His Fake Girlfriend

Chapter One

Vivien

I storm to the supply closet, looking for more cleaning spray, muttering to myself. It’s all his fault. I can’t ever focus on more than one thing at a time with that man looking over my shoulder, his cold, knowing stare, daring and challenging, waiting to find some problem with me.

Still, with his delicious scent and his annoyingly brilliant mind looking for mistakes, I can’t fight the way my heart skips a beat when he enters the room or the wicked dreams he stars in at night. Ugh. The man is a walking hot nightmare.

This major screwup? I dropped my vial of sea water on the counter, ruining the sample.

Thankfully we had taken extra samples, or I would have been fired from the project and failed the class immediately.

Shaking my head, I continued my walk to the back room and my mental rant of my arch nemesis for his breathing.

The room is massive and full of stuff, and it takes me way too long to find the cleaner I need.

Of course, when my eyes land on it, the spray is all the way on the top shelf.

I step on the bottom rack and realize that’s a bad idea, so I step off.

Then, I look around and smile at the stepladder, snagging it and putting it into place, then scurry up to get the spray.

“What the hell, Ms. Williams?”

“Ah,” I scream at the sound of Dr. Hall’s voice and lose my grip on everything as my arms go flailing. “What is wrong with you,” I hiss.

He wraps his hand around my back, pulling me to safety while the items slam between us.

“Wrong with me? You’re the one who is standing on the damn edge reaching well above your head and about to knock the whole damn shelf down.” Our faces are inches from each other, and today he has his smart guy glasses on, looking somehow sexier than normal. Damn him.

“I was on the stepladder, and you startled me,” I inform him.

“You are trouble, Ms. Williams,” he grumbles.

“Why is the cleaner so high up in the first place?”

“Because those are the extras.” He cups my chin roughly and twists my face to the left, then sadly lets it go and points.

“There are the daily cleaning supplies.” I slam my eyes shut, feeling like a jackass, and that’s when the dampness seeps onto my shirt.

I pull back from his hold. “Wait,” he barks out, but it’s too late.

The bottle falls and cracks open on the floor, making more of a mess by splashing on his shoes and the hem of his slacks.

When I finally lift my gaze, I’m stuck at his center where the bottle had initially been trapped between us.

A big pool had coated his shirt and now it was see-through, just like mine.

“Office, now,” he orders.

“What about the mess?” I question, pointing at the floor.

“I can’t trust you to clean it up.”

I want to scream, but instead, I leave the room and run straight into Heather. “Sorry,” I mutter, walking past her.

As I walk toward his office, I overhear Dr. Hall say something to her about a spill and to clean it, but I’m too embarrassed to continue eavesdropping. The cold wetness clings to my shirt as I move, and a chill runs up my spine.

“Get inside before someone sees your tits,” he snarls. I gasp when his hand pushes on the small of my back as he ushers me into his office.

“Excuse me?”

“Your top is completely see-through now.” I look down, and my bra, which is supposed to be white, is now opaque, giving everyone passing by an eyeful of my hard nipples.

“Oh my God,” I gasp, slapping my arms quickly around my chest.

He shakes his head and goes into a clear tub on a metal rack against the wall. Without turning back to me, he says, “Catch.” He throws a blue T-shirt at me. “Put it on. Use my private bathroom.”

He grabs one for himself and then starts unbuttoning his dress shirt. I don’t move; my mind and body are too focused. “Now, Williams,” he snarls. I shake myself out of the stupor just as his phone rings. He grumbles and answers as I make my way to the bathroom.

“Hello, Mom.” I try to close the door when I overhear him mention something about a wedding, and my jealous heart can’t stop itself. I lean in and listen.

“Look, Mom. My girlfriend is coming with me, so you can relax. You better be nice because she’s important to me.

How are you feeling?” He sighs almost painfully.

My chest actually hurts from the sound as if I can feel the concern for him.

“You need to take care of yourself.” They speak for another minute, and his tone never lifts again. “I’ll be there.”

The call ends and Caleb huffs, “How long does it take in there? Please tell me you didn’t fall in.”

“Ha, ha. Funny.” I open the door and step out of the bathroom into the bright sunny office in my new, dry top.

He immediately shakes his head with disapproval marring his handsome face. “That’s not going to work.”

“Why not?” I want to stomp my feet like a petulant child, but I remember that I’m a grad student and not a toddler.

“Because your tits are still on display.” He waves his hand in front of my chest.

“That’s not where your eyes should be, Doctor,” I remind him while covering myself again.

“You’re correct, but this is a lab with grad students and a marine facility with a bunch of children roaming about.” He had a point, but it’s not like I could put on my wet bra.

“Here, put this on.” He handed me a lab coat. “This will at least cover you a little better until the day is over. We have too much to do before the day is done, and I have enough problems.”

“You mean your mom.”

He twists his head, and I immediately regret that I opened my big mouth. I never learn around this man. “You shouldn’t be listening in on my conversations.”

“I didn’t mean to, but…”

“But you couldn’t help yourself. I’m starting to think you enjoy making my damn life hard. You’re one step away from getting fired and booted from the program.”

“You can’t do that?” As much as I don’t like some aspects, I need my degree.

“No? You ruined the last damn sample we acquired,” he says.

I shake my head, knowing he’s wrong. “No, we have more,” I stammer, my voice shaking.

“No, that was the last one. The others have already been used by other students and their parts of the study. I’ll need to make a special trip back out there, which I’m sure the dean will love to hear about.” My face pales, and my knees buckle.

“Oh, no. You can’t tell them. I’ll be finished,” I plead.

His lips twist up into a smirk. “Then you need to do me a solid as well, since I’m going to have to mess up my vacation that was already moved out because of this extended project.”

“What favor?”

“You’re going to be my fake girlfriend for the break.”

“What?” I drop two steps back, nearly stumbling before he catches me around the waist. I quickly straighten up and then say, “Girlfriend?”

“Yes. You were listening to my conversation, so you overheard that I was bringing a girlfriend and…”

“You don’t really have one?” How can he be single?

“Don’t rub it in.”

“What makes you think I don’t have a boyfriend?” I huff, pressing my hands on my hips.

He tilts his head, staring at me with a hardened glare. “You were gossiping with Ms. Sanderson after that jackass from the gift shop was hitting on you.”

“Oh, yeah.” I blush, biting down on my bottom lip as I dip my head to stare at my shoes. Damn it, I spilled solution on my sneakers.

“Your answer, now, because I’ll have to find someone else to pretend. It will be a simple, straightforward wedding weekend: you’ll look pretty on my arm, pretend that you like me for a few days, no unnecessary contact, and you get some cute outfits out of it.”

“Fine, but if this backfires on us…”

“Ms. Williams, it will work.”

“My name is Vivien. If we’re going to pretend to be a couple, you might want to call me that.”

“Okay, Vivien. Go back to work now, and we’ll discuss the rest later.” I roll my eyes and walk out of his office before he can say anything else to tick me off.

****

I can’t believe I’m doing this. I shake my head as I stuff my new makeup into the cute bag I bought. What have I gotten myself into? I hate this man.

Oh, no. That’s not true. My head shakes involuntarily as I repeat the lie over and over that I feed myself on a daily basis. It’s something I must use as my mantra because I have an insane crush on my project leader, supervisor, mentor, and bane of my existence, Dr. Caleb Hall.

He’s the epitome of a brilliant, arrogant asshole. He knows everything about marine biology and always seems to be around when I make a mistake. He lets me know I’m on thin ice every time. I almost wish he’d let me go, but I’ve worked so damn hard to get to where I am.

Although the passion for the ocean has gone, I love the theory but the hands-on things aren’t as fun.

Most sea creatures don’t appeal to me as much as sharks and larger sea animals like dolphins, whales, turtles, and coral do.

The tiny microbes and the creepy bug-like things can stay right where they are.

Sometimes it makes me feel bad, but I know that I’m not alone.

Several of the students in the program feel the same way.

Still, I managed to earn my way onto the project to finalize my degree working with Dr. Hall and his team, only to be put in this position:

His fake girlfriend.

I should report his ass for making the request, but I heard the call with his mother, and I know that she’s sick.

He wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t important, and since I’m his assistant, we can still work on the project material during the downtime leading up to the wedding.

Although, I do promise to make this week miserable for him.

I still remember our conversation from yesterday.

I wanted to kick him in the crotch for the way he told me not to flirt with any other men while we were there, as if I was just going to go around being a floozy wherever I went.

It’s beautiful outside today and perfect for a tiny outfit.

Since we’re headed to a week in the Keys, I’m going to need the tiniest of outfits, and as a girlfriend, I have to look the part.

I’m not a very girly girl, but I asked for some help from Heather, saying I was going on a trip but avoiding any mention that it was with Dr. Hall since she works with us as well.

Thankfully, she didn’t ask too many questions.

I dress cutely while showing as much skin as possible.

My hair and makeup appear subtle and friendly.

Yesterday he shoved his credit card into my hand, telling me to buy several dresses for the parties, so I did just that.

I’ll look the part of the perfect girlfriend if it means I’ll get badass clothes in the process.

He shoots me a text saying he’s out front, so I peek through my curtains and see him leaning on his nice sedan, waiting for me.

Caleb runs his hands through his short sandy brown hair, looking handsome as always in a yellow polo that matches perfectly with my outfit.

We make a perfect couple. Too bad we hate each other—or rather, he hates me.

I can’t seem to let go of that crush long enough to let the hate take over.

Still, I’d love to punch him in the nuts just once for good measure.

Gathering my rolling suitcase and my two garment bags, I lock up my apartment and head outside.

My eyes meet his, and I watch the doctor’s reaction.

Suddenly, I’m not sure I can do this when his oceanic blue eyes darken like a sea in the middle of a storm.

Lust crosses them, and his tongue comes out and licks his lips briefly before he remembers who he’s in front of.

“Let me take that.” He grabs my suitcase after popping open the trunk and slides my green baby inside.

“Do you have everything you need?” He opens the back door and hooks the garment bags next to his. Somehow that seems too intimate.

“I hope so,” I choke out and give him a sassy smile before opening the passenger door and sliding inside.

“Okay. Let’s head out, then.” He quickly closes my door before I can do it for myself, as if he’s afraid I’ll break it. Then I remember that this thing probably cost more than some people’s annual salaries.

Once he’s in the car, he gives me a once-over as if judging my outfit that he paid for. “So you got my message about matching?”

I smoothly slip my hand into my back pocket and pull out his card. “Actually, I didn’t, but it seems we have this thing down pat. Here you go.”

I firmly press his card against his chest, making sure to splay my palm flat on his broad, muscular frame and let it linger. “Pale yellow isn’t your color, though. Blue would suit your eyes much better. Now come on, Dr. Hall. We can’t be late to meet your mother.”

“She’s not going to be there until the day of the wedding.” A wave of relief fills my chest, but it doesn’t explain why I have to be there so soon, so I open the door and hop out. I didn’t need to be there early for no reason. Especially alone with my annoyingly attractive supervisor.