The Companion Love Trap: A Fake Dating Vacation Rom-Com

Chapter 12

My mouth droppedopen all the way to the floor, like a cartoon character. I looked from the bed to the door where Kieran and Jace stood, then back as I blinked for good measure. Yep, still the same predicament.

One bed. Three people.

I should’ve been shocked when there weren’t two beds to begin with since I didn’t expect Jace and Kieran to snuggle. But hey, maybe that was their thing. I didn’t know them well enough to know or not. I could tell their dynamic wasn’t purely platonic, but it didn’t feel exactly romantic either. Lustful and protective, maybe? Lustive? Protectful? Heh.

A giggle erupted out of me at the insanity of the situation. Seriously. I’d almost be amazed at how easily I fell for it if it hadn’t happened to me. Just how far did this setup go? Which movie set had I fallen into? Maybe I’d hit my head on the location of the zombie one, and now I was hallucinating.

“She’s laughing. Do you think that’s good?” Jace whispered, leaning closer to Kieran.

“Sucks to be you both,” I said as I spun around to face them.

“How so?” Jace asked, crossing his arms as he watched me carefully. I had a feeling he knew I was up to something.

“That couch will be a tight squeeze for two men.”

“Huh?” Kieran asked, looking back and forth between the bed and the couch, confusion written all over his handsome face.

“I’m going to assume there’s not another room key and that if we go through the whole hokey-pokey of it all, and I shake it all about… That the ship will conclude that there are no open cabins.” I sat on the bed and crossed my legs, kicking my foot as I leaned back on my arms. “How am I doing?”

“You make it sound like this was intentional, lass,” Kieran said, glancing between me and then Jace, worry making his eyes crinkle at the edges. “I booked two cabins. Promise.”

“Oh, I believe you, sweetie.”

I patted the bed, wanting him to come and sit down, forgetting how much I’d liked hearing ‘lass’ in his Irish accent. Kieran did as directed and sat beside me, his body pressing into mine. Fuck. He was willing to follow an order. Why did I find that so hot?

I pushed my arm into his, knowing how much he liked the pressure. It seemed to calm him like a weighted blanket. Kieran didn’t let many people touch him, but we all needed it, so I’d be sure to give him as much as possible. The realization I already cared for this sweet, grumpy man shocked me, but I pushed it away for now. I needed to focus on the two troublemakers in front of me.

Fuck, they were hot standing side by side. It should be illegal to allow men that attractive near one another. I shook my head, trying to clear it of the lust.

“I’m just not sure how you two play into this, but I’m certain you’re both involved somehow.” I twirled my finger around in the air as I observed them. Cruz didn’t even hide his smirk, his dark eyes boring into mine like he was waiting for me to figure it out.

“I might not last long in jobs, but that doesn’t make me dumb. I read people better than most, and something fishy is happening here. So last chance to spill before I decide to shut you both out. I’m very easygoing in life until someone lies to me.” I narrowed my eyes, my smile dropping off my face as I waited for them to spill or seal their fate. It just might be a no-dick cruise, after all.

“Fine. You got me. You had a room, but this knucklehead took it.” Jace sighed, his shoulders dropping. “Sorry, Cruz. I’m not getting put in the doghouse for you.” Jace stepped aside, his eyes wary at the sexy Brazilian.

“Careful, Meu Dengo. You’re already on thin ice.”

Cruz’s dark eyes blazed fire at Jace, and I wished I had popcorn to watch the showdown between them. Jace kept his chin up in defiance, but it didn’t hide the noticeable bulge growing in his shorts. I had so many questions.

How? Why? When? Okay, I had three, but they were important ones!

“As hot as it is to watch you two eyefuck it out, I need to know something. Was this whole thing a setup?” I tried to keep my voice even, but I failed as a part of it hitched in the end.

I wouldn’t be able to stand it if this had been devised as a pity job. Cruz knew I needed work, so was this all his doing? If so, it would be the one thing to keep me from ever sleeping with him again. In fact, I’d go so far as to bunk with the crew or jump overboard and take my chances with the sharks. Not being a burden 101 meant never taking anything out of pity.

Just thinking about the word made me shudder. Gross.

Cruz dropped his eyes from Jace and moved further into the room as he kneeled down at my feet. His hand cupped my ankle, his thumb brushing the skin there. As much as I wanted to resist him and push him away, Cruz had a pull over me I couldn’t ignore. I’d at least let him have his say, and then he was toast.

“It’s not what you’re thinking, baby. It wasn’t pity.” I flinched at the word, my body physically recoiling. “Jace overhead you needed a job that night at the club. I told him you wouldn’t accept something you didn’t work for. The ad is real. I might have helped your coworker discover it, but the whole process was legitimate. I swear.”

“But why?” I asked, unsure what I needed to hear but knowing there was something I had to know.

Why had they gone through so much trouble for me?

“I know Jace and Kieran from the club, and they’re good men. You mentioned you were looking for something, and this seemed ideal. Can you deny that you’re perfect for it?”

I shook my head no; though the words dried on my tongue. But Cruz didn’t let it stop him.

“You exude confidence and make everyone feel like a friend within seconds, Everly. You know the ins and outs of high society and can hold a conversation with anyone. Plus, you’re not the type of women that were applying, the ones hoping to snag a rich boyfriend for a hefty payout.”

“Ew.” I reared back, offended on Kieran and Jace’s behalf. “Girls did that?”

“More than you’d think.” Jace grimaced, and I thawed a little more. I remember what those girls had been like growing up, and couldn’t deny I’d be desperate to find someone unlike them if I were in their position.

“It’s part of why I don’t date. I can’t talk to women on the best of days; throw in the fact they’re trying to lock me in some trap, and I’m useless. It might sound weird, but Jace arranges dates for me when I need one. It’s just easier, and he’s better at that type of thing. When we discovered the investors didn’t see me as stable because I’m single, Jace devised the ad. It seemed like the best way to find someone who knew the score from the beginning.”

Kieran had wrapped an arm around me at some point, his cologne soothing me as he spoke. It was unfair how sweet and honest he was.

“So, the ad was real, and for some reason, you wanted me to fill it out?” I asked Jace, needing clarification. I could understand their position but still didn’t know how I felt about the lengths they’d gone to for me.

He nodded, his hazel eyes watching me carefully. The blue and green swirled, bits of brown flecks dominant in his current emotional state.

“And you asked Cruz for help? Why?”

“I spied on you while you were in his office. I assumed you were together, so it felt like the respectful thing to do.” He shrugged like the fact he listened to us have sex wasn’t a big deal.

I opened my mouth to yell at him about it but stopped as I blinked and tried to remember why it was a big deal. We’d chosen to have sex where people could hear us, so that was on us. And why was it hot to picture Jace listening to Cruz and me fuck? Had he gotten aroused by the sound of us together? Ugh, this was not the time for my exhibition kink to be activated. I cleared my throat and wished I could shift my leg as my pussy throbbed with need, a wetness developing below.

“So when you ordered a coffee and said you’d see me later, you knew I’d show up for an interview?”

“I hoped you would. I was manifesting what I wanted. Putting out into the world that I would see you again, so I would.”

“And again, when you pretended like it was a coincidence I appeared in the restaurant?”

Jace cringed, rubbing his face. “Looking back, I can see how that might look. But I honestly was just so stoked you showed. I knew you would be the perfect candidate.”

“How? I’d never met you before.”

Jace flicked his eyes to Kieran for a split second before returning to me.

“I’m a photographer, Firecracker. I can look at someone and see the real person within. I watched you perform that night at the club. The way you moved to the music and captured the crowd. It was breathtaking and the exact energy I’d been looking for. When I saw you for the first time that night, I just knew you were it.” He shrugged his shoulders, keeping his eyes on me. “Call me a stalker, or call me a romantic. It doesn’t matter. They’re the same to me.”

“I’m the stalker; don’t be taking my role,” Cruz interjected.

“That really what you want to be fighting over?” I quipped. Cruz leveled me with a smirk, his eyes promising wicked things. I licked my lips before I remembered Jace had been explaining himself.

“Sorry. Continue.” He chuckled, the sound giving me flutters.

“I can’t really explain it other than I just knew. Before I even knew your name, I wanted you to fill the ad. I’m sorry if that sounds creepy and if I went about it incorrectly by not being completely open. But it wasn’t done out of pity. If anything, I was desperate for you to take it. You took pity on me.”

“And you couldn’t just say any of that to me?” I asked, still reeling from his proclamation. How he saw me as beautiful.

“Would you have taken it if I said there was a job I thought you were perfect for?” Cruz asked. I frowned, not liking what he was implying, but I knew he was right. I could be stubborn at times.

Companion Rule #8—know when you’re wrong and take accountability.

“Fine. Probably not. It doesn’t mean I like the deception.”

“Noted, Firecracker.” Jace smiled, this one reaching his eyes again. “I promise not to lie to you again.” His words felt too heavy, so I turned to the other psychotic one.

“And you just decided to come along?” I asked Cruz, frustrated he knew me so well. But mostly that it had worked. I wanted to be unpredictable, but apparently, that was not the case.

“Damn straight, Meu Tudo. Every time I try to talk to you about deeper things than how far I can shove my dick into you, you bolt physically and emotionally. What better way to make you stop running than on a cruise ship? We’re stuck together until we return to Miami, and I plan to use my time well.”

Well, fuck.

I sucked in a breath. Cruz’s gaze was intense. My heart pounded in my chest, and I bounced my leg. My stubbornness recognized my desire to run away right then, but I did not want to prove him right. So I stayed exactly where I was, though internally, I was freaking out.

Retreat. Retreat. Retreat. Back away from the emotions. Activate the sass.

“I’ve been girlfriend trapped,” I muttered as I fumbled for something to say, but my brain had gone off line at his romantic aspirations.

“It’s more like Pretty Woman meets the Parent Trap and takes a cruise,” Jace supplied. I narrowed my eyes, wondering just how long he’d been planning this. He grinned and lifted his hands in a sign of defeat. “But, yeah, girlfriend trapped works too.”

“For the record, I had no idea about any of this, and when I discovered their plan last night, I told them it would blow up in their faces,” Kieran said, his voice deep and smooth like molasses. It slid over me and stuck to my insides. I never wanted it to go away.

“I knew I liked you, Meerk.” I beamed up at him, enjoying how his eyes sparkled down at me.

“Meerk?” His cheeks turned rosy, and I wanted to count the freckles on his nose this close.

“Yeah. I decided Timon wasn’t original enough, like you. So I shortened meerkat. Meerk.”

“Okay.” He grinned, and we stared at one another, his blue eyes swirling like the ocean, his soft blond hair curling slightly against his forehead. My fingers itched to move it and trace all the freckles. Did he have freckles everywhere?

“What about mine?” Jace whined.

“Still trash panda,” I said, not even breaking eye contact. Cruz snorted, and I could practically picture Jace pouting, his arms crossed and his bottom lip out.

“So, we’re stuck in one room. I should make Cruz sleep in here and get my own bed,” I groused, dropping Kieran’s eyes and staring at my hands.

“Or you can choose which bed you stay in each night. Like a slumber party, or a grown-up version of Goldilocks and the chairs are beds and the porridge our dicks,” Cruz argued, the right side of his luscious lips lifted in a perfect smirk.

Do not laugh. Do not laugh. He is not funny!

“I’m not sure if either you or Jace get to visit Everly Manor anytime soon,” I threatened, hoping to keep myself from trying out his statement right this second.

“Don’t be cruel, Meu Tudo. You love this job and are on the open seas. There’s no room to be mad here. Seas the day.”

I groaned, his smile growing wider by the second. I did not need Cruz making funny puns. Apparently, it was hot guy catnip for me.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” Kieran offered, making my heart melt. The other two could learn something from him. I spun, patting his thigh.

“No, sweetie. I’m just messing with them. If anyone needs the bed, it’s you. This is an important trip, so you always come first.”

“The lady should always come first, Firecracker. Has Brazilian Ken not been treating you right?”

“Caralho! You’re not going to be able to sit for a week when I’m done with you, Meu Dengo,” Cruz growled, sending shivers over me. Holy hotness Batman! I thought Cruz being dominant with me was sexy; seeing him turn it on Jace made me need to change my underwear.

Jace gulped but kept his gaze steady, making me throb even more. Whatever this dynamic was, I was here for it. Day. Night. Afternoon. Any time, really. I would be there.

“So, is this a thing?” I asked, happy to have the heat off me.

“No.”

“Yes.”

Snorting, I peered up at Kieran. “And where do you fit into all of this? Are you and Jace together?”

His forehead creased, and he shook his head. “Not like that. I mean.”

His face reddened so brightly that I almost felt bad for asking. Almost.

“We, um, you know…”

“We have a physical relationship when it suits the other, but our friendship is our foundation, Firecracker. Ideally, we want to find a woman to share between us who wouldn’t mind our connection. Our lives work better together, and we like to share.” His eyes heated on me, the implication loud and clear.

Me. He wanted me in the middle of them.

“Oh.” I swallowed, shifting my eyes to Cruz, only finding more heat there. I was back to believing I hit my head. Dick smorgasbord was nowhere on my cruise bingo card.

“And where do you come in?” I asked Cruz.

“Inside, outside. I’m not picky as long as I’m coming,” Cruz purred. I rolled my eyes, needing the reprieve from his smolder. Fuck, that man was hot. But at least I was used to dealing with him. I knew what to expect.

“I’m not sure I like sarcasm from you.” I narrowed my eyes to convey my answer.

“Too bad, Meu Tudo. Now that I know you can’t run, I won’t be holding back any longer. You will be mine. It’s up to you how hard you fight it.”

Swallowing, I tried not to think how exciting it sounded to have the full impact of Cruz. Or what it would be like to be with all three of them. It was becoming dangerously close to coupling up for me.

Activate brat mode 2.0.

“Hmm, do I have to remind you that I don’t do commitment? I’m as unattached as they come, baby.”

Cruz smirked like he’d been prepared for me to say that.

“Meu Tudo, you’re thinking too small. You don’t like relationships because you don’t want to settle on one person. You like to be free and explore. So explore with us. You could be with the three of us, and we’d be with you… and possibly each other. But you’d be our glue, our center. Don’t say anything now. Just think about it. Relationships haven’t worked because you haven’t found the right one. This could be it, Meu Tudo.”

He stood, and I wondered if his legs were asleep from the squatting. I know mine would be after being in that position for so long. Buns got up from her resting place by my feet and did a perfect downward dog pose as she stretched her front, sticking her cute butt in the air. Cruz having such a cute dog was ridiculously unfair. The man didn’t need anything else to pull women in.

“Dinner is soon, so we should all get ready. I won’t openly pursue you while you’re with Kieran. I respect your boundaries and the job you’re here to do. But your after-hours are a different story. If you run from me, Meu Tudo, I’ll just keep chasing. There’s nowhere to hide on this ship where I won’t find you and then fuck you right there, not caring who is around.”

He dropped a kiss on my lips before I could respond, the image of him fucking me replaying in my head. He sauntered his fine ass right out the door without even a backward glance.

I looked between the two men I’d come to care about in a short time, even if it was supposed to be fake with one of them. There were still a lot of questions, but I couldn’t seem to remember them at the moment. All I could think about was how this relationship would never work the way they wanted—not without Phantom.

But I couldn’t deny that it intrigued me in a way nothing ever had before. And that was scarier than being stuck on an airplane with a crying infant in need of a diaper change.