The Sweetheart Hoax (13 page)

“Whose idea was the business?”

“Both of ours. I made the business plan, got the loan, set our short term and long term goals, did all the marketing.” He set his glass down and pulled his feet back under the chair.

“I’ve never heard anyone speak of you two, professionally, as anything other than the best.”

He turned his head and stared at her. “Really?”

“Yeah. I’d say your business planning paid off. Most folks didn’t take Danny seriously until you came along.”

“And I couldn’t have gotten anywhere around Echo or Andover without his local connections. We’re a good team.” His expression turned serious. “We’re going to miss you at the office. I’m going to miss you.”

Margot’s heart skipped a beat. Did he really mean it? No, of course not. She had to stop thinking his looks and his words meant anything more than gratitude. “Change is hard. Rebecca is—”

“Not you, but we’ll muddle through. I can’t exactly ask you to give up your nursing career to be our receptionist.”

“Speaking of nursing.” Margot stood up and gathered her plate and wine glass in her hands. “I’d better look over some notes before I go to bed.”

“Margot?” Phil followed her into the kitchen with his plate and glass. He took her plate from her hand and placed them in the sink. Normally he would have put the dishes in the dishwasher, but not now. He was still mad at his mother. “I need to tell you something.”

“Okay...”

“Devon told me my mom made up the rumor about me being gay just so I’d bring someone home.”

“Your mom? Are you sure you believe him?”

“Yes. I do.”

She couldn’t imagine Judy lying to Phil about anything. “Well. I guess the jig is up.” She knew she was in too deep when knowing the charade was over made her feel disappointed instead of glad. No more holding hands, smoldering looks, and scorching kisses. “Are you going to tell her you know? Confess the truth?”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

She noted the gleam in his eye and the way his hands fisted at his sides. “You look ready to enact revenge.”

“
Dev
suggested we ‘go at it’ in the squeaky guest room bed.”

She felt the blood drain from her face and pool between her legs. “What?”

“
Nevermind
.” He ran his hand down his face and shook his head. “It’s been a long day.”

Margot needed to get out of Cash. She needed a little breathing room and a clean break from Phil before she did or said something stupid. “Why don’t I see if I can catch a flight out in the morning? It sounds like you and your parents have some things to discuss.”

“Leave?” he asked. “Why would you leave?”

“Phil, the rumors aren’t real. You know it was your mom, and she can probably tell we’re not dating. Why would I stay?”

“I just assumed you’d stay through the weekend.” He stepped toward her and shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I actually need you to stay.”

She couldn’t help it. Her breath caught in her throat and her pulse quickened as he stared down at her. Did he want her to stay because he felt a connection with her? Was the memory of their kiss branded on his heart the way his was branded on hers? “You do?”

“There’s a bit more to tell. When my dad told
Dev
about the rumor, a customer at
Dev’s
shop overheard and now the rumors are real. People do think I’m gay.”

Stupid, stupid, stupid.
How could she think their kiss and the cozy conversation by the fire had meant anything more to him than playing a role? “Oh, well, I guess I can stay. If people think you’re gay.”

“I’m sorry, Margot.”

“Why are you sorry?” She looked down and began pulling at the ends of her scarf. She felt so
transparent,
she couldn’t look him in the eye. “Nothing’s changed. We’ll pretend to be dating this weekend like we planned.”

“Everything’s changed. My mom...what she
did.
It’s so deceitful. I can’t believe she had it in her to lie to me like that.”

“She wants to know about your life, Phil. You obviously haven’t told her much about South Carolina. She practically grilled me at the game.”

“She did?”

“While you and
Dev
were gone.”

“Okay, maybe I haven’t been very open about my life there, but there hasn’t been much to tell. Like you pointed out, I’ve dated a lot of women. No one I’d bring home or even mention on the phone.” He leaned back against the counter. “God, that doesn’t speak well of me, does it?”

She shouldn’t feel pity for him in a time of crisis, not when he’d pounded a stake through her heart. But damn it, she did. “You’re a young, attractive, successful architect. You have every right to date whomever you want, whenever you want.”

“I haven’t been in a relationship—a real one—since high school.”

“Julianne?”

“Yeah.” He sighed.

 
Damn him, she felt tempted to move closer, rub his arm,
try
to wipe away the puppy dog look from his face. She stayed put.

“Do you think I’m emotionally immature?” he asked.

“
Ahh
, well...”

“
Nevermind
. Don’t answer that.” He pushed away from the counter and stood up straight. “I’m just confused.
And pissed off.
My mother put me in a bad position, and now I’ve put you in a bad position. I feel terrible that I dragged you half way across the country over some stupid farce.”

“Phil.” She did move toward him when she saw him working up a head of steam. She knew he’d reach full boil soon, and she suspected his parents would be back any minute. “I’m fine with this. What’s done is done. I don’t think your mom meant to ruin your reputation. It sounds like things just snowballed out of control.” Which would explain the worried look on his
parents
faces when Phil dragged Devon away at the game. “I’m here, and tomorrow at the party, we’ll put an end to the gay rumors once and for all.”

They both turned toward the front of the house at the sound of tires on the drive. “They’re home,” he said with a grimace.

She grabbed his arm as he strode into the foyer. “Phil, wait. I think you need to calm down before you face her. Trust me, you can’t take back the words you say when you’re upset and those tend to be the ones that hit the hardest.”

“She deserves to hear what her prank has done.”

“She won’t hear anything if you’re upset.” She dragged him to the stairs. “Please, come up to bed, sleep on this, and talk to her in the morning.”

“Margot...”

“You’re too upset to be rational, Phil. Trust me.”

He sighed and followed her up the stairs and into the small bedroom. She closed the door just as the front door opened. “See,” he whispered, pointing to the bed. “This pisses me off, too. One bed for the two of us when I promised you’d have your own room.”

“It’s okay, Phil.”

“It’s not okay.” He pivoted and waved his arms in the air. “I’m going to go talk to her now, clear this whole thing up, and sleep on the couch.”

Margot moved as quickly as she could, throwing her body against the door. “I won’t let you do it.”

“Margot, I’m fine. I’m calm. But I won’t be able to sleep with all this hanging between us. I’m going to go talk to her.”

“No, you’re not. You’re upset and you’re ready to blow. Remember when you lost it with the Fire Marshall over the permit for the
ed
center?”

“That was a pissing match because Danny used to date his wife. I abhor that kind of professional misconduct and I let him have it.”

“Exactly, and in letting him have it, you almost ended up in jail.”

“I got the permit, didn’t I?”

It was time to shut him down before he stormed out of the room and changed his relationship with his mom forever. “Two weeks before my mom died, I yelled at her for keeping something from me. I was so mad at her, and I said terrible, hurtful things that I never would have said if I hadn’t been so upset. I’ll never forget the way she looked at me. I would give anything to be able to go back and change what I did, what I said.”

She tucked the painful memory away as she watched the anger leak out of him the way air escapes from an untied balloon. She’d hit the bull’s-eye with her confession and felt the sting every bit as much as Phil.

“I’m sorry, Margot.”

She held up her hands. If he touched her now, she might lose it. “Just promise me you won’t do anything tonight. I’m not saying what she did was right, but I’m sure she had her reasons. Remorse is a very heavy burden, Phil. Trust me, save yourself and your mom the trouble and wait until you can talk about this rationally.”

***

Phil stuck his head under the spray of hot water, his mind full of Margot. With one painful admission, she’d taken all his anger toward his mother and brushed it aside. Now his heart ached for her and the burden she carried. What had her mother kept from her? What had she said to her mother, and how did she live with the guilt when it was written so painfully on her face? She’d looked as fragile as glass when she stopped him from confronting his mother in a fit of rage.

He turned off the faucet and reached for a towel. Damn it, the woman was getting to him and he didn’t like it one bit. He should have taken a cold shower to ease the anticipation building as he brushed his teeth and pictured her waiting for him in bed wearing the silky lingerie he spied in her suitcase earlier. Stop, he ordered himself. She was his friend. She was dating one of his friends and a client. He couldn’t do anything to jeopardize their relationship no matter how much he wanted to.

His parents’ door was closed and a dim light shone through the crack. It would serve them right if he did throw caution and good sense out the window and marched into the guest room and seduced Margot. But no matter how much he wanted to get even, no matter how much he wanted to unleash this newfound desire, he knew he couldn’t face himself in the morning if he took advantage of Margot.

With a sigh, he eased the door to the guest room open. She’d gotten into bed and stacked some pillows behind her head. She pulled the covers up and tucked them tightly under her arms so all he could see were the short sleeves of a green shirt. He should have felt relieved instead of disappointed. With a mental head slap, he entered the room wearing an undershirt and worn, flannel sleeping pants. Her head jerked up from the notes on her lap.

“Feel better?” she asked.

The sleepy slowness of her voice had the hair on the back of his neck prickling. He averted his eyes from the bed and looked at the stack of books piled on the bedside. “Yeah, thanks.”

He picked a book from the nightstand and pulled back the comforter and sheet, careful not to look under the covers at what Margot may or may not have on. He slid between the chilled sheets and groaned when his feet bumped the footboard from a semi-reclined position. “Great,” he mumbled.

“I don’t take up much room,” she said. “Stretch out as much as you need.”

If he stretched out, he’d be all over her. If he were all over her, he’d want to be inside her. He shifted and lifted his knees to hide what the thought of that did to his body. “I’m fine,” he lied.

She piled her notes on the nightstand and turned off her light. “Read as long as you want.” She scooted beneath the covers so that all he could see was her head. The bed squeaked loudly when she turned away from him and snuggled against her pillow. He tortured himself by following the outline of her body, the swell of her backside, her hair rioting across the pillow. Every part of him ached to touch her, so he turned back to the book and tried to concentrate on the words.

After rereading the same paragraph three times, he set the book aside, turned off the light, and tried to lay flat. His knees buckled. He turned onto his side, away from temptation, and his feet slid out from under the covers and dangled over the edge of the bed. Within minutes, his feet were freezing and he was forced to roll over. He’d just stretched out his legs in Margot’s direction when he felt the bed shake. From the sounds she made, Phil thought Margot was crying.

“Margot?” he asked, gently touching her shoulder.

She rolled over and let out a snorting laugh. In the light coming in from under the blinds, he could see her propped up on her elbows and the outline of her breasts when the blankets slipped to her waist. “I’m sorry,” she said through strangled breaths. “But this bed is just awful. We don’t have to do anything more than breathe in here for your mom and dad to think we’re having sex.”

“It is awful, isn’t it? I’m tempted to keep moving so my parents don’t think I’m a one-pump chump.”

In the silence that followed, he thought better of what he’d said until she snorted again and gave a full out belly laugh. How had he ever thought her laugh was anything but music? “It would serve them right to think we were...having fun in here.”

He sat up and gave a couple of quick bounces on the bed. The rhythmic squeaking started Margot giggling again. She sat up. “Do you want me to throw in a few ‘oh baby’s’?”

He was rock hard in two seconds flat. He stopped bouncing. “Uh...”