“Of course,” I say snidely. “Gorgeous and impractical. Just like its owner.”
His lips curl into a slow grin. “You think I’m gorgeous, Maddie?” His voice lowers an octave. “I’m flattered, babe.”
That voice. Sexy as sin, tempting me, teasing me. It shouldn’t affect me, not after all these years, but it does. It’s not fair that my blood hums with need and longing for what used to be, and he’s standing in front of me, calm and collected.
While we wait for the car service to show up, Cam and Misti make small talk. It doesn’t take long before a black Bentley pulls into the parking lot. Two men jump out and greet Cameron deferentially. “Sorry about the delay, Mr. Drake,” one of them apologizes. “Traffic was murder.”
“No worries, Paul,” Cameron says easily. “Can one of you drive this car home,” he gestures to my clunker, which looks even shabbier than usual next to the beautiful Porsche and the swanky Bentley, “and the other take Ms. Morland and her sister to their hotel? I’ll follow you.”
I sink into the sumptuous leather of the backseat. Misti slides in next to me. Once we’re off, she turns to me with a serious look on her face. “Are you okay, Maddie?” she asks me softly. “Seeing Cameron again has got to be a shock.”
The driver has closed the partition between the front and the back so we can have some privacy. “I’ll live,” I reply shortly. I don’t want to talk about my former boyfriend. The memories are too painful.
“I never asked you why you guys broke up. You were so crazy about him. Did he cheat on you?”
“What?” I give Misti a shocked look. “Why would you think that?”
“You ended things so abruptly. I couldn’t think of any other reason you’d do that.”
I close my eyes. Nine years ago, I’d been intensely aware about the gulf between Cameron Drake’s world and mine. His family was among Canada’s wealthiest; my mother was a junkie and my father was about to be released from prison. It felt like a chasm that couldn’t be crossed.
It’s easier to let Misti believe that Cameron cheated than to explain the truth. Easier than telling her while it had been too late for me, I’d taken her away from our chaotic lives in Toronto so that she could have a fresh start, away from our parents.
Except I can’t do it.
“He didn’t cheat.” In the year we’d been together, I never doubted that he loved me, not even for an instant. Until I left and he never called. “He wouldn’t cheat. That’s not who Cameron is.”
She doesn’t press me about why we broke up. Perhaps she hears the quiver in my voice. She leans back in her seat, and stares into the distance. “I need to tell you something,” she whispers. “All the way here, I’ve been waiting for the right moment…” She swallows. “I lost my swimming scholarship.”
“What?”
Her face is etched with misery. “I’m so sorry, Maddie. I know how much you wanted me to go to college. But the truth is, I’m not that good a swimmer, not like you. I’m struggling to qualify at meets. The coach told me last week that they’re not going to be renewing my stipend.” There’s a tremble in her voice. “I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you.”
“Oh sweetie.” I fold her into a hug. “You’ve never disappointed me in your life. Don’t worry about the scholarship. We’ll figure out how to pay for tuition. Everything’s going to be okay.”
My words are reassuring, but my heart is filled with despair. I’m barely surviving as it is. I have no idea where I’m going to find the extra thousands of dollars I need to pay for Misti’s university education.
The car pulls into the motel parking lot we’re staying at. I survey the low-slung building with doubt. It looked good enough on the Internet, but now that we’re here, I’m having second thoughts. There’s a half-dozen young men hanging out in the immediate vicinity, smoking weed, and their gazes rest a little too long on Misti’s long legs as she heads to the office to get our room key.
Cameron’s Porsche roars to a stop next to me. He unfolds himself from his car and gives the place a once-over. “You’re not staying here,” he says flatly.
“Give it a rest, Cam,” I tell him wearily. The bed probably has bedbugs, and I don’t care. I just want to fall into oblivion and be done with this day. “Not all of us are billionaires, okay? This is what I can afford.”
He runs his hand through his hair. “Maddie, this place isn’t safe. I’ll never forgive myself if something were to happen to you here. Stay at my place tonight. Please?”
It’s the please that undoes me. Cameron doesn’t usually ask. He demands.
“Okay.” I give in for the second time. “Thank you.”
An hour later, Misti and I have been shown to two luxurious bedrooms in Cameron’s Forest Hill mansion, I’ve taken a hot shower and washed the road grime off my body, and I feel much more human. Pulling on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, I leave my room and go in search of our host.
He’s in the kitchen, opening a bottle of wine. “It’s a lovely night,” he says, his eyes lingering over my legs. “Let’s drink this in the garden?”
I shrug. “You’ve been bossing me around all night,” I mutter sarcastically. “Why stop now?”
He tips his head to one side and surveys me. “If my memory serves me correctly, you enjoyed being bossed around,” he says silkily. “Have your tastes in bed changed in the last nine years?”
I inhale sharply. He would go there. “My tastes in bed are none of your business.” I keep my tone even with difficulty. I thought I was over the hurt and the anger, but seeing Cameron has brought it all back. He was so upset that I left his family cottage early that he threw away our relationship. Nine years later, I’m still haunted by the way we ended.
He grabs two wine glasses from a cabinet and the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, and I follow him outside through the large glass patio doors that separate his kitchen from his backyard. A massive pool takes up half the space. Cameron still swims, obviously. “Your house suits you,” I tell him, looking back at the sleek, modern wood and glass structure.
“I’m not sure if I’m getting complimented or insulted.” He fills a glass and hands it to me, and I sink into a comfortable wicker chair. “I’m sorry about your mother. Did you see her often?”
“I haven’t seen her in nine years.”
He gives me a sharp look. “Why not?”
“I called her a terrible role-model and took Misti away to Calgary. She didn’t like facing the truth.”
He’s surveying me in a way that’s making me nervous. “Nine years ago? When did you move to Calgary?”
Less than twenty-hours after your father told me I was a liability and if I cared for you at all, I should get out of your life.
I don’t answer his question. “Why are we here, Cam?” I ask abruptly. “Why did you want to have a drink? Nine years ago, you made your choice and I made mine. There’s no point rehashing the past.”
“I have a proposition for you.”
Wariness prickles through me. “What kind of proposition?”
He contemplates his glass. “You remember my aunt Emily?”
I nod. She’d been the only member of Cameron’s family who’d been kind to me. Everyone else had made me feel like an outsider, but Emily had been warm, engaging me in conversation about swimming and track, asking me what kind of books I liked to read and sharing her favorites with me. “Yes.”
“Aunt Emily loves our family cottage, but my grandfather has decided to sell it to a cousin.” He sounds annoyed. “My grandfather has a soft spot for family, and Ryder’s wife is pregnant.”
“That sucks.” I’m not sure what he wants me to do about the situation.
“I could convince my grandfather to sell the place to me,” he says. “If my grandfather thinks I’m in a serious relationship, he’ll change his mind about letting Ryder buy the cottage.”
A shiver of unease passes through me. I don’t like where this is going. “You can’t mean…” My voice trails off. Thi
s is insane.
“I want you to pretend to be my fiancée for a month.” He takes a sip of his wine, calm despite upending my world. “I’ll pay you, of course. Does five hundred thousand seem reasonable?”
My head snaps up in shock. “Are you crazy?” Five hundred thousand dollars. My thoughts race. I won’t have to worry about Misti’s college education. I could buy a more reliable car. Pay for my mother’s funeral without splitting the balance between five credit cards.
“I’m never crazy.” He leans forward, his blue eyes meeting mine. “One month, Maddie. What about it?”
I look at him helplessly, desperate for an alternative to Cameron’s proposal. One month with Cameron, pretending to be madly in love with him. I can’t do it. This man crushed my heart nine years ago, and the scars still haven’t faded.
“Say yes, Maddie.” His voice lowers, deepens.
Think about Misti. You promised yourself that you’d give her a good life. She can’t drop out of college.
“Yes.” The words come out in a whisper.
“Good.” His voice is brisk, efficient. “We leave for the cottage on Saturday morning. We’ll go shopping tomorrow to get you what you need.”
The cottage. The universe has a sick sense of humor. Of course we’ll be going back to the place where things ended between Cameron and I.
I screw my eyes shut. You’re a survivor, I tell myself, willing myself to believe it. You’ll be fine.
5
Cameron
This is not a second chance. This isn’t an opportunity to go back and change the past.
Yet my heart hammers in my chest, and when I reach into my pocket for the ring, my hand trembles. “You’ll need this.” I reach for her finger.
She flinches when she sees what I’m holding. “You had a ring ready? Was I a foregone conclusion?” She’s trying to be pert, but I can hear the unsteadiness in her voice.
“I’ve never taken you for granted, Mads.”
I bought it nine years ago. I was passing an antique store and I’d seen the beautiful sapphire and diamond ring in the window and a voice had whispered in my ear, Maddie would love this ring.
This isn’t the way I’d pictured giving it to her.
She gazes down at it for a long time, not saying a word. Finally, she looks up. “How’ve you been, Cameron?”
Ah, we’re going to engage in small talk. I lean back. “Good. What about you, Maddie?”
She lifts her shoulder in a wry shrug. “I can’t complain.”
I fill her glass. “Is there someone you need to call in Calgary to explain that you won’t be back for a month?”
Her lips curl up in a small smile. “Are you asking me if I’m dating someone?” She shakes her head. “I wouldn’t have accepted your offer if I was in a relationship. What about you? No one in Toronto?”
The overwhelming relief I feel when I hear Maddie isn’t dating anyone annoys me. This ruse is temporary. It’s a ploy to get my grandfather to sell the cottage to me. It isn’t real.
I rise to my feet abruptly. Sitting in the backyard under the moonlight, with only the quiet of the night to keep us company, my head is filled with memories of the past. Under the twinkling lights in my garden, her lips are soft and her cheeks are flushed. I want to pull her close to me, tear her clothes off her body and lose myself in her sweetness. I want to hear her soft gasps of pleasure; see the way she bites her lower lip as I surge into her. I want to kiss every inch of her body, make her writhe under me.
That’s in the past. “I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.”
Misti wolf-whistles when she comes down for breakfast. “Nice bod, Cameron,” she says, checking out my abs with a cheeky leer. “Is that for my sister’s benefit?”
I grin back at her. Leaving Toronto has been good for Misti. I remember her as a too-thin kid with a constantly strained expression on her face. Now, she’s a laughing young woman, comfortable in her own skin. “Help yourself to some coffee,” I tell her. “Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes. You eat bacon, right?”
“I never met a pig I didn’t love,” she replies wryly.
“Are we still talking about bacon?”
She shrugs. There’s something tense in her expression, something that suggests I shouldn’t push. I change the subject. “I didn’t get a chance yesterday to ask you how you’ve been.”
“Really good.” She opens a cabinet and finds a mug, and fills it to the brim with coffee. “Except for my mother dying, of course.”
“Of course.” I watch her curiously. “You don’t seem upset.”
She pushes her hair out of her eyes, and draws up a chair at the kitchen island. “My mother was a horrible person,” she says matter-of-factly. “When she wasn’t high on drugs, she was cruel, mean-spirited, and abusive. Maddie and I learned to fend for ourselves at a young age. I’m not going to pretend to be sad.”
I hone in on the one word that causes my insides to sink. “Abusive?”
“Maddie never told you?” She looks up, surprised. “No, I guess she wouldn’t have. You were her escape, you know.”
It kills me that Maddie kept the worst of her home life hidden. We were a team, damn it. I would have done anything to keep her safe and happy.
Maddie enters the kitchen and gives her sister an astonished look. “Will wonders never cease,” she marvels with a grin. “Misti’s awake before me.” She looks over in my direction, then averts her gaze. “Good morning,” she says cautiously. “I didn’t know you cooked.”
“Just breakfast,” I reply, fixing her a cup of coffee and handing it to her. “My housekeeper handles the bulk of the cooking.”
“Of course.” Her voice is neutral. She sits down next to her sister and clears her throat. “Misti, there’s been a change in plans. I’m going to stick around in Toronto for a few weeks. I called Jenna last night and told her.”
“Really?” Misti looks at Maddie, then at me, then at Maddie again. A smile breaks out on her face. “That’s awesome, Mads. You work too hard. You deserve some time off.”
Maddie looks tense. If I know her right, she’s worrying about logistics. I step into the conversation before Maddie changes her mind about our deal. “Do you need to head back to Calgary in a hurry, Misti, or can you stick around with us?”
She shakes her head. “I can’t stay, unfortunately. I have classes this summer, and a job that starts on Monday.” She looks at Maddie questioningly. “I’ll drive your car back Maddie, if that’s okay with you?”
“That’s a ridiculous idea,” I reply instantly, even before Maddie has a chance to respond. “You can’t drive across the country by yourself. I’ll get you a plane ticket.”
Maddie gives me a look of mingled gratitude and irritation. “I’ll pay you back,” she murmurs stiffly.
I roll my eyes. I don’t want to spend all month squabbling with Maddie. “Can we fight after breakfast? I do better on a full stomach.”
She chuckles reluctantly, then her gaze slowly travels down my naked chest, slowly, deliberately, and when her eyes stop at my groin, she exhales.
The blood rushes from my head. My cock turns to rock faster than I can blink.
I want to bend Maddie over the island and fuck her, deep and slow, until she’s sobbing out my name, until her pussy’s clenching around my dick, until she’s delirious with pleasure.
Her kid sister is in the room, Cam.
“Bacon and eggs?” I ask them, thinking the most unsexy thoughts I can, of spreadsheets and merger proposals, until my erection subsides and I can join them at the island.
Two hours later, we drop Misti off at the airport with a first class ticket to Calgary. Maddie hugs her sister goodbye and gets back into my Land Rover. “Thank you,” she says, her voice soft. “That was very kind of you. Misti’s super excited. She’s never flown first-class before.”
“She’s a good kid.” I put the car in drive. “You’re not wearing your ring today.”
“It’s in my pocket.
” She fishes it out, wriggling in her seat as she does, and my cock stirs again. Settle down, I tell myself. If I’m going to get hard every time Maddie moves in the next month, I’m going to need a trip to the ER. “I didn’t want Misti to know about our arrangement.”
“Too complicated to explain?”
“Something like that,” she replies, not meeting my eyes. “What’s the plan for today? Do you have to work?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” I need to stay away from Maddie as much as I can if I’m going to survive. “You’re going to need clothes for the cottage. I’ve arranged for a car to take you shopping.”
“Your family still dresses up for dinner?”
I give her a sidelong look, surprised. “You remember?”
“Every minute of that trip is seared into my brain,” she replies flatly. “Apart from your grandfather and Emily, who else is going to be there?”
She’d been uncomfortable at the idea of meeting my family. She hadn’t wanted to go, but I’d begged, pleaded and insisted, and she’d given in to make me happy. It had been a colossal mistake. Four days later, I was left to gaze on the wreckage of the most significant relationship of my life.
“My father,” I reply. “Whichever trophy girlfriend he’s currently seeing. Some friends of my grandfather. My cousin Noah.”
“Trophy girlfriend?” Her eyebrow rises. “Are you really in a position to throw stones at your dad?”
My hands tighten on the steering wheel. “You’re so ready to think the worst of me, aren’t you, Maddie? I’m open and honest with the women I date. I don’t lie to them, and I don’t string them along. They don’t show up at the houses of my friends and family in tears, wondering what they did wrong.”
Her mouth twists. “I’m sorry,” she says quietly. “I’m having a hard time letting go of the past.”
I stare at the snarl of traffic in front of me. Judging by Misti’s words this morning, Maddie did what she had to do to survive. I don’t even blame her for taking my father’s money--what else could she have done? Moving costs money, and Maddie never had any.
Fake Fiancé: A Billionaire Second Chance Romance (Drake Family Series Book 2) Page 3