Exception to the Rules (3 page)

Sebastian put his credit card on the bar top when the drinks arrived. He’d ordered an Irish lager, and he didn’t bother pouring it into the chilled pilsner. Instead, he took a long pull from the bottle, giving her an enticing view of his Adam’s apple. Her gaze moved down to his shirt. Blue oxford, well tailored, she’d bet. It fit him beautifully, and she liked that he’d rolled up the sleeves a couple of turns. His jeans surprised her, but then she realized he wasn’t tied to a company, and he could wear anything he liked. The jeans got her vote. They fit his tall, scrumptious body like a glove.

He coughed discreetly, and she almost spilled her wine in an attempt to get her gaze up and away from where it’d been focused. Again with the blushing. Good grief, what was wrong with her? That time of the month must be around the corner. She was never this...aware.

“Cooper filled me in on your situation.”

“So he said, but I wanted to make sure you understood completely before we go any further.”

“Okay.”

“It’s really an acting job. I thought he’d know someone out of work who could use the money. I can’t begin to fathom why you’d be interested.”

“I’ll explain why. But first, tell me what you expect.”

She took a sip of wine, felt it mellow out all the way down, easing some of her nervousness. “I have a boss who’s completely out of his mind, and I need someone to pretend to be my lover for a week. We’re promoting a new line of fashion with back-to-back junkets and a huge press party. The rules are that whoever I hire is going to have to be available for all of the events. For meals. For anything, all the while acting like we’re the couple of the century. But acting is as far as it goes.”

“Yes, that’s pretty much what Cooper said.”

“Okay, so why are you still interested? I have to be honest and tell you that I almost didn’t show up. Cooper twisted my arm and made me promise to see you. But I don’t get it.”

“Well, Gaea, I believe there’s something we could do for each other. I see your dilemma, and while I’m not an actor, I’m certain I can play the part. I’m a fast learner, and I have no social ties that would interfere.”

“But?”

He smiled with that mouth of his. She almost began to giggle uncontrollably.

“Here’s what I want from you in return,” he said, studying her eyes. “I want access.”

“Access?”

He nodded. “To you.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

“To your thoughts.”

She opened her mouth, but the only thing that came out was a high-pitched squeak.

“All of them.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

He chuckled. The sound was rich and deep and almost enough to make her stop questioning his sanity. Almost.

“Okay, let me explain.”

“Please do.”

“I have always been known to be a curious person. Can’t help it. It’s a long, long story, full of interesting information about my not so normal upbringing and my parents’ eccentric philosophy, which I’m certain we’ll discuss in detail over the next week, but the short answer is, I live to find answers to questions. I’ve always had an interest in intellect and anything dealing with how the mind works. Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to study with some of the greatest minds on the planet. I’ve challenged my senses, my abilities, and always attacked  the major problems of my life head-on. I might be shaking on the inside, but I do it until I’m satisfied. Which doesn’t mean I’m always successful. But I never wonder what would have happened if only I’d taken the chance to find out.”

“And what does that have to do with pretending to be my boyfriend?”

He laughed. “Everything. In exchange for doing you a favor, you have to do one for me in return. I want answers from you.”

“To what questions?”

“All of them.”

“Pardon me?”

“All of them about women.”

“I don’t know all the answers about women.”

“But you know the answers for you.”

She gave him a long, measured look.

He grinned back at her. “No, I’m not certifiable. Strange, yes. But not quite at the padded-room stage.”

“You want answers about women?”

He nodded.

“What does that mean?”

“It means, I can ask you anything. No holding back. No thinking twice about propriety. I ask, you answer. Honestly. To the best of your ability. All of the questions I’ve wanted to ask but haven’t dared.”

“You’ve never dated?”

“Oh, I’ve dated. Quite a few women. I’ve been involved in relationships. All of which have failed. Mostly, I fear, to my lack of understanding. Seriously, I don’t get it. Forget the evolution of men being confusing, it’s women. Who are you people? The books are useless. Believe me, I’ve read them. And I still don’t get you.” He paused with a shake of his head. “Every time I think I have you women figured out, I find out that I really don’t. Take Helena for example. Great woman, an incredible lover. I was crazy about her, and she swore she loved me. We lived together for a blissful year. So what happened? Right after I proposed, and we’re talking within days here, she moved in with a career criminal that beat her for a hobby. And she’s just the tip of the iceberg. I ask other men, and they either throw up their hands or give me advice that has me sleeping on the couch for what seems like forever. It’s crazy, and it’s driving me insane, and damn it, what I want is to get it right once and for all.”

Gaea heard what he said. She was a little taken aback by his honesty and enthusiasm, and completely positive this wasn’t going to work at all.

“Oh, no,” he said. “Don’t make up your mind yet. Please.”

“I’m just not sure this is going to work.”

“Look, I know it sounds crazy, but really, it’s not. Consider it to be a research project. An in-depth study. Think of me as a scientist. It won’t be scary. I promise. And I won’t use the information to hurt you or anyone else. But you have to admit. This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’d never get this sort of access. In real life, I’d be too afraid to ruin a relationship. Or if I paid for it, I’d never really be certain I was getting the real scoop, you know? But this way, we can both benefit, and there are no feelings to hurt or wound, then, well...” He stopped and took another sip of his beer. “Not to be immodest, but I think I can convince your boss or anyone else that I’m you man. I won’t embarrass you. I know my way around the press, and I won’t cost you a dime. All you have to do is answer me honestly. If you don’t know the answers, that’s okay. No problem. But if you do know, then I want them. No polite answers. No sparing my feelings. Just tell me.”

“Just tell you, huh? Well, I know one thing.”

“And that is?”

“I need a much stronger drink.”

* * * *

Sebastian kept his grin steady, and made sure not to look satisfied. She was going to go for it. A minute ago he’d thought all was lost, but now? She seemed to be intrigued. From what Cooper told him about her, he’d hoped she’d also be curious.

“What kind of stronger drink?”

“A cranberry and vodka, please. Make it a double.”

“Excellent choice.” He signaled the bartender again, and while he waited his turn, he took his time looking her over. He’d been so busy analyzing her body language that he hadn’t properly appreciated her body.

She was small in stature, but not girlish. In fact, if he had to describe her, the words that would sum it up perfectly were 1950’s pinup calendar model. Definitely a throwback to that time frame. Her hairstyle had something to do with it, maybe the soft way the dark curls rested on her neck, or the swoop over her left eyebrow. Her lips, too, seemed naturally lush, not collagen-injected like so many of the crowd in this area. And if they had been helped? He wouldn’t mind. She was gorgeous and her skin seemed silky, and the intelligence so clear in those brown eyes made him want to start this week tonight.

Not that he was going to actively pursue more than his stated objective.

“What can I do for you?”

He started at the bartender’s voice, ordered her drink, and himself a double whiskey neat. When he turned back to Gaea, she pushed her hair back behind her left ear. Her hand, tiny, feminine, captured his gaze and held it.

He watched as she put her fingers around her wineglass. Rubbed the rim lightly.

Okay, so maybe he would pursue something more. Hadn’t Cooper said she’d been solo for quite some time? Hadn’t he himself been entirely too celibate for longer than was healthy?

“Sebastian?”

“Call me Bas.”

“Um...okay. Bas.”

“Yes?”

“What are you going to do with this information, assuming you get what you’re looking for?”

“Use it.”

“For a book? Something else?”

He shook his head. “I hadn’t actually thought of that, but I wouldn’t rule out the idea. Truthfully, I’m doing this for my own personal education.”

“Meaning you’re seeking a serious relationship at some point?”

“Lover, significant other, wife. Yes.”

“I would think women would be beating down your door.”

“Quantity is not the issue. Quality is. I’m searching for what my parents had. Which in my naiveté as a younger man, I thought all parents had.”

“They had a good relationship?”

“Much more than that. My parents were, and you’ll have to pardon the cliché, soul mates. The two of them completed each other. They were married forty-five years, and were crazier about each other when my father died than the day they met. That’s what I want. A partner for a lifetime. A best friend. The whole enchilada.”

“Tall order.”

“Believe me, I know. Hence my counteroffer.”

She gave him a half smile. “I’ve never been on the receiving end of such a strange request.”

Their drinks arrived right then, and Sebastian handed the vodka to Gaea. “So we have a deal?”

She took the glass, sipped, closed her eyes, and opened them again several heartbeats later. “We have a deal.”

He toasted her, the clink ringing out clearly against all the muddled noise around them. “Excellent.” Bas brought his own drink to his lips, then hesitated. “So when do we begin?”

“Monday.”

“The
W
hotel?”

She nodded.

“Good. I’ll check in that afternoon.”

Gaea’s eyes widened. “Hold on there, cowboy. Check in?”

He downed his whiskey, ready for this. “Well, sure.”

“No, no, no. You’re not staying at the hotel. Just appearing when needed.”

He gave Gaea his most innocent, sincere smile. “That would be a royal pain the in the ass for both of us. Much easier to just be there. But don’t worry. You have nothing to fear. I know the suites there and I’ll sleep on the couch.”

She gave him an “I’m not sure about this” look.

“Check with Cooper. He’ll tell you I’m harmless. Besides, I don’t want anything getting in the way of the research. And sleeping together would really mess things up.”

Her eyes softened. The internal debate went on for a few more seconds, then she exhaled softly. “It would keep Arnold from breathing down my neck.”

Bas nodded. “This is going to be great.”

“That’s highly unlikely. I’ll be happy if we survive.”

“Come on. We’ll knock ‘em dead.”

Gaea shook her head, causing her hair to shimmer in the light. He hadn’t lied when he’d said sleeping with her would mess things up. But maybe he could ask all of his questions real fast.

Chapter Three

“Sebastian, sweetheart, I love you, but isn’t this just a bit weird, even for you?”

Bas smiled up at his mother. “Probably. But then again, it’s your fault.”

Jillian Fuller put down her mug of tea and gave him a look. “And how did you come to that conclusion?”

“If you’d just talk to me and tell me what I need to know, then I wouldn’t have to rent myself out to strange women.”

“We’re talking right now.”

“But not about what I want to know.”

She took another sip and leaned back in her beat-up on lounge chair. They were on her patio, looking out at her garden, the pride and joy of her life. Aside from him, of course. She grew all of her own fruit, vegetables, flowers, and anything else she wanted to try her hand at. For the most difficult vegetation, there was a small greenhouse. The rest just gave in and grew, somehow knowing his mother wouldn’t let up until they sprouted.
Gardening Magazine
had done a profile on her green thumb. Of course, it hadn’t hurt that she was so well known for her literary work, but still. The article had been about the garden.

“We’ve talked about this numerous times,” she said. “Some things have to be discovered. Not taught.”

“Even when I have inside connections to one of the world’s leading experts right here?”

“There are not experts on relationships, honey. Only wild guesses.”

“I suppose that’s what you teach at the college?”

“Of course.”

“So if there are no answers, what is the point of searching?”

“Because the only answer
is
the search.”

“Right.”

“You’ll see. One of these days, you’re going to meet someone who will turn your world upside down, and then you’ll understand.”

Bas leaned forward, so frustrated he could yell. “Understand what?”

“That you don’t need to understand.”

He raised his hands as if to go for her throat and growled at her. “You are the most ornery woman.”

“I’m a peach and you know it.”

“Fine. You’re a peach. I just hope you know that when I end up old and alone, a bitter, senile man, you’ll bear the blame.”

“Yes, pumpkin. So tell me about her.”

Bas smiled, remembering his meeting with Gaea, the look of her.

“She’s a very nice-looking woman. Sort of exotic in an old-fashioned way. Like a pin-up calendar model.”

“
Playboy
?”

He shook his head. “No, more like a nineteen-fifties vamp. Damn.”

“Okay, so we know you like that part of her, now what about the assets about the neck?”

“Those parts are just as interesting.”

Her eyebrows went up. “Really?”

Bas reached over to the little hand-painted table where, next to the fruit bowl, he found a zucchini-carrot muffin. Homemade, of course. His mother loved to cook what she grew. After an enormous bite and some coffee, he said, “She’s brilliant. Running a media campaign for a major new fashion designer. She’s all career and determined not to stop until she reaches CEO status.”