B00Z637D2Y (R) (6 page)

“You look amazing as always,” Michael said approaching her. The only thing that revealed she was on edge was the widening of her eyes as he got closer. “Truly amazing.” And with that, he pulled her into his arms, mindful to angle their position properly for their stunned audience, and took her mouth in a deep, overtly sensual kiss.

…

A yummy noise from deep in Michael’s throat pulled Mia out of her lust haze.
Holy crap
the man could kiss. And she’d kissed him way too long. She’d totally forgotten everything once Michael’s tongue met hers, exploring, dancing, demanding. Time, place, even awareness of who she was had flown out the window. She pulled back, keenly aware of his hardness pressed against her. Slowly, she took a deep breath, unwound her fingers from his shirt, and moved out of his embrace.

Jason cleared his throat and Mia grinned. In addition to being a great kisser, Michael was a genius. Jason would never tell her that no man would put up with her again. Not after seeing her kiss this man with his perfect features, clothes, and manners.

“Shall we?” Michael said, gesturing for the door. “I invited your good friend, Jason, to join us for drinks. I hope that’s okay.”

Uh oh.
How long would Jason buy this act? How long could she carry it off? “Sure.”

Michael twined his fingers through hers as if they were lovers and hadn’t met yesterday under less-than-ideal circumstances, and they strolled to his apartment, Jason following behind looking as confused as Mia felt.

She couldn’t help but wonder why Michael would do such a thing. Honestly, she had no idea what would motivate him to pretend to be her boyfriend other than just to teach Jason a lesson, but he’d accomplished that with the kiss. Why the prolonged show?

She fought back a gasp when she entered Michael’s apartment. It was perfect, like a magazine spread for an architectural periodical. Chrome, glass, steel, and black leather. All perfectly placed and displayed.

“Scotch, Jason?” he asked as he slipped behind the bar. “Mia prefers wine if you’d rather have that.”

“Actually, her favorite drink is tequila,” Jason said with a grin. “Tequila does great things for Mia.”

“
I
do great things for Mia, Jason,” Michael responded coolly, pouring red wine in a crystal goblet.

Whoa.
He was taking this whole playing-the-boyfriend thing seriously. She wondered what he’d be like as a real boyfriend. Actually, the word “boyfriend” wasn’t sufficient for a man like him. So in control and calm. What would he be like, she wondered, if he ever dropped that calm façade?

“So what do you do?”

Jason sat up straighter. “Oh, I work on Wall Street.”

“For whom? I’ve never heard of you.” He handed Mia the wine and kissed her hand as she reached for it, causing a whole passel of butterflies to launch into flight in her belly, fluttering so wildly that she felt a little queasy.

“Well, I’ve only recently started work there. I’m a runner right now, but I’m working my way up.” His voice trailed off slightly as Michael sat next to Mia, scanning her from head to toe as if he could eat her up and as if no one else were in the room. Jason cleared his throat. “What do
you
do, Michael?”

“I dabble in a lot of things.” He ran his finger up the outside of Mia’s knee and she sucked in a breath. His fingers were cool from handling the drinks, but the chills skittering up her spine had nothing to do with temperature. “Beautiful things.”

Holy crap.
Maybe Gladys had the right of it. Maybe she needed to pay a visit to Mr. Anderson’s fun house herself. Her body was in countdown mode on the launch pad. Ten…nine…eight…
No! Houston, we have a problem,
she warned herself.
It’s all a show.
She angled away from his fingers.

He stood and pulled a card out of his wallet. “Here’s what I do, Jason. Feel free to give my office a call. Maybe we can meet for lunch.” His phone rang, and he pulled it out and grimaced. “If you two will excuse me for a moment, please. I need to take this call from the security desk. I’m expecting the groomer any minute.”

“Oh, did you take Clancy to the groomer I told you about?”

He winked. “Of course I did. I always take your suggestions, sweetheart.” And then he was gone. Leaving her alone with her ex.

Staring at the card in his hands, Jason whistled. “Holy fuck. Do you know who that is?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I know who he is.”

He continued as if she hadn’t spoken, which was his norm when they were dating. He equated her forgetfulness and disorganization with stupidity. What she realized now was that she had begun to believe it, too. “That’s Michael Anderson,” he marveled. “Like,
the
Michael Anderson of Anderson Enterprises and Anderson Auctions. He’s like…” he lowered the card and stared at her. “How’d you pull this off? How long have you known each other? It can’t have been long. I mean, really, Mia. You and Michael Anderson?”

“I owe you no answers, explanations, or information. I owe you nothing.”

Mercifully, a knock came on the front door and Michael entered the room before Jason pressed her any further. “That will be the groomer. You never told me where you want to go for dinner. We can go anywhere you like, Mia mine.”

Mia mine.
He should have been an actor.

“You’re Michael Anderson,” Jason said.

A perfect eyebrow arched. “Yes, I introduced myself as such when we first met.”

“Yeah, but.” He stopped because Michael was no longer paying any attention to him and was speaking with a woman at his door. Clancy, sporting a new blue bow and matching nail polish streaked in between Michael’s feet and launched himself into Mia’s lap.

“Hi, Mr. Clancy Fancy Pants. I like your new ensemble.”

“I see you got that dog you always wanted,” Jason said as Michael shut the door.

“Yeah. Michael is very indulgent.”

“He’d have to be.”

Mia cringed a little inside as she finished the sentence in her head.
…to put up with you.

“It was nice to meet you, Jason, but I promised Mia a romantic dinner for two.”

“Oh, sure.” He stood. “So, are you coming to the wedding, Michael? I mean it’s two weeks out and I’m not even sure how serious you guys are, so I might be overstepping.”

“We’re
very
serious,” Michael said without hesitation.

“Oh, no. Michael can’t take that kind of time off,” Mia interjected quickly. This was a disaster. Michael should have ended this charade after the kiss.

“That’s too bad,” Jason said with a shrug. “I guess it will be up to me to get you places on time, Mia. I’ll take care of her for you, Michael, don’t worry.”

Michael strode to her and held his hand out. She set Clancy aside, placed her hand in his, and rose to her feet. She could feel the tension in his fingers. “I never worry, Jason. I take care of things before the fact, so that worry is not part of the equation. Of course I will be attending Sue and Mark’s wedding. I wouldn’t dream of sending my fiancée alone.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but fell silent when he gave her a look that would wither the strongest will.

Jason stared open-mouthed. “Wow. You’re engaged? That’s… That’s surprising.” When Michael’s expression hardened, Jason backpedaled. “Um, I mean that’s great. She’s a great girl, yeah. Congrats.” He shook Michael’s hand. “Wait until my friends hear I had drinks at your apartment. Can’t wait to hang out at the wedding, Michael.” And without so much as a goodbye, or even a glance at Mia, he left.

As if glued in place, Mia remained perfectly still, unable to look at Michael. What had possessed him to say he was going to the wedding? More than that, why did he have to say they were engaged? She pulled her hand from his.

“What’s the matter?” He set his drink on the coffee table.

“Look. I appreciate what you did here. It was really cool of you.”

“But?”

“But why did you say you were going to the wedding? More than that, why did you say we were engaged? Now it’ll be twice as bad because I’ll show up alone after Jason tells everyone I’m bringing the almighty Michael Anderson, businessman extraordinaire, and have landed the undisputed greatest catch of all time. It’s going to be the ultimate jilt story. I’ll never live it down. This plays right into everyone’s expectations.”

“Greatest catch of all time?”

She slumped down on to the sofa, tears burning the back of her eyelids. “Oh, stop it. You know what I mean.”

“I did it because he was being an ass to you and treating you like nobody would want you. Well, I proved him wrong.”

The real problem was that Jason was right. Nobody would want her. She was way too scatterbrained and unpredictable. Jason had been the longest-term boyfriend she’d ever had, and that hadn’t even lasted a year.

Michael walked over to the bar and poured another drink. “Would you like more wine?”

“No. I hate wine. I drank it to play along.” And she’d enjoyed playing along, which troubled her. What troubled her the most, though, was her reaction to his kiss. He was like a potent drug of some kind. She had to avoid kissing him again for fear she’d get hooked. Men like Michael Anderson were not for her. In fact, no man was for her. “Why did you even start this charade?”

“As an apology.”

“For what?”

“For being rude last night. My leash comment was out of line.”

“It was. But after this, consider yourself forgiven.”

“I’m sorry that I took it too far. I should have stopped at dinner date.”

“No biggy. I’ll figure out a story to cover for the wedding. Maybe you’ll have a business meeting abroad or something the day of the wedding.”

She started for the door and he stepped in her way. “Wait. I promised you dinner. That part was real.”

Only real in that it was part of his apology. It would make him feel better, but after that kiss, Mia knew she needed to stay far away from this man. “And I appreciate it. I’m just not hungry. You’re off the hook, Michael Anderson.”

Clancy nosed her palm from the sofa and whined. She ruffled his long, soft hair. “He’s adorable. I was surprised you had pink on him before.”

“I didn’t. I told you when we met, he’s not my dog.”

Of course he wasn’t. It was obvious this guy didn’t even like dogs. She waited to see if he would explain, but he didn’t.

“Okay, I’ll bite. Whose dog is it?”

He gestured for her to sit, and she did, Clancy immediately curling up in her lap. “I’ll come clean. It’s the least I can do after creating an absentee fiancé you’ll have to cover for. He’s a foster dog assigned to me by my psychiatrist. She thinks the dog will help me loosen up and become more flexible.”

Well, that explained a lot of things. “And what do you think about that plan?”

“I think it’s bullshit, but I can’t give it back because she’s out of the country. I just need to take care of it for a few weeks, and I’m done.” He picked up his drink and took a swallow. She looked down at Clancy because the movement of his Adam’s apple was too distracting. “The thing is, I promised to take care of it myself and not board it.”

Sifting her fingers through the dog’s hair, she kept her eyes down. “I’m surprised you are going through with this.”

“I gave my word, and I always follow through when I give my word.”

“Yeah, but it’s obvious you’re not a dog type.” She looked up because that may have crossed a line.

If it bothered him, she couldn’t tell. “You can’t possibly know that.”

“Yes, I can. I mean, look around here. Your place is perfect. Spotless.”

He stared at her for a moment before speaking. “Thank you.”

Letting the conversation end there was the right thing to do and she knew it. Somehow, though, like always, she couldn’t let it drop. “It’s not really a compliment. I mean, it’s perfect visually. Striking even, like you.” His only reaction was to arch an eyebrow. “But your apartment has no heart, you know what I mean? No surprise or emotion to it. I kind of see where your shrink was going. A dog might add some life to the place. To you.”

His face and voice registered no reaction. He set his glass on a square marble coaster and adjusted the coaster so that it was lined up with the corner of the coffee table. “I appreciate your input. I have a great deal of life and emotion.”

“I’m sure you do. You just don’t show it. Dogs put it all out there. Maybe you should take a lesson from Clancy.”

“You put it all out there, too, don’t you, Mia?”

She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, which was maddening. She’d actually have felt better if he’d acted pissed off. Anything other than this odd calm. “Yes. That’s my biggest fault, actually. I tend to speak my mind before thinking. I also forget things. I guess we’re opposites.”

“So it appears.” Motionless, he regarded her, which made her squirm. Everything about him exuded power. It was foreign and frighteningly attractive. The hottest thing, though, was imagining what would happen if he let go. She couldn’t resist one more try. “You’re angry.”

“No.”

“Yes, you are.” She straightened Clancy’s bow.

Regarding her, he remained statue still. “I’m not. It doesn’t further my agenda to be angry with you.”

He might have been unmoved, but she sure wasn’t. “Oh, my God. What agenda?”

“To get a good night’s sleep.”

Let it go
, she told herself. But, she couldn’t. “Really? Are you
that
goal oriented? You’ll brush off someone calling you a boring stick-in-the-mud in order to get a good night’s sleep?”

“Well, now that you put it that way…” He smiled, surprising her completely, causing her breath to catch and her heart to feel like it needed a rewind. He leaned close and whispered in her ear, warm breath fanning across her cheek with an entrancing aroma of scotch. “You didn’t seem to think I was a boring stick-in-the-mud when I kissed you.”

Shit.
He’d gone straight for the nuclear option. As if she were in his arms again, her body thrummed to life from her fingertips to her toes and everywhere in between. His kiss had been as extraordinary as it had been unexpected—just like her reaction at that moment. Time to get out before she begged him for a reenactment. Heart hammering in her ears as she walked toward the door, she forced herself to move slowly and affect a calm she didn’t feel. “Yeah, well, I’m still trying to figure that out.”