I ran down the steps and stopped in front of her.
“Oh.” She seemed taken aback to see me.
“Hi.”
She tried to rein in a smile. It was like she was rearranging her expression. It was adorable and I loved it. “Hello.”
“How are you?”
Then she returned to in-control Sutton. “I’m great. How are you? Are you so excited about the movie? I bet your agent is thrilled. I’m so proud of you. I knew you could do it.”
I placed a hand on her arm. “You’re babbling. You’re making small talk. You’re chatting about business. I’m not here for business reasons. I’m here on personal reasons,” I said and smiled at her. I hoped she knew the smile was for her. That it was for real. But hoping and wishing wouldn’t be enough.
“Sutton, I stand by what I said in the wine closet. You are the most stubborn and complicated woman I have ever known. But I also want to get to know you. I want to know the real you. I want to walk your dog with you and find out how you drink your coffee, and I want to see what you look like in the morning, and even if you think you don’t look hot in the mornings, I already know you’re wrong because you are always hot to me. I said yes to the job because I had a thing for you. I had a crush on you. And then I spent a week with you, and now I have a hell of a lot more than a crush on you.”
I watched her as her features softened, as her hard shell started to break. “What do you mean more than a crush?”
I rolled my eyes. “Sutton Brenner, I. LIKE. YOU. Okay? Not like fake fiancé like. Not like pretend boyfriend like. Not like an actor-trying-to-get-a-role like. I have fallen into mad like with you. And I have no idea if you like me back, okay? You needed something from me and yet it’s like you doubted me every step of the way, and I could be making a complete ass of myself and reading everything wrong, and maybe it was only one way. Maybe it was only me for you. But if you like me at all too, then let’s just see what happens when we’re not trying to get something.”
Sutton muttered something in a small voice.
I shook my head. “I didn’t hear you.”
“I’m sorry I was difficult. I’m sorry I was infuriating. I’m sorry I was hot and cold.”
“It’s okay,” I said and moved closer to her. I glanced down and saw The Artful Dodger wagging his tail. “Your dog looks happy.”
“He’s always happy,” Sutton said with a smile. “He’s also especially happy when I’m happy.”
“Are you then? Happy?”
“I like you too,” she said, and I knew how hard it was for her to say those words.
My lips curved into a grin. “For real?”
“For real. So for real it’s like beyond real,” she said, unable to stop smiling too. “I like you almost as much as I like my dog.”
I wrapped her in an embrace. “Now that’s saying a lot. And speaking of, I got him a gift.”
25
Sutton
My fingers became thumbs as I nervously undid the ribbon. My heart fluttered, and my body sang, and I felt so foolish for having doubted him. I’d been falling for my actor boy, falling so hard I’d feared how much it would hurt. Now he was here, and he had a gift for my dog. I held The Artful Dodger’s leash tightly in one hand as I opened the box.
I gasped when I saw what was inside. A perfect navy-blue fleece coat for the winter months. I pulled it out quickly. “It’s the perfect size for him! How did you know his size?”
Reeve shrugged. “Told you I was good with sizes. I took a wild guess that he was about nine pounds. Was I right?”
“He’s exactly nine pounds! You got my dog a gift,” I said, and maybe it seemed small, and maybe it seemed silly, but the fact was Reeve knew the way to my heart was through my dog. “I can’t wait to put it on him. Let’s get rid of this old ratty coat and take him for a walk in his new one.” Then I stopped talking and my nerves came back. “That is, if you want to.”
“Sutton Brenner, I went into a dog accessory shop on Madison Avenue. Yes, I want to walk your dog with you. But there’s also something I want you to do for me.”
“Yes?”
“I want you to ask me to spend the night with you, and I want you to let me stay over.”
I blushed. My hesitation had nothing to do with reluctance and everything to do with savoring this moment. “Reeve, will you spend the night with me?”
His smile lit up my heart. It was mine. He was mine.
After we shed our jackets and shoes, I took his hand, threaded my fingers through it, and led him to my room. I took off my shirt, my pants, my knickers.
Well, that’s not precisely true.
He took off my knickers.
And he seemed to savor every moment of the undressing.
I trembled as he removed that last item of clothes, then as he regarded me. “You’re beautiful,” he said, and he looped an arm around my waist. “And you’re mine now.”
I thrilled at the possessiveness, loving the way he wanted to claim me with his words, with his touch.
But there was the little problem of his lack of nudity.
I tap-danced my fingers along his chest. “You’re mine too, but I like you in your birthday suit.”
He wiggled his brows. “Then you can have me that way. And then you can have your way with me.”
He stripped off his clothes, took me to bed, and covered me with kisses, layering soft, sweet kisses on my neck, my breasts, my belly. I shivered from his touch, closing my eyes.
Someone else was enjoying the moment too, because when I opened my eyes, my little darling—the four-legged one—was sitting on the pillow, wagging his tail, watching.
Reeve laughed. “Someone’s a little pervert.”
“He’s absolutely a perv,” I said with a grin. “But he’s a well-trained one.” I pointed to the floor, “Down, love.”
The Artful Dodger shot me a profoundly sulky look but did as he was told.
Then it was just me and Reeve, this wonderful man. This charming, dirty, vulnerable, sweet, and rough man I’d fallen for.
His hands traveled up my body. His lips brushed kisses over me, and I felt cherished.
I felt adored.
And I felt us both falling into each other.
Soon our kisses and our touches turned heated, and he reached for a condom. Before he rolled it on, though, I set a hand on his chest. “I’m clean and on protection.”
“I’m clean too,” he said, and then he spread my legs, positioned himself between them, and sank inside.
I moaned from the sheer pleasure, from the utter intensity, and from the unexpected newness.
This wasn’t our first time.
But in a way it was.
He looked at me like it was.
And when he whispered, “Hi, beautiful,” I felt that it, too, was a first.
The first time he’d made love to me.
That’s what it was as we moved together, tangled up in each other, arms, legs, sweat, heat, and breath.
Soon, we were both panting, gasping, moaning each other’s name and falling over the edge.
After, as we lay there sated, I took another leap. I kissed his cheek and whispered what was completely real. “It’s not just like. I’m falling for my fake fiancé.”
He smiled, kissed my nose, and whispered, “It’s so much more than like. I’m falling for my girlfriend.”
That’s what I was now.
That’s what I wanted to be.
He nodded and leaned in to brush his lips against mine, and it felt so good. It felt right. It felt real.
Epilogue
Reeve
Present Day
The metal dug into my wrists. The bright lights shone on me. I was handcuffed to the bedpost on set, wearing only my boxer briefs and cowboy boots. Because that’s what the script dictated the lead actor in Escorted Lives should wear in this scene. And I had not only won a part, as Janelle had promised, I’d won the starring role.
“Tell me when it h
urts,” the actress playing opposite me said.
“Doesn’t hurt,” I said.
Her hands wrapped around me, tugging on each end of the handcuffs, tightening them. I felt another pair of hands slide up my back. I sucked in a breath. I could have acted. I could have pretended it didn’t feel great when Sutton Brenner touched me. But it did, it had, and it probably always would. Even now, five months later, five months into our real relationship, everything with her was amazing, right down to the real ring I’d bought for just the right moment. We’d fallen fast into real like during that one week, and even faster into real love in the months that followed.
But she wasn’t acting in the film with me, so she stepped back to take her post with the crew and watch the pivotal scene as the leading client had her way with her male escort. Everyone had their thing, in film and in real life.
Sutton and I had ours. We’d done plenty of wild things in our time together, but my favorite—and Sutton’s too—was when I asked her to beg for it. She always did, and I always made sure she was rewarded.
Then we’d fall asleep together, and wake up together, and go to dinner and the movies and dog walks together, and every real second with her was as excellent as every pretend second had been.
Better, actually.
But for now, I put Sutton and our times out of my mind. I had a role to play. A job to do. I was an actor, and I gave it my all as the camera started to roll.
Another Epilogue
Reeve
A little later
I pulled out a green slatted chair from the round table and waited for my woman to sit in it. She did, crossing her sexy legs.
I bent closer to her ear. “Love this view,” I said, then brushed my hand up her arm and along her collarbone. She murmured, and I enjoyed the sound of her desire.
But there would be time later to stoke fires and put them out in the best way possible.
I took a seat across from her at the Sunshine Bakery. The night of the Pinkerton’s dinner, I’d told her I’d take her here. It might have been a small thing, but I wanted Sutton to know I was a man of my word, so we’d gone together and had been many times since.
She slid the yellow plate closer to me. “Your heart’s desire. A grapefruit macaron.”
My stomach rumbled. I did indeed love grapefruit in all its forms. I picked up the treat and popped it in my mouth. I moaned in delight. “It tastes like citrus and sunshine and sweetness.”
Sutton grinned happily. “You need to tell Josie how much you love it.” She gestured to the bakery counter, where the woman who owned this shop worked. But the brunette was occupied chatting with a man at the counter.
But I only had eyes for Sutton. I had the ring I’d gotten her, the one that came with a very particular question, in my pocket, waiting for me to decide on the perfect moment.
But there is no perfect moment. There was this moment, though, and I wanted to grab it so that it never became a lost moment.
“It was delicious,” I told Sutton. “But that’s not my heart’s desire.”
Something in my expression must have given something up. It seemed ridiculous that she had ever worried about the truth of my feelings, when I could hide nothing from her.
“It’s not?” she asked.
“Nope.”
“Italian food, then?”
“Not that, either.” I slid forward in my seat and took the ring box out of my pocket. “It’s a brilliant leggy brunette who I want in my life forever.”
She covered her mouth with her hands and tears brimmed on her lashes. “Reeve . . . Truly?”
“I would never lie to you.”
The next moment we were on our feet, then I swept her off hers and into my arms. There was laughing and crying, and then Josie and her guy in scrubs realized there was something going on and there was more laughter, more tears—but happy ones, all of them.
Happy and bright and sweet like a grapefruit macaron.
THE END
Curious about Sutton’s friend McKenna? Dive into her fun, fresh, sexy fake fiancé romance THE DATING PROPOSAL, available everywhere.
How about Chase and Josie? What’s the story with their crazy chemistry and flirty glances? Find out in FULL PACKAGE, a sexy, hilarious friends-to-lovers romance. FULL PACKAGE is a full-length rom-com and it is available everywhere! Sign up for my newsletter to receive an alert when these sexy new books are available.
Also by Lauren Blakely
Big Rock Series
Big Rock
Mister O
Well Hung
Full Package
Joy Ride
Hard Wood
The Gift Series
The Engagement Gift
The Virgin Gift
The Decadent Gift (coming soon)
The Heartbreakers Series
Once Upon a Real Good Time
Once Upon a Sure Thing
Once Upon a Wild Fling
Boyfriend Material
Asking For a Friend
Sex and Other Shiny Objects
One Night Stand-In
Lucky In Love Series
Best Laid Plans
The Feel Good Factor
Nobody Does It Better
Unzipped
Always Satisfied Series
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Instant Gratification
Overnight Service
Never Have I Ever
Special Delivery
The Sexy Suit Series
Lucky Suit
Birthday Suit
From Paris With Love
Wanderlust
Part-Time Lover
One Love Series
The Sexy One
The Only One
The Hot One
The Knocked Up Plan
Come As You Are
Sports Romance
Most Valuable Playboy
Most Likely to Score
Standalones
Stud Finder
The V Card
The Real Deal
Unbreak My Heart
The Break-Up Album
21 Stolen Kisses
Out of Bounds
The Caught Up in Love Series:
The Swoony New Reboot of the Contemporary Romance Series
The Pretending Plot (previously called Pretending He’s Mine)
The Dating Proposal
The Second Chance Plan (previously called Caught Up In Us)
The Private Rehearsal (previously called Playing With Her Heart)
Stars In Their Eyes Duet
My Charming Rival
My Sexy Rival
The No Regrets Series
The Thrill of It
The Start of Us
Every Second With You
The Seductive Nights Series
First Night (Julia and Clay, prequel novella)
Night After Night (Julia and Clay, book one)
After This Night (Julia and Clay, book two)
One More Night (Julia and Clay, book three)
A Wildly Seductive Night (Julia and Clay novella, book 3.5)
The Joy Delivered Duet
Nights With Him (A standalone novel about Michelle and Jack)
Forbidden Nights (A standalone novel about Nate and Casey)
The Sinful Nights Series
Sweet Sinful Nights
Sinful Desire
Sinful Longing
Sinful Love
The Fighting Fire Series
Burn For Me (Smith and Jamie)
Melt for Him (Megan and Becker)
Consumed By You (Travis and Cara)
The Jewel Series
A two-book sexy contemporary romance series
The Sapphire Affair
The Sapphire Heist
Contact
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The Pretending Plot (Caught Up In Love: The Swoony New Reboot of the Contemporary Romance Series Book 1) Page 13