“I’ve missed you too, Owen. You were once one of my best friends.”
He nodded. “You were mine too.”
They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, but I wasn’t sure that was true in our case. The love I had once felt for him had long since faded. I loved him, but it was a different kind of love now.
“So what was it you wanted to ask me?”
He took a sip of his coffee. “The wife of one of the senior partners organized a black-tie charity event. I’m expected to attend and show my support. But I need a date for the event, and I’d rather go with you than have to ask someone else.”
I clasped my hand to my chest, and in a faked Southern drawl said, “Oh, Owen, you always did know how to sweep a woman off her feet.”
“Always the funny girl,” he said dryly.
I giggled. “And that’s why you miss me…so when is it?”
“May 3rd.”
In two weeks. “All right. I can do that.”
He fidgeted with his cup.
Owen never fidgeted with anything.
“There’s one other thing. I never told anyone at the firm that we’re no longer engaged.” He flashed me a sheepish grin.
I blinked. “Come again?”
“They’re expecting to see you…as my fiancée.”
I blinked again, positive I’d misheard him both times. Who went around pretending they were still engaged when they weren’t?
“Can’t wait to hear this explanation,” I said, barely holding back a laugh. With Owen, it was bound to be good.
He was a lawyer after all.
“The day you dumped me, one of the guys who was also trying to make partner announced his wife was leaving him. He was a mess, and I overheard one of the senior partners grumble, ‘God forbid the next person who announces he was dumped’…”
“So you decided not to tell them about us,” I finished for him, somewhat not surprised.
“I figured there was no point in saying anything. Besides, everyone would eventually come to the conclusion on their own, and by then it wouldn’t matter. But…”
“But what?”
“But then one of the wives of the senior partners decided to set the poor sap up on numerous dates. Really bad dates with her friends’ scary granddaughters. And let’s just say I want to avoid that.”
I laughed, knowing how that went.
The corner of his mouth twitched up. “Glad you find that so amusing.”
I pressed my lips together, attempting to stop the giggles now plaguing me. “I’m sorry.” It probably would’ve sounded more sincere if I hadn’t burst out laughing again.
“She’ll be at the event,” he said once I was finally able to stop laughing, “and I just want to avoid that insanity while I’m there.”
“Which is why you need my help?”
He nodded.
“Sure, why not?” It could be entertaining, especially if I got to meet Erin’s alter ego at work. “But you will have to tell them the truth, Owen. I can’t keep pretending to be your fiancée.”
That was right. I had officially joined the hypocrites’ club.
New members always welcome.
“I will,” he said. “I promise. After the event.”
We talked for a while, catching up on our lives. I told him about my photography and he said he would love to see it sometime. The only things I didn’t mention were Trent and the calendar.
“You really have changed, Kelsey.”
The corner of my lips quirked up to one side. “Is that a good or bad thing?”
“Definitely a good thing. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you this excited about anything beyond your job. I need to take a lesson from you sometime.”
Since he had to return to his office, we stood up and he hugged me. The gesture felt like thick socks on a cold winter night. Nice, comfortable, but nothing beyond that. It was nothing like hugging someone you loved so much, you could barely breathe. That was more like hot chocolate—with a splash of Bailey’s and mounds of whipping cream.
Owen kissed my cheek, nothing more than a friendly peck. I pulled away and turned to leave—and was met by a pair of warm green eyes.
35
Trent
Kelsey’s dickwad ex-fiancé kept talking to her, oblivious that she wasn’t listening to him.
He must have said something that grabbed her attention because she looked at him again, smiled, then walked toward me, her smile grander than the one she had just given him.
And something stirred inside me. Not jealousy. Fear.
Fear that I would be the next guy she dumped for being a workaholic. Some women attracted the bad-boy type; she attracted workaholics.
Except that wasn’t the life she wanted anymore.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked.
“Getting some coffee and fresh air before returning to the office. What about you?” She was the last person I expected to see here, since the hospital where she worked wasn’t nearby.
“Owen wanted to tell me something. But I have something more exciting to tell you,” she said as we joined the line for coffee. She removed a business card from her purse and handed it to me. “This woman wants to talk to you about a charity she’s involved with. My photography instructor showed her the photos Luke and I took of you, and she wants to use them in a hottest-bachelors-in-San-Francisco type calendar. There’s also an auction she would like you to participate in. You know, a chance for you to strut that sexy ass of yours and raise money to help women dealing with cancer.” The way she was grinning, you’d think she had just won the lottery. Not the fifty million dollar one, mind you.
My body went cold at her words. I had trusted her when she said no one would see those photos. If they had been leaked, it could have damaged my hard earned reputation in the industry. What the hell was she thinking?
“Thanks, but no thanks. Being sold at an auction isn’t my thing. Anyway, I’ve been thinking,” I said, knowing that it was time for me to end what Kelsey and I had before I made another goddamn mistake, like I had with my previous girlfriends. “Things are getting really busy at work now. So I think it’s time we end our fuck-buddy arrangement. I don’t have time for it anymore.” I didn’t give her a chance to respond. “This is going to take too long.” I gestured to the line in front of us, ignoring the couple who was obviously listening to me. “I need to get back to work.” I walked away.
Kelsey didn’t come after me. Not that I expected her to. Like her ex, I was picking work over her. Only unlike in her ex’s case, I wasn’t doing it because I wanted to become partner. Work was my safe place—when it came to my heart.
But instead of going back to work, I drove to my apartment building, doing my best not to think about Kelsey. Doing my best not to think about all the times we’d made love. Doing my best not to think about the fun I’d had with her over the past few months.
The elevator pinged open and I trudged down the hallway to my apartment. Inside, I tossed my keys on the table by the door. And for once the emptiness in my life reached up and slapped me. No one was here to greet me and ask me how my day had been. No one was here for me to wrap my arms around. No one was here for me to throw on the bed and make love to.
My life was empty and meaningless.
Melodramatic thoughts and I headed to my bedroom, where I changed into my workout gear. Josh wasn’t here to challenge me, but with the way I was feeling, it didn’t really matter. My thoughts would be bringing up the rear, yelling at me to get my ass moving.
And yes, they must have attended SEAL training along with Liam and picked up a thing or two. They rode my ass hard as I ran to the park.
After I finished torturing myself with sprints, I jogged to the outdoor workout center and pushed myself equally hard there. The plan was that by the time I was finished, my body would be so tired I wouldn’t have the energy to think about Kelsey.
Now, if only my brain had been in on that plan.
&nb
sp; I halfheartedly jogged home, which at this point resembled staggering. After showering, I plunked down on the couch and found the channel I needed—The Food Network. Maybe I could whip up comfort food, like Erin used to do whenever she had boyfriend problems.
Too bad the network hadn’t been appraised of my plan ahead of time. Whatever the host was cooking looked good, but I didn’t possess any of the ingredients. Same deal with the next episode.
Sighing, I trudged into the kitchen and studied the contents of the fridge. A few minutes later, I had whipped up an omelet, grabbed a fork and a beer (to prevent my man card from being revoked), and returned to the couch in time for the hockey game to begin.
My cell phone rang.
Still watching the TV, I answered it. I didn’t even bother to check who was calling.
“Hello, is this Trent Salway?” an unfamiliar woman’s voice asked.
“It is.”
“Hi, I’m Jodi Mckenzie. Kelsey Quade passed your number on to me. I’m involved in the Albright Heritage Charity event.” She went on to explain the charity, what the money would be used for, and about the event. She didn’t give me a chance to say anything—and I didn’t feel like being an asshole and hanging up on her.
The more she talked, the more I thought about my aunt and how she would have loved to see something like what the charity was organizing. Not the part about auctioning off hot bachelors, although she would have thought that was hilarious. No, she would have loved to see a place where women dealing with cancer could go to be pampered and not feel self-conscious.
“Would you be interested in helping out?” Jodi finally asked.
“Possibly. Can I get back to you about the photos?” It was my body and my choice as to what I did with it, but I needed to ensure Bristol Mathews was okay with it too. Especially since there would be no way to keep what I’d done out of the media…if I said yes.
“Does that mean you’ll participate in the auction?”
“That much I can do for sure.”
I didn’t think it would be an issue.
As long as I wasn’t expected to do any sort of erotic dance on stage.
Phone Kelsey and let her know you’re participating in the auction.
I ignored the pain-in-the-ass voice in my head, the one that always thought it knew best. It wasn’t like Kelsey needed to know. She only needed to know if I decided to participate in the calendar, and Jodi could tell her that.
Call me a coward, but part of my decision not to talk to her had to do with missing her. If I talked to her again, chances were good that I would agree to go back to our fuck-buddy arrangement—and that was only if she would even have me after how I had spoken to her.
Regardless, that arrangement would’ve just left me screwed.
36
Kelsey
Life sucked.
That was my new mantra—ever since Trent walked out of my life, proving once again that I was a failure at love.
Granted it hadn’t been true love—not when it had only been one-sided—but the sentiment was the same.
My doorbell rang and I opened the door to let Erin in.
“I still can’t believe he convinced you to pretend you two are engaged,” she immediately said, without even a “hi.” The plus side of Trent’s and my breakup was that now I didn’t have to tell Erin. She never had to learn the truth—that I had ignored her my-friends-aren’t-allowed-to-be-involved-with-my-brother rule.
I sighed and followed her to the kitchen. We’d already gone through this a few times about Owen. But at least she had finally gotten past the part where I was attending the event with him. “I’m helping him because he needed someone to go with tonight and save him from the meddling matchmaker,” I reminded her.
Her eyebrows pinched together in a dubious frown. “So there’s no way he’ll be able to convince you to give him a second chance?”
“I promise there’s nothing he could ever say to convince me to change my mind. And I don’t think he would even try. He’s long since over me.” That was part of the reason our relationship fizzled. I suspected he had been “over me” while we had been engaged, but had been too busy to admit it to himself.
“So you’re okay with him pretending you’re still engaged?”
“It’s not a big deal. He’s already promised that he’ll tell them the truth.”
Erin gestured for me to sit at the kitchen table and began searching through my beauty supplies. “When? Right after you two have your fake wedding? Right after you return from your fake honeymoon? Or when you announce your fake pregnancy?”
I snickered. “He’s not expecting me to fake a pregnancy.”
“How can you be so sure?”
I shrugged. “Because I trust him.”
“Like you trusted him to tell everyone the truth after you called off the engagement?”
Point taken. “He knows this is a one-time thing.”
“Well, for his sake I hope you’re right. I still don’t get why you agreed to be his date to begin with.”
Because I thought it would help take my mind off the man I was in love with but couldn’t have. “Because he’s still my friend. And because I’m the idiot who has a hard time saying no.” Or else I wouldn’t have let Erin hook me up with the Viking and the speed fucker to begin with.
She laughed and picked up the straightening iron. “So what is this event tonight anyway?”
“He had no idea. All he could tell me was that it’s some big black-tie charity event.”
Erin made a sound that was somewhere between a huff and a grunt. “Sure, he finally takes you to a black-tie event when you’re no longer actually engaged to him.”
She had a point, but I didn’t want to go there. I was looking forward to tonight. It was a huge step up from my typical evening entertainment—pining for Trent.
Once my hair was straightened, Erin got to work on my makeup. By the time she was finished, I didn’t recognize myself. My blue eyes smoldered, like a model straight out of Vogue, but Erin had kept my lips light with a shell-pink lipstick. A little overdone for my yoga pants and tank top—perfect for my gown.
I scooted upstairs to get dressed.
The floor length, nude-colored dress skimmed my body to a few inches below my hips, then gently flared to the floor. Overtop, black netting let the nude underlay peek through, interrupted only by the large black floral designs. My breasts pushed against the fabric of the low neckline, held up by spaghetti straps. My girls were cleverly hidden or highlighted—depending on your view of things—under the elaborate design of black lace and sequins.
I finished the look off with three simple black bracelets that shimmered in the light. Overall, I was a combination of sexy and glamorous. I just hoped it wasn’t too over-the-top for my fake date with Owen.
The bedroom door opened and Erin entered my room—looking like she had just seen Santa in a speedo. In her hand was a five-by-seven piece of thin card.
“You okay?” I asked.
She sunk onto my bed. “When were you going to tell me?”
I shook my head, baffled at what she was talking about. And that’s when my gaze dropped to the card in her hand. Only it wasn’t a piece of card. It was a photo.
Of me.
And Trent.
In a very intimate position.
Oh crap!
“Where did you get that?” I whispered, even though I knew exactly where she had found it.
The corner of her mouth curled up, not quite a smirk, but definitely headed in that direction. “In the magazine where you left it.”
“It’s not what you think.” Okay, it totally was. “Trent was helping me out with a photography assignment.”
She glanced down at the picture. “Riiiight. So who was taking the actual photo?”
The words “The Easter Bunny?” hung heavy in the air.
“Luke. A classmate. He took photos of Trent and me together for our photography assignment. Then he left and I took photo
s of Trent.”
“Really? ’Cause it doesn’t look like you were modeling for an assignment.”
I snorted a laugh. “So what does it look like?”
“It looks like you and my brother posed for boudoir photos, like Darren and I did last year.”
I’d seen those photos. She had shown them to me when she had gotten the prints. Until now, I’d forgotten about them. “Why would we be posing for boudoir photos like you guys did? We’re not married.”
Erin’s eyes widened, fear and shock taking up residence there. “You’re dating?”
“Definitely not,” I said a little too fast.
“Good, because the last thing I need is another incident.” “Incident” was Erin’s code word for Michaela.
I quickly shook my head, but there must have been something on my face that gave me away, because her mouth dropped open, forming a perfect O. “Shit. It is like her all over again.”
“It’s nothing like Michaela.”
There are moments in your life when you wish you could yank back the words you just said. They are the ones spoken in haste…sometimes misinterpreted, other times not.
They’re the ones that shift your world on its axis.
And never in a good way.
Did you spot my mistake? I can guarantee Erin did. Her expression said it all—“traitor” taking up the number one position.
“You promised me,” she said, her voice a pained whisper, her gaze locked on the photo in her hand. “How long has this been going on between you two?” Her gaze snapped up to me and her eyes narrowed. “And what about Jillian and Matt? Are you and Trent cheating on them behind their backs? Or did this happen before you met them?”
Busted. The word might as well have slapped me in the face. The truth of it hurt just as much.
“There is no Jillian and Matt,” I said, my chest feeling like I was caught in a giant bear hug by my great Aunt Wilma, had she still been alive. The kind of hug that slowly squeezed all the air out of your lungs, leaving you unable to do much more than squeak. “Well, that’s not entirely true. They exist. But they’re married.”
I didn’t think Erin could have looked more confused than she did at that moment.
“They’re both actors,” I explained. “Trent knows Matt from college.”
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