One Night, White Lies

by Jessica Lemmon

  “You’re perfect,” he whispered.

  “I’ve already agreed to sleep with you. You don’t have to seduce me.” She released a nervous laugh.

  Reid straightened behind her, taking his tantalizing touch with him when he went. His face was an unreadable mask.

  “What happened?”

  “You think I’m lying?”

  “Not exactly. I think you’re being nice, and I was letting you know you don’t have to be.” She gave him a brittle smile. He took one final look at her and left the room. Left!

  Before she could follow him out, he returned, condom in hand. He tore the packet open with his teeth, sheathed himself and returned his gaze to the mirror. She was forced to regard their reflections to meet eyes with him.

  “I—”

  “Do you want to have sex with me, Drew?”

  “Of course.”

  “Do you want to have sex with me in front of this mirror... Drew?”

  “Yes.”

  “While we have sex in front of this mirror, I will tell you how beautiful every part of you is while we do it, is that understood?”

  His commanding tone excited her as much as the promise. She’d never been great at admitting she was beautiful or desirable. She’d never been that great at sex with the lights on. But she wanted to be different and she wanted Reid, and what he was offering was bold and inviting. It was exactly what she craved. Her entire body vibrated with yes at his offer.

  “Understood.”

  “You have the most beautiful ass.” He grabbed a handful of her butt, and she stood to her toes. At the same time, he bent his knees, lining himself up with her slick center. “Say yes, Drew.”

  She gave him a sweet smile in the mirror. “Yes, Drew.”

  “Cheeky.” He notched into her, and she gasped in anticipation. She didn’t have to wait long to feel the rest of him. He slid in deep, each rocking motion slow and intentional, and the entire time he praised a different part of her body that he liked.

  He held her chin and kept his gaze on hers, his voice turning her on and filling a deep cavern she hadn’t known existed until just now.

  This time with Reid was bold. It was different. It was amazing. And when he came, it was her name—her real name—that fell from his lips on a harsh growl.

  Ten

  “The Bachelor What?” Drew rolled and faced him in bed, the sheet slipping down revealing those luscious breasts, and everything Reid had been saying flew right from his head.

  One finger on his jaw, she turned his head to hers meaningfully. “You really are a boob guy.”

  “I happen to like breasts, yes, and yours happen to be a very fine pair.” Unable to help himself, he cradled one and tested its weight, brushing his thumb over the nipple for the sheer joy of watching it pebble in reaction. “They’re magical.”

  “Uh-huh. Anyway. The bachelor thing...”

  “Pact. The Bachelor Pact. Gage, Flynn and I agreed never to marry, swore on our—” He thought of what they’d sworn on and decided against sharing. Swearing on their dicks sounded immature at best and sadistic at worst. “We swore an oath not to abandon the others. And then they all abandoned me and left me the only man standing. Wankers.”

  “I love that word.” She grinned. “I can’t believe Gage is engaged...again. I didn’t know about the pact, but it doesn’t surprise me that he entered into such an agreement. I never thought he’d marry after the way his ex left him.

  “We all have our sad stories.”

  She hummed in her throat, her eyes darting away. She’d hinted at her own sad story earlier but now didn’t feel like the time to bring it up. His eyes slid to the alarm clock on the nightstand. The symposium opened at 9:30 a.m., and it was half past six now. Closer and closer to the time for them to pack up and hustle to work for the day.

  “When do you need to go back to your floor?”

  “My floor? I only wish I were staying at this glam hotel. I’m in the terra-cotta-colored flophouse across the street. It has three floors and the elevator is busted. My roommate evidently has a cheap boss. Unlike you.”

  He didn’t like hearing that she had to schlep across the street and then back again. “I’ll walk you over.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” With the tip of her finger, she booped his nose like she might a kitten’s. “But that’s sweet, thanks.”

  He snatched up her hand. “I wasn’t being sweet. I was being protective, and it wasn’t a question. I’ll walk you over.”

  He could’ve done without the eye roll.

  “Fine.”

  He took advantage of her nearness to press a kiss to her lips. She lingered and he let her, and when they pulled apart he grunted in protest.

  “I don’t have that much time, Romeo. I can pull myself together fast, but not fast enough for another hour-long sextravaganza.”

  He enjoyed listening to her talk. The words she used, the unabashed way she complimented him.

  “Fine. We’ll talk instead. Tell me about your job. Your real job when you’re not moonlighting as your roommate.” He raised an eyebrow, and she beamed at him. Gorgeous girl.

  “I’m the go-to public relations guru for Fig & Truffle restaurants. They have several local Seattle chains, and I’m in charge of running their soft openings, interviewing chefs to design their menus and a bunch of other stuff you’d find boring.”

  He didn’t find her boring. He found her fascinating. “What’s involved in a soft opening?”

  “Well, it’s when the restaurant is staffed, the menus finalized, the kitchen staff hired. Everyone is green and not quite ready for prime time. They hold a soft opening for friends and family so that the staff can practice, and then sometimes they’ll do one for industry, like food critics. After that, the restaurant will open to the public, hopefully with a long line wrapped around the block.”

  “And you bustle around making sure everything is in place?”

  “Pretty much. But it always is. I’m incredibly organized and meticulous.”

  He could envision her now, dressed in a sleek black dress, that dark hair pinned up in a fancy twist, her high-heeled shoes in place, her jewelry and makeup just so. In charge and confident in her abilities. A confidence that was newly won. From what he remembered of Drew when she was younger, she’d mostly hid her face from him.

  “You’re thinking something you’re afraid will be rude to say.” She squinted at him. “I can tell.”

  “I’m not.”

  “You are. Go on. Ask.”

  “It’s not a question, more an observation. You’ve changed is all.”

  “Yes. I lost a lot of weight.”

  “That’s not what I was thinking about.”

  Genuine surprise colored her features. “Really?”

  “Really. I was remembering how shy you used to be, and now you’re this bold, beautiful, confident creature who clearly gets what she wants when she wants it.” He gestured to himself. “Look at me. I said we were done, and you’ve convinced me otherwise.”

  “It didn’t take much convincing.”

  He kissed the smile off her lips and stole a glance at the clock. “I think we can fit in one more round and still have you ready in time. Especially with a capable escort chaperoning you to your hotel and back again.”

  Her eyes sparkled, a thousand yeses twinkling in their depths.

  He parted her legs and climbed over her, staring down at Drew Fleming. How had he never looked this closely at her? Granted, he’d only seen her a handful of times, but how had he overlooked her slightly crooked smile, her infectious laugh, the alluring way she said his name...

  “I should’ve known it was you,” he told her.

  “It’s okay. I’m different.”

  “Yes, but I don’t recall how you were before, short of a few sparse details. I s
hould’ve paid more attention.”

  She twined her fingers into his hair. “Hmm. How could you possibly make it up to me?”

  “I don’t know that I can.” He kissed one breast and then the other. “But I’m damn sure going to try.”

  * * *

  Drew had spent so long in bed with Reid this morning, they’d been late to the symposium. He’d dropped her off at her booth, handing over the leather bag that he’d insisted on carrying for her. Then he’d kissed her sweetly before jogging to his own booth.

  She’d set up with a smile on her face and her head in the clouds. She still couldn’t believe that she’d spent the night with Reid Singleton, or that she was going to spend another night with him. He’d told her in her room—after agreeing that it was as subpar as she’d described—that he’d like to see her again tonight. She should’ve played coy or hard to get, but she’d blurted “Absolutely!” before she’d thought better of it.

  The hours passed slowly, the crowds slower than yesterday. That gave her time to daydream, and she had plenty of fantasy fodder after what she’d spent the night and this morning doing with Reid. About fifteen minutes before she could close her booth, Drew began putting small things away to save herself time, like business cards and plush squishy balls with Christina’s company’s name on them. Her phone vibrated on the counter as she bent to toss the squishies into a cabinet.

  “Hello, Christina,” she said with a smile as she put the phone to her ear.

  “Hello, Christina Two,” her roommate said.

  “You sound better. Out of the woods?”

  “Eh. I managed to shower and heat a can of soup, but my energy level isn’t great. Couch and TV are the only activities on my agenda.”

  “If that what it takes to get better, do it!”

  “Are you ready to choke me yet for sending you to the symposium in my stead?” Christina let out a rattling cough, and Drew bristled in sympathy.

  “Of course not. Plus you didn’t send me, I practically begged to come.” She debated for a full half a second before deciding to broach the topic of Reid. Christina didn’t know him, and Drew needed someone to talk to. “I ran into someone I knew from a long time ago, so it hasn’t been that bad.”

  Ha! Understatement of the millennium. Not only was her evening “not bad” it was so good it needed its own category.

  “Anyone I know?”

  “No. Friend of my brother’s. His name’s Reid.”

  “Whoa.” Christina’s cough sounded distant, like she’d held the phone away from her face. “Sorry about that,” she groaned, and then sniffed. “As I was saying before my case of tuberculosis rudely interrupted: whoa.”

  She loved her friend’s sense of humor. “‘Whoa’ what?”

  “Your voice went all breathy when you said ‘Reid,’ only I can’t do it because I sound like Stevie Nicks right now. Let’s hear it. What happened?”

  “Well, he...he thought I was you.”

  Silence.

  “I don’t mean that he thought I was you you. He didn’t recognize me at the mixer and kept calling me ‘Christina.’” She recapped Reid’s flirting with her and how she hadn’t corrected him when he assumed she was someone else. “And then I sort of...kissed him and agreed to go to his room. Which is a hell of a lot nicer than yours, by the way. You tell your boss the next time—”

  “Drew Marie Fleming!” Christina exclaimed, probably using the last of her energy reserves. “You saucy tart!”

  Drew shushed her friend and drew a curious glance from her booth neighbor across the aisle.

  “Did he figure out your true identity?”

  “Yes. He did. Sadly, before I told him. I was asleep...after, and he recognized my birthmark.”

  “Ah, rookie move, Fleming. You should’ve hidden that with makeup before taking him up to his room to blow his mind. Oh my God! I’m still in shock. Tell me everything. How was he? Are you seeing him again? How mad was he, or is he still mad?”

  “I’d love to linger, but I’m about to close the booth for the day and I promised I’d meet him for dinner.”

  “That answers that. Oh, honey. You owe me so many details. And I owe you for going for me. Name it. Want me to cover your half of the rent this month?”

  “You don’t owe me. As good as last night was, and as promising as tonight is, I’m the one who owes you.”

  “That makes me happy.” Christina’s smile could be felt through the phone. “You deserve good things, Drew.”

  Drew teared up a little at that. She did deserve good things. And Reid was a very, very good thing. “Talk later, babe. Get well.”

  “Bye, hon.”

  She pocketed her cell phone and made quick work of clearing out the booth. After an arduously long day of boring tech talk, Drew was ready for a cocktail. She locked the expensive projector and other technological wonders for her display into the cabinet. Then she headed into the melee of hardworking men and women who had staffed their company’s booths, and who all looked equally ready for a cocktail.

  She found a sign in the aisle with a map of company names and booth numbers. Monarch Consulting, both three-zero-three, was one aisle over from where she stood now. She wandered past booths that were either empty or quickly emptying, and spotted Reid bent over a counter chatting with a prospective client...

  At least she hoped the lithe, leggy redhead talking to him was a prospective client.

  Eleven

  Drew ducked behind a plant to watch Reid laugh and charm the redheaded woman. Even from the back she seemed pretty, in a well-fitting pair of pants and a shirt. And she was tall, which was something Drew would never be no matter how much she worked out.

  She self-consciously smoothed a hand over her floral skirt. She’d paired the slim skirt with a bright pink top and gold jewelry, her heels gold and glittery. Reid had commented on how she liked to sparkle when she’d slipped them on. He’d been sitting on her ugly olive-green-and-pink bedspread in her room and she’d remarked how he looked good in everything—even the hotel’s putrid decor.

  And now that dazzling smile and his full attention were turned on another woman.

  Memories of being with Chef Devin Briggs crashed onto her like a stack of toppling boxes. When he’d pitched the idea of them traveling the world together, she’d been intrigued, but also wary. She loved her job and living close to her family and wasn’t ready to give either one up. Heck, she had her job to thank for meeting Devin—who’d she’d called to design the menu for Parity, a swanky café downtown.

  She’d told him she wasn’t ready. He told her he should’ve known better than to date someone “so immature” who didn’t take life “seriously.”

  They broke up that night, and his infamous chef’s temper she’d seen many times in the test kitchen made its final appearance. Only two weeks passed before he found Drew’s replacement. Last she’d heard Devin and his new wife were opening a restaurant in France.

  Even though Drew knew Devin was a selfish ass and turning him down had been the right call, getting dumped stung. When she’d heard he was “in love” via mutual friends at work, she’d felt replaceable and worthless.

  As she watched Reid flirt with a woman the way he’d flirted with Drew last night, jealousy blazed brighter than ever. She stepped out from behind the decorative plant, determined to tell him exactly where he could shove that thousand-watt smile.

  Screw this. Screw him.

  Reid spotted her and straightened from his lean, his smile fading. The slender woman—in a pressed pair of black slacks and a blue silk shirt—turned, her smile catching, as well.

  Drew stopped dead in her tracks, blinking in shock at the redhead. “Andy?”

  “Drew!” Andrea Payne jogged over and scooped Drew into a hug. Andy was Gage’s fiancée, Drew’s future sister-in-law. She could kick herself for not recognizing t
he other woman’s unique shade of strawberry blond.

  “I’m so relieved that it’s you. I thought...” Drew flashed a glance at a bemused Reid before pasting a smile on her face for Andy. “Never mind what I thought. What are you doing here?”

  “I was hired to help a company across the street, and I saw the symposium signs. I thought I’d come say hi to Reid. Gage didn’t mention you were going to be here.” She frowned in confusion. “If I’d known I would’ve taken you to lunch.”

  “Thanks a lot.” Reid folded his arms over his chest. “You barely fit me in five seconds before closing time, but Drew you’d treat to lunch.”

  “I like her more than I like you.” Andy smiled sweetly at Reid, then turned to Drew. “So? What gives?”

  “My roommate has the flu, and I offered to stand in for her.” Drew pointed at her name badge that read “Christina” before removing it and tucking it into her purse.

  “Did you know she was here?” Andy asked Reid.

  “I saw her at a mixer last night. We, um...chatted.”

  “Reid and I haven’t seen each other for years. He didn’t recognize me.” Drew liked having sharing a secret with Reid, but Andy’s being here made playing with fire feel more like playing with a live grenade.

  So much for her brother not finding out Drew was in California at the same time as Reid.

  “I wish I could take you both to dinner, but I have to get back to my client. What a fun coincidence.” Andy cocked her head at Drew. “Where’s your booth?”

  “One aisle and three booths over.” Drew pointed to the general direction of where she’d spent the day.

  “What are you doing in this aisle? Did you two have plans or something?”

  “Yes,” Reid said. “I offered to buy Drew dinner in retribution for not recognizing her, so that’s where we’re headed.”

  “That was...thoughtful.” Andy’s blue eyes broadcast her suspicion, but then she blinked and it vanished like it’d never been there. “Well, I should go. Drew, great seeing you.”