TWENTY-TWO
THE FLIGHT WAS uneventful. Rather than sit with their dates, the women sat together.At Holly’s request, Baer used the time to prep his colleague. Her point was fair, Baer knew the kind of things a man had to know about his date and what could slide by unknown. A boyfriend didn’t know every single thing about his girlfriend. It was possible to be too prepared. Some things should elude him.
After disembarking, their bags were put into the waiting limo and then they were on the road.
“This is some way to live, Royal,” Donoghue said, pouring champagne into flutes first for the women, then for himself and Baer.
“It’s the way Truman wants Frey to live,” Holly said, gesturing around the cabin. “No way I could afford any of this.” After sipping her champagne, she laughed. “Why do you think I stick so close to wonderful Freya?”
Holly raised the flute at her and Donoghue copied. Freya could only muster a polite half smile. She didn’t even bother to drink any champagne and instead put it on the shelf above the fridge. Baer did the same then slouched at her side. Credit where it was due, Donoghue was doing his best to distract Holly from the hiccup of losing her intended fake boyfriend.
“I’m sorry,” Baer mumbled by her ear.
Having been fixated on deciphering how convincing a couple Holly and Donoghue made, her own date managed to sneak up on her. She wasn’t sorry to find him only a couple of inches away. She was sorry to see the apology in his gaze.
“No,” she said, spreading her fingers on his thigh. “I’m stressed about this stupid trip. A family vacation is my idea of a nightmare and with everything else…”
“Squires fucking up your fake love lives—”
“Hey,” she said, twisting further around, digging her nails into his thigh. “You’re about the only person in the world keeping me sane right now. This isn’t fake…” Not that she was ready for his agreement or rejection. Her attention descended to her caress. “That’s probably against your golden rule.”
“My golden rule?”
Her hand rose to his cheek. “Falling for a man paid to appear in love. I said the day we met you had to be good at faking it to do this job.”
“I don’t fake anything with you. I’m sorry for being insensitive.”
“You don’t do this job to have women fall helplessly for you. I know why you do it. I understand that.”
“Everything was fine when I left you the other night,” he said. “You were smiling… I thought I made you happy.”
“You do make me happy… That day was probably the best of my life.”
“You don’t look happy today.” He caught her hand to press his mouth to her palm. “Talk to me, Lil’.”
“I just… I guess it made me aware of what I can’t have,” she said, watching him kiss her fingertips.
“You have me, babe,” he said, mesmerized by her skin. “God, I don’t think I could fall any harder.”
The point of him coming was for them to get to know each other. They weren’t supposed to be so entangled already, though she couldn’t regret it. Finding a man to adore, who adored her in return, wasn’t a negative. She knew better than to be pessimistic. Losing her parents young taught her the virtue of appreciating what was right in front of her. Right now, that was Baer. Those she loved could be ripped away at any moment. The idea of losing Baer was so sickening that she chased it away fast.
Linking their fingers, she brought their joined hands to her lap. “I didn’t want to use Squires. I was reluctant… scared.” This wasn’t news, he’d been there. “It’s not the kind of thing I’d ever have thought of myself. Holly’s colleague put her in touch with the agency… I didn’t think I was, but… It turns out I am a woman who uses escorts.”
“No,” he said, strengthening his hold on her hand while using the other to sweep her hair from her face. “Don’t think of me like that, of us like that. If it’s upsetting you, I’ll call Conrad and cancel—”
“No…” Shaking her head, she sat straighter. “I don’t think of us like that.”
And she couldn’t do it to Holly. After bringing the guys all the way there, it would be killer to send them back and leave Holly empty-handed. Pasting on a smile, she pushed aside her misgivings.
“If it’s jealousy, other women don’t—”
“No,” she said, cutting him off again and widening her smile. “Can we just forget I was snappy today and go back to adoring each other?”
His gaze dropped to her mouth; he swallowed hard. Had she missed something? Caught up in her own swirling thoughts, she hadn’t taken time to ask how he’d felt since they were together and if everything was okay in his life.
“What about you?” This wasn’t only about her. “Do… Do I make you happy?”
“You…?” He scoffed. “I can’t get you out of my head, Lil’ Skit… You’re the most incredible—yes, you make me happy. But the things I can’t give you…”
All she needed was him. Dangerous? Yes, but it was the truth.
“Don’t think about that,” she said, pushing up to trace her mouth over his. “Think about lying in bed with me… about how happy you make me.”
Because in her bed, she’d been happy with him. They’d both been happy. It was only in waking alone that she faced the reality of being with him.
He got even closer. “I do that and I’ll embarrass myself here in the fancy car.”
Freya pressed herself against him. “We’ll wake up next to each other for the next two weeks.”
And then maybe never again. She wouldn’t relax her smile or give him any more cause for concern, but how would it be? For the next two weeks, they’d have each other every minute. Be spoiled with each other. Real or not, they would belong to each other for the duration of their stay. And when they got home, they’d go back to how things were. He’d return to Squires and she would wake alone.
“Baer, hey,” Donaghue said. “Holly says this place is on like this massive estate. It’s this big building made to look like some fancy country house or something, divided up into apartments inside.”
“Yeah,” Baer said, retrieving their champagne. He handed hers over and took a mouthful of his own. “I know, I looked it up.”
“You did?” Freya asked, lowering her glass before tasting the champagne.
“Why do you think I asked for the name of it?”
If memory served, he’d asked while they were in bed, while she was recovering, so her memory wasn’t exactly clear. Even she hadn’t known the name at the time and had to text Holly to get it. At some point, her cousin got back to her. Her phone had chimed anyway, Baer was the one to check it.
“Holly says there’s like fishing and hiking and stuff,” Donoghue said, screwing up his face. “You know how to fish?”
“You never went fishing as a kid?”
Donoghue laughed. “Any time I went to the water, I was busy catching babes in bikinis.”
“Won’t be doing that this time,” Baer said, tucking his arm around her.
“You won’t?” Wriggling a little lower, she angled to lean against him. “Maybe I’d like to be caught.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Then break out the bikinis, baby.”
It was hardly the weather for it but…
Sigh. They were only a few hours into the vacation, and already she was frisky. The things his proximity did to her. He should come with a health warning, a Squires disclaimer that absolved the company of responsibility for minds lost and abandon embraced. God, what was wrong with her? Smart as it seemed at the time, the no sex rule weighed heavy on her.
Did he have to be so hot? So magnetic? It wasn’t fair. He was hers, but not hers. They were together, but not.
“Maybe we should have a no flirt rule too.”
“Baby, guy can only restrain himself so much. You want me to keep my hands to myself, and now my words too? Cool, I can do that, so long as I get to look at you. That’s enough to sustain me a lifetime.”
Lifetime? Would they have one of those together? Too early to be thinking that way. She wouldn’t cloud her judgment, otherwise she’d be acting on confirmation bias. If they were meant to be, they’d figure it out on the vacation. Wasn’t that what it was for?
They rode a while, finishing their champagne, admiring the view. The outside view, not inside. Though she may have done a little of that too. They talked about the plane ride, and various members of the Piven family, both those joining them, and those absent.
When they slowed to turn onto a gravel driveway flanked by forest, the conversation hushed. Intrigue took over, fizzing in the air, tantalizing them with what was to come. Her fingers linked through Baer’s tightening as they advanced.
This was it, no going back now. Her family weren’t that bad, ordinarily. Spending so much time with them in such a concentrated environment wasn’t something she’d done for years. Years, as in probably since before puberty. They spent few holidays together; she tended to stick with Truman whenever there were celebrations to be had. He had no one else, and her fondness for him outweighed what she felt for the Pivens. Maybe she shouldn’t think like that, but, believe it or not, she and her grandfather did enjoy each other’s company, most of the time. Once, when she was a teen, Truman had joined her for Christmas, Thanksgiving, one of the holidays, with the Pivens. Note: once. Turned out once was enough.
It wasn’t like he wasn’t gracious. He had invited them to the house to spend holidays. While exuberant, they weren’t bad houseguests. Though it was easy to say that when in such a vast house with considerable grounds. The Pivens may have been present, but Truman didn’t have to hang around with them.
Knowing little about where they were going, she had no idea if the situation was the same there. The grounds inspired optimism. There was space, if not inside, then outside. Though how often would she get away with excusing herself outside? And Baer, what about him? She couldn’t abandon him. God knew what her family would say to embarrass her.
They turned onto a wide parking lot that circled the main house. And that house? Huge! Good. Fantastic. Except… damn, why hadn’t she spent time researching the place as Baer had? The building might look big from the outside, but they were only renting an apartment within it, and she had no idea how many dwellings occupied the structure.
“Here we go,” Holly said, a whisper of trepidation in her words.
They made eye contact and she smiled, taking on the role of comforter despite her own apprehension.
“It’ll be fine, it’s family. Your parents, your siblings, how bad could it be?”
It was the slink of her cousin’s eyes to the man at her side that revealed the true source of her anxiety. Hadn’t it seemed like such a great idea at the time? That wasn’t the moment for an, “I told you so,” yet the words threatened her throat. Hadn’t she been the one to say this was a bad idea? Nerves be damned, she squeezed Baer’s hand. However this turned out, if it didn’t damage her relationship with Baer, she couldn’t regret it. She couldn’t regret that he’d come into her life.
“I should find out if anyone’s here yet,” Holly said, retrieving her cellphone from her purse.
Right, because did they know where to go? Could they check-in if the named party on the reservation wasn’t present? Providing they had vacancies, she could get them checked in. Were there any special requirements relevant to the rest of their group?
A massive clearing opposite the main entrance of the building was lined by trees at the far edge, not so much a forest as a perimeter. Peeking through the branches, glimmers of light reflected on glistening water. If there was a lake, maybe there would be fishing after all. Her bikini comment was meant to be a joke, it would be far too cold to swim. Let’s just hope no one took her seriously. She was about to bring the others’ attention to the water when two forms appeared through those trees. Swinging their joined hands, the woman was in raptures of laughter while the male grinned at his companion.
Sweet to see such a happy couple. It actually took her a minute, and a few more yards of their advance, to recognize the female as her own cousin.
“Holly,” she said, flapping a hand in her cousin’s general direction. “Look…” Her other hand waved at the window, finger extended, indicating the view. “It’s Kelly.”
“I’m supposed to be pleased to see her and I’m so not. This is really happening.”
“We’re fine. We’re in this together, right? We will get through this.” It would be nice if the guys picked up on that being a good time to also reassure Holly. They didn’t. She bounced her and Baer’s joined hands on his thigh. “Right, Baer, honey?”
When he didn’t respond, she turned to see him fixated on something outside, what? He was just staring over the top of her head. Was it the couple, or was something else putting concern in his gaze?
“What is it?” Holly asked, her focus bouncing from one man to the next. “Why do you both look like that?”
“Don?”
“I see it.”
“See what?” she asked, a whisper of desperation curling in her gut. “Would one of you talk?”
“We have a problem.”
Okay, still no clearer.
“Problem? What’s the problem?”
“If that’s Nickson, he knows who we are.”
And that served her a dose of concern too. Concern? Maybe panic was a better word. “How does he know who you are?”
It was only then that Baer’s gaze met hers. “Squires. He knows us from Squires.”