The Hookup Hoax (2 page)

Huh.

Crashing on a couch. In need of an apartment and a job.

Maybe…

Olivia was Aidan’s little sister.

His smirk grew into a grin. She glanced up from her plate, flinching suddenly when she found him eyeing her. He knew he should look away, but couldn’t. Olivia was safe. She was protected by the Bro Code. Little sisters of buddies were always off-limits, as Aidan had already made perfectly clear. There was no way Sawyer would be tempted to get involved with her in any way, when doing so would jeopardize his friendship.

“Why are you grinning like a guy who knows two weeks in advance which team would win the Super Bowl?” Aidan asked.

Sawyer leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table, giving all his attention to Olivia and ignoring his friend. “I’ll hire you.”

“You will?” she asked. “But you don’t even know my qualifications.”

“What was your major?”

“I graduated with a BA in Business.”

“Perfect. We have an administrative assistant position that’s available because Bethany had to take a medical leave.”

“That’s great,” Olivia said, enthusiastically. “Not for Bethany, of course, but for me. I can fill in until she’s well enough to return to work.”

“Are you sure you want to do that? You don’t need to feel obligated to hire her because of our friendship,” Aidan said.

“Shut up,” Olivia whispered, nudging her brother in the side. “I need a job.”

“Yeah, but you’d have to work with
him
.”

“What’s wrong with that?” she asked, still whispering.

Sawyer cleared his throat as a subtle hint that while they could obviously see him, he could also hear them. When they turned his way, he wove his fingers together as if he was about to pray. Maybe he should, if it meant this new plan had a hope of working. “On one condition.”

Aidan grimaced. “What’s that exactly? And before you answer, remember she’s my sister and I will hurt you.” Sawyer didn’t know why, exactly, but ever since Olivia had graduated college and gone off to travel, Aidan had been especially protective of her.

“I can speak for myself. What’s your condition?” she asked, before taking another bite of her sandwich and shoving in a few fries for good measure. The girl could eat.

“I’ll hire you. I’ll even offer you my guest room, rent free. All you have to do is agree to be my girlfriend for a while.”

Olivia choked and reached for her water. After taking a good, long chug, she spoke. “I would be your girlfriend, why, exactly?”

“It wouldn’t be real,” Sawyer said. “You’d only have to pretend.”

“No way.” Aidan sat back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest. The waitress collected his empty dish and asked if they needed anything else. “The bill. We’re done here.”

He knew, by the look on Aidan’s face, he meant they were done with more than the meal. But Sawyer wasn’t done. He always got what he wanted, and right now he wanted Olivia. She was the perfect choice.

He knew having Olivia around had to be cramping his friend’s style. Aidan liked to bring girls back to his place, and he couldn’t do that with her on the couch. “Think about it. She’ll be out of your hair. All she has to do is pretend to be my girlfriend at a few family functions and dinners for the next few months. Easy.”

“I don’t like the thought of you and Olivia…together,” Aidan practically growled. All his brotherly protectiveness was aimed squarely at Sawyer, as if he would hurt her on purpose, which he never would. Although, he hadn’t meant to hurt Tammy either, and both men knew how that turned out.

“We won’t be together. Not really, anyway.”

A blob of gravy dripped onto Olivia’s shirt and her frown increased as she tried to wipe it away. Sawyer was momentarily mesmerized by the jiggle of her breasts as she dabbed at the stain with a napkin.

Aidan coughed, and Sawyer’s gaze darted back to his friend, his mind suddenly in the conversation again. “This was your idea in the first place, Aidan. I can’t even think about your little sister in the way I think of other women. That would be…weird.”

Except for right now, with her jiggling breasts. And that moment earlier when she was eating. And her plump, kissable lips… I’ll stop all that, starting now.

“Still sitting here,” she said, waving her hand as if trying to get their attention. She had his attention. She had since the moment she walked in the door, but her good looks wouldn’t change the fact that she was off-limits and therefore the safest bet he could make. Neither one of them would risk getting involved in a relationship, or even a fling, when they had big brother Aidan playing chaperone between them.

Sawyer focused on Aidan. He had to get his friend on board or there was no hope of this working. He needed a plan, quick. “If she agrees, then give us your blessing and trust me.”

“I can’t imagine why she’d ever agree to this,” he grumbled.

“I can.” Sawyer smiled, this time turning to Olivia. “You need an apartment, with an actual room and a bed of your own to sleep in, and you need a job that pays real money and provides you with a reference for your resume. I need you to be my girlfriend—
fake
girlfriend—starting now, until my grandparents celebrate their birthdays.”

There was a long pause.

“I’m still confused,” she said around a bite of sandwich.

“My grandparents are old grumps and don’t want to give their cabin to someone who can’t pass it down to future generations, and I need to prove to them I am that someone. Therefore, I need a girlfriend.
Fake
girlfriend. Temporarily.”

“You don’t have a real girlfriend to date?” She eyed him suspiciously. Her gaze raking across his body felt unusually critical, and his defenses rose.

“Nope. I don’t do long-term relationships, but that’s beside the point. Listen, I know it’s unusual, but I really need your help. It’s win-win. You’ll save up money and earn job experience, and I’ll get the cabin. Once that happens, we’ll both go our separate ways, no harm, no foul, and both better off. So what do you say? You can’t possibly enjoy living with Aidan. I could tell you all kinds of stories I’ve heard about things he’s done on that couch.
Who
he’s done on that couch.”

“Dude!” Aidan said, scrunching up his face in disgust. “She probably still thinks I’m a virgin.”

“Stop!” Olivia demanded. “Don’t say anything else. And no one thinks you’re a virgin anymore, Aidan. I saw the econo-sized box of condoms in the bathroom cabinet.” She met Sawyer’s gaze. “I’ll do it, but I have one condition of my own. You promise to never,
ever
tell me sex stories about my brother.”

Sawyer laughed, the thrill of success shooting through him like endorphins. It was the same feeling he got every time he signed a new client at work. “Absolutely.”

Aidan pointed at his sister then at Sawyer and then drew his finger across his own neck in a straight line. Sawyer got the message. Mess with sister, death by brother.

The sister in question rolled her eyes. “Real subtle, overprotective brother.”

He scrawled his address on a mostly clean napkin and handed it across the table. Their hands touched as she took it and, for a moment, he was hesitant to let go. Her fingers tingled in his palm. Surely it was those endorphins still coursing through his system. “Here’s my address. You can come by the apartment whenever. You must be ready for a good night’s sleep in a real bed by now.”

“Okay. Tonight at eight?”

Sawyer held her gaze, ignoring her brother, while feeling smug that his quick thinking had paid off. “Eight works.”

Aidan scowled. “If you hurt my little sister, I’ll chop off your balls, mince them, fry them, wrap them in tortillas, then invite you over for tacos. Got it?”

Olivia burst out laughing. “Oh my God, so much for trying to be subtle.”

Sawyer shook his head and got up from the table. “Loud and clear. And visually descriptive.”

Chapter Two

Olivia knocked on the door to Sawyer’s apartment and looped her hands around the straps of her backpack. If there was one skill she’d mastered during her years of traveling, it was packing light and fast. Anywhere, anytime, she was ready to go. It was also the biggest reason she’d come back to the States. Seeing the world, being in new places, and different cultures was unlike any other experience. But traveling, on her own for the most part, had taken its toll. It had been wonderful, amazing, life changing…and lonely.

She was ready to settle down. Plant roots. Make a home base. A place she could call hers. More than anything, she wanted stability and someone to share it with.

Her thumb instinctively rubbed against the third finger of her left hand. It had been five years since she’d almost had the life she wanted. Five years since Sam said his proposal was a mistake and had left her, days before their wedding. But that life was long gone, along with the weight of the ring on her finger, leaving behind nothing but untouched skin and a once-broken, but now-mended, heart.

New York was supposed to be her fresh start, far from the sunny west coast and the pain she’d left behind when she’d decided to travel after graduating from college, instead of going straight into a job. She thought it would be easy to come to a new city, find a job, and get a little apartment. Turned out no one wanted to hire someone who didn’t stay in one place longer than a season. No one wanted to give her a chance to prove she hadn’t forgotten everything she’d learned earning her business degree.

So here she was, outside Sawyer’s door. Her door. Their door.

She still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to this arrangement.

The lock slipped inside the door, and she said a quick, silent prayer that she hadn’t made a huge mistake. What did she even know about Sawyer anymore, after all these years? And yet she’d agreed to live with him, date him?

Fake date, but still… What was I thinking?

She straightened her shoulders and tried to look confident, yet casual.
I was thinking I need a job and money.
This was her only option right now.

As the door opened, Olivia plastered a large, hopefully friendly smile on her face, but as Sawyer’s large frame filled the doorway, the corners of her lips slowly drooped. Standing before her was not the tall, somewhat lanky, pre-adolescent boy she remembered. He’d always been athletic, but never really what you’d call muscular. That boy was gone, replaced by a man.

A man who looked as if he could be an underwear model. Her gaze darted downward to the area in question, wondering if he’d be a boxer or brief man in that commercial.

Had he looked like this at the restaurant, too?

Surely he hadn’t. Of course, she’d woken up late and had barely made it to lunch, and she’d been distracted by her brother being there. But damn. Sawyer looked way hotter now than he had when she’d agreed to this arrangement. Or maybe it was the casual jeans and T-shirt he wore now, instead of the business suit he’d worn earlier, that caught her attention. The form-fitting T showed off the lines and contours of his muscles, while the green material made his blue eyes almost sparkle.

“Olivia.” He smiled in a way that lit up his whole face and pulled her in for a hug. “I can’t get over how much older you look.”

“Thanks, I think,” she said, attempting to sound aloof while her heart pounded. If this was equivalent to a business deal, then why the hell was she so nervous all of a sudden? Why did it feel so good to have his chest pressed against hers in what should be an innocent hug?

Olivia glanced up as she walked past him into the apartment. He had to be almost a full foot taller than her. His eyes were still the pools of turquoise she remembered. A hint of stubble dusted a chiseled jaw, giving away the late hour of the day. She’d tried to make it to his apartment by eight as planned, but Aidan had insisted on giving her “the talk” about Sawyer being a player and how to beat him off with a stick if necessary.

She wouldn’t need to.

What Sawyer looked like now was of little interest to her. She didn’t want to get involved with a guy who was proud to be a bachelor for life. She wanted someone to settle down and build a life with. And that someone would never be Sawyer Sterling, even if they were playing house temporarily.

Being off the dating market for a few months might be a long time to some girls, but Olivia needed this time to put her own life first, and then, once she was ready, she’d worry about finding a good guy. Until then, Sawyer was a safe bet to pretend “date,” since there was no risk of falling in love with him to get in the way of her other plans. As an added bonus, her fake relationship with him would keep her at an arm’s length from anyone else who could possibly become a distraction before she was ready to date for real.

“I don’t think that came out right.” He grinned sheepishly.

When he smiled, a little dimple puckered in his cheek. Something about dimples made a man look so innocent and unassuming, even as they plotted to tear the clothes from her body to ravish her. Or at least that’s what they did in her daydreams. Dimples, combined with that raised eyebrow thing he’d apparently mastered and was doing right now…
wow
.

“Not older as in old. Just you grew up. Matured.” He ran his fingers through his hair while his gaze skimmed her top to bottom and back, leaving a wake of heat behind.

Did he just check me out?
No. Not likely. It was the dimple effect causing her brain and body to malfunction, nothing more.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Fifteen years, I think. Crazy. I still remember when you fell and skinned your knee that time we went riding on the bike trails through Sherwood Park. Or that time you insisted your parents said it was okay for you to use the waffle iron, and then you almost set the kitchen on fire. I was turned off waffles for years.”

“One time I leave the plastic spatula touching the waffle maker, and no one forgets, but the other millions of times I made perfect waffles, no one remembers.” She laughed at the memories of happier times before everything in their worlds changed. Not long after that, Sawyer’s parents had their accident, and then her parents decided to suddenly call it quits, moving her to California while Aidan stayed in New York.

Just another reason she’d come back here. This time, she wasn’t leaving.

“I’m sure you learned how to make delicious waffles. Eventually.”

“People beg for a taste of my waffles.” She raised an eyebrow teasingly.

“I bet they do.” His eyes glimmered mischievously, like she’d seen so many times when he’d plotted something devious with her brother. “Did you bring one this time? I wouldn’t mind a taste.”

His words lingered between them as her pulse suddenly raced.

He straightened and glanced around as if he’d been caught looking at a dirty magazine in church.

That wasn’t an innuendo… was it?
Surely it was her imagination, and his discomfort was from something else. She laughed off his comment. “No room in my backpack for a waffle iron, I’m afraid. I’ve learned to live with less in my
old
age.”

“I gather you didn’t have any trouble finding the apartment.” As he folded his arms across his chest, she couldn’t help but notice how tightly his fitted T-shirt clung to his muscular form.

“I found you hot. Here.
Fine!
I found your apartment fine.” Apparently her tongue and brain were both on the fritz.

His lips turned up slightly, as if he were trying to hide a grin. She attempted to channel the inner calm she’d learned to tap into during meditation in Thailand. She’d never been the kind of girl who got flustered around a guy before, and she sure as hell wasn’t about to start now.

“I made you an apartment key this afternoon.” He placed it in her outstretched hand, his fingers gliding across her palm like a breeze on the surface of a lake. The sensation sent a tremble rippling through her. She gripped the key tightly, steadying her hand and her nerves.

He wasn’t allowed to have this effect on her. He was safe, temporary, and unsuitable for her future. She repeated the words in her head, hoping they’d stick.

“Let me take this for you. It looks heavy.” Sawyer lifted the backpack from her shoulders.

“I carried that around the world. I’m sure I could have managed to get it to the guest room too.”

“The ability to go anywhere you wanted with only what you could carry on your back, to not be tied down to one place, that must have been amazingly…freeing.” His voice held such a tone of longing as he peered at her backpack. But why would he long for that life? He had so much here—his family, his friends, a successful company, and a gorgeous apartment.

“It was nice. For a while.”

He led her down the hall to her new room. It was larger than any space she’d been able to call her own in almost ten years, between college dorms and traveling. The queen-sized bed looked inviting, with a blanket fluffy enough to swallow her whole. A quick glance into the open closet and she knew she’d never be able to fill even a quarter of it with her meager belongings.

“I hope this is enough space for you. Whenever you’re ready to move in the rest of your things, let me know. I’d be happy to help.”

She patted her backpack. “This is everything.”

“So you’re officially all moved in then.” The smile fell from his face as if he’d said something offensive by accident. His brow furrowed and his gaze darted to the hallway before he cleared his throat and pulled open another door. “The bathroom is through here.”

She peeked inside. Clean. Not like some of the hostels she’d stayed in. Definitely not at all what she expected a bachelor’s bathroom to look like. There was a full bathtub she couldn’t wait to soak in, a steam shower, and a large double vanity—easily enough space for both of them.

“Towels?” she asked, pointing at another door. If he didn’t have any extras, she’d have to run out and buy some for herself. The one she’d carried with her traveling had been tossed the second she’d stepped on home soil, and she’d been using the ones her brother had on hand.

“Those are in the hall closet. You can help yourself.” He walked through the space and opened the door in question. “It’s a second entrance from my room. Hopefully that won’t be a problem. Both doors lock, and we’ll figure out some sort of schedule.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she said, forcing her voice to sound aloof. She figured sharing a bathroom was likely, but sharing a bathroom that connected to both bedrooms? That was a little too cozy for her comfort.

“I’ll leave you to get settled in. If you’re hungry or thirsty or anything, the kitchen is stocked. If you need help finding something, just ask. Otherwise I’ll assume you’ll use this apartment as if it were your own, because it is, sort of. For now at least.”

Once Sawyer closed his door to the bathroom, she closed hers as well, then her bedroom door leading to the hall. When she was totally enclosed in her new space, she flopped back onto her bed and puffed out her breath, feeling as if she’d been holding it since she’d knocked on the door.

Was this room really hers? All of this space to herself, for three months, seemed too good to be true. She had to share the rest of the apartment with Sawyer—a task she’d thought would be easy. But now, after seeing him again, she wasn’t so sure. Most likely she was experiencing the same shock anyone would at seeing someone from her past again after so long. There’d been a few moments when she’d caught Sawyer looking at her, studying her as if he was shocked by what he saw too. Surely, the way her heart pounded in her chest was a symptom of their reunion and nothing more.

She could not, would not, feel anything for Sawyer. He was her brother’s best friend, her dating safety net while she got settled into her new life, and her boss. And after everything that happened with Sam, she’d sworn off playboy bachelor-types. She hadn’t met a woman yet who could reform a man like that, herself included, and she certainly would never let herself make that mistake twice.

No, nada, nope.
Gorgeous hunk of man-candy or not, he was off-limits.

Olivia worked steadily until she was settled into her new room. The task took barely an hour, with her meager belongings. When she’d woken this morning on Aidan’s couch, she hadn’t had a single drawer to put her things in, now she had an entire room. Somehow her day had taken an unexpected twist, and here she was sharing an apartment and on the cusp of starting a new job. Things were finally getting on track.

Her new bed called to her. She climbed into the cozy blankets and curled up with her novel.

She startled awake as the book flopped onto her face, smacking the bridge of her nose.

Rolling over, she set it on the nightstand then closed her eyes, trying to fall back into blissful dreamland, but her dry throat demanded she find water. Smoothing down her nightshirt, she wished it were a couple of inches longer. Of course, she could always pull on yoga pants and a sweater, but her trip to the kitchen would be quick.

Peeking out into the hallway, Olivia listened for Sawyer. They might be roomies now, and had known each other for years, technically, but that didn’t mean she was comfortable wandering around nearly naked in front of him. The way he’d looked at her tonight, fully clothed, had been enough to send her heartbeat drumming in her ears.