
“I got an offer on the business.”
His head shot up. “Yeah?” That was news to him. He hadn’t even known his father was actively seeking a buyer.
“You’ve made it clear you have no interest in the company. Right?” His father’s watchful gaze considered Aaron.
Where he usually felt guilt, he only felt
a deep breath of relief knowing someone was going to take this business off his father’s hands. “No.” Even after two months of it, this type of work wasn’t for him.
“Then there’s no use in keeping it in the family. I’ve had a couple offers, and I’ll close it out in the next week or so.”
“Good.” A weight lifted off his chest. One less thing on his plate. Not that he’d ever admit it to his dad, but he was worried the business was going to be forced on him once his dad’s arthritis took a turn for the worse.
“So, this thing with Jill…” He set a hand on Aaron’s shoulder.
“Dad, I don’t have time to explain everything.” He didn’t even know how to explain it if he tried. “It’s all moving fast.”
“Do you love her?”
He thumbed a screw between his fingers and nodded. “I do.” He’d like to say the words came as a revelation, but he’d be kidding himself. Jill had always been different. He’d never felt the way he did around her with anyone else. It might have taken her needing his help to finally realize it, but the foundation of loving her had been laid a long time ago. From the first day he met her, he’d been under her spell. In high school, he might have shaken it off as just liking her more than his other friends, but this was the real deal, and a fucking problem. He had a job waiting for him in D.C., and here he was, falling harder than a tank down a cliff.
“That’s good. It’ll make up for the hell her mother’s going to give you for the rest of your life.”
“Yeah.” He knew for damn sure Jill’s mother was going to decapitate him once she found out this was all fake. He’d take another tour in Iraq over this.
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he fished it out to find a text from Jill.
Jill: Dinner tonight? I want to make up for what a disaster today was.
Aaron: Sounds good.
Jill: Hope you like enchiladas! Oh, and Emily says to tell you that she got a new Shopkin yesterday and she can’t wait to show you.
One hell of a sappy grin spread across his face.
Later that night, Aaron had just finished playing his third round of tea party with Emily when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He went to press the ignore button, but saw it was Sam.
Falling for the Fake Fiance (Snowpocalypse) Page 13