Gage took his relief, too, and then wrapped her up in his arms.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“I should be thanking you, Brainiac.” He kissed her and again couldn’t believe that Gianna Marino was a hidden treasure he had been lucky enough to find.
He just didn’t know if he could keep her.
Or if he should.
* * *
“I didn’t mean to keep you from going to LA with Gage.”
Rose had insisted on having afternoon tea outside under the shade of a giant oak tree in the backyard. They sat on comfortable lawn chairs overlooking the Tremaine property. It was good for Rose to be outdoors. She’d been recuperating inside for days and needed the fresh air, so Gianna went along with it. “I know you were planning on doing some traveling with him. And LA is an exciting place,” Rose said.
“I suppose it is, but I’ll see it another time.”
LA might be exciting, but not more than the past week she’d had with Gage. If they weren’t out in public or keeping Rose company up in her room, they were holed up in the guesthouse, making love morning and night. They’d been insatiable with each other. Sex with Gage was incredible. And she loved waking up in his arms every morning, but they’d both agreed it would be better for Gianna to stay home this trip. To be with Rose for the next few days. Lily and Harper were knee-deep in wedding plans, the wedding only a month away now, and Cade was working long hours to clear up his schedule for his honeymoon.
“I’m happy to be here with you. I don’t think Gage really needed me on this trip. Regan is with him, and it’s all supposed to be behind-the-scenes stuff. Meetings with producers and such. I think he’s doing one television interview. Thank goodness they don’t need me for that.”
“Hmm.” Rose sipped her tea. “So you and Gage are getting along better now?”
Gianna paused, her heartbeat speeding up. “Uh, yes. We weren’t really not getting along.”
Rose studied her, searching her eyes. “Gianna, I don’t mean to pry. You’re both adults.”
“Rose, it’s okay. I can assure you we’re sticking to the plan. Everything’s okay.”
“Good. That’s all I need to know.”
It wasn’t like she was going to fall madly in love with Gage or anything. That would be foolish and illogical. No, they were simply having a fling, something Gianna had never done before. She was determined to keep it simple and easy. Just a few more weeks of this, and they’d go on their separate paths.
Gianna sipped tea and smiled at Rose, yet a pesky little notion flashed into her mind.
Was she lying to Rose? Or, worse yet, was she lying to herself?
She missed Gage like crazy. It wasn’t just about their fling. He was becoming important to her. He’d been gone for twenty-four hours already, and she hadn’t heard a word from him. It was strange. She hadn’t expected him to ignore her.
She was, after all, his fake fiancée.
“How is your work going, Gianna?”
“I’m happy to say I’m almost finished with my workshop. I’ll be giving the seminar Friday night at the university. I was honored to be asked to participate in this special summer series Fairmont is offering.”
“I know you’ve been working hard on it.”
“It’s a passion of mine, so it wasn’t that difficult. I enjoy doing it.”
Gage had promised to come, which was sweet of him, but was it out of support for her or to make yet one more public appearance as a couple?
After tea, Gianna spent the rest of the afternoon putting the finishing touches on her seminar. Her three-hour workshop devoted an entire hour to trust in relationships. She had examples and data that proved that trust was one of the key factors in sustaining a good family dynamic.
This one hit close to home due to her family history. Her mother had placed her faith and trust in her father, and he had abandoned them. And her mom had chosen to cover it up. She couldn’t fault her mother. But the tiniest part of her wished her mom would’ve trusted her with the truth.
Her phone buzzed, and she checked the message. The text was from Gage. Her heart raced as she opened the message.
Busy here, going nonstop. Staying an extra day. Be home Saturday. Sorry to miss your seminar. Will make it up to you, Gage.
Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes stung. It wasn’t what Gage had said or the rushed way he’d said it that put a knot in her gut. It was what he didn’t say. And he wasn’t coming to her presentation on Friday evening.
She should be fine with this. Having Gage gone meant less pretending, less deception, and yet dire disappointment washed over her. What had she expected? Roses and chocolates? Claims of love and adoration? No. But at least he could’ve asked about her well-being. He could’ve been more considerate. Heck, after all they’d shared, he should’ve picked up the phone and called her.
The phone in her hand, her fingers itching to respond, her mind filled with snarky comebacks. “Gee, thanks for the split second of your time.” Or, “Don’t worry about my seminar, I’ve only worked on it all summer.” And her best one: “Brickhead, what on earth is wrong with you?”
She didn’t send any one of those texts. Instead, her pride took hold and she simply wrote, See you on Saturday, Gianna.
Her mother used to say, “The heart wants what the heart wants.”
Gianna never believed it, though. She was far more rational than that. She never truly believed the heart could take over the mind.
Until now.
She missed her mother.
She missed Gage.
She hit Send on her phone and then flopped onto the sofa.
And burst into tears.
Nine
Gage sat on his LA hotel room bed, staring at his phone. It was late, past ten in Texas. Gianna had probably gone to bed already. He wanted to believe that. Crap. No, he didn’t. He itched to punch in the numbers that would bring Gianna’s sweet voice to his ears. He itched to speak to her, to tell her how his day went. To ask her how hers went. Hell, he’d texted her when he’d first arrived here a couple of days ago. The message looked like a mindless scribble. But it wasn’t. He’d taken a good long time coming up with that message. A message within a message. Damn, his hand trembled trying to come up with the right thing to do. The woman had him reduced to shaking in his boots. He couldn’t give her the common courtesy of a “Hi, been thinking of you. Been missing you.”
No. Not him. He was running scared. Feeling things for Gianna he shouldn’t feel. When he was with her, his willpower evaporated. He couldn’t see straight. He couldn’t think straight. He craved her body, her sharp wit, her sassy mouth. But now that they were apart, he saw things more clearly. They were apples and oranges. They were oil and water. They were fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants musician and common sense–intellectual professor.
Sexy professor.
They were not two peas in a pod.
He’d made a vow to his mother to tread carefully around the grieving Gianna. To make sure he didn’t hurt her. And what had he done? The first chance he got, he’d broken that vow. Shoot, he’d really blown it.
Someone knocked on his door. Whatever they were selling, he didn’t want, but the light tapping continued. He rose from his bed and slipped his arms into a shirt. “I’m coming.”
He peered through the peephole and then yanked open the door. “Regan?”
“Hi, hope it’s not too late for you?” His gaze slid to the champagne bottle and two glass flutes she held in her hand. She wore some sort of stretchy knit dress, her blond locks down around her shoulders.
“Late for what?”
“To celebrate, silly.” She slunk past him and entered the room. “Don’t worry, no one saw me come in.”
Having a woman in his hotel room after hours wouldn’t look cool, even if she was his manager and business p
artner. Regan usually didn’t make late-night calls like this.
“What are we celebrating?” he asked.
“Everything.” She sat down on his bed and crossed her legs. “Your screen test went really well today. I overheard the producers talking, Gage. You and Leah Marie had great onscreen chemistry. I think you won the part.”
“Think?”
“Well, we can’t be certain until they make us an offer. But our little scheme may just have worked. You and Gianna are pretty convincing. The producers like that you’re getting married to a professional woman. It’s good publicity for the movie.”
He supposed it was good news. It’s what he’d been hoping to hear. So why did it feel like a rock just dropped in the pit of his stomach?
“Let’s drink a toast, Gage. Would you open the bottle for me?”
Regan had worked so hard for him all these years. He wouldn’t have a career if it wasn’t for her. He couldn’t refuse one drink, even though champagne was not, and would never be, his drink of choice. “Sure. I guess one drink won’t hurt.”
He sat down beside her and took the bottle from her hand. She grabbed his arm. “Gage, I wish you’d smile. You look like you’re going to your own execution.”
He smiled for her sake. “Sorry. I’m a bit tired. We’ve had a busy day, is all.”
“We have, but I loved every minute of it. Remember, it’s black-tie tomorrow night at the charity event.”
“I don’t really want to go. Any way we can skip it? It’s the night of Gianna’s seminar, and I promised her I’d be there. I kinda feel like a heel after all she’s doing for me.”
“The bookworm will understand, Gage. That’s really not your thing, now is it?”
The bookworm? His gut tightened. He didn’t like hearing her described that way. Even if he’d teased her most of his life, it was a private thing between the two of them. Brickhead and Brainiac, what a team they made. “She’s a lot more than that.” Hell, his voice had gone to an irritated pitch.
Regan stared at him, her brows gathering, her face going beet red. “Don’t tell me you’re falling for her? Gage, she doesn’t fit into our world.”
He put his head down. She wasn’t saying anything he didn’t already know. He hated hearing it, though. “Regan, lay off, okay? She’s just a good friend.”
“You need to remember that more than I do.” Regan gave his hand a squeeze. “And yes, we have to show up at the party tomorrow night. It’s Leah Marie’s famous charity event. You know how she is about rescuing cats. She’s the star of the movie. We have to make nice.”
Make nice? He wanted to make nice with Gianna. The whole time Regan was in his hotel room, on his bed, he was thinking of his fake fiancée and all the things they could be doing to each other right now.
But even more so, he just wanted to hear the soft lull of her voice.
He ushered Regan out of his room twenty minutes later, grateful to have her gone. He had some serious thinking to do about Gianna. He’d been cold to her. That text he’d sent was meant to put her off, but all it had succeeded in doing was wash him with guilt. A good, hard scrubbing of it. He’d thought he was doing the right thing, but now he wasn’t sure.
He missed her.
Wanted to talk to her.
Needed to hear her voice.
Man, he had it bad.
* * *
Gage’s voice crooned in her ear, his specific ringtone waking her up from a sound sleep. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was after eleven. Popping straight up, she nibbled on her lips. Why was Gage calling so late? Had something happened? Through the darkness, she scrounged around for her phone and finally came up with it. She pushed the button. “Hello, Gage?”
“Hi, Gia.” His voice was mellow and sweet and...
“Why are you calling so late? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine, sweetheart. Sorry if I woke you.”
Sweetheart? “It’s okay, I guess. I mean, I was sleeping, but now I’m up and so—”
“How are you?”
“Me? I’m doing fine.”
“That’s good. I have to apologize for not calling sooner. I, uh, I have no excuse, really.”
She sat up straighter on the bed. It was intimate speaking to him in total darkness. “So why are you calling now?”
“The truth?” he said ever so softly.
“If you can manage it.” She wasn’t letting him off so easily.
“I missed you. I needed to hear your voice, Gia.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. Did he know what he was doing to her? Did he know that hearing him admit that sent her heart soaring? “Why, Gage? Why call now?”
“Because I’ve been acting like a jerk,” he said, keeping his tone soft, even. “I’ve been trying to keep a promise I made.”
“What promise?”
“Not to hurt you.”
“Oh, so you promised your mother you wouldn’t hurt me, and you thought pushing me away was the answer?”
“I never meant to push you away. It’s just when I got here, I told myself it was for the best that we steer clear of each other unless we were pretending to be engaged. I’d convinced myself of it, and it was only easy for about half a minute. The rest has been a struggle.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I never expected this to happen, this crazy pull I have to you.”
“I never expected anything like this, either.”
“I miss you like crazy, Gianna. I wish you were here with me right now.”
She wasn’t exactly sure where this was leading. Did he miss his bed buddy? Or was he speaking straight from the heart? “I miss you, too,” she whispered.
“Good,” he said, relief in his voice.
“Good?” She chuckled at his logic. “Why good?”
“Gianna, there are things I want to tell you. Things I want to say, but not over the phone. When I see you in person, we’ll talk.”
The hope and promise in his voice stunned her. His sincere tone meant so very much to her. He’d tried pushing her away and couldn’t do it. He missed her. He’d been a jerk to her—he’d admitted it—and she’d forgiven him for that. Tears welled in her eyes.
And then it hit her.
Why her emotions were in shreds, running high and low.
Why she’d been so darn angry with him.
She loved him. She’d fallen in love with her childhood nemesis, the boy who’d teased her mercilessly, the man who’d made her body sing, over and over again.
She loved Gage Tremaine. It slid over her like a beautiful waterfall, cascading over every inch of her body, wetting her mind with endless possibilities. Her and Gage. Gage and her. Her mother had been right.
The heart wants what the heart wants.
“Are you tired?” he asked.
Not anymore. “No.”
“And you’re in bed?”
“I am.”
“What are you wearing, sweetheart?” he drawled, all tall, sexy Texan.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I’m picturing your university shirt, you know the one. Actually, that’s not true. I’m picturing it off you, my hands on your soft skin.”
“Gage?” Her body reacted, his words turning her on.
“I’m sorry, Gia. But my imagination is kinda going wild.”
“I like wild,” she whispered.
“I know you do. Wanna do something wild right now?”
With him? “Yes. What do you have in mind?”
“This one time, Brainiac, keep your mind out of this and...just feel. Are you with me, Gia?”
Shivers ran down her spine, the anticipation killing her. “I’m with you, Gage.” She was with him all the way.
And inside, her heart was brimming with lo
ve, making her more vulnerable than ever before.
* * *
Gianna stood at the podium in the Fairmont lecture hall and looked out at the students beginning to fill the seats. It was a bigger crowd than she’d expected. She wouldn’t fool herself into believing that her Family Studies seminar was the sole attraction to the hall. No, many of the students were here out of curiosity. They wanted to see the woman who’d stolen country superstar and onetime bad boy Gage Tremaine’s heart. They wanted to see the woman who had tamed the beast. She laughed silently at that. Just who was taming whom last night during their phone call has yet to be determined. But the students were here and hopefully they would learn a thing or two.
Thinking of Gage made her heart ping. He’d called earlier in the afternoon to wish her good luck. To say that he’d wanted to be there for her, but Regan felt the charity event with big-name celebrities was too important a deal to blow off. Gianna had given him a pass on it. Just knowing he cared was enough for her.
Lily and Harper sat in the first row. They gave her a little wave, and she smiled at them. Rose had wanted to come, but sitting in a hard-back university chair for three hours would be difficult for her. Luckily, the three of them banded together and Rose had backed down.
Once the doors were closed and the room was filled to near capacity, Gianna dug deep into her lungs for breath. Her months of hard work and research were about to pay off now. Behind her was a screen that would show her PowerPoint presentation. She spoke into the podium mic.
“Welcome, everyone. I want to thank you all for being here. I know it’s summer, and you have many other things going on in your lives, so the fact that you’re here today means you’re serious about the subject. Today, we’ll cover relationships with loved ones, family dynamics and how the ever-changing world challenges and influences the family unit. We’ll discuss the importance of understanding, trust and truth using real-life scenarios and examine how lives are often greatly impacted by the three.
“Let me begin by speaking about the power of understanding...”
The Fake Engagement Favor Page 13