Faking it with #41

by Piper Rayne

  “Well, this is a great pep talk. Thanks, Dad.”

  He blows out a breath. “Do I have to tell you that I don’t want you to marry that girl in order for you to go fight for her?”

  I scowl. “What does that mean?”

  “You’ve worked yourself to the bone for your hockey career. That’s why I never understood why you constantly did shit off the ice that would threaten your spot on the team. Of course, the selfish side of me wants you to come on board here and take over, but I knew a long time ago that you inherited your mother’s stubborn side. You weren’t going to bow down to me. And I admire and respect that because I couldn’t do the same to my dad.”

  “You’re being awfully complimentary today.”

  “Call it nostalgia. I want you, Imogen, and Morgan to be happy. We have all this, and for what? To feel trapped every day? I shouldn’t have pressured you as much as I did. And honestly, I should’ve never put you and Lena in the position I did. Forcing you two to pretend you’re in love?” He shakes his head. “I’m ashamed of myself, because you both look miserable.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  I slide to the edge of my chair. “I’ll manage with Annabelle. We’ll be fine.”

  “Sometimes life doesn’t give you a redo.”

  I look at my hands. “I know.” Standing, I head to the door. “See you tonight, Dad.”

  I open the door and shut it behind me. Coming through the family room, I already hear Lena in the kitchen with Annabelle. I lean my shoulder along the kitchen doorjamb, watching her with my daughter.

  “I swear she’s grown. Is she sitting up on her own yet?” Lena asks Morgan.

  “It’s only been a week,” my sister says with a smile.

  Lena has Annabelle in her arms, dancing them around. “Oh, how I missed you, little girl.” She nuzzles Annabelle’s neck and continues moving around the kitchen as though it’s their own dance floor.

  Morgan looks at me for a moment, questions as to why I’m not coming in filling her eyes.

  But I walk up to my room and shut the door. Lena’s already made it clear what she wants from me—nothing. Don’t count your boy out yet though. I have a plan.

  I’m getting ready in my room, and my mind won’t stop whirling about what I have planned tonight. I probably should’ve filled my dad in earlier, but I didn’t want to give him time to talk me out of it.

  Unable to wait any longer before I see her, I head across the hall and knock on Lena’s door.

  “Come in.” She’s opening the box I sent for her earlier. “Ford, you don’t have to do this anymore.”

  I shut her door and lock it. “Tell me.”

  “What?” She turns around, forehead creased in confusion.

  “Tell me you don’t love me.”

  She huffs. She’s dressed in a robe, naked under it I bet, but I force myself not to focus on that.

  “Why are you doing this?” She picks up the box of lingerie. “And please take this back.”

  I wrap my hand around her waist and tug her toward me. The box falls to the floor and the panties and bra spill out onto the floor, along with my note. God, she feels so good in my arms.

  “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me, and I’ll walk away and we can see each other when we need to for the sake of this plan. Make me think I’m crazy for knowing there’s something here between us.”

  She shakes her head. “Ford… I don’t…”

  I smash my lips to hers, unable to hold myself back. She’s all I’ve been thinking about for the past week, and I call bullshit on the fact that she doesn’t feel for me the way I feel for her.

  I lick the seam of her lips and she opens for me on a breathy moan. I take full advantage. Her fingers grip my shoulders and I slide my hand down between her legs, pushing the robe out of the way.

  “I’m going to give you that blush tonight, and all night, every time I look at you, I’m gonna remember the way you came on my hand.”

  I slide my finger through her folds and she arches her back. Holding her up, I step us toward the wall, using it to leverage her so I can untie her robe and reveal her beautiful naked body. She releases a long exhale when I push a finger inside her.

  “Tell me you can live without this,” I say, pushing another finger in. “That you don’t want me just as much as I want you.”

  “I do,” she cries out, grinding along my palm.

  “We’re supposed to be together. You’re mine. All fucking mine.” I bury my head in her neck, nipping and sucking and licking, tracing my way up to her mouth before I take her lips again.

  “Yours,” she pants. “Always yours.”

  “Finally,” I say and thrust a third finger in, grinding my palm along her clit.

  She rides my hand, my fingers coated in her wetness. She smells of lavender and vanilla.

  “I fucking love you, Lena,” I admit, overcome with emotion and needing her to know.

  She moans, her head falling to the wall. She’s there, right at the brink, trying to drag out her orgasm. I increase my pace and her hands move to my wrist, clamping down.

  “Go, I’ll catch you.”

  She releases my hand and stills, crying out and falling forward until her head hits my shoulder. Her pussy spasms around my fingers as I slow my movements and slide them out of her, bringing them to my mouth, loving her fucking taste.

  “Ford,” she sighs, pulling back and staring at me, her cheeks the perfect shade of pink.

  “You’re beautiful.”

  “But what does this mean?”

  I kiss her forehead and step back. “Be ready in twenty.”

  I walk out, knowing that she does love me. She can’t deny it anymore. Now I just have to get her to see that we can handle anything that comes our way.

  I’m still wet as we’re sliding out of the limo at the event. The more I think about Ford coming into my room and the way I rode his hand, the more turned on and confused I am.

  “You have the speech, right?” I whisper to Ford as we approach the doors.

  He smiles at me and pats his jacket. With his hand on the small of my back, he ushers us into the warmth of the venue. We check our coats and head into the party.

  I’ve wanted to talk to him about what happened earlier in my room, but he keeps dodging the topic. I’m taking it as a bad sign for our future.

  Aiden comes up to us as soon as we enter. “Did you hear about the trades?”

  “No. I’ve been kinda busy.” Ford puts his arm around my waist and tugs me next to him, his thumb slowly moving along my hip bone. A girl could go delirious from that move. “Who did we take?”

  “Cory Freeman. A rookie.” Aiden looks at Maksim, who’s just joined us.

  Ford stiffens next to me. “And?”

  “Warner Langley,” Aiden says and steps back.

  “What? Why would they take that prick?” Ford’s mad, but then he glances at me and I see something switch in his brain. “That asshole isn’t ruining my night. Just don’t tell Imogen.”

  “Why would Imogen care?” Aiden asks.

  “We’ll talk about it another time. We have to handle something more pressing right now.” Ford leads me over to the bar.

  “Why don’t you like Warner Langley?” I ask.

  “He’s just a jerk. That’s all.” He orders us two drinks. A whiskey for him and an Aperol spritz for me. “Let’s just enjoy our night.”

  “Okay.”

  I try to bring up the topic of us again, but then we’re told to sit down for dinner. Since we’re at the table with the rest of the hockey players, there’s no time to talk about us.

  As we’re finishing our meals, I lean forward to ask if maybe we can go out into the hallway to be alone, but Ford beats me to it, kissing me on the cheek.

  “I’ll be right back,” he says.

  I watch him head over to his dad. They talk for a moment, then his dad ushers him outside. He doesn’t look angry, but Mr. Jacobs is an expert at m
asking his face in front of others. He should take up high stakes poker.

  For the next hour, I talk to everyone at the party. I can’t help but feel as though there are whispers going on behind my back. People speculating that our relationship is fake. And here I am making the rounds without him.

  I glance at my phone and see that it’s almost midnight. Thank goodness this New Year’s Eve party is almost over, but Ford has yet to give his speech. Maybe he’s having second thoughts?

  The music slows to a lull before stopping, and all eyes fall to the stage where Ford now has the microphone in his hand. “Excuse me, everyone.”

  Nervousness fires up in my belly because I know what’s coming. I know every word written on that paper and I need to be prepared to sell this on my end.

  Ford’s gaze finds mine with that cocky smirk that I shouldn’t love, but I do. “Sorry for interrupting your night, but it’s almost midnight and I’ve been dodging my girl all night while waiting for the clock to run out.”

  I tense, not understanding what he’s saying. This isn’t part of the speech I gave him.

  He pulls the piece of paper from his pocket and I relax a bit. “I was supposed to come up here and give this speech. A speech that Lena wrote to convince you all that we’re in love and ready to get married. To make sure you don’t believe the articles going around questioning our engagement, when in fact, they’re true.”

  I gasp then glance at Otis and Penny Sandersville before closing my eyes. They were looking at one another, their mouths hanging open.

  “The truth is, when I proposed to Lena Boyd, I kind of loathed her.”

  Tweetie laughs and Tedi elbows him in the gut.

  “I did it because I was irresponsible and got a woman I barely knew pregnant. That woman left me with our daughter, and my dad needed us to look like a wholesome family, like we had it all together, so he could sell the company. I wanted him to sell so he wouldn’t harp on me to stop playing hockey and take over the family business. But almost instantly, as soon as our sham had started, this weird feeling came over me whenever Lena was around.

  “I didn’t know it then, but I now know it as love.” He rips up the paper. “I’m not going to read this prepared speech about how much we love each other and how happy we are because the truth is that we’ve found ourselves in this hole that neither one of us knows how to get out of.”

  I breathe deeply, unshed tears burning my eyes.

  “Lena Boyd, I fucking love you. I love the way you challenge me and don’t take my shit. I love the way you love my daughter and treat her as your own. I love the way you helped me without me ever having to ask. And I love the fact that you put one hundred percent of yourself in anything worth doing. There’s a lot more I love about you, but those are just between us.” He winks, and the crowd laughs.

  “I know we lost our way during this fake engagement, but I’m here. All I know is that I love you and that has to be enough. Enough for us to get through a lot of these problems we’re facing. The insecurities we might have.”

  He steps down from the stage.

  “One year ago, I kissed you at midnight on New Year’s Eve, and this year I want to be the man you kiss again. But this time, I want you to kiss me because you love me and because I’m the man you want in your life.”

  He reaches me and drops the microphone to his side.

  “Ford,” I say, barely able to speak.

  He cradles my face in his hand as he always does.

  “Ten… nine…” the band leader starts the countdown.

  Our eyes remain locked.

  “Eight… five… three…”

  Ford waits patiently, but he knows. He’s always known.

  “One. Happy—”

  I rise up on my tiptoes and smash my lips to Ford’s. He picks me up, my feet floating off the floor.

  Everyone screams, “Happy New Year!” There are a few claps, but I hope everyone else is kissing the one they love.

  We draw back and I rest my forehead on his.

  “I love you,” I say.

  “I know.” He kisses me again.

  Who said you can’t have it all? I might’ve gone through hell to get here, but maybe I wouldn’t have appreciated it like I do now.

  “That’s an awfully big smile,” he says.

  “Well, I just locked down Ford Jacobs. I’m a lucky girl.”

  He laughs. “I’m the lucky one.”

  “True.” I smile. “You are lucky.”

  “You could fight me on it just a little.”

  “Nope.” I inch forward. “Take me to the hotel.”

  “How did you know?” he asks, lowering my feet to the floor.

  “It’s my job to know what you’re going to do before you do it.” I turn to walk out, waving goodbye to our friends.

  “Not anymore, and you’re insinuating that I can’t surprise you.”

  I turn around to walk backward. “I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think you can.”

  “Are you challenging me?” He raises an eyebrow.

  I stop short of the doors. “Hey, you have the rest of our lives to surprise me.”

  Then he drops to one knee, pulling a box out of his pocket. He slides off the ring I was wearing and pockets it. “Will you marry me, Lena? For real this time?”

  Inside the box is a modest but elegant ring. Something way more me.

  “Damn it, Ford. You were supposed to wait to surprise me.” Tears sting my eyes.

  Murmurs start behind him when a few bystanders notice what’s going on.

  “Answer, Lena,” he says.

  “Yes. Yes.” I chuckle as he slides the ring on my finger.

  I’m about to kiss him, but he ushers me out, signaling for the limo. “If we don’t get out now, we never will.”

  He gets me into the limo, then his lips are on mine right away.

  I finally have it all, and what do you know? I’ve never felt as secure as I do right now.

  Annabelle turns one today. I can’t believe it. I also can’t believe Lena invited Warner fucking Langley to the party. But she said the entire team needed to be included. She didn’t like my argument that we’re not in kindergarten and don’t have to invite the entire team.

  Since the trade, I’ve dodged Langley in the locker room and only talk to him when I have to on the ice. So far, we’ve been able to steer clear of one another. So explain to me why he accepted the invitation and is sitting out on the patio by my pool?

  “Just relax. Whatever your beef was, you have to let it go.” Lena pats me on the ass, getting more dip to put out. She wouldn’t let me cater the party.

  The paperwork has all been handled terminating Britney’s parental rights. The day my lawyer received the paperwork back from Britney, signed, was a hard one. I’m sad for Annabelle that her biological mother couldn’t step up and be what she needed. But I feel strongly that this is better than having a parent who pops in and out of her life whenever she feels like it.

  Still, I hate that a part of me is always waiting for her to knock on the door and change her mind again. Will I feel this way our entire lives? Even if she no longer has any legal right to Annabelle, there’s nothing stopping her from showing up and causing problems.

  “You have no idea what he did,” I say.

  Just thinking about it makes me homicidal. I’ve yet to tell Lena, mostly because I’m loving our life right now. We fuck nonstop and we do all this shit like go to the zoo and other crap kids like. Annabelle is walking, so lately I’ve been baby-proofing. Plus, it’s not really my story to tell. It’s Imogen’s, and although Lena will be my wife in a few short weeks, I need to clear it with my sister first.

  “Because you won’t tell me.”

  “I’ll tell you tonight, and then you’ll be pissed you invited him.”

  “Fine. Anyway, the new guy Cory seems nice,” she says.

  “He’s cool. I think Aiden’s a little worried. The kid is fast.” I take her in my arms. “When are a
ll these people leaving?” I nuzzle my head into her neck. “I want you alone.”

  Right now, we’re in this dream sleep schedule with Annabelle. She sleeps, like, twelve hours a night plus two naps. The alone time we’ve gotten as a result has been great for our sex life.

  “Soon. It’s a one-year-old’s party. She’ll fall asleep and then you can give me a massage.” She wiggles out of my hold and takes the dip outside where most of the food is.

  I follow Lena because yeah, I’m whipped and proud of it.

  Annabelle cries and toddles up to me, plastering herself to my leg. I reach down and get her, holding her in my arms.

  “Tweetie scared her,” Tedi says and shrugs.

  “Beautiful family you got here,” Warner says from next to me.

  I tense, my jaw clenched. “Thanks.” I refrain from saying anything else.

  Lena comes over and Annabelle reaches for her. It was a sad day when that started, but my teammates who already have kids promise that my time will come again. Lena takes Annabelle and grabs a few Goldfish crackers. Annabelle devours them. How we’re ever going to get her to cake time without her crashing is anyone’s guess. Her head falls on Lena’s shoulder and Lena rocks her while talking to someone else.

  I sit down with my friends but can’t stop admiring the scene in front of me. My entire family is here, and my dad actually has a tan because he and my mom just got back from a Mediterranean cruise. Otis still wanted to buy controlling interest in the company after I came clean on New Year’s Eve. Said he appreciated that I did what was right and put my heart on the line. I have my dad to thank for that. When I cornered Dad at his table that night and we went outside to talk, he didn’t put up a fight about me telling the truth during my speech. That’s the closest I’ve ever felt to my father—when he put my happiness above what was best for the company. We’ve gotten along much better ever since.

  I watch as Lena blows some bubbles for Annabelle to chase. I want to experience it all over again with Lena, except I want to see her belly swollen, hold her hand during the birth. See Annabelle as a big sister.