A LITTLE FAKE RELATIONSHIP NEVER HURT ANYONE . . . Kate Massie has big dreams-they just haven't worked out. Yet. In the meantime, she spends her days clerking for a judge and her nights fantasizing about her tall, dark, and sexy gym crush. So when she runs into him one night, she's shocked to realize he was her shy, nerdy junior-prom date. But that isn't where the surprises end . . . James Abell needs a date to his sister's wedding. So when Kate agrees, he's relieved . . . until one little lie turns their wedding date into a full-blown fake relationship. Only it doesn't feel fake-not the toe-curling kisses and definitely not the electricity. Neither of them is looking for something real . . . but they just might fall for their own little white lie.
Release date:
April 5, 2016
Publisher:
Forever Yours
Print pages:
290
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Music blasted through the elevator. Its low, thumping bass line and bouncing beat made Kate Massie itch to dance.
“Yeah, girl, shake that booty.” She could barely make out the muffled lyrics.
Kate couldn’t help but grin as she glanced around the elevator. Three men stared back at her, their suits and ties as somber as their expressions. Whose ring tone is it? It wasn’t the type of thing she expected to hear blaring from the briefcase of a fiftysomething lawyer.
“She’s a slut and she knows it. Just like that, uh, uh.” The song transitioned to sexual grunting. Kate would have giggled, but all three men continued to stare at her.
That’s when she realized.
Holy shit. It must be her phone.
Ryan, one of her best friends, must have changed her ring tone again. That was it, she officially needed to kill him.
Kate glanced at her cavernous bag, which was stuffed to the brim with her laptop, sunglasses, makeup, granola bars, business cards, and God knew what else, and began to dig through, frantically searching for her kelly green phone case. All of a sudden she felt like Mary freaking Poppins. The X-rated version.
Her cheeks flamed. The song had played for so long it had to be over. Please let it be over. By the time Kate found the phone the call had rolled to voice mail.
Stay calm. Kate straightened her shoulders and met each man’s gaze, one at a time. All three continued to stare back coldly. She choked back the laughter that bubbled frantically inside her.
“So uh, do you gentlemen have any big plans this weekend?”
One of them grunted something unintelligible and a bead of sweat formed on the back of her neck.
As the elevator came to a halt on the ground floor, the song began to play again. Her stomach dropped.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
She’d just started this job. She’d see these men every day for the next year, and she refused to let them think she was…well, she wasn’t sure what. She had to prove she was poised and in control. That’s what the Notorious RBG would do, right?
Kate gave a little shimmy and danced her way out of the elevator and into the hall, keeping time with the beat. Then she booked it to her parking space. She never turned to see their faces.
In the safety of her beat-up Toyota sedan, Kate finally allowed herself to dissolve into laughter. When she regained control of herself, she checked her phone. Two missed calls. One from her sister, Rachel, and the second from Ryan. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a response yet.
Kate put on her Bluetooth headset, autodialed her sister, and pulled out of the parking garage.
Rachel answered on the first ring. “Hey! What’re you doing?”
“I’m on my way to the gym. You’ll never guess what happened.” Kate filled her in on the most recent humiliation.
Rachel snorted.
“I know. Ryan got me this time.” She’d already begun to plan her revenge. Something involving his beloved Ford Mustang and Silly String. Or maybe penis-shaped glitter. She still had some left from a bachelorette party.
“At least the lawyers know who you are.” Her sister’s voice was bright.
She flipped on her turn signal and merged onto the highway. Belmont, the beach town where she’d grown up, was only a fifteen-minute drive from the city.
“That’s one way of looking at it. I may not have made a good impression, but at least I made an impression.”
Rachel laughed again. “Other than your choice of elevator music, how’s work?”
She bit her lip. “Mmm, OK, I guess. Kinda boring.”
Thanks to the anemic legal job market, Kate had accepted a one-year clerkship for a federal judge. It was prestigious but not what she’d pictured herself doing after law school.
“The economy will pick up, and you’ll get a job prosecuting. I know it.”
Kate couldn’t help but grin at her sister’s optimism.
“What are you doing tonight?” Rachel asked.
She found a spot in the line of cars headed for Belmont and flipped on her cruise control. “Not sure yet. Gym, then something.”
Her sister sighed loudly. “Kate. It’s the weekend. Have fun. I need to live vicariously through you ’cuz I’m an old married fuddy-duddy.”
“You’ll never be a fuddy-duddy.”
Her sister chuckled.
“I’ll find something fun to do, I promise.”
Rachel’s voice turned soft with concern. “I just don’t want you to be lonely.”
“I know.” She’d agonized over her decision to move back to Belmont. Yes, the beach was gorgeous and she had her best friends Ryan and Beth to keep her company, but this wasn’t where she’d pictured herself. She’d always dreamed of a glamorous career prosecuting in a big city like New York or Philadelphia.
“What about guys? Have you met any guys?”
Her breath hitched. “There’s a ridiculously sexy guy at the gym. Right now I’m content to ogle him.”
In fact he’d seduced her in a dream the night before. Imaginary relationships were so much easier than real ones.
There was a long pause. “I want you to be happy again.”
Her heart twisted. “I know. And I am happy, Rach. At least I’m as happy as I can be under the circumstances. I’m trying really hard. I promise.”
Of all people, her sister understood why she couldn’t put down roots here.
“I know you are. I’m proud of you and…”
On her sister’s end of the line there was shrieking in the background.
“Ummm, the kids are destroying something. Shit, I gotta go.”
“Love you!”
“Love you more!”
Her chest ached as her sister’s end of the line went silent. Ever since college she’d had big plans for herself: go to law school, prosecute, and live in a big city near her sister. The plans hadn’t worked out. Yet. She resolved to go to the gym and kick, punch, and sweat her way to a better mood, then grab some ice cream for dinner. The two would balance each other out.
When she reached the gym, she parked her car, slung her bag over her shoulder, and jogged to the front door. Only five minutes until kickboxing class, which didn’t leave her much time to change. She began to dig through her Mary Poppins bag as she used her hip to push the gym door open. She was still searching for her membership card when she slammed into something solid. A large hand reached out to grip her elbow and kept her balanced.
Someone solid. And delicious smelling. Kate caught the scent of sandalwood, apple, and woods. She tore her attention from the contents of her bag.
“I’m so sorry.” She met the man’s vivid light-gray eyes.
Her stomach did a flip and the intensity of his gaze sucked the breath from her lungs.
She’d run straight into the headlining star of last night’s dream.
* * *
“Are you OK?” James couldn’t believe his luck. He’d given up hope of seeing her today and had been leaving the gym when bam, there she was.
His pulse pounded. Of course he’d known her the moment he first saw her. Kate Massie. His date from junior prom. He’d have recognized her long legs and sparkling brown eyes anywhere.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention.” A flush of pink spread across her cheeks. Her forehead furrowed as she stared at him, but she didn’t remove her elbow from his grasp. The feel of her soft skin under his fingertips sent a surge of heat through him.
A woman’s singsong voice called his name, jerking him back to the present. His jaw tensed and he stepped out of the doorway, pulling Kate with him. Ainsley would recognize her immediately and their brief moment alone would end before it had even started.
Ainsley was out of breath as she rushed up to him. “Thank goodness you haven’t left yet. I just remembered I left my lipstick in your car.”
She froze, her jaw dropping open as her attention shifted to Kate.
“Ohmygawd!” she squealed. “Katie?”
Kate’s eyes narrowed, as if she was trying to place her. So she didn’t recognize Ainsley, either.
Then Ainsley enveloped her in a hug. “I can’t believe it’s you! What are you doing here? Did you finish law school? Did you move back? Where are you working? Where are you living?” The rapid-fire speed of her questions seemed to trigger Kate’s memory and she broke into a grin.
God, I love her smile. She was one of those people who smiled with her eyes, not just her lips. Although her lips were equally appealing. He caught himself staring at her mouth and forced his eyes away.
“Ainsley! It’s great to see you. Things are pretty good. I finished law school, I moved back, and I’m working for a judge.” Her attention flicked back to him and her pupils dilated slightly.
And suddenly his night just got a lot more interesting.
Ainsley placed a hand on his shoulder. “You remember my friend James, right? James Abell, you went to our junior prom with him?”
A smile spread across her face, stoking the fire inside him. Kate hadn’t gone to their high school, but she had played soccer with Ainsley. When he’d needed a date at the last minute, Ainsley had recruited her.
“Hey.” She reached out to grasp his hand.
Her fingers fit perfectly in his and he waited a long moment before he released them.
“Hey, Kate, it’s good to see you again.” He’d recognized her the other day and had been working on a plan to reintroduce himself ever since. Problem solved.
“Are you going to kickboxing class?” Ainsley motioned down the hall toward the group fitness room.
Kate untangled her gaze from his. “Yeah, it’s my first time. I need to change first.”
“Yay!” Ainsley clapped her hands. “I’m going, too. We can go together.”
This was his chance. He had to act fast.
“We’re getting drinks with some friends after this. You should come, Kate.”
He and Ainsley met a group of fellow Fallston Prep School graduates for happy hour every Friday night.
Ainsley tugged Kate in the direction of the women’s locker room. “Oh, you should come! I’ll give you the details.”
She shot him another smile. “I’d love to. See you later.”
Adrenaline coursed through him. He’d see her later.
CHAPTER TWO
She smoothed back a few sweaty strands of hair and glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror. At least she’d run into him before her workout and not after.
No way is that James Abell. Absolutely no way.
Her junior prom date had been tall, gangly, and awkward, with bushy hair. Ainsley had practically begged Kate to go with him because he was too shy to ask anyone. He wasn’t the least bit awkward anymore. Her face heated all over again as she recalled his tall, well-sculpted body and the way his faded T-shirt outlined his chest muscles.
I bet he has no problem getting dates anymore.
The mere memory of his body launched a primal flutter in her stomach. How ironic that this man, the man from her dream, was the same bumbling boy who’d been too scared to dance with her ten years before.
She took a steadying breath and let herself through the front door of her apartment. Wally threw himself at her, covering her workout clothes with a fine layer of black dog fur. He woofed and wiggled in circles around her legs as she struggled in the direction of her bedroom.
Her childhood best friend and roommate, Beth, sat cross-legged on the living room floor, with fabric and googly eyes strewn around her.
“What are you doing, bunny?” Kate flopped onto the floor next to Beth. She dislodged a piece of felt that had attached itself to her running shoe and handed it back to her friend.
Creative chaos, Beth called it. She was always working on a new project, each one weirder than the last. Her creations littered parts of their dining room table and the living room floor.
Beth dabbed hot glue onto the felt. “Making rat costumes for The Pied Piper.”
As one of her many part-time jobs, Beth managed Belmont’s children’s theater.
Kate snickered. “You couldn’t find a way to recycle the costumes for The Three Little Pigs?”
Last year Kate had spent her spring break constructing pig heads from papier mâché and she still couldn’t look at anything pink without having flashbacks.
Beth wrinkled her nose. “Very funny. Do you want to help? I have an extra glue gun around here somewhere.”
The invitation gave her the warm fuzzies. The highlight of moving back to Belmont had been the chance to live with Beth.
She fiddled with a piece of felt. “I, um, kind of made plans.”
“Oh yeah?” Beth’s eyes brightened as she lowered the glue gun. “Do these plans involve a cute guy?”
Kate shot her a look. Why did everyone keep asking that question? Beth, Rachel. They knew she was in Belmont only temporarily. They knew she needed to focus on finding a job as a prosecutor. And they knew how she felt about relationships.
“Well, what does he look like?” Beth was, as usual, impervious to Kate’s snarky attitude.
Tall. Handsome. Magnetically sexy and charismatic.
Beth’s face lit up as she grabbed Kate’s hands. “Is this a date tonight?”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course not. It’s like a group thing. Ainsley and her boyfriend will be there, too.”
Beth’s eyebrows rose at the mention of Ainsley’s name, but she said nothing. For the most part they’d hung out with their own public school crowd in high school.
“Does that mean you want me to make you a rat costume to wear?” Beth held up a square of brown felt.
Kate grimaced at the mental image of walking into one of the preppiest bars in town wearing head-to-toe felt and googly eyes.
Beth giggled. “I’m going to take that as a no. Which is a good thing, because I do have a date later and I don’t know if I have time to turn you into a rat.”
“A date, huh? Who’s the lucky guy?” It was her turn to raise an eyebrow.
Beth shrugged. “A guy I met the other week at an art show. He seemed nice.”
Oh, Beth. She honestly believed the universe would drop the perfect guy in her lap and it would all work out. Plus she was too nice to turn down dates.
Kate stood from her spot on the floor. She needed to take a shower before going out in public.
“Don’t get kidnapped,” she called over her shoulder. She closed the bathroom door behind her and turned the shower on full blast.
Tonight was the perfect chance to get out and be social, just as she’d promised Rachel. While she was at it, she might as well harvest some more mental images of James for her late-night fantasies.
* * *
James sidled up to the wooden bar, took the spot next to Ainsley, caught the bartender’s eye, and pointed to a local beer on tap.
“Scott’s meeting us on his way from work. Who else is coming?” she asked.
“Just us.” A lot of their regular group had bowed out for one reason or another: work, family obligations, that kind of thing. Not that he was sorry it would be only the four of them.
“Can you believe Kate Massie is back in Belmont?” Ainsley should have been a social anthropologist. She was obsessed with interpreting social situations and homing in on unspoken social cues.
He took a swig of the beer the bartender plopped in front of him. “Why? She’s from here, isn’t she?”
He knew Ainsley. If she got any inkling of the way Kate made his blood pound she’d spiral into matchmaker mode. She meant well, but he wasn’t in the mood for her meddling. His mom did enough meddling on the subject of his love life.
Ainsley fiddled with the paper napkin beneath her drink. “I guess. I tried to catch up with her in college, but she said she never came back here anymore.”
He was careful to keep his expression neutral. He’d lost track of Kate after junior prom. He should’ve asked her for her number, but he’d been too shy and tongue-tied in her presence.
That was a long time ago.
It was better not to dwell on what could have happened in the past. He’d turned over a new leaf when he broke up with Brooke and he’d spent the last six months making up for lost time. Literally running into Kate at the gym must have been a sign.
He took another swig of beer and tapped his thumb impatiently against the wooden bar. What time had Ainsley told Kate to arrive? He was ready for her to meet the new James Abell.
CHAPTER THREE
She was reaching for the handle of O’Riley’s front door when her phone chimed. She stepped back onto the sidewalk and checked the caller ID. Ryan. Of course. She heaved a sigh. He wouldn’t leave her alone until she’d acknowledged his stupid joke.
“You’re very funny. My phone went off in an elevator full of lawyers, and I’m already plotting my revenge.”
She could practically hear him fist pumping on the other end.
“How many partners? Pretend that you’re an announcer at a football game and I’m watching NFL RedZone. Give me every detail, so I can picture it.”
Her jaw . . .
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