Just Pretend (Just… #1)

19. Hallie

CHAPTER 19

HALLIE

The moment I’m alone in the bathroom with the door locked behind me, I lean against the wall, my hand pressed to my chest, desperately trying to catch my breath. My heart is racing so fast, I wonder if I’m having a panic attack. What the hell is happening to me? I’m used to being a logical, methodical, and extremely practical person, so why am I suddenly consumed with the thought of kissing James again? It’s quite possibly the least logical thing I could do right now.

And yet…all I want is to throw open the bathroom door, rush back into the bedroom, and push him down onto the bed. I want to climb on top of his well-sculpted body and kiss him with all of the passion that’s been simmering inside of me since the rock wall. Forget hiking or horseback riding; what I really want is to spend the entire day in bed with James, naked under the covers, exploring every inch of him. I can imagine staying tucked away in this room, making love for hours, opening the wine from the welcome basket, getting tipsy and having the sort of fun that’s been missing from my life for far too long.

With a deep, cleansing breath, I try to force myself out of the fantasy, pushing it aside as an impossibility. I can’t think this way, not when it comes to someone like James Cole. I know better than to assume what happened by the ropes course was anything more than another convincing ruse for the benefit of my coworkers and bosses. It was well timed and expertly executed. The real problem is that Jasmine has managed to get inside my head, making me think that maybe there’s more to the situation than some mutually beneficial acting.

That has to be the case though , I tell myself, explaining away the strange, confusing feelings that ripped through me when James wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled my body up against his. There is just no way I could be falling for my annoying neighbor. I’m way too smart for that. After all, James is a player. He always has been and always will be, and guys like him won’t—or even can’t—change. For all I know, he’s playing me right now, using my love of cheese to try to get me in bed. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s the most logical answer for how nice he’s been. Well, I refuse to let myself fall for it. No matter how much he knows about me, how good of a kisser he is, and no matter how amazing he looks…

Another deep breath and then I give my head a shake, pulling myself together. I’ve already been in the bathroom long enough to change my clothes twice. As I get dressed, I try to focus on what’s important—getting this promotion and helping my family—and block out everything else. I brush my hair and start to put on a little make up, but I stop when I realize why I’m paying more attention to how I look.

“Give me a break,” I mutter under my breath as I grab a tissue and take off the lip gloss I just put on.

Looking in the mirror, I give myself a silent pep-talk. You can do this Hallie. You can get through this week without falling prey to that womanizer. You are smart and successful, and you are not the kind of woman who puts her urges ahead of her future.

I’m starting to feel better, but as soon as I open the bathroom door and see James standing next to the bed, buttoning up his shirt, I feel my pulse speed up again.

Needing to keep some physical space from James, I suggest we go for a trail ride. With both of us on separate horses, riding single file, there won’t be much need for us to talk, let alone be close to each other. I just need some time to reset myself and forget about that kiss. It might have been convincing for my coworkers to witness, but I can’t let myself get fooled as well. The best thing right now is to spend some time apart from James without anyone else getting suspicious, which makes horseback riding a safe option.

We’re both pretty quiet on the walk to the stables, though it’s not nearly as bad as it was on the way back to the lodge earlier. At one point we pass a group coming from the heated pool dressed in robes and towels, but James doesn’t reach for my hand or pull me close, making me wonder if something’s wrong. I glance over at him as the group walks by and he smiles blandly, his face unreadable.

Before we get to the stables, we walk by the archery area where Jasmine is standing by the fence with her husband, Ricardo, and another couple. She grins and waves when she spots us, beckoning us over. It’s not until I’m closer that I realize the other couple is Chase and Annette.

“Where are you two off to?” Jasmine asks, still beaming at me.

“We were going down to the stables to do a trail ride,” I reply. “What are you doing?”

“We signed up for an archery lesson,” Jas tells me. “Turns out Chase and Annette had the same idea, so we’re here together.”

The tone of disdain is so slight in Jasmine’s voice that I’m sure no one else can hear it, but I know right away that had she known Chase would be here, she would have never signed up for the lesson.

“Well, have fun,” I tell her, stifling a laugh, though I do feel badly that Jasmine is stuck spending time with Chase when she should be having fun.

“Care to join us, Evans?” Chase asks. He’s most likely still pissed that James and I won the blind climb.

“Thanks, but I think we’ll stick with horse riding,” I decline.

“Are you scared of losing?” Chase asks, clearly taunting me.

Behind him, Jasmine rolls her eyes.

“I think you should be the one scared of losing, Chase,” James pipes in. “We can go for a ride another time. Let’s shoot some arrows.”

I let out a breath, knowing this is a terrible idea, but when the instructor comes to get the group, James and I join them.

“Have you ever done this before?” I ask as we head towards the targets.

“Nope,” James admits, “but I’m not about to let Chase best me. Besides, you said you wanted to give it a try, right?”

I can’t help but laugh, shaking my head at him.

“What?” James asks.

“I think Chase is starting to get to you as much as he gets to me,” I tell him.

James reaches for my hand, a smile tugging on his lips. “Well, there’s strength in numbers. Let’s go get him and make him eat his words.”

Lifting my hand to his lips, James leans down and gently kisses it, catching me off guard. I take a quick look around, but we’re in the back of the group and no one else is around.

“I don’t think anyone is looking,” I whisper.

“I know,” James shrugs. “It just felt like something I wanted to do.”

He smiles at me again before letting go of my hand and hurrying to catch up with Chase.

“How about we make this more interesting?” I hear James ask. “Would you care for a friendly wager?”

As the two men go back and forth, I run my fingertips over the back of my hand, my whole body buzzing.

“Uh, what’s up with the face?” Jasmine asks, dropping back to talk to me.

“Nothing,” I quickly shake my head.

“The same nothing we talked about earlier?” she asks.

I let out a groan, my shoulders hunching forward and my head dropping.

“I’m just so confused,” I whisper.

“First things first—you need to stop overthinking it,” Jasmine tells me. “You are clearly attracted to the guy, and I can tell that he is attracted to you too.”

“What makes you say that?” I ask, my head snapping up.

“Uh, the fact that I have eyes in my head?” she replies dryly. “So, what’s stopping you? Just go for it!”

I look over at James, at the competitive grin on his face, the way his broad shoulders are squared and confident, how the sun reveals the natural auburn highlights in his hair. Despite my confusion and dismay, I realize that Jasmine’s words have hit extremely close to home. Going for it with James is exactly what I’m longing to do.

Even though I’ve never actually given archery a try before, I’ve always been fairly athletic and I have decent upper arm strength, so I figure it can’t be all that difficult to pick up. I wish James hadn’t made this an even bigger competition for Chase, though. That man will find a way to use this to his advantage, likely telling the Winter brothers that either my success or failure at archery is somehow indicative that I’d be a poor choice for sales director. One thing I’ll say about Chase is that he has a knack for coming up with bullshit, which is one reason why he’s so good at making sales.

The instructor, a towering blonde named Melissa with arms like cannons, sets us each up with a bow and arrow and demonstrates how to use the equipment. She then teaches us how to correctly hold the bow and the right way to pull back on the string. When it’s finally time for us to give it a try, I feel my arms shaking and I realize this might be more challenging than I had initially thought. It takes far more strength than I considered, which explains Melissa’s massive biceps.

Next to me, James seems more confident as he raises the bow up, pulls back on the string, and lets the arrow fly. I watch in disbelief as he hits the target, just barely missing the bullseye.

“What the hell?” I laugh. “You told me you’ve never done this before.”

“What can I say?” James smiles. “I’m a quick study. Do you want some help?”

“Yeah, I’ll take all the help I can get,” I nod.

Setting his bow down, James comes up behind me, putting his hands on mine and correcting my grip. I can feel the warmth of his body up against me, his breath on my neck as he tells me how to adjust my stance, and it takes me right back to the kiss from before. If I turn my head just slightly, I could press my lips to his, a thought that makes my knees go weak. I’m not hearing a word James says to me as I get caught up in the moment, feeling how close he is, aching to get even closer.

“Hallie?” I hear James say my name and I try to focus, but I’ve already missed whatever it was he said.

“Huh?” I ask, unable to be any more articulate when my head is swimming, and my body is hot with desire.

When I turn to face him, it’s just as I imagine—our faces so close and our lips nearly touching. Despite the warning bells going off in my head, I look into his eyes and the rest of the world seems to disappear. I swallow hard, giving in to my yearnings, wanting to feel his mouth on mine. It’s too overwhelming, impossible to ignore. I’ll deal with the consequences later, as long as I get this moment of pleasure.

“Hey!” Chase’s annoyed voice calls out, breaking the spell. “Are we doing this or are you too just going to stand there looking at each other?”

I turn away from James, eyeing the target but having to lower the bow because my hands are shaking.

“We’re more than ready,” James fires back at Chase. “Let’s do this.”

I take a deep breath and glance over at Jasmine, who lifts her eyebrows knowingly.

No matter how many times Melissa and James try to help me, I can’t seem to get my arrows anywhere near the target. The only person worse at archery than me is Ricardo, who somehow has managed to send two arrows behind us, a feat Melissa swears she didn’t think was even possible. Annette isn’t bad, hitting the outer rings of the target most of the time, but the real contest is between James, Chase, and Jasmine.

I’m not surprised by how good Jasmine is, but both James and Chase quickly surpass her natural talent as they improve their aim with each shot. It’s clear that James has the edge, but unfortunately nothing he does to encourage and instruct me helps my terrible shots. Despite James’s multiple bullseyes by the end of the round, we end up losing the bet because Annette is so much better than I am.

“Sorry, James,” Chase says, immediately rubbing it in. “I guess it all comes down to the quality of your partner.”

Annette flinches just slightly when Chase puts his arm around her shoulders, and I wonder if she gets embarrassed by the way he acts. She seems like such a nice person; I can imagine it must be difficult to be married to a man like Chase.

“I look forward to seeing you at the bar tonight, James,” Chase says with a laugh.

“I’m a man of my word,” James replied. “The first round is on me.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Chase says. “But right now, my beautiful archer and I are headed to a couples’ massage.”

Annette doesn’t say a word as Chase leans over and kisses her cheek before taking her hand and leading her back up to the lodge. He must have some redeeming qualities to have gotten Annette to marry him in the first place, but I have no idea what they might be. When they get a little further down the path, I see Annette pull her hand away from Chase, picking up her pace to walk ahead of him. As James and Ricardo help Melissa carry the bows and arrows back to the shed, I’m wondering what’s going on with Chase and Annette, but my thoughts are interrupted as Jasmine puts her hand on my arm, squeezing it tightly.

“Holy shit,” she mutters under her breath. “Who is that?”

I turn to see who she’s looking at just as the sexiest cowboy I’ve ever seen comes up the path with three women following after him, hanging on his every word.

“He is seriously hot,” Jasmine continues. “If I weren’t married?—”

“But you are,” I remind her, swatting at her arm.

“I can still look and fantasize,” Jasmine laughs, her eyes glued to the cowboy as he gets closer. “Maybe I’ll have Ricardo wear a cowboy hat to bed tonight. You think they sell them in the gift shop?”

“Oh my god,” I shake my head, laughing at my horny friend. “You are terrible.”

“I’m only human,” Jas replies. “You can’t tell me that does nothing for you.”

I glance over at the cowboy again, taking in his faded jeans and leather boots, his tight shirt, and even his hat.

“Okay, I see your point,” I concede. “You know who that probably is? One of the owners told us yesterday that her brother is in the rodeo and would be here warming up. I bet that’s him.”

“You bet that’s who?” James asks as he and Ricardo return.

“Oh, no,” Ricardo laughs at his wife. “I know that look.”

Jasmine smiles at him, her eyes shifting down his body and back up again.

“You two will have to excuse us,” Ricardo says, putting his arm around Jasmine’s back. “We suddenly have plans this afternoon.”

I can’t help but laugh as they hurry off eagerly. Something tells me they’re going to be stopping at the gift shop on their way back to their room.

“What was that about?” James asks.

“Nothing,” I say, glancing back at the cowboy and his harem. “It’s just Jasmine being Jasmine.”

James follows my gazes, raising an eyebrow at the scene.

“Wow, he’s clearly got game,” James laughs. “Lucky guy. He can have any one of those women, maybe all three at once. I wouldn’t mind being in his boots.”

My body stiffens at the comment, a glaring reminder of who James really is. This is exactly why I can’t give in to the desire I feel every time we’re within a couple feet of each other. It might be a satisfying fantasy, but the reality is not something I need in my life. I’m looking for stability and support, not a roll in the sheets with someone who is likely never going to call me again.

“So, what do you want to do next?” James asks.

“You can do what you want,” I tell him, putting my guard back up. “I’m going to go back to the room. I have some work to do.”

I turn towards the pathway and start to head back, but James comes after me, stopping me with his hand on my arm.

“Whoa, wait a second,” he says, looking confused. “What just happened?”