Otherwise Engaged: A Fake Engagement Romance

Merely kissing someone shouldn’t leave a grown-ass man winded and wanting for words. Yet embarrassingly, that’s exactly what happened the first time I kissed Thayer—though I liked to think I hid it well.

It set off some alarm bells inside my head, but I wrote off that first kiss as a fluke. The product of pent-up sexual frustration, superficial attraction, and my fondness for a challenge. Because if there was one thing I liked, it was winning.

But the second time we kissed at her place, it happened again; same explosive chemistry, same dumbfounding effect on my brain. At that point, I started to think I might be in trouble.

And the third time we kissed at the airport bar, I knew I was fucked. It was undeniable confirmation that I was feeling things beyond the physical. Things I didn’t know how to label, how to process, or how to express. Other than, well, doing the obvious with the hottest woman alive, who was naked and waiting for me in bed.

I tugged the bedsheet free and slipped in beside Thayer, mattress sinking beneath my weight. Lying on my side to face her, my gaze dropped to her half-hidden breasts, tracing the swells of her cleavage, before dipping even lower to the slight outline of her nipples visible through the white sheet.

Thayer slid her slender, smooth calf between my legs, intertwining our lower halves. A contented warmth gleamed in her eyes. Her long hair was tangled, cheeks flushed pink, and her red lipstick was notably absent, rubbed off by yours truly. Probably all over my face, come to think of it, not that I cared at the moment.

She glanced at the handful of foil wrappers scattered on the wooden nightstand. Then she turned back to me, narrowing her eyes, but the tug of her lips gave her away. “So you knew I was going to have sex with you.”

Knew? No. Prayed? Yes. Made an offering to the gods? Possibly.

“I had a hunch it might be on the table.” I slid my palm down the curve of her bare waist and my cock twitched, so stiff it verged on painful. At this rate, I’d be lucky if I didn’t end up in a Mexican ER later, seeking treatment for a prolonged erection, no little blue pill necessary.

Her kiss-swollen lips tugged. “Cocky bastard.” Maybe I did possess a little more hubris than usual. Probably because minutes ago, she was moaning my name loud enough for half the hotel complex to hear. There wouldn’t be any concerns about people buying our relationship after that. Only problem was, I was starting to buy it too.

I ducked in closer for another kiss. Our mouths met again, and heat spread through my body, sparked by the contact and fueled by desperate want. My tongue swept against her bottom lip, gently plying to deepen the kiss. Thayer made a little ‘uh-uh’ sound and smiled against my mouth teasingly, refusing to grant me access. Her hand wrapped around the base of my shaft, and a low groan escaped from the back of my throat.

“You’re killing me.” I leaned my forehead against hers, which was equally feverish pressed up against mine. The air conditioning was set to sixty-eight degrees, but between our body heat, the room felt like it was well over one hundred.

Her laugh was low, seductive. “That’s sort of the point.”

My hand slid up her ribcage, palming her supple breast and squeezing. Her lips parted slightly, like the playing field had suddenly leveled. Then she stroked me again and it tilted sharply back in her favor. I’d never been much of a hand job guy, but if I let her get too carried away, I might not make it past that tonight. My ego would never, ever live that down. Nor would other parts of me.

“You’re such a tease.”

Thayer leaned in and kissed me softly, pulling away before I had the chance to kiss her back. “You like it.”

She was right. I did—a little too much. I pinched her pink nipple between my finger and thumb. It hardened beneath my fingers, her lips parting to draw in a soft gasp in response. Checkmate. My tongue slipped inside, tangling with hers. Her grip on me tightened and our kiss turned wild and needy.

My fingers skimmed down her torso and between her legs, sliding against her warm, wet center. Thayer’s hips circled in response, grinding against me. I kept teasing her, and she kept giving it right back to me, hand moving up and down in a perfect rhythm until I was one stroke away from needing to calculate baseball statistics inside my head. All I could think about was being buried inside of her.

We broke apart, short of breath and frustrated in the best possible way. The scent of her perfume filled the air between us, beckoning in a way that made me want to bury my face in every inch of her skin all over again. I could gladly have her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” I asked, gently cradling her jaw.

Her eyelids were hooded, eyes smoky with desire. “I think I have some idea. But maybe you should tell me, just in case.”

“You drive me crazy.” My mouth landed on her jawline, nibbling and sucking the smooth, soft skin. She arched her neck, fingers tugging at my hair while I continued to lavish kisses on the spot beneath her ear. “I want you more than I’ve wanted anything in my entire life.”

There was something scary about admitting that, but it was freeing at the same time.

“I want you too,” she murmured.

Leaning over, I grabbed a condom off the nightstand and tore the wrapper open. She watched expectantly as I unrolled it, trying to conceal my unsteady hands from all the adrenaline. It wasn’t exactly the first time I was doing this, but it sure as hell looked like it.

My hands gripped her thighs, spreading them open and hungrily taking in the sight of the small, trimmed patch of hair, and the tiny birthmark on her inner thigh that I’d already memorized. I kneeled between her legs, and when she gazed back up at me, lush lips parted and expression soft, the strangest sense of déjà vu barreled into me like a freight train.

Only, we’d never been here like this before.

I lowered to hover above her, biceps tensing as my elbows pinned her in beneath me. The head of my cock barely grazed her entrance. Thayer let out a cross between a whimper and a moan, digging her fingertips into my ass and trying to pull me into her. It was torture, delicious torture. I had to channel every shred of willpower I had to stop myself from slamming inside.

She blinked up at me, lush lips parted slightly. I pushed against her again, giving less than an inch before pulling away.

“Tell me what you want,” I said.

While I said I’d get Thayer to break the no-sex rule, part of me didn’t think she actually would. And I definitely didn’t expect it to be anything more than sex, yet what was going on between us right now felt like a hell of a lot more than that. I didn’t do relationships, and as far as I knew, Thayer didn’t do casual sex, which meant that both of us had precisely zero clue what the hell was happening. I was too caught up in the moment to think that far ahead, though.

“You know I what I want.” She squirmed beneath me and circled her hips, rubbing her pussy against the head of my shaft. My dick silently cursed at me for not taking the bait.

“Yeah.” I smirked, fisting my cock and lingering at her entrance. “But I want to hear you say it.”

Thayer blinked up at me through her dark lashes. “Fuck me before I change my mind.”

“I like when you’re bossy.” Good thing too, because it happened a lot.

My lips captured hers, tumbling into a ravenous kiss. She made an impatient sound, tugging at me again to draw me closer. I slid into her as she did, and she moaned into my mouth, a low grumble echoing in my chest in response.

It was like going from black and white to seeing color for the first time; addictive and incomparable. I pulled back and slammed all the way in, deeper than before, filling every inch of her. Her walls clamped down around me, and a shiver of pleasure ran through my body, telling me I could stay buried inside her forever and die happily.

We fell into a steady rhythm, her hips rolling against me with every thrust. I reached down, rubbing her with my thumb in rhythm with each slow, languorous movement. She looked back up at me, eyelids heavy and eyes glassy.

Her eyes focused on me with such a look of vulnerability it went straight to my heart, tugging in an unfamiliar way. Pretty sure I’d never made so much eye contact during sex in my entire life. Sex and intimacy were two different things—things I kept intentionally separate by avoiding the latter completely—but this was definitely both.

I rocked into her again, watching her beneath me. “Fuck, Thay. You feel even better than I imagined.”

She inhaled sharply, a flush across her cheeks. A tingling ignited at the base of my spine, threatening to send me over the edge. It was all too apparent that I had some serious delusions of grandeur with respect to how this was going to go down.

In my head, I pictured a marathon sex fest; multiple positions, multiple orgasms for her, you name it. But now that I was buried inside her to the hilt, I’d be lucky if I got her off again before I lost control. Good thing we had all night, because I was definitely going to want a repeat performance. Might need one, too, for pride’s sake.

Her body tensed, fingers digging in. Careful not to change my rhythm, I snagged her earlobe between my teeth. Having her come all over my tongue was hot as fuck, but I wanted—no, I needed—to watch her face this time.

“I know you can come again for me,” I said, lowering my voice as I tilted my hips. “Come on my cock.”

Thayer shivered, and her palms slid down my back, holding onto me. For a moment, my own impeding orgasm receded slightly, and I lost myself in watching her. Her jagged, uneven breaths; dewy skin; hair spread against the pillow.

“I…Oh, God. There.” She leaned into the pillow, sliding her left leg higher, past my waist. I grabbed her calf and hooked it over my shoulder. Her nails dug into my arm. “Bennett.”

Hearing her moan my name like that destroyed what little willpower I had left. Once she started to unravel beneath me, I gave in and let myself follow right behind her with a growl.

“Fuck.” After what amounted to edging myself around her for the last month, I came harder than I ever had before. For what was seconds or minutes or an eternity, the only thing that existed in the world was our bodies wrapped together, Thayer begging me not to stop.

Reality slowly faded back in, leaving us both sweaty and exhausted. I lowered my temple to hers, resting without crushing her small frame.

“Goddamn.” My heart pounded like a bass drum against the wall of my chest. For someone who considered himself to be in great physical condition, I was embarrassingly tapped out.

She giggled. “You could say that again.”

Turning my head, I kissed her, and my fingers sank into her hairline, gently fluffing her hair before trailing down her face and tracing her bottom lip. Thayer gave me a tired smile, leaning into my hand affectionately. She looked a little wrecked, and I loved knowing I was the one responsible for the destruction.

Her fingers traced the stubble along my jaw. “I never would have pegged you for the cuddling type.”

“Only with you,” I said, stroking her cheek. I knew I’d have to get up eventually, but I wasn’t in a hurry.

“Bet you say that to all the women.”

My hand stilled, tilting her face to mine. “Not even close.”

I should have seen it coming—and maybe I did, subconsciously. But old habits are hard to break, and like everyone else in my family, I had a PhD in Denial. I’d spent twenty-five years keeping up appearances, looking the other way to further my own interests, and ignoring inconvenient details.

What’s more, I’d made a second job out of avoiding those pesky things known as emotions. Emotions make you vulnerable, and what’s another word for vulnerable? Weak. Looks like I just found my Achilles heel.

AFTER CLEANING UP, I lounged against the headboard while I waited for Thayer to emerge from the bathroom. The door swung open to reveal her in a skimpy black satin robe tied at the waist, and I had the immediate urge to tear it right off of her.

She walked back out of the bathroom and turned to face her suitcase, sifting through her clothes. I sat up, abs flexing as I planted my elbows on my bent knees. The sheet hung dangerously low around my hips.

“Don’t you dare,” I said.

“Don’t I dare what?” Thayer froze and pivoted to face me. Her eyes dropped to my torso, widening.

“Don’t you dare get dressed.”

She chewed on her bottom lip uncertainly, studying me fully naked in the bed.

“For the record, there’s a no-clothing and no-cover-ups rule in this bed from here on out.” I paused. “Or maybe in this room. Yeah, let’s go with that.”

Thayer huffed a laugh, but she padded over to the side of the bed. I swung my legs over to sit facing her. Her eyes fell to the noticeable bulge tenting the white sheet covering my lap, mouth forming a tiny O. I gently grabbed her wrist, tugging her down to straddle my waist and gripping her perfect ass.

Her hair tumbled around us like a curtain, lips tipping into a grin. “Are you trying to seduce me again?”

“I should have told you not to expect much sleep.”

SUN PRODDED AT MY EYES, urging me awake. I squinted and the room came into focus. But when I went to slide out of bed, the events of the night before came rushing back to me—along with the realization that Thayer was wrapped around my body, still sound asleep.

Pausing, I studied her features. Her dark eyelashes nearly dusted her cheeks, full lips formed in a subtle pout while she slept. It was hard to tear my eyes away from her, as creepy as that felt. I still didn’t know what any of this meant, but I did know my usual strings-free approach wasn’t going to work. Not with Thayer.

She let out a soft, sleepy groan, shifting against me. A wave of guilt washed over me, because I didn’t want to disturb her. In fact, I would have much rather gone back to sleep with her and forgotten about life for awhile. But I had a shit ton of work to do.

That is, if I could get my brain to cooperate after a night of broken sleep. After going at it twice in a row, we’d crashed quickly, only to wake up in the wee hours of the morning for another round. Now it was just past nine, and almost comically, my body was ready for round four. Or one part was, anyway. The rest of me was sleep-deprived and desperate for caffeine and food.

I carefully eased out of bed and took a shower, making a point to move quietly around the bathroom as I did. Then I wrote her a quick note in case she woke up while I was gone, and headed downstairs for coffee, preferably in the form of a gigantic vat.

By the time I got back from the café downstairs with two extra-large coffees in hand, the bed was empty, and Thayer was in the shower, which allowed me the chance to boot up my laptop and try to make sense of the company’s year-end. Something about the numbers still wasn’t adding up, though.

I’d just pulled up the previous year when Thayer padded out of the bathroom and gave me a nervous smile, toweling off her hair. “Hi.”

When our gazes locked, the mood instantly shifted. There it was again, the vulnerability that tended to rear its head unexpectedly. Only it was multiplied exponentially right now, and I think both of us sensed it.

“Hey.” I pushed to stand, crossing the room to her. My hands landed around her waist, underneath her thin white tank top. For a heartbeat, neither of us spoke. It wasn’t awkward, exactly, more like tentative.

Tilting my head, I leaned in to kiss her and she looped her arms around my neck, drawing me closer. I backed up a step, bringing her with me as I leaned against the dresser. “Last night…” I started, unsure of where I was going with the sentence.

Her face faltered, gaze cutting away from me. Tension shot through her body, and she stiffened beneath my hands. “It’s just sex, right? Doesn’t have to mean anything.”

It was a figurative kick to the balls, but I was pretty sure it was coming from behind those goddamn ten-foot fortified walls she always tried to put up. As frustrating as it was, at least I could usually identify it by now.

“It meant something to me,” I admitted. The five scariest words I’d ever uttered.

She studied me with her brows drawn together, uncertainty shining behind her pale blue eyes. “It did?”

“Of course.” I wanted to say more, but I was completely in over my head. Moreover, she looked like she was a couple of wrong words away from fleeing the hotel room. Maybe less was better for now.

Thayer drew in a slow, deep breath, releasing it in an audible sigh. “Okay. Um, me too. I just…I don’t know what any of it means?”

I didn’t, either.

“Maybe we don’t need to know. As long as we’re on the same page.” Whatever that was.

“Yeah.” The tension she was holding eased, and she leaned into my chest, warmth of her body radiating against mine.

We stayed like that for a few moments, soaking in the closeness of each other. She smelled so good straight out of the shower that it almost drove me wild. No perfume was involved, so it must have been pheromones.

“But on a totally unrelated note,” I said, reluctant to ruin the moment but desperate enough to ask. “Can you help me with something before we go?”

Almost an hour later, and long overdue for brunch, Thayer and I were still camped out at the kitchen table in our hotel room. She was now privy to the good, the bad, and the ugly inner workings of Flux’s financial statements. Letting her see the mess of my professional life meant my ego had taken a beating in the process, but at least it was out in the open. It felt slightly liberating. I just hoped she wasn’t about to run for the hills—or be completely turned off.

She scrunched up her mouth, staring at the screen for a beat, then her gaze slid over to me. “Adam really screwed you, huh?” There was a heavy undertone of anger in her voice.

“Is it that obvious?” Then again, Thayer wasn’t one to miss details.

“You must be so stressed out.” Her tone softened and she placed her cool hand on my bare knee in a way that was meant to be comforting but had a slightly different effect. “Little bit.” We both knew that was a drastic understatement. “Hopefully, this is the home stretch before I lock down Callaghan and Flux has some operating capital again.”

“Speaking of operating capital, I did notice…” She removed her tortoiseshell glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, hesitating like she wanted to say something but was afraid to.

I leaned over the table, trying to see what she’d been looking at specifically. “What?” “This numbered company here.” Her perfectly manicured fingernail rapped the laptop screen. “Don’t you think the transactions associated with it look strange?” She scrolled with the mouse, tracing a pattern with her other hand.

“I had, but they weren’t for large amounts of money, so I’d filed it under ‘I have bigger problems’ and had promptly forgotten about it.”

“But did you also notice…” Thayer frowned. “They stop when Adam left the company.”