I watched Kate panic, thinking she had just shot herself in the foot. But I quickly jumped in to save her. That’s what I was there for, after all.
“Actually, I will be,” I interjected. “My company has been extremely successful, so I figured why not retire early? I can afford to.” The men instantly recoiled out of insecurity, which took care of any sexist judgment they might have tried to argue next. “Or I have a buddy that works from home with their kid since his wife runs her own restaurant full-time. But aside from all of that … Kate is great with kids. Olivia adores her.”
“Awww,” Diane melted, placing a hand over her heart. “That’s so sweet.”
“And what’s their child’s name?” Chuck asked.
I blinked. “Come again?”
“Your friend’s child. The one who stays home with the baby while the wife works. Sorry if that seems like a weird question to ask. Diane here just loves baby names.”
“It’s true,” she snickered.
I stuttered as my mind came up blank. The problem was that the kid's name was Olivia...but they all thought she was my kid.
“Travis!” Kate blurted suddenly. “Their kid’s name is Travis, and he loves having playdates with Olivia. Which would work great if Ben became a stay-at-home dad. In fact, he’d probably be so busy you all would never see him.”
I squinted my eyes at her, laughing under my breath, but tried to keep up appearances for everyone else. She really was charming, even when she was on the verge of making a fool of herself. I was honestly looking forward to spending more time with her.
5
Kate
I could barely contain my anger the minute we said goodnight to everyone and started walking back to Ben’s car. Of course he was just strolling along, cool as a cucumber. Meanwhile I was fuming with nostrils flaring and fists clenched.
“This is all just a game to you,” I snipped as we climbed back into his car. “But this is my life you’re messing with here! My career!”
“Exactly,” he puzzled from the driver’s seat. “That’s why I’m … helping?”
“It’s helping to volunteer to bring Olivia to the park this Saturday? You don’t think they’re going to notice that she barely has any clue who I am or that she doesn’t call you ‘daddy?’”
“You didn’t realize she wasn’t mine when we were hanging out,” he argued.
I shot him the dirtiest look I could muster, still in disbelief that he would pull such a stunt. “You could have just went along with my excuse for why we couldn’t go.”
“Look, Kate. Tonight went great and all. But one dinner, sans kid, isn’t going to convince them. That Chuck guy is already suspicious, and it is a little odd that you wouldn’t mention a fiancé and a soon-to-be step-kid until this prospective client came up. Bringing me along tonight was a start, but it wasn’t enough to convince them. We had to do something to make it all more believable.”
“Why do you care anyway!?” I fired back. “I thought you were just doing me this one pity favor because you felt bad about lying to me. Why are you suddenly so invested? Or is it just that you enjoy lying so much you jump on any excuse to deceive people!?”
“You’re welcome, anyway,” he huffed, looking dejected for the first time since all of this started.
I started to feel mildly guilty for being so hard on him. It wasn’t exactly him that I was pissed at. It was the situation and my job’s ridiculous habit of judging me by my personal life rather than my work performance. But then I quickly remembered all the other reasons I had to be pissed at Ben.
“For someone who didn’t plan on ever seeing me again, you sure are signing yourself up to spend a lot of unnecessary time with me!” I shrieked.
“I thought the whole point is that it is necessary … Your job depends on it, remember? And why were you so desperate to see me again, anyway? Surely a woman that looks like you doesn’t have a problem finding guys. Why latch onto me?”
“I didn’t latch onto you! I liked the person you appeared to be while we were having coffee! Obviously you’re nothing like that. Which I would have soon figured out had neither of us lied and we just dated like normal people,” I growled.
I was beyond relieved when we pulled up to my apartment complex, but frustrated all over again when Ben got out of the car and followed me to the door.
“I don’t need you to walk me in. I’ll call you about Saturday to work out the logistics since you got us into this mess.”
“How long has it been?” he asked suddenly from over my shoulder.
I spun around on my heels, spitting back, “How long has what been!?”
“Since you’ve had this,” he answered as he lunged forward and pressed his lips to mine.
I was screaming on the inside for a split second and was fully prepared to smack him away. But then my body instinctively melted as I realized it had been far too long since I felt a man’s hands on my body … since I was wrapped in a man’s scent as I drowned in the minty taste of his mouth. It was intoxicating and far too satisfying to resist. It fried my brain, making me forget for a moment that it was Ben I was kissing. I almost didn’t even care that it was. Maybe he was right, and I was desperate. So desperate that any man, especially one as good looking as him, could get the job done.
I resented the absence of his warm, plump lips and his strong hands on the back of my body the moment he pulled away. “What was that?” I managed to say with my eyes still closed.
“I have a way of being able to tell when it’s been a while since a woman has had sex,” he boasted. “It makes them act a special kind of crazy. Which you are obviously doing left and right. That’s why you lied to your boss in the first place.”
“You think you know everything, don’t you?” I squinted at him, trying not to focus on how badly I wanted him to do that again … or any part of me that knew he was right.
“Not everything,” he grinned, stepping close again. “But I have a few good hunches here and there. Like …” his voice dropped to an irresistible deep, sexy rasp as he ran his hand along the back of my hair, taking it in his fist to tilt my face back up towards his. “I have a hunch that you enjoyed that kiss more than you wanted to. And that if I do it again … you’re not going to stop me.”
The hum of his words vibrated through my entire body, striking a tingling sensation between my legs. He was right. My mouth floated back towards him like a moth to a flame. Only this time, his tongue rolled across mine, intensifying the swelling desire that was starting to explode inside of me.
Damn, he was a good kisser. Sure, it had been a while. But I remembered enough to know a good kisser when I found one. And he was a pro. Each stroke of his tongue or kneading of his hand along my body left me weak at the knees. I guess that was why I completely sank against his chest, putting my body at his mercy.
“Show me inside,” he murmured against my lips.
I swallowed hard, wishing I could say no. But there was no way he could get me that worked up just for me to send him home. It was game over.