Unexpected Pleasure

by Dara Girard

  Tanna looked at Doran with pleading eyes. There was just enough room to squeeze past him, but doing so would look undignified. “I really should go.”

  He moved out of the way. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

  “Goodbye,” Tanna said.

  “No,” Rosemarie replied with a wave of her hand. “Until we meet again.”

  “You don’t have to follow me to my car,” Tanna said as he walked her down the driveway to her Honda Civic the summer sun making the grey finish look white. She heard bees buzzing nearby as they busied themselves pollinating the roses that lined the pathway.

  “Yes, I do.” He motioned to his black Porsche. “I parked behind you.”

  Tanna unlocked her car with a push of her key, using more force than necessary. He was going to move his car. And here she’d thought he’d wanted her alone for another reason. She should have known better. What had she expected him to do? Reminisce over old times? They hadn’t even known each other a day. Just one wonderful night and he’d forgotten the best part of it.

  She heard him make a muffled sound and turned to him. She saw an expression of cynical amusement on his face.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Fate has a sense of humor.”

  Tanna threw up her hands exasperated. “I know! Isn’t this crazy? It’s impossible.”

  Doran shook his head. “Improbable, not impossible.”

  She pointed at him. “See? You are smart. Why did you want me to pretend that you’re not?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not that smart.”

  Tanna folded her arms.

  “It’s a long story.” He headed for his car then spun around and walked back to her. “I don’t know why you turn up when I need you most, but I’m going to seize this opportunity and not ask questions. I need your help.”

  Tanna paused. “More than pretending to be your fiancée in front of your sister?” She gestured to the house. “I may have lost a great client referral because of this. What if she finds out I lied to her?”

  “She won’t and if she does, I’ll make it up to you. But I just need you to do one more thing.”

  “What?” Tanna held up her hand. “And please don’t tell me you want me to meet your mother.”

  Doran looked at her, the expression is his eyes not exactly a plea, but close.

  Tanna shook her head. “No, Logan,” she said using the false name he’d given at the castle.

  “I used that name to get into character.” He took a step closer and lowered his voice. “I just need you for a few days,” he said before she could speak. He closed her car door. “We’ll go to my family’s lake house and you’ll pretend to be my fiancée.”

  Before she could respond, he bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

  Tanna gaped at him startled, cupping her cheek like a love struck teenager, her skin tingling where his lips had touched her. “What was that?”

  “My sister’s watching,” he said, turning her so that her back was to the window. “Anybody ever tell you that you have a very animated face?”

  “No.”

  “That’s why I have to have you facing me otherwise it will give us away.”

  “Then maybe you should have chosen someone else to pretend to be your fiancée.”

  “No, you’re perfect.” He removed something from her hair, his fingers brushing her cheek.

  She pushed his hand away. “Cut that out.”

  “There really was something in your hair,” Doran said, showing her a piece of fuzz before he released it. He pulled out his cell phone, then held his hand out for hers. “I’ll let you go and then call you with the plan.”

  She absently handed him her cell phone. “Do you know how hard it was for me to convince your sister? And in case it escaped your notice, she wasn’t entirely convinced. Is your mother any better?”

  He exchanged contact information on their phones then handed hers back to her. “No, she’s worse.”

  “Worse?”

  “Yes,” he said with a nod, tucking his phone away.

  Tanna blinked several times, not knowing what to think. “And you want me to get her to accept me as her possible daughter-in-law?”

  “No. I don’t want her to like you.”

  “What?”

  He pulled her close and kissed her, this time on the mouth. “I’ll explain everything later, darling,” he said with a wink then raced to his car jumped inside before she could ask him not to kiss her like that.

  It wasn’t real, but she enjoyed it way too much.

  “I don’t believe you,” Rosemarie said the moment Doran stepped back inside the house.

  “You don’t believe what?” he asked, collapsing into the loveseat in front of her.

  “I don’t believe you’re really seeing that woman.” She tapped her chest. “If I can’t believe it you can’t get Mom to believe it either. So whatever scheme you’re up to, you’d better come up with something else.”

  “It’s not a scheme. How I feel about Tanna took me by surprise too.”

  “So you’re really going to introduce her to Mom?”

  “Yes.”

  Rosemarie frowned then said, “Are you doing this because of Mom or because of Megan? You never told me what happened between you two.”

  Doran shrugged. “We broke up. There’s nothing more to say.”

  “Then why won’t you show up at the lake house alone and be there for her? I’m sure she’d love to have someone’s wide shoulders to cry on. Are you still certain it shouldn’t be yours?”

  “I’m with Tanna now.”

  “So you’re completely over her?” Doran sent her such a dark look, Rosemarie raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. I believe it’s over.”

  But even as she said the words Doran knew it was a lie. He wasn’t over Megan. Two years later and his heart still raced at the sound of her name, he still remembered the taste of her lips, the feel of her body. For years he’d dreamed of winning her back. Of showing her that he was more of a man than Adam. That she’d made a mistake by cheating on him, but now he didn’t want her back. He wanted to make her realize what she had lost.

  Chapter 8

  He could convince an Eskimo to buy snow.

  Tanna dusted the wooden carvings—one of a woman carrying a water jug on her head, and another holding a fruit—on her bookshelf while listening to Doran, surprised that his plan actually made sense. He wanted her to annoy his mother so that when they broke up, his mother would be so relieved that they weren’t getting married she’d leave him alone for years to come. As crazy as it sounded, the plan had its own strange logic. And she could understand why he’d asked her. A woman who hired an escort to her sisters’ wedding wasn’t above a little deception, but she didn’t want to sound too compliant. He only wanted her for several days, but every plan needed to have certain details ironed out and she knew she had to be cautious. She closed the blinds to her apartment, the night sky black with the arrival of the evening.

  “I understand your reasoning,” she said once he’d finished speaking, “but your plan seems a little cruel. I’m sure she just wants to see you happy.” She dusted a side table.

  “When you meet her, you won’t feel that way. You’ll earn every cent.”

  She paused midway with the duster in her hand. “Earn?”

  “Didn’t I mention payment?”

  “No.”

  “Five thousand.”

  “Five thousand dollars?”

  “Were you thinking pounds?” he asked with a smile in his voice.

  She wasn’t in the mood for teasing. She had to make sure she was hearing correctly. Money like that would be a dream come true. She’d have enough to help Ambrosia. Tanna slowly sat on her couch not sure her legs could hold her. “You’d pay me five thousand dollars to pretend to be your girlfriend?”

  “Fiancée,” he corrected.

  “You’d pay me that much to be your fiancée?”

 
“Yes.”

  The duster fell from her hand. “I don’t believe this.”

  “Why? Is it too little or too much?”

  It was just right! He’d shown up just when she needed him too. Perhaps fate wasn’t so awful after all. “Okay, I’ll do it. What exactly do you want me to do?”

  “Annoy her.”

  “You have to be a little more specific than that. What gets on her nerves? What kind of girlfriends didn’t she like?”

  He fell silent.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t want to make you mad.”

  “Why would you make me mad?”

  “I chose you for a reason. You’re exactly the kind of woman who would annoy her, so just showing up will be enough.”

  “What’s wrong with me?” Tanna said outraged.

  “I didn’t say anything is wrong with you.”

  She picked up the duster and absently hit the front of the couch with it. “Then why wouldn’t she like me?”

  “Tanna, I really don’t think you want to know.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  Doran sighed. “Well, she likes women who are fit.”

  She set the duster down beside her. “I’m not fat.”

  “I didn’t say you were. But I can guess you don’t run five miles a day or even know what a gym membership looks like.”

  “You didn’t need to add the second part and I’ll have you know that I’m very healthy.”

  “See? I told you you’d get mad.”

  “I’m not mad,” she said, trying not to shout. “Go on.”

  “Are you a glutton for punishment?”

  “Yes, now go on.”

  “You weren’t born here.”

  Tanna nodded. That didn’t bother her as much, she was used to it. “Do you want me to put on an accent? I can do the ignorant immigrant, the naïve non-native or the amorous African.”

  “The what?”

  “Oh sah!” she mimicked in a high voice. “I am so happy to be in dis country! Praise de Lawd Almighty!”

  Doran cleared his throat. “No, you won’t need to go that far.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I don’t think it will work if I start laughing.”

  “Really?” she said pleased that he found her funny. “If you thought that was good let me do my impression of my grandmother when she’s bartering at the market.”

  “Wait until we’re there, I’m sure my mother would love it.”

  “You’re being sarcastic.”

  “Completely.”

  “Fine,” Tanna said resigned. “I’ll do my best to be myself and irritate her.”

  “Good. But I need you to understand one thing,” he said, his tone growing serious. “I’m going to make this relationship as real as possible, which mean I’m going to be…hands on.”

  Tanna didn’t misunderstand. “Your hands are allowed around my waist and in my hand, that’s all.”

  “Nope, you have to add your face, neck, back, arms, legs and feet.”

  Tanna felt her face burn at the thought of his hands traveling there. “That’s a lot of places.”

  “Consider the places I didn’t mention.”

  I don’t want to. But her mind went there anyway. She pictured them alone in the cottage, him kissing her senseless, his hands unlatching her bra, sneaking down her panties. She squeezed her eyes shut and imagined Aunt Violence giving her a hard whack on the head saying, ‘You bad girl!’ “Why would you need to touch my legs and feet?”

  “I’ll find a reason. Do you agree?”

  She sighed. He was probably just trying to annoy her, nothing would happen. “Sure.”

  “Okay, how about my mouth?”

  She paused unsure she’d heard correctly. “Your what?”

  “My mouth. Since you want to be specific, where can my mouth go?”

  His mouth? Why was he talking about his mouth? The same mouth she remembered leaving sucking kisses on her neck. She could imagine his mouth on her shoulders, slowly trailing down her chest…“You can kiss me freely on the lips.”

  “Just the lips? No, that won’t work. Add hands, face, neck and shoulders then we have a deal.”

  “No shoulders,” she said quickly, her mind repeating her naughty fantasy.

  “Why not?”

  “There’s no reason for you to kiss my shoulders,” she said, knowing her resistance sounded lame. “I never wear anything strapless so it would look silly anyway.”

  “Fine. How often?”

  Tanna shifted in her seat, wishing she didn’t suddenly feel so warm. “How often for what?”

  “How often can I kiss you?”

  Would this conversation never end? “Once a day.”

  “Cute. For what I’m paying, you’re lucky I’m even asking. I want seven times.”

  “Who needs to kiss seven times a day?” her voice cracked.

  “I like to keep my options open.”

  “Four.”

  “Five. I want my mother to really think we’re in love.”

  She sighed in defeat. “Fine, five and I’ll be counting.”

  “And I’ll chose when and how. Don’t worry, I won’t embarrass you with too much affection.”

  “Of course.”

  “But don’t get confused, okay? I don’t want you falling for me.”

  “Relax, you’re not my type.”

  “Yes, most ladies say that before I change their minds,” he said, then disconnected.

  Tanna glared at the phone. She considered calling him back with a witty retort, unfortunately none came to mind. She’d just show him that she wouldn’t fall for him. True, she found him attractive—beautifully, devastating, wonderfully attractive—but she’d seen his face when Rosemarie had mentioned Megan. His expression hadn’t changed, but she saw a flash of longing and hurt in his dark gaze, maybe even a tensing of his jaw but she wasn’t sure.

  She held up her phone as if he were still on the line, glad she’d finally come up with a good retort. “Don’t worry, I’m too smart to fall for a man who’s still in love with another woman.”

  Chapter 9

  “You don’t find this the least bit insulting?” her best friend, Ambrosia Raven, said. They sat poolside in two lounge chairs under an umbrella at the local swim club, while they chaperoned Ambrosia’s eight year old daughter, Hallie, and her four cousins ranging in age from ten to fifteen. “Hey, I said no splashing,” she said to one of them, her voice carrying further than a lifeguard with a megaphone among the sound of children’s high pitched squeals and adults’ chatter. She turned back to Tanna, and pointed to herself. “I do.” She glanced at her watch. “Do you think I should put more sunscreen on them?”

  Tanna looked at the large tube peeking out of her friend’s bag. “It’s not even been an hour yet. Besides, they still look like zebras,” she said, noting the stripes of white residue that hadn’t blended into their skin yet. Her friend tended to worry; she’d been that way since college when she got a B minus in a computer course and feared her Egyptian-American father and Canadian mother would disown her. She kept her coal black hair shoulder length and had classically attractive features, which dew enough male attention when she wasn’t shouting like a soccer mom on the sidelines.

  Ambrosia nodded. “You’re right and so am I.”

  “About what?”

  “The fact that this guy is insulting you.”

  “What’s insulting about five thousand dollars?”

  “Forget about the money and think about the reason. He’s chosen you specifically because he knows his mother won’t like you.”

  “I really don’t care.”

  “You should care. I know you don’t need the money.” She turned to the pool. “What did I tell you about splashing? And no dunking,” she said her command immediately getting results.

  “No, I don’t need the money,” Tanna said, pulling out a check from her purse. She handed it to Ambrosia. “But you do.”

  Her
friend stared at it, making no move to touch it. “What is this?”

  “I know Hallie needs more tests and your deductible hasn’t been met yet.”

  Ambrosia’s eyes filled with tears. “Tanna, don’t do this.”

  “I’m her godmother, right? Of course I want her to have the best.” The software company where her friend worked had been bought and she’d been downsized to a position that didn’t pay as well as her previous one, although she was glad to still have a job. Her husband worked out-of- state for a construction company that didn’t get as many jobs as it needed to. He came home on the weekend, but many times her friend felt like a single parent. Being in the pool was one of the few things Hallie could still enjoy. She was thin for her age due to her picky eating habits, had tender joints and some days could hardly rise from her bed or the couch due to exhaustion.

  Ambrosia covered her face. “You don’t know how much this will help us.”

  “Yes, I do,” Tanna said, pleased to hear the joy in her friend’s voice. “Why do you think I took Rosemarie Lockley on as a client? And with his money your financial concerns are over.”

  Ambrosia shook her head. “But you can’t do this for me. I won’t let you.”

  “It’s just for a few days. Make the appointments and stop worrying about me.”

  She hugged her. “You’re the best.”

  “I try.”

  “But this still won’t work,” Ambrosia said with a frown. “Your parents haven’t let you forget your last break up.”

  “There’s no reason for them to know anything about this.”

  Ambrosia stared down at the check for a long moment then held it out to Tanna. “As much as I need this, I can’t let you be used like this.”

  Tanna pushed her hand away. “I’m not being used.” She nodded to the check. “Now put it away, before the wind blows it into the pool.”

  There was no wind, but Ambrosia got the hint and promptly did as told. “So what’s wrong with him?”

  “Why should there be anything wrong with him?”

  She set her bag back down. “He’s asking you to pretend to be his girlfriend, don’t you find that weird? I mean, only desperate people hire others too...” Her words trailed away when Tanna sent her a significant look. “Your situation was different. People fake things at weddings all the time.”