Just Pretend (Just… #1)

16. James

CHAPTER 16

JAMES

I refuse to open my eyes, even as I’m starting to wake up, trying to sink back into the dream I was having. I’ve already forgotten what it was about, but I know I was somewhere warm and there was a woman with me. That’s all I can remember, and yet I can feel the reverberations of the dream throughout my body, and I’d like to spend a little more time wherever I was.

The sun is shining brightly into the room from the windows, blanketing the bed in an extra layer of warmth. Keeping my eyes closed, I turn my head towards the window, feeling the sun on my face. It feels like I’m in between worlds, not quite dreaming and not yet awake, so I don’t question the weight on my chest until I start to move my arms and realize they’re wrapped around something, no, some one.

My eyes snap open and I look down to find a woman lying close to me, her head on my chest, her brown hair cascading down my body. As my gaze darts around the unfamiliar room, it takes a second to orient myself and remember that I’m on the retreat with Hallie. Hallie. I look down at her again, stunned that she’s draped over me so contently, sleeping soundly, her arm draped over my abdomen, her cheek pressed against my bare chest. How the hell did this happen after she made such a big deal about building the pillow wall?

Lifting my head just enough to get a look around, I can see the pillows that were between our heads and torsos are now on Hallie’s other side, and the few that separated our legs have been kicked to the foot of the bed. It didn’t take much to bring the whole divider down, so much for Hallie’s big plan.

I know she’s going to freak out when she wakes up and realizes she was cuddling with me during the night, but for a moment I let her sleep, deciding not to wake her yet. It’s been a long time since I’ve woken up with a woman in my arms. I’ve slept with many women in my bed and often wake up next to them, at least the ones who stay the night, but I usually just roll over and go to sleep. It catches me off guard how nice this feels, and since I refuse to let myself get close to anyone again, I allow myself the pleasure of fully savoring the moment, knowing that it won’t last.

I turn my face back towards the sun, feeling the warmth of its light, lingering in the thoroughly peaceful moment. I’m not trying to analyze the situation or push anyone away; I’m just taking a second to be at ease. As Hallie starts to stir, however, I brace myself, knowing that she’s going to be upset.

When she lifts her head to glance up at me, her eyelids are still low over her eyes, and she looks like she’s still half asleep. Our gazes meet and I feel a crackle of electricity sparking between us, sending a jolt through my body. It’s as if we’re in a dream state where reality can’t touch us. We can do whatever we want and there won’t be any ramifications. Her eyes search mine, groggy but filled with longing, and as I brush her messy hair back from her face, I want nothing more than to pull her into a long kiss before tearing off her pajamas and making love to her all morning long.

The moment is broken, however, when Hallie blinks away the veil of sleep from her eyes and bolts upright, holding the blanket up over her chest, even though she’s still fully dressed in her flannel pj’s.

“What the f—what happened?” she gasps, looking around at the pillows that were once so neatly stacked between us and are now strewn around the bed. “What did you do to the pillow wall? How did I end up on your side of the bed? Did we…? We didn’t…”

Enjoying seeing Hallie flustered, trying to figure out how she ended up on my chest, I stretch my arms out over my head, giving her the cocky smile I know she can’t stand. I’m well aware that I’m playing into her already negative opinion of me, but since she already hates me, I figure I might as well have some fun with it.

“I guess you just can’t keep away from me,” I shrug. “We’re only here one night and you’re already all over me.”

“Ew!” Hallie shrieks, throwing one of the pillows at me. “You’re such an ass.”

“Hey, I’m the victim here!” I insist. “I was sleeping, abiding by your ground rules on my side of the bed. You’re the one who tore down the wall, pillow by pillow, just to get to me.”

Hallie’s jaw drops open, but not a word comes out. Just a slight squeak. She looks like she doesn’t know how to respond.

“Whatever!” she finally fires back as she jumps out of bed. “Get dressed—we need to get down to breakfast.”

With that, she pulls a perfectly planned outfit from the dresser drawer and hurries into the bathroom to change. I get up from the bed to get ready, but before I make my way across the room to my bag, I turn back to the window one more time, enjoying the sunshine for a second and remembering what it felt like waking up with Hallie in my arms.

Hallie stands on the opposite side of the elevator on the way down to breakfast, hugging the wall to get as far away from me as possible. I can’t tell if she’s angry at me, though I wouldn’t put it past her. She’s intent on making me the bad guy, even though she was the one who rolled right over her own ground rules. I don’t mind, though. I think I enjoyed the feeling of being close to her this morning a little too much. I’m happy to put some distance between us. There’s a reason why I sleep with different women every night and I’m not looking to let anyone, especially my uptight neighbor, get close to me again. Still, this morning was a nice reminder of what life was like before it all went to shit.

The elevator doors open into the lobby and Hallie hurries off without me. When I catch up with her at the restaurant entrance, I reach out for her elbow, stopping her from storming inside without me.

“What are you doing?” I hiss. “You’re acting like you can’t stand being near me.”

She raises an eyebrow giving me a look, and I shake my head, exhaling slowly.

“Fine, whatever,” I tell her. “But just in case you need a reminder, we’re supposed to act like a couple to save your ass, not mine.”

Hallie’s eyebrow lowers but she continues to stare at me for a second before she eventually lets out a low groan of resignation.

“Fine,” she says, taking my hand as I offer it to her.

The moment our skin touches, I feel the same charge go through my body that was there in bed, and I take a deep breath, telling myself that it’s just biology. I’m programmed to get turned on by sexy women, and the jeans and tight sweater combo Hallie has going on is definitely registering on my hotness radar.

Inside the restaurant, we find only the waitstaff clearing plates and stacking empty coffee cups on trays. The buffet is being taken away and there isn’t a single person from Winter Brother Vineyards to be seen.

“Shit,” Hallie sighs, pressing her hand to her forehead. “We missed breakfast. I can’t believe it. I’m supposed to be using this trip to show my bosses that I deserve a promotion and instead, I slept right through the first event of the day!”

I can tell she’s about to melt down, so I signal to a server, who comes over.

“I’m so sorry to bother you,” I tell the man, “but it seems like we missed breakfast. Is there any way we can get two cups of coffee and maybe a couple of muffins or bagels to go?”

“Of course,” the man replies. “Give me two minutes. I’ll be right back.”

“Thank you so much,” I tell him, turning back to Hallie as the server hurries off. “Don’t stress, okay? We’ll eat on the go as we catch up with the others. The way everyone was drinking last night, I doubt anyone was at their best over breakfast. Lucas Winter himself had at least four or five Manhattans.”

“That’s true…” Hallie concedes, the worry lines on her face relaxing slightly.

“Besides,” I tell her, giving her a wink as I lean in a little closer. “This actually works to our advantage. It will only make our relationship look more believable.”

“How so?” she asks skeptically.

“Let them imagine why we're late,” I tell her. “After the show we put on yesterday, they probably think we can’t keep our hands off each other.”

“Yeah right,” Hallie snorts. “Which, in reality, couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“Oh really?” I grin. “I seem to remember waking up with you draped all over me—destroyer of pillow walls.”

Despite herself, Hallie lets out a laugh, but she quickly covers it up, rolling her eyes and shaking her head in annoyance.

“You’re insufferable.”

“Hey, don’t look at me,” I say, holding my hands up. “I’m not the one who broke the rules.”

The server returns shortly with two coffees in to-go cups and a couple of huge, flakey croissants to go. I slip the guy a tip and then we head out to meet up with the rest of the group at the ropes course.

“Have you ever been rock climbing before?” I ask as we walk down the path together, sipping our coffee.

“Not real rock climbing,” she replies. “But these retreats always have some sort of ropes course or climbing wall or some other team building activity that’s supposed to get us to build trust or something. As if trusting someone to hold onto a rope so you don’t fall five feet is equivalent to trusting your team member not to do anything within his power to sabotage your chance at getting the promotion you’ve earned and deserve.”

“That is an oddly specific example,” I tease her, making her laugh. “Whoever could you be referring to?”

Right on cue, Chase is the first person to look up and notice us as we get to the ropes course. He eyes the coffee cups in our hands and scoffs loudly to draw the attention of everyone around him.

“You’re late, Evans,” he says, dramatically checking his watch. “Though I see you took your time making sure you got your coffee.”

Scott looks up at this, glancing at Chase and then over at me and Hallie. At first he looks confused, but then a knowing smile appears on the boss’s face.

“Don’t worry about it,” Scott says, coming over towards us. “Sara and I used to be the same way in the early days of our relationship. It’s nice to see young people in love.”

He turns back to Chase, patting his hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t give them a hard time,” Scott says. “Two married guys like us could learn a thing or two from these love birds.”

Chase immediately, and clearly begrudgingly forces a smile onto his face, and I can’t help but gloat at the anger blazing in his eyes.

“I’m sure you remember how it is,” I say, winking at Chase.

“Sure, of course,” Chase replies, though he won’t even look at me. “You’re right, Scott, but I guess that just means us old married guys have to stick together.”

I have to try not to outwardly roll my eyes at Chase’s attempt to find a way to suck up to the boss even when he’s licking his wounds. This guy just won’t stop, but he’s only making me want to help Hallie even more.

When my phone starts to ring, Hallie glances over at me, offering to take my empty coffee cup.

“You can answer it,” she says. “It doesn’t look like we’re starting yet.”

“You’ve got time,” Scott agrees. “It always takes us a minute to herd all the cats in the same direction.”

“Thanks,” I laugh, pulling my phone out. “I’ll be quick.”

When I see my brother’s name on my caller ID, I step away from the group before answering.

“Hey, I can’t really talk,” I tell Trey, keeping my voice down.

“Jimmy, what is going on with you?” Trey replies. “Where are you?”

“I’m out of town,” I say.

“Yeah, I know that,” he replies. “Mom told me, but I’m confused by the reason you gave her—or should I say, the excuse. ”

“What are you saying, Trey?” I sigh.

“Just that I had lunch with you last week and you told me you weren’t seeing anyone,” my brother points out. “Now Mom tells me you’re not just with someone new, but you’ve gone off some kind of a trip with her? What’s going on with you? Is this for real or is it just some made up story?”

Feeling caught, I keep my mouth shut, not in the mood to defend myself to my brother. Being mindful of my mother’s feelings is one thing, but I don’t owe Trey the same courtesy.

“Look,” he finally sighs, “if you are dating someone, no one is going to be happier about it than me. I’ve been saying this whole time that you need to accept what happened with Simone and move on, but if you’ve concocted this whole story just to get out of Dad’s party…”

Even though this is exactly what I did, and my brother is well aware I’m capable of it, I refuse to give him the satisfaction of being right—and I’m sure as hell not getting talked into coming back for my father’s party.

“I didn’t make it up,” I insist. “I’m in Wyoming on a work retreat with a girl I’m seeing. She’s amazing and we’re having a great time. In fact, she’s someone I can really see a future with. Goodbye, Trey.”

As I end the call and stuff my phone back in my pocket, I look up to see Hallie standing behind me, holding out a harness for me to put on. Her eyebrows go up when our eyes meet, and she gives me a questioning look.

“Someone you can see a future with?” she asks.

I let out a slow breath, looking up at the sky. Shit.