Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
CARA
“Oh my God! Did you see they started the construction on the new studios this morning? And you know who’s heading the project, don’t you?” The gleam in Eloise’s eyes was terrifying.
I frowned at her. Did she know everything? “What? How could you possibly know who’s in charge of the construction?”
She shrugged. “I pick up on things. I’ll give you a hint. Six foot something stunning butch with arms that could crush cement and a butt to bounce quarters off of.”
I groaned, remembering very well exactly how bounceable that butt was. That was not the image I needed in my head right now. I rolled my eyes instead, ignoring the feelings her words were invoking in me. “Seriously?”
“It’s Vera, Cara.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Go see for yourself.”
“I have work to do, and so do you. So get back to it, please.”
She shrugged. “Your loss.” And with that, she headed out of my office and towards her desk.
My assistant was many, many things, and thankfully, obedient was one of them. She knew she was invaluable to me. I wouldn’t be where I was without her, that much I was certain of. But every time she brought up Vera, I wanted to reconsider just how much I really needed her.
I couldn’t think! I blamed it on the noise of the construction site. It was barely audible, but it was loud enough. It definitely had nothing to do with who was out there, probably wearing something sleeveless, showing off those arms that could carry me anywhere I wanted to go—
I shut my laptop and stood up. I walked over to Eloise’s desk and her smile was mischievous. “I knew you’d want to see for yourself.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not here for her. I’m here for the email you sent me, about franscesca’s book tour?”
She groaned. “Oh, right. That. Well, we’ve hit a little snafu with the bookstore in Seaport…”
Against my better judgment, my eyes did, in fact, end up drifting over to the construction zone.
It wasn’t my fault they were being loud.
When I looked over, of course my eyes landed on a familiar firm ass.
Butts were my weakness and my eyes were drawn to them every time.
I remembered that night and how it felt under my hands and I had to stifle a groan.
When she stood up and took off her shirt so she was only in a tank top and jeans, I let out the tiniest whimper. Blushing, I looked back at Eloise, hoping she didn’t notice.
The smirk on her face told me she had. Shit. “Shut up,” I demanded.
Her only response was a laugh. “Speaking of sexy women, have you found a date for the wedding yet? It’s coming up, you know.”
I groaned. “No one was talking about sexy women, but I know. And no, I don’t have a date for my best friend’s wedding.” They picked the worst time to stop construction. All eyes were on me and my blush was darker than my red blouse.
“Please tell me she didn’t hear that?” I whispered.
“Probably not. Maybe she’s walking over here for another reason? It wasn’t that loud, I’m sure no one even heard you.”
I didn’t look in her direction, I couldn’t. There was no way she actually heard me. She was several feet away.
“Sorry to interrupt, ladies. I couldn’t help but overhear. Cara, if you need a date, I’m happy to lend a hand. I have my own tux and everything, as you’ve already seen.”
I took a deep breath and turned to face Vera. She had the faintest sheen of sweat on her skin and my eyes had to be peeled away from her arms. Her eyebrow was raised in question when I finally met her gaze. Did she notice me drooling over her strong arms? No, because I wasn’t.
“That’s nice of you to offer—”
“Yes. So nice, Vera.” Eloise interrupted.
I scowled at her and she took a step back towards her desk, giving us a little more privacy. See? Obedient.
“I appreciate the offer, but I can’t accept.”
“Why not? You need a date, and I’ve proven to be one hell of a dancer.”
I scoffed. “Because, Vera—”
“Vera? What are you doing here?” I froze. This was my literal nightmare.
I turned around to see Blair walking towards us. I was pretty sure the whole floor was watching the scene unfold, and I wanted nothing more than to be holed up in the privacy of my office.
“Hey, Blair. My company is doing construction on this floor.”
“What? That’s amazing! I just came to visit my bestie and talk wedding nonsense. Do you two know each other?”
I just stood silent the entire time, watching my own life play out like I was watching a movie. I didn’t know what to say or do, and I couldn’t look at Vera. I kept my eyes on Blair the entire time. My best friend had the worst timing in history.
“Oh, we met a while ago. We were actually just talking about the wedding.”
What the fuck? No we weren’t. Eloise and I were talking about the wedding, Vera just interrupted and offered herself as my date, which I wasn’t accepting, by the way.
Blair’s eyes grew wide and she looked at me. “A while ago? Is she the date you mentioned?”
I opened my mouth to say no, but I lost all the air from my lungs when I felt a strong hand on my waist. “Yes, I am. I hope that’s okay? We were just talking about it, and I’m very excited.”
Blair’s smile was mixed with shock—which, same—and also genuine happiness. “Wow. Yeah, of course that’s okay. I had no idea you two knew each other. So are you guys dating? Why didn’t you tell me, Cara?”
Still nothing. What was I supposed to say? Vera’s hand was touching me for the first time in months, and I couldn’t move, couldn’t breath, couldn’t think.
“It’s all still very new,” Vera supplied. I’m glad one of us had words in our vocabulary.
Blair looked down at her phone and frowned. “Shit, I’m sorry, babe. Drea needs me at the store. Raincheck? I can’t wait to hear more about… this.”
I nodded and stepped out of Vera’s space to give my best friend a hug. Blair said goodbye to Eloise and I turned to Vera, finally finding my voice. “How do you know Blair?”
She smiled. “We met when I did renovations on the bookstore and on her co-owner’s office.”
“Kaia. Yeah I know her. She’s sweet.”
“She really is.”
“Can I see you in my office, please?” I turned away, not bothering to wait for a response. I knew she’d be right behind me, anyway.
As I predicted, the second I turned around in my office, she was standing there with a soft smile.
God damn her smile. I wasn’t sure what part of this she was happy about.
The part where she embarrassed me and lied to Blair, or the part where she put her hands on me and could probably hear my intake of breath.
I closed the door and took a breath, squeezing the bridge of my nose to keep a migraine from forming. “I just have one question. What the hell was that?”
“What?” She shrugged.
I rolled my eyes. “Vera, you know what I’m talking about. Why did you imply that we were dating? Have I not been clear enough?”
“You need a date, don’t you?”
I groaned. “I’m not sure how that’s your business, but yes.”
“Well, I want to help.”
“Why? What do you get out of this?”
“Besides another night with you? I just want to help.”
I scoffed. “Oh, no. That is not happening. I don’t care how drunk you get me, that one night was all there will ever be.”
“I would never take advantage of you like that, Cara. Do you really think so low of me?”
I softened and shook my head. “No, of course not. I didn’t mean it like that, I just… What do you want, Vera?”
“I’ve already told you, I want to help. You need a date for the wedding, and now you have one. Problem solved.”
Problem not solved. This was an awful idea. Yeah, I needed a date, but literally anyone else would’ve been a better option. The second we arrived together, my friends would know it’s a lie.
Blair was in a rush and hadn’t had time to question it, but I could tell she wanted to. I’d been pretty adamant about not being interested in someone like Vera, and for her to now be my date out of nowhere would raise questions I didn’t want to answer.
But at the same time, I wanted them off my back. I wanted to take the easy way out, and agreeing to Vera would be easy.
“And what are you benefitting from this? If I said yes, what’s in it for you?”
“I get to spend more time with you. That’s all I want.”
“Why? Why do you want that so bad?”
“Because, princesa, I want to know more about you. I’m not asking for a relationship, or another spectacular night of sex.
I just want more time with you. You get your friend off your back and a date with someone you know looks good in a tux and can lead you on the dance floor, and I get that. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re relentless, you know that?”
She just wouldn’t quit. Why was she so interested in getting to know me? I’ve already made it perfectly clear that we weren’t going to happen. So why wasn’t I saying no? Why was I actually thinking about her offer? Was I really that desperate to get a date to this wedding?
“You aren’t saying no, though. Let me buy you dinner and we can talk more about it tonight?”
I groaned. I wasn’t getting out of this, was I?
It wasn’t like she was terrible company.
And besides, a free dinner couldn’t hurt.
She already knew it wouldn’t go farther than that, so why was I so nervous?
I didn’t know much about her, but I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about her trying something she knew I didn’t want.
After a few more seconds of deliberating with myself, I agreed. “Fine. Dinner tonight, but I’m picking the restaurant.”
She smiled. “Still like to be in charge, huh? I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”
Those were the wrong words to use. My brain knew exactly what she meant. My body? Didn’t get the memo. Something got lost in translation between my brain and my body. Cool down! There is nothing here for you to get worked up over!
I steadied myself and sat at my desk, pretending I had a dozen other things to be doing. In reality, I didn’t. I just needed her to leave. The air in my office was getting too hot. “Have Eloise give you my number before you leave.”
She smiled and left without a word. I had a feeling I was going to regret agreeing to go out with her.
Ten minutes later, Eloise came bouncing into my office like she was on a pogo stick. “You’re awfully chipper for this early in the day. What’s wrong?”
“So, Vera just asked for your number, and I gave it to her. Don’t kill me.”
I groaned. “I know, I told her to get it from you. Relax, you’re safe.”
“What the hell did I miss? Is she really going to the wedding with you?”
“That was a bold ass move on her part. We’re going to dinner tonight to talk about it, but I don’t think I’m going to agree.”
“Are you crazy? Have you seen her? And she seems to be pretty into you. You’d be a fool to say no.”
“You know she’s not my type. I’ve never dated anyone that wasn’t femme. Beyond that, we are so different.”
“Thats not a bad thing. It’s good to get out of your comfort zone. Look how well dating only your type has worked out. And if she wasn’t your type, why’d you sleep together, besides the obvious physical reason.”
I rolled my eyes. “We were drinking. Not enough to not consent, so I guess that’s not an excuse. I don’t know, I guess there was something there that night. I was tired of failed date after failed date and wanted to forget everything. She helped me forget.”
“So, let her help you forget again. Besides, it’s just one night, and all you have to do is drink and dance together, if that. It’s not like you have to actually date her.”
“Well, that’s the thing. With her hand on my waist—”
“Which was so hot, by the way!”
I groaned and went on. “With her hand on my waist… she kind of implied to Blair that we were dating, so if I agree, we’d have to pretend to be a couple”
“Does she repulse you? That was a dumb question, you couldn’t stop drooling over her.
I think you are in your head way too much about this.
Respectfully, as your assistant and friend, of course.
It’s called fake dating for a reason, it’s not real.
You don’t have to do anything but maybe hug or share a peck or two.
Considering you’ve done a lot more than that, I think you’ll be fine. ”
“I was not drooling! But I don’t know, El. Do you really think we could pull it off? What if Blair and Drea find out we aren’t really dating? The way I handled their dating, they’ll kill me. I don’t want to lie to them. They know we would never actually be together.”
“They won’t kill you, first of all. They just want you to be happy.
And you aren’t lying, not really. If you were saying you’re in love, then yeah, maybe, but you aren’t.
You’re saying she’s your date to the wedding, which she is.
They don’t need to know you’re not actually dating.
Then, after the wedding, it’ll all be forgotten. ”
“I don’t know, maybe. I’m going to leave early today. You can take the rest of the day off, too.”
“Damn, I like Vera already if we’re not working as hard.”
“Don’t make me change my mind.”
“Sorry. Thank you. Enjoy your date.”
“It’s not a date!” I yelled. It wasn’t a date.