A Perfect Ten (Forbidden Men #5)(104)

“Oh, so...lying to him first thing seemed so much more responsible, huh?”

“Fuck, I didn’t know what to do. I was kind of worried they wouldn’t let you come with me if I didn’t make us sound more...permanent. So I improvised. Seriously, you’re not that pissed, are you?”

Slowly, I shook my head. “No, but...if you end up getting this job because I made you look more like the responsible family man, then you owe me a cut of every paycheck you get.”

Grinning, he pressed his forehead to mine. “You got it, babe.”

With a sudden laugh over everything we’d gone through today, I grinned up at him. “First, I’m your fake girlfriend to your parents, now your fake fiancée to your prospective boss. I can’t wait to play the fake wife next.”

Oren took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “And I’m sure you’d make the best damn fake wife there ever was. Now, come here and check out this view.”

He led me to a window, and I sucked in a breath as I looked out at the sandy beach lit with tiki torches and the most colorful sunset ever glistening off the slow-rippling water of the lake.

“Wow,” I breathed as Oren wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his chin on my shoulder. “Okay, we can move out here.”

Chucking in my ear, he turned his face so he could kiss my cheek. “We could build our fake home right on the beach and live fakely ever after.”

My heart thumped hard in my chest as I substituted different words for all the fakes. But then I just shook my head, reminding myself it was all...fake. If Oren moved here, I would not be coming with him.





Oren called Quinn, who reported that Zoey was queasy after the plane ride; they’d just see us at breakfast. So Oren and I took full advantage of our accommodations. He ordered a bottle of champagne up to our room, and we lounged on the bed, sipping from our bubbly fluted glasses while watching movies until we started kissing and then made love on the king-size hotel bed.

I woke naked and relaxed the next morning sprawled half on top of him. One of his hands rested limply on my ass and the other was tangled in my hair. I woke him by kissing my way down his chest. He groaned, then growled, and then moaned when my lips wrapped around his morning wood.

“Woman,” he muttered, sinking his hands into my hair. He let me suck for a few minutes before tugging me off him and hauling me out of bed, only to carry me into the bathroom and take me hard and desperately against the hotel’s enormous shower wall.

After he spent himself inside me and I was panting out my release on his shoulder, he kissed my cheek and asked, “Does it ever feel like I’m wearing your * out? I mean, shit. What if I start to rub you raw in there from doing you so much?”

When his hand lowered to pet me gently between the legs, I laughed and pressed my forehead to his. “Does it ever feel like my *’s rubbing your dick raw?”

He grinned. “No.”

I shrugged. “Then there’s your answer.”

With an amused chuckle, he wrapped his arms around me and pressed his cheek against mine. “I love the way you think.”

I loved him, period.





After we dressed, we met Zwinn downstairs in the dining room for a continental breakfast. Zoey looked sheet white as she sat with Quinn at a table, sipping from a cup of what looked like apple juice.

“Holy f*ck, you look like shit,” Oren blurted.

I bumped his arm and sent him a look.

“What?” he asked as he motioned to her. “She’s as pale as a f*cking ghost.”

I was worried about her too. It’d only been a few months since she’d had a kidney removed when she’d donated it to her wicked half sister. I hoped to God she wasn’t having a bad reaction from that.

But she shook her head and offered us a wan smile. “I’m fine. Just...a little nervous. My dad left me a cryptic message last night. Something about Cora.”

Oren growled, not liking Zoey’s half sister at all. “If that bitch is there, you f*cking leave, you hear me?” He glanced at Quinn. “Don’t let them suck you guys into any more of her drama.”

“Oh, you don’t have to warn me.” Quinn took Zoey’s hand supportively. “We’re fully prepared to turn right back around and return to the hotel if she shows up.”

“Good.” Oren nodded and blew out a breath. He glanced at me, and I saw swirling unease in his gaze. When I touched his leg under the table, he quietly took my hand. But the unease didn’t abate. It seemed to grow and fester the longer our breakfast lasted.

By the time Zwinn announced they were going to get on the road and head to her father’s place, Oren even had sweat beading across his brow. With a nod, he glanced at me. “I guess it’s time for me to drag my monkey suit on.”

It hit me then. He was nervous about his interview. After I followed him up to his room and he went into the bathroom to change, I flipped through a notebook the hotel had left in the room, boasting of their local entertainment. Then I tossed it on the bed, deciding I’d just sunbathe on the beach with a fruity drink that had an umbrella in it most of the afternoon. God, this was going to be the longest day of my life, hoping he sucked on his interview as much as I hoped he kicked ass, all the while worrying about Zwinn’s trip.