All Jacked Up (23 page)
Authors: Lorelei James
Tags: #Romance, #Contemporary, #Adult, #Western, #Red Hots!, #Contemporary Romance
You didn’t seem to mind it the other night when you gave me an orgasm on the dance floor during
“You Look So Good In Love”.
Yeah, she wasn’t bringing up that reminder.
Jack pointed. “Here we are.”
They crested a rise. The town spread looked like any ordinary small town. But as soon as they hit the city limits, Keely could see the difference. It was…clean. The houses were well maintained. No rusted swing sets or broken down bicycles. Once they passed into the commercial area, there was more diversity.
No regular billboards, say nothing of flashing billboards.
“Whoa. It’s like…the flashback to the town’s past in the movie
Back to the Future
.”
“Exactly!” Jack grinned at her. “You’ll freak when you see the clock in the town square. It’s right outside our hotel.”
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All Jacked Up
Keely gawked at everything. Jack pointed out the architectural details he liked and loathed. He waxed poetic about the potential, meshing visions with reality, style with modern amenities. Happy as she was to hear his excitement about his work, he lost her a couple times. She half-feared Jack would blame her if he wasn’t awarded this job. But he wouldn’t have a shot at the project at all if it wasn’t for their fake engagement. Yet, she had an uneasy feeling.
“Keely?”
Her attention returned to him. “What? Sorry.”
“Was I boring you?”
A dutiful fiancée would lie and make him feel good.
“Maybe some.” Shit. She waited for him to toss an insult back at her.
But Jack released a resigned sigh. “I’m told I ramble on sometimes. If it appears my client’s eyes are glazing over when I’m talking, could you give me a sign?”
“Sure. Got a sign in mind?”
“Tap on your chin with your index finger?”
She thrust out her chest in a sex kitten move. “Or I could just flash them my tits, baby.”
Smiling, Jack said, “I’m the only one who gets to read that sign, buttercup.” He kissed her. The quick peck morphed into something…more.
A rap sounded on the window.
They broke apart guiltily.
A middle-aged bellman in a spiffy red tasseled hat smiled through Keely’s window. “May I help you out, miss?”
“Uh. Sure. Thank you.”
Jack popped the locks and the trunk. The bellman lifted the bags out and wheeled them to the front desk. Another red-hat-wearing bellman held the door and Jack slipped him the car keys.
Keely noticed the matronly woman at the check-in desk also wore a red uniform, complete with tasseled hat. Had she somehow stumbled into a Shriners secret hideout?
“Mr. Donohue, so happy to have you back at the Milford Inn.” The woman behind the desk beamed.
“And this lovely young woman must be your fiancée? Kelly McKay?”
“Keely,” she corrected gently. “Two e’s, one l. Common mistake.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry. Such a pretty name. I’ll just get that changed.” Her fingers flew across the keys.
“There. Done. I have you on the second floor.” She slid the key card envelope across the desk. “Horace will help you with your bag.”
Keely felt like an idiot looking to Jack for direction. Normally she’d take the bag herself. In this situation was she supposed to let her fiancé haul the luggage? Or let the man decide to hand the responsibility to the bellhop?
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Jack smiled at Horace. “You can take my bag up to my room too.” He handed the man a folded bill.
“Mr. Donohue is on the third floor.” She passed a piece of paper with the room numbers to Horace and he rolled the suitcases to the elevator.
“Here’s your key, Mr. Donohue. Please let us know if we can assist you in any way during your stay.
Don’t forget if you need room service, it’s available twenty-four hours a day.”
“Much appreciated, Mrs. Trudeau.” Jack slipped his hand into hers and they strolled out the front door.
After half a block, Keely dug her heels in and faced Jack. “Separate rooms? On separate floors?
Really?”
“Very old fashioned, I know, but you can’t say I didn’t warn you.” He squeezed her hand. “It’s one line we can’t cross, Keely, sneaking into each other’s rooms.”
“Then I’m glad I brought my vibrator.”
Jack choked out, “You did?”
“No, you’re so easy. But we can have phone sex, right?”
“It’s only two nights.” He rubbed his thumb over her wrist in a lazy, sexy manner and she knew his eyes smoldered behind his sunglasses. “Have you gotten so used to having me in your bed you’ll miss me if I’m not there?”
“If I say yes?” she asked coyly.
“Then I’ll have raunchy phone sex with you.”
“If I say no?”
“Then I’ll still have raunchy phone sex with you.”
“Like I said, GQ, you’re easy.” A total lie. Jack Donohue was the least easy man she’d ever known.
In the hour they wandered, several shopkeepers came out to greet them. She counted three hair salons and two barbershops. One large drugstore. Two furniture stores. Three diner-type restaurants. Assorted boutiques, featuring purses, costume jewelry and shoes. Those fancy, exclusive shops made her break out in hives.
Keely wasn’t a “shopper” any more than she was a girly-girl. She bought her clothes at western stores or outlet malls. She didn’t spend time agonizing over what to wear, although she had a weakness for funky cowgirl boots. She managed to slather on makeup most days, but not in excess.
Her one indulgence was lilac-scented lotion and oil from Sky Blue, a company her cousin Kade’s wife, Skylar, owned that specialized in naturally made beauty products. But she probably wouldn’t have bothered if the store wasn’t right below her apartment.
With Jack gone in meetings all day tomorrow, hopefully she’d have time to explore on her own.
A horrible thought struck her. What if the wives of the committee members had planned her day for her? What would she do?
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Buck up. This is important to Jack.
“Keely? What’s wrong?”
She smiled at him. “Nothing. We should go back to the hotel so I can freshen up before dinner.”
They parted ways in the hotel lobby. Probably so the front desk could report she and Jack weren’t sneaking in a quick fuck before happy hour. Right. No cocktail hour in Milford.
Keely hung up her clothes and checked out the room. Tall windows covered in chintz and velvet draperies. Fussy furniture with spindly legs and loud fabrics. The headboard was wood gilded with gold.
Fancy place. Too fancy for her taste. She preferred a relaxed, casual atmosphere where she wasn’t afraid to put her boots on the coffee table.
Maybe she should take a nap. They’d stumbled out of bed at the butt crack of dawn to drive to Rapid City. After hopping a plane to Salt Lake City, they made the two-hour trek to Milford via rental car. She yawned and closed her eyes.
Her cell phone buzzing on the mattress woke her. “Yeah?”
“I’m out of the country for three freakin’ weeks and I come back to find out you’re engaged? To Jack Donohue of all people? Jesus. What the fuck, Keels?”
“I missed you too, Ramona.”
“Sorry. It just caught me by surprise. I got the text message with the engagement picture and the engagement party invite from Aunt Carolyn. But no squealing phone call from you. No gossipy tidbits from our other relatives about you being knocked up… They all expressed the same WTF reaction I had. So tell me K, is it true?”
“Yes. It was fast.” She offered the condensed version of her courtship with Jack.
“Do you love him?”
“Yeah, I do.” At least that much wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t any easier to admit. She’d done the one thing he’d warned her about and she’d feared: she’d fallen in love with him.
Ramona didn’t say much. “Are you at home right now with the new stud of your life?”
“No. Jack has a client thing in Utah and I’m with him. Where were you gone to for three weeks?”
“Hell,” Ramona said with no sarcasm. “I fired my travel coordinator the second I had cell service in the States. Trust me, you do not want to hear me whine about the Orient.” She paused. “You okay? For being wildly in
luurrve
and all, you don’t sound like your chipper self.”
“I’m nervous about meeting Jack’s clients. I do not want to say or do anything to fuck it up.”
“You’ll be fine. You’re charming, funny and you can drink any man under the table. At least you used to, but damn, you’ve been dull as dirt the last few years, cuz.”
“Ramona!”
“Kidding. Sheesh. Should I build up your confidence with serious stuff since your sense of humor has vanished?”
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“Yes, please.”
“Let’s start with the obvious. What are you wearing tonight?”
Keely rolled her eyes. Ramona lived the code “clothes make the woman” and truly believed all that fashionista crap. “I’m wearing my emerald moleskin skirt, brown boots with the orange and green butterflies, a slim-fitting, button-up shirt in dark tan and a brown bolero jacket.”
“Good. How many events do you have to dress for?”
“One more tomorrow night and that’s formal.”
“What else did you pack?”
Keely described her engagement dress.
“It sounds perfect, but showcase your personality by adding a splash of color. Look for a funky scarf in those shops you’re hitting tomorrow.”
Funky. Right. Milford, Utah didn’t like funky.
“Oh, and I’m sending you a box of samples I picked up. One pair of jeans will make you look totally hot. You’ll be a trendsetter in Sundance.”
“Another dream realized,” she said dryly. She tacked on, “Thanks, Ramona,” lest her cousin stop sending her free, cast-off western clothes.
“I’ve gotta run, hon, I just wanted to send my love and give you congrats on hooking a hottie. Does he have a big dick too?”
“Yep. And he knows how to use it.”
“Bitch. Call me next week when you get the clothes.”
“I will. Thanks.”
“Knock ’em dead, Keely. I have total faith in you.”
After she hung up she stared at the ceiling. “At least someone does.”
Keely swore she’d make the best of the next two days, her last two days with Jack as his fake fiancée.
She’d smile and act happy, even when it hurt that this make-believe situation was nearly over.
Too bad her feelings for him were real.
Jack nearly swallowed his tongue when Keely stepped from the elevator. And he was damn glad he had a suit jacket on to cover his immediate erection.
Holy fuck. She was a goddess.
He was used to seeing her dressed casually, wearing jeans, minimal makeup and her ever-present cowgirl boots. The outfit she’d chosen wasn’t overly dressy. Her choice of earth tones fit her personality.
Yet the cut and color of the clothing let her natural beauty shine through, so you didn’t notice the clothes, but the woman.
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His woman.
Keely approached him with a cautious smile. “Hey.”
He reached for her hand and kissed her palm before threading their fingers together. “You are absolutely exquisite.”
She blushed. Shifted from boot to boot, apparently stunned into speechlessness.
“Come on. It’s a short walk and I cannot wait to show you off.”
Her blue eyes sparked fire. “I am
not
a show heifer, Donohue.”
Jack was relieved her fit of nerves had passed. “There’s my feisty fiancée.”
They were quiet as they strolled to the restaurant. The hostess showed them to a small banquet room filled with people. Keely’s hand tightened around his.
“Relax, buttercup.” Jack put his mouth to her ear. “If you’re nervous, just imagine them in their underwear.”
“You’re the only person I want to imagine that way. You really want me staring at your crotch all night?”
“Whatever works.”
“Jack! My boy, how are you?”
Jack grinned at Henry Smith, a balding, barrel-shaped man with two chins and a politician’s smile. He thrust out his hand to shake Henry’s hand vigorously. “Henry. Great to see you again.”
“We are pleased to have you back.”
“I appreciate the second chance.” He curled his arm around Keely’s shoulder and brought her forward. “This is my fiancée, Keely McKay. Keely, this is Henry Smith, the brains and power behind the Milford Historical Preservation Committee.”
“Brains and power, bah.” Henry delicately shook Keely’s hand. “A real pleasure to meet you, Keely.
Although, I’ll admit to being surprised when Jack told me about your engagement. He’d never indicated in his dealings with the committee that he was involved in a serious relationship.”
“Oh, Jack keeps his personal and professional life separate, so I’m not surprised,” Keely said with a smile. “To be fair, I’d not heard of you either.”
He chuckled. “Well, I can certainly see why he’d want to keep such a beautiful woman all to himself.
Have you set a wedding date yet?”
“No. But my parents did throw us an engagement party last weekend.”
“How marvelous. My wife, April, whom you’ll meet shortly, will be so disappointed she didn’t get to send a gift.”
“Not to worry. I do have pictures of the party I’d love to show her.”
Jack patted her shoulder. “Keely. Sweetheart. I’m sure Henry and April aren’t interested in—”
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“Nonsense. We’d be delighted to see them,” Henry said. “And we would love an invite to the wedding.”
“We’re still working out schedules and details. I have a large family, and naturally I want all of them to be in attendance. It’s tricky trying to figure it all out.”
“I imagine.” Henry smiled at Jack. “Shall we catch up with the other committee members while we’re waiting for dinner to be served?”
“Absolutely.” Jack kept Keely close by because he could tell she was still nervous. These people made him uneasy too. As if they were waiting for him to fuck up and say or do something to take him out of the running for the job.
