The Substitute

by Denise Grover Swank

  Josh had blown off his father’s words, thinking his father couldn’t possibly understand what he was going through. But now he knew…and it saddened him that his father would never meet Megan.

  But the memory of his father’s words gave him renewed determination. “So you’re really going to break up with me tonight?”

  She shook her head slowly. “No. You’re going to break up with me.” Tears filled her eyes and she stood. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I want the rest of our time together to be happy.”

  He stood and pulled her into his arms. They had so many strikes against them, but he still held on to a slender thread of hope. “Okay.”

  She forced a smile. “So for today, let’s pretend like we have forever and avoid thinking about what happens tonight. Happy memories. Agreed?”

  He smiled softly at her. “Yes.”

  She grabbed his hand and tugged, her smile turning genuine and playful. “Now come take a shower with me.”

  “Okay, but I’m warning you now that I like really hot water.”

  Her eyes twinkled with wicked delight. “No cold showers for you. I can live with that. But I don’t think you’ll need one today.”

  He laughed, but his heart was still aching, reminding him that there were plenty of cold showers in his foreseeable future.

  At first he thought it might be impossible to recapture their earlier playfulness, but it slipped on easily when he was with her. They took turns washing each other, laughing about Josh confusing her shower gel for conditioner, then kissed until the water turned cold. Megan shrieked, still in the process of shaving her legs. He teased her, saying pioneer women had shaved in less favorable conditions, and she ordered him to get out.

  “You know that you’re actually doing me a favor, right?” he laughed. “I already told you how I feel about cold showers.”

  “Well in that case, I insist you stay.”

  He laughed and stepped to the back of the tub.

  She looked up in surprise, her wet hair hanging in her face. “You’re actually going to stay?”

  “I take my fake marriage vows very seriously, Megan Vandemeer. Your wish is my command.” He grinned and crossed his arms, pressing his back against the wall to keep out of the way of the stream of cool water.

  She chuckled and returned her attention to shaving. The sight of her nude form bent over her long legs stirred him again. Good God, how many times could he have sex in a twenty-four-hour period?

  She giggled. “I wasn’t aware that marriage vows included staying in cold showers.”

  “My fake marriage vows contain many unconventional promises.”

  Her gaze returned to him, stopping mid-stroke with her razor. “And what would those be?”

  He shrugged, grimacing with mock apology. “You’d have to marry me to find out.”

  She finished with her leg and stood up, turning toward him with a seductive look in her eyes.

  God, he wanted her.

  Her eyes dropped down to his growing erection, then shot back up to his face. “Your vows include cold showers?” Her voice was deeper, thick with desire.

  “Possibly.”

  She placed her hand on his chest and looked up into his eyes, but the teasing glint in her gaze told him it wasn’t foreplay. “Then you won’t mind this.”

  Before he realized what she was doing, she grabbed the detachable showerhead off the wall and sprayed him with cold water.

  He yelled and tried to jump out of the tub, but she grabbed his arm, laughing. “I thought your vows included taking cold showers with me.”

  “Then after we exchange our fake marriage vows, I’ll be happy to comply. I can’t give up the milk before the wedding,” he laughed. “Otherwise you wouldn’t need to buy the cow.”

  She broke into giggles. “I bought a water buffalo last Christmas through Heifer International, so technically, I already own one.”

  He pulled the shower handle from her with one hand and pulled her to his chest with the other. “Then that would make you a bovine bigamist, Ms. Vandemeer.”

  She eyed the shower nozzle, which Josh had pointed toward the tile wall. “What are you going to do with that?”

  He waggled his eyebrows. “If I were an eye for an eye type of guy, I’d hold you down and spray you.”

  “And if you weren’t…?” A hopeful look crossed her face.

  “I guess you’ll never find out.” He turned the water on her for a couple of seconds until she shrieked. Then, still holding her, he turned her sideways and reached for the faucet, turning off the water but leaving the showerhead dangling from the wall.

  “You’ll pay for that,” she said between giggles.

  He pressed her back against the tile and kissed her, playfulness turning to passion. Releasing the hold on her wrist, he pressed his palm against hers, interlacing their fingers. He pushed her arm against the wall while her free hand slid into his wet hair, holding him close. His erection pressed against her abdomen and she reached for him, stroking his shaft.

  “You’re a very resilient man,” she grinned against his lips.

  “Only with you,” his voice deepened.

  He reached between her legs and she gasped. “You really want to do this again?” she asked, spreading her legs wider for him.

  He sucked in breath, telling himself to slow down, but Megan seemed to have other ideas. “I told you that I had a hard time deciding between having you in the shower or on the bed. This is what I call a win/win situation.”

  “So you like to have your cake and eat it too?”

  He dropped her hand, then cupped her ass and lifted her higher on the wall. “I definitely love cake.”

  His mouth found hers as she helped guide him into her. She looped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, holding on as he began to move.

  “Do you have any idea how much you turn me on?” he asked as he pushed inside her.

  She tilted her pelvis to take him deeper. “I have a pretty good idea,” she said, breathlessly.

  Neither one of them lasted long. Her soft whimpers nearly pushed him over the edge, but he held on until she came too. When she cried out and tightened around him, he buried his face into her neck and dug his fingers into her ass cheeks as he plunged deep and hard inside her before coming.

  He leaned against her and she started to laugh softly in his ear. “If that flight attendant knew how amazing you are, she probably would have fought harder to keep you.”

  He nuzzled her neck, making her squirm. “She never had me. You had my full attention on that flight.”

  “And now?” she asked.

  He arched back to look into her face. “I’m all yours, Megan.”

  “Lucky me.” She gave him a sweet smile and he marveled that she was such a chameleon—soft and vulnerable one minute, mischievous then next, then seductive and sexy.

  Her eyes, focusing on something behind him, widened in horror, so he looked over his shoulder to see what had startled her. Gram was staring at them through the partially cracked shower curtain, holding up a small camera.

  “I knew he’d have a nice patootie,” the older woman said.

  Her words jarred Megan from her trance. “Gram! What are you doing in here? Did you take pictures?”

  “I heard all that banging and moaning. I thought we had a ghost. I wanted to get a picture of it. I figured we had a chance to be on that ghost show The Dead Files.”

  “We don’t have a ghost! Get out of here, Gram!”

  “Can I just get one picture of Josh’s ass?”

  “No!”

  Josh came to his senses and jerked the shower curtain shut, turning to face Megan. “How much do you think she saw?”

  “I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see your backside drawn in charcoal and taped to her wall.”

  “Oh, God…”

  She laughed. “It could be worse. She could have seen the front.”

  “If your grandmother is home,
does that mean your mother is? Doesn’t she usually take her everywhere?”

  Her amusement disappeared. “Oh, no…”

  He dropped his hold on her and she slid down the wall. Desperate to comfort her, he said, “I don’t think she’s here, Meggie. From what she said on her voice mail, she had a very full morning.”

  “Okay.”

  He cupped her cheek and tilted her face up to his. “Why don’t you listen to her voice mail to verify, and I’ll hurry and get dressed and go investigate. Okay?”

  She nodded, looking worried.

  “Babe, even if she’s here, it’s not the end of the world. She already expected us to have sex.”

  “But if Gram—who’s as deaf as an eighteen-year-old dog—heard us, then my mother definitely did. I’ll never be able to face her.”

  “Megan,” he said, gently. “I’ll take care of it.”

  She nodded again, looking relieved. “Okay. Thank you.”

  He got out of the shower and handed her a towel. “And I’ll check the time too. I suspect we’ll need to hurry if we’re going to meet my brother at eleven.”

  “Where is he, anyway?” Megan asked. “Why isn’t he here?”

  The reminder of Noah’s mission for the day hit Josh square between the eyes. How could he have forgotten? What the hell? Two days with this amazing, gorgeous woman and he was ready to toss in the towel and let his business close. But he knew he’d do anything to keep her in his life. Talking to her this morning made him realize that he’d made his father’s legacy such a priority, he’d lost sight of everything else. Whether he could find a way to keep Megan in his life or not, he had some serious reevaluating to do with the rest of his life.

  But he was going to work on one problem at a time. And Megan came first.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Megan climbed out of the tub and listened to her mother’s voice mail. Josh was right. It sounded like her mother would be tied up all day before leaving in the morning. But she noticed something else. Josh hadn’t mentioned that she had a voice mail from Jay, yet he must have seen it.

  Megan almost deleted it without listening, but curiosity got the best of her.

  “Megan, I know our wedding was supposed to be in a couple of days and it’s made me realize how badly I fucked things up with you. I want to take you out to dinner tomorrow night and we can talk things over. Give me a call.”

  She stared at her phone in disbelief. Did he really think it would be that easy?

  Another question registered, giving her pause. Would she have gone back to him if Josh hadn’t come into her world? No. There was no way she would have been able to trust him again. Jay Connors deserved whatever miserable life he’d created for himself. She deleted his voice mail, hoping her non-response would be message enough.

  Josh came back to the bathroom as she put her phone on the bathroom counter next to Josh’s dead one.

  He leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb. “The good news is that your mother’s nowhere to be found. Gram says she refused to run errands with her. Get this, Gram’s excuse was that she thought she was coming down with something after running around naked last night.”

  Megan cringed. “Good…I guess.”

  “The bad news is that Gram wants to go to the tux rental place with us. Since I found her in her room with an easel and charcoal, I agreed. I figured it would stop her from immortalizing me in art…at least for the moment.”

  Megan laughed. “Looks like we have a chaperone.”

  Josh didn’t look so excited. “I’d be lying if I said that idea thrilled me, but when your grandmother isn’t streaking or trying to see me naked, she’s actually kind of fun.”

  “I’m pretty fond of her myself.”

  “Say, I really need to check my emails, but my phone is dead. Any chance I can use the computer in the home office?”

  She glanced up in surprise. Why hadn’t she considered that? “Uh…sure. It’s password-protected, though.”

  “Do you happen to know it?”

  A grin spread across her face. “It’s probably the same one Dad uses for everything. LoveBug4Me.” She spelled it out for him. “He used to call me his Love Bug.”

  A strange look flickered in his eyes. “You’re sure he won’t mind me using it?’

  “No, of course not.”

  He hesitated in the doorway. “How long do you think it will take for you to get ready? We have about forty minutes before we’re expected to show up.”

  “Twenty to twenty-five minutes. I have to do something with my hair.” She lifted the damp strands hanging over her shoulder. “It only takes about fifteen minutes to get there.”

  “Perfect.” He glanced at her phone. “Do you think I could borrow that? I need to check in with my business manager.”

  “Of course.”

  He gave her a quick kiss, then slid the phone off the counter and disappeared without another word.

  ***

  Josh sat in Bart’s office chair, staring at the startup screen to his desktop computer.

  He knew the password that Bart Vandemeer used for everything. The implications of what he could do with that knowledge were mind-boggling.

  Of course, Megan could be wrong, but Josh had seen the man in action the previous day. He wasn’t technologically savvy, which would mean he probably didn’t change passwords unless he had to. He entered the password into the startup screen, his stomach knotting as he waited to see if it worked. If the password was a dud, it got him off the hook with his big ethical decision.

  But the password was accepted and the screen flipped to a starry sky background full of icons. Josh was relieved. He still wasn’t sure he wanted to break Bart’s privacy by checking email and document folders, but at least the decision hadn’t been made for him. Josh had never made a choice passively when he could help it. He preferred to weigh his options and make a well-planned move. That’s why he was more confused than ever since Megan had entered the equation. He’d never waffled this much in his life. Megan was his kryptonite.

  First, he really did need to check his own email. The computer had two browsers. One was open with multiple tabs, including Bart’s email, and the other browser was closed. Josh opened the second browser and uploaded his email account, not surprised to see fifty emails waiting for his attention. He’d only left Seattle two days ago, but he’d neglected things the day before while searching for information about PMV Engineering.

  He wasn’t surprised to see an email at the top of the list from his company’s investor. It was Friday morning and his deadline was Monday. Sure enough, the investor wanted an update. Josh could snowball him and tell him the situation was close to being resolved—and for all he knew, Noah was making great headway at Bart’s office—but instead he found himself answering that the situation was the same. While he had a promising lead that might change the patent ownership, he couldn’t be sure it would pan out. He’d send an update as soon as he could.

  The investor wouldn’t be happy. He was a man of action as well, which Josh respected and could appreciate.

  His breath caught when he saw an email from Angie, his business manager, which had been sent at four a.m. The title read “URGENT,” and Josh felt sick to his stomach as he read it.

  Josh,

  I know you’re out of town, although Noah won’t tell me where…or why he flew off too. I also knew that you’d answer your phone if I called so late at night, and since there’s nothing you can do, there’s no sense in that. Still, I wanted to let you know as soon as I could.

  Ted Murray’s had a heart attack.

  His wife called and said they took him to Harborview. He needs a quadruple bypass and will be off work for at least a month or more. Marilyn cried and said to thank you for covering the insurance premiums after the rate increase last year. If you hadn’t increased the company contribution, he wouldn’t have coverage. When things settle down, she plans to bake you a batch of her famous cinnamon rolls.

  I know
I’m old enough to be your mother, and although I’ve never acted like one to you, tonight I’m going to make an exception. I’m proud of you, Josh. You stepped up when your brother wouldn’t. I know you’ve made sacrifices, even if no one else noticed. You could have easily given up, but you hung on instead. We both know how hard it would be for a fifty-seven-year-old man to start over in his career. Poor Ted would probably be jobless and destitute if you hadn’t gone above and beyond to keep this place afloat. I just wanted you to know it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

  Angie

  A lump burned in Josh’s throat and he blinked back tears. He’d known Ted since he was a kid. The guy was like an uncle to Josh and Noah. Part of him wanted to say screw it all, hop on a plane, and go check on him. But the email was also a sharp reminder of the original purpose of his trip. He would do Ted more good here. His father’s business wasn’t something he could drop in the dust behind him just because he was considering a life with Megan Vandemeer. Hell, there was a good chance her father had played a part in the subterfuge that might well lead to Ted Murray’s future joblessness.

  He’d spent almost half his life sacrificing his personal life to keep the business from floundering. Now was not the time to change course. Lives hung in the balance. With newfound determination, he pulled up the document folders and began to search for any titles that could lead to evidence incriminating Bart Vandemeer. While he suspected the man wasn’t devious enough to pull something like this off on his own, he could very well be part of the scheme. And moreover, he might be the weakest link. Josh couldn’t ignore the phone call he’d overheard two nights ago.

  Bart had more folders on his hard drive than Josh had expected, but most bore clients’ names and contained reports. After several minutes of searching, he decided his time would be better spent searching Bart’s emails.

  Turned out he had two email accounts open—one business, one personal. He checked the business account first. He started his search by reviewing the emails sent and received around the time his firm would have would have gotten ahold of the plans for the part, then moved on to the timeframe during which they would have applied for the patent. When he didn’t discover anything significant, he moved to Wednesday and the days preceding. There were in-house congratulatory emails regarding the notification that the patent had been approved, and a few about Megan’s upcoming wedding, but everything else was client-related.