Pretend I'm Yours: A Fake Marriage Romance

by Ella Miles

  “I don’t need to sleep with anyone to get the job. I actually make a living from doing this. I have an entire company that relies on me. I have employees. What do you have?”

  “I’m getting this job.”

  He steps closer to me until his face is inches in front of me. My breathing picks up. I don’t know whether I want to slap him or kiss him. Maybe both.

  He grins. “We’ll see.”

  I grin, too, because I know, if Lily picks anyone, it’s going to be me. I’m more prepared than Carter. I’m better than him. I laid out a superior plan. And I’m more trustworthy than Carter. It’s not a fight between the two of us; it’s a fight to convince Lily to continue to pursue her career.

  “And, as far as fucking someone goes, it looks like you are the one in need of a good fuck,” he says, glancing down at my nipples, which are hard because of him.

  I roll my eyes. “It’s cold in here.”

  “Sure it is.”

  I glance down at where his cock is straining against the zipper. “I could say the same about you.”

  “I’m always down for a good fuck, Victoria. Just name the time and place.”

  I shiver when he says my name. Partly because I’m so used to him calling me Tori and partly because I love how he says it. I really need to find the off button on my hormones, or he is going to have the upper hand and take advantage of my ridiculous body that I can’t control.

  He wants me, too. He acts like he is in charge, but I know that control will vanish as soon as I show up, naked, in his bed.

  I hate him. I can’t really fuck him. I can’t give him the satisfaction of winning.

  But I can make him pay for all the pain he has caused me. Carter doesn’t seem like the type who falls in love easily. So, it would be next to impossible to make him fall in love with me, only to rip out his heart. But I can make him lust after me. I can drive him wild with my body while denying him the one thing he wants.

  I can destroy his career.

  I can wreck his friendships.

  I can drive him mad as he waits for a fuck that will never happen.

  The door behind me opens, and Carter’s attention immediately goes from me to Lily. I watch Carter as he takes in Lily. While I’m all business, albeit in a sexy business dress, Lily exudes beauty without even trying. He forgets I’m even here as he stares only at her.

  I thought he wanted me, but from how he is looking at Lily, it’s clear now that it’s not me he wants. It’s her. It only makes me want to hurt him more. I want to get this job and destroy everything he’s worked so hard to get.

  4

  Carter

  The second Lily appears, I give her my complete attention. Partially because she needs to know that this is the type of attention I would give her if she became my client and also because, if I keep looking at Victoria, I’m going to throw her over my shoulder and go fuck her in the restroom. And, as much as I want to forget about my job and just fuck Victoria, I won’t. My career always comes first. Always.

  My dick will get plenty of action later. It just won’t be touching Victoria. Logan would kill me, and she’s not my type anyway. Lily’s my type. I should focus on fucking Lily, but first, I need to land the job. It should be easy if Victoria is my only competition.

  “Lily, it’s great to see you again,” I say, walking over to her and kissing her on the cheek.

  She smiles sweetly, and her eyes light up. “It’s great to see you, too. Although I wish it were under better circumstances.”

  I shrug. “I’ve seen worse. It’s nothing I can’t fix.”

  She laughs. “Trying to sell me before we even get into my office?”

  “Is it working?” I ask with my most mischievous grin.

  She shakes her head but says, “Maybe. Come on in.”

  I follow her inside, glancing back to get one last glimpse of Victoria. But she’s already gone. I ignored her, and she vanished.

  I take a seat at the table, next to Lily. The room is more of a meeting room than an office, although it seems like it functions as both to Lily.

  “It really is good to see you, Lily. I know your personal and work life aren’t going exactly as you planned, but I’m happy that I’m here. It’s been far too long.”

  “I missed you, too, Carter. I thought about calling you dozens of times in college.”

  I laugh. “Good thing you didn’t. You wouldn’t have liked college me.”

  She laughs. “Too much of a bad boy?”

  “Something like that.”

  Lily blushes.

  “So, tell me what you want now, Lily? What future do you want for yourself?”

  She looks down at her hands.

  I grab her chin to get her to look at me. “There is no wrong answer, Lily. Do you still want to be a senator? Do you want to change the world or not?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I narrow my eyes, studying her. I wasn’t expecting that. The Lily I used to know was fearless and would have said yes without hesitation. I sit back in my chair.

  “Well, I can’t help you until you figure out what you want. If you want the world, I can give it to you. But I need to know that is what you want.”

  “Victoria said the same thing.”

  I sit up in my seat. “Victoria hasn’t been doing this nearly as long as I have. If you want this, I’m your guy. I’m the one who can make it happen. Victoria is a sweet girl with good intentions, but she doesn’t have the experience for a job like this.”

  “Because I fucked up my chances. There is no coming back from this.”

  “No, because you are an amazing woman who deserves the best. And I’m the best.”

  Lily smiles weakly.

  “So, what do you want, Lily?” I take her hands in mine, forcing her to look at me and stop turning away.

  She has to stop running from her problems. Even if she doesn’t want to be a senator anymore, she still needs me to help her rebuild her image. She needs to face her troubles head-on. But I can’t help her if she doesn’t know what she wants.

  “Do I have to answer now?”

  “Yes. I’m not letting you run away from this. You need to decide what you want. And then I can help you.”

  She swallows hard.

  “What do you want, Lily?”

  “I want to be the next senator from North Carolina.”

  I grin. “Good girl.”

  She smiles brightly, finally showing me the confident girl I used to know.

  “Today’s a Sunday; it’s not the best day to get your team caught up on everything or to do any interviews, so I’ll spend today getting a plan together. Then, I’ll have my team get your team up to speed, and we will start working on this tomorrow.”

  “Thank you, Carter. I’m not sure what I would do without you.”

  I hug her. “You would be just fine. But I’m going to make this a lot easier for you.” I kiss her cheek. “Get some rest. You have a busy day tomorrow. But don’t worry; I’ll take care of everything.”

  “So, I see that you won the bedroom argument last night,” Logan says as I take a seat at the bar next to him.

  “Yeah, I did. But your sister won the clothes fight. I had to take all my clothes to the dry cleaners today for them to attempt to get the beer out of them.”

  Logan laughs.

  “It’s not funny. Your sister is annoying as hell.”

  “And you aren’t?”

  “When is she leaving anyway?”

  Logan takes a drink of his beer. “Not sure. Probably when whatever job she came here for is finished.”

  I grin and sip my own beer.

  “What’s so funny?” Logan asks.

  “I got the job that she came here for. So, my guess is, she won’t be staying much longer.”

  Logan raises an eyebrow. “Victoria didn’t get the job?”

  I shake my head.

  Logan frowns as he stares intently at his beer.

  I slap him on the back. “Rela
x. I’m sure she will find something back in California.”

  Logan shakes his head as he stares at me with wide eyes. “You don’t know Victoria at all, do you?”

  “Of course I do. She’s the same girl we used to pick on all those years ago when we were young.”

  Logan laughs. “She’s not the awkward tomboy you used to know. And she’s not going to just let you push her around and not fight back anymore.”

  “Well, it doesn’t matter. Lily made her decision, and she chose me, not Victoria. She can fight all she wants, but the decision has already been made.”

  “Maybe. I don’t want to get in the middle of things between my sister and my best friend. But, if I were to bet, I wouldn’t count out my sister.”

  “Whatever. Let’s just celebrate my victory tonight and forget about Tori.”

  I lift my beer, and Logan clinks his against mine. I take a sip. Logan raises the glass to his lips and then grins, lowering it and looking at something behind me.

  I don’t have to turn around to know who’s standing behind me.

  “Hello, Tori,” I say, using the nickname that apparently drives her crazy.

  “Hey, Logan,” Victoria says, ignoring me to walk over to Logan.

  They hug, and then Victoria takes a seat next to Logan at the bar.

  “What can I get you to drink?” the bartender asks her.

  “I’ll take a beer,” Victoria says. “And they will each take another beer as well.” She slaps the cash down on the bar to pay for all of our beers.

  I narrow my eyes at her as she slides my beer over to me.

  “What’s this for?”

  She eyes me. “We are celebrating.”

  She lifts her glass, as do Logan and I.

  “Did you find a new job back in California?” I ask.

  She smirks. “No, Lily gave me the job.”

  I chuckle.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “That you think Lily offered you a job.”

  “Well, she did.”

  “You must be mistaken because she offered me the job before I even left her office this morning.”

  “Then, you must be the one who misunderstood because I just got off the phone with her. I start tomorrow morning, bright and early.”

  I shake my head. “I don’t want to embarrass you, Tori, but she offered me the job.” I pull my phone out of my pocket. “But we can settle this once and for all.”

  I dial Lily’s number and wait for her to pick up.

  “Hey, Carter. What’s up?” Lily asks.

  “I just ran into Tori.”

  “Who?”

  “Victoria. She says that you just offered her the job of handling your PR. I just need you to verbally tell her that it isn’t happening and that I’m the guy who will be handling everything.”

  There is a moment of silence and then, “Actually…I just hired her.”

  “What?”

  “I hired both of you. I loved both of your approaches, and this is a big enough project that I thought hiring two PR firms would be worth my investment. She can loop you into her ideas tomorrow. I’m sure you will work well together.”

  I stare at Victoria as she smiles slyly at me. I don’t know what she did to convince Lily that she needs both of us, but whatever it is, I’ll change Lily’s mind tomorrow. Tonight, I need to work on Victoria.

  “We will meet you at seven at your office. Get some sleep, Lily. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

  I end the call and then glare at Victoria. “What did you do?” I ask.

  She sips her beer. “I got the job, didn’t I?”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Then, why are you so upset?”

  “Because she hired both of us.”

  Victoria’s eyes widen as she looks at Logan, like he is going to be able to do something about the situation. “What did you do?” she asks her brother.

  “Nothing. I haven’t talked to Lily since high school, same as you.”

  “Logan Grant, don’t you dare lie to me. I know you enjoy watching me and Carter fight. Is this some kind of sick joke to force us to work together? What. Did. You. Do?” Victoria stands, towering over Logan, grabbing on to the neck of his shirt. She’s a tiny woman who shouldn’t be able to threaten a man like Logan with anything, but right now, the rage building inside her gives me no doubt that she would be able to take on Logan or any other man.

  “Lily and I had lunch today,” Logan says.

  Victoria releases him. “I knew it. What did you tell her?”

  “I told her I wasn’t going to get in the middle of this. She asked me for advice on deciding who she should choose and what she should do, and I told her I couldn’t help her. That either of you would be able to do the job. That it was up to her.”

  “Some friend you are,” I say at the same time Victoria says, “Some brother you are.”

  We glare at each other for a second before turning our anger back on Logan.

  “This isn’t a game, Logan. I’m not some teenager you get to play with for your amusement. This is my career you are messing with.”

  Logan stands up and grabs Victoria’s arms. “That’s why I didn’t say anything. I didn’t do anything. Maybe I should have reminded Lily that you two didn’t get along, but I never thought she would choose both of you. I promise. I would never do anything to hurt you. Not anymore.”

  Victoria takes a deep breath. “I know.” She looks at me. “I guess we will be working together.”

  “Or you could quit,” I say, taking a drink of my beer.

  She takes a seat back on the barstool. “I’m not quitting. I don’t care how miserable you try to make my life while we work together. I’m not quitting. This is my chance to start my own company. This is my big break, and I’m not letting you jeopardize that.”

  I shake my head and push down the fury building inside me. Lily needs my help, and Victoria is just going to get in the way.

  “You’re jeopardizing your career by staying.”

  “You can’t scare me off, Carter. I’m a different person than I used to be. I’m done taking your crap.”

  “Yes, you are definitely done taking my crap. That’s why I got the bed last night.”

  “And your clothes were drenched in beer.”

  “Nothing a little dry cleaning can’t fix.”

  I gulp down the rest of my beer before walking over to her. “Thanks for the beer, Tori. I’ll see you at seven sharp. Make sure to get lots of rest on that couch. I have a lot planned for tomorrow.”

  “You’d better look sharp because I plan on blowing Lily away with my ideas, and I doubt she will want to keep you around. You’ll be out on the streets, looking for a new job, so you’d better look good for your job interview.”

  I smirk. “I think I like the old Tori better.”

  She turns and pushes her breasts out. My eyes immediately go to her cleavage. I want to bury my face in her chest and taste her smooth skin. I want to flick my tongue over her hardening nipple. I want to hear her scream my name when I push my dick inside her. I want—

  “Your dick seems to like the new me.”

  “My dick is happy with any woman with breasts and a nice body. But it knows better than to get involved with trouble like you.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I don’t doubt that. I think you should just fuck Lily and leave me to handle the crisis.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, Tori; I can multitask just fine.”

  I brush a strand of her hair behind her ear and watch as her face fights between flushing with anger or blushing with lust. I might not get to fuck Victoria, but she sure is fun to play with in other more torturous ways. She’ll break. She can’t stand me. I give her eight hours of working with me tomorrow and trying to put up with my crap before she quits and leaves the job to me.

  5

  Victoria

  I needed a plan.

  And that’s exactly what I spent all night doing. Coming up with a plan to k
nock Lily’s socks off to ensure that Carter will get sent home. While he was sleeping in the comfortable bed, I was working. All night long.

  That’s two nights in a row without any sleep. But it will be worth it to watch Carter’s smug smile being kicked off his face.

  I yawn for the millionth time this morning.

  Thank God I was able to find the biggest coffee that Starbucks makes to keep me awake all day.

  “Good morning, Lily,” I say as brightly as I can as I enter her office.

  “Morning, Victoria,” Lily says.

  She looks happy and beautiful in her red dress while I look like a hot mess. I’m wearing a business suit, my hair is up in a bun, and I barely had time to apply any makeup.

  “I’m excited to see what you and Carter come up with. Two days ago, I thought my life was over, and then both of you came into my life and showed me that my career wasn’t over. I just need to regenerate it.”

  “I’d be happy to get started on showing you some of my new plans while we wait for Carter,” I say, trying not to add anything snarky at the end.

  “We should probably wait. That way, you don’t have to share your plans twice.”

  I sigh. So much for blowing her so out of the water with my ideas that she doesn’t even remember that Carter is coming.

  A knock rattles on the door before it is thrown open. Carter walks in, dressed in a dark blue suit. Lily’s and my eyes both go to the hot man standing in the meeting room. A man who is equally handsome and awful at the same time.

  He prances into the room, with a gleam in his eyes. He very clearly got plenty of sleep last night.

  I grab my coffee, trying to ignore him, and stifle a yawn. As the coffee cup reaches my lips, Carter smacks me hard on the back.

  “Good morning, Tori,” he says as the coffee spills all over myself.

  “Morning,” I say through clenched teeth, trying not to scream from the pain all over my body.

  “Oh goodness, did I do that?” Carter says sarcastically, looking at the coffee now dripping all over my face, arms, jacket, and pants.

  “Yes, but it’s not a problem. No need to cry over spilled coffee,” I say, wiping off my face with the back of my jacket sleeve. I won’t let him know that he is getting to me. I’ll just pay back the favor later.