The Wedding Hoax (5 page)

Chapter Six

Cole rolled his head to one side and then the other, stretching out his neck. He pulled his shoulders back and straightened his spine, feeling older than he should. It had been a long time since he’d worked an entire day on his feet. Usually his day consisted of going from one boardroom meeting to another with plenty of sitting involved. But not today. Today was all standing.

Daisy didn’t seem bothered by the work at all. But then she was probably used to being on her feet. When they’d dated, she often told him about how she hadn’t sat down all day because she’d been running back and forth between her design workroom and the boutique showroom. Seemed that experience served her well for the bridal show. As did her passion for her work. Almost every bride who had come to speak to Daisy left with an appointment card in hand.

In the year they’d dated, he hadn’t ever really seen her work. He hated to admit it, but he’d always thought designing gowns sounded a bit like playing dress-up. But now he saw how good at it she really was. It wasn’t some game she played. Each design, each bride, was important, and Daisy gave them all a part of herself in every gown she made.

Every time they spoke, he got the sense she was proving she didn’t need him in her life anymore. And every time she made him feel that way, he wanted to prove her wrong.

They hadn’t spoken much since the day began. Their booth was usually hopping with clients interested in their services. But when the crowds would thin for a moment or two, he didn’t know what to say. Small talk about the weather didn’t seem appropriate conversation for a girl he’d kissed a few days ago and who he’d slept with previously, yet any other conversation they had seemed to lead them quickly down a path of annoyance or arousal. He didn’t really want to deal with either of those things today. So instead of chatting, he’d remained quiet most of the time. It was safer that way. He didn’t want to say something and accidentally piss off his new fiancée. Nor did he want to say something and then end up having to deal with his attraction to her. Best to pretend she wasn’t there.

Her laughter rang out again as she chatted with a bride about the importance of bringing the proper undergarments to a dress fitting. So much for pretending she didn’t exist. An image of Daisy standing in the bra and panties she was describing flashed through Cole’s mind, and he couldn’t stop his gaze from roving over her body to the areas highlighted in his daydream.

When her arms folded across her chest, he realized she was staring at him, a not very amused expression on her face. The bride she’d been speaking to had moved on while he’d been otherwise distracted.

He smirked, knowing he’d been caught. “You never minded before.”

“Before we were dating, and it was okay for my boyfriend to check me out.”

“So it’s okay for a boyfriend to check you out but not your future husband? Wow. I’m in for a fun marriage, aren’t I?” He laughed.

She didn’t look like she thought it was funny.

“You’re the one who agreed to marry a boob man. You knew what you were signing up for.” He chuckled at her annoyance. Honestly, if he could help looking at her rack, he would. It would make his life a hell of a lot easier. But the truth of it was, the more time he spent around Daisy, the more he remembered about how good they were together. Especially in the bedroom.

“Silly me, I didn’t realize our business arrangement involved ogling.”

He stepped closer, the smile falling from his lips. He pulled Daisy into his arms and held her tight. She might talk a big talk, but he felt her shake against him when his hand pressed against her lower back. He bent his head to whisper in her ear.

“You need to remember what you’re doing and lower your voice. I haven’t forgotten how we got into this situation, but it appears you’ve forgotten that you’re supposed to be enjoying this little arrangement. If anyone overheard you, we’d both be screwed. And I don’t know about you, but I can think of better ways to screw myself than blabbing about our deal in public.”

The corners of Daisy’s mouth twitched as if she was trying not to laugh. He didn’t see anything even remotely funny about her almost spilling their secret.

“Have a lot of ways to screw yourself, do you? And here I thought you were the playboy who had a new woman every week to do that for him.” A grin spread across her lips.

He instantly wanted to kiss the smirk right off them. He’d always loved Daisy’s spitfire personality and the fact that she wasn’t afraid to go head-to-head with him, unlike so many of the girls he’d dated before and after her who just said what they thought he wanted to hear. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“I know,” she said. “I just…” She trailed off and swatted him playfully before her hands settled on his pecs. Her fingers traced the ridges of his chest as if she were outlining the ink he had hidden under his shirt. He flashed back to all the times she’d drawn over his tattoo with her fingertips while straddling his naked hips. She’d always kissed him there first before flickering her tongue across his nipple and then moving elsewhere.

She licked her lips as if remembering the same moment. Her body vibrated in his arms as she took in a shaky breath.

He smirked. She couldn’t help her reaction to touching him any more than he could resist ogling her, as she so lovingly termed it. Seemed a pretty even case of tit for tat. She was just as bothered by him as he was by her. “Something wrong, Daisy?”

“No. I’m fine.” She cleared her throat and tried to take a step back, but he held her tight, not letting go. “I’ll be more careful, okay?”

He nodded absentmindedly, still reliving that moment in the past. He dropped his head to her ear again. “And I did have a new woman whenever I wanted one, but for the next six months, the only woman I’m going to have is you, so get used to being the object of my appreciation. After all, what kind of fiancé would I be if I didn’t enjoy eyeing up my future wife?”

He kissed below her ear, the very spot he knew would make her knees go weak. Her head tipped to the side, granting him better access as a soft sigh escaped her mouth. He kissed her again, his tongue stealing a tiny taste of her before he moved away.

“I’m glad to see you two getting along so well,” Mason said, walking up to the booth.

“Hello, Mason,” Cole said, hoping he couldn’t hear the edge in his voice. Cole didn’t enjoy being under Mason’s command, but there was no way around it if he wanted the money. And Cole didn’t just want the money; he needed it. “I figured we would see you at some point today.”

“I’m going to assume, then, that the rumors I heard floating around here about the featured bride and groom not appearing to be in love was the product of gossiping, jealous women. I do hope that you two will be able to keep up this kind of good work long enough to put those rumors to rest.”

Cole instinctively looped his arm around Daisy’s waist while she snuggled against his side.

“Of course, Mason,” she said. “We’re doing the best we can while also trying to promote our businesses.”

“This is the first quiet moment we’ve had at the booth all day.” Cole wasn’t used to having to defend his work ethic. It left a sour taste in his mouth.

“I thought this might be a problem.” Mason waved over two people with bridal-show ID tags. “This is Jules and Cynthia. They are two of my best employees and experts at this expo stuff. They’re going to relieve you of your duties for a while so you two can go mingle with the crowd. Go look at the other vendors. Check out the rings. Show some interest in honeymoon destinations. If a regular couple is doing something, I expect to see you two doing it, too.”

Cole’s grip on Daisy’s side relaxed. That didn’t sound too difficult. Surely they could wander around and pretend to shop for an hour. Besides, it would be a nice break from the booth. Maybe they could even stop and grab a bite of lunch from the café before coming back to work again. “Sounds good.”

Daisy nodded. “Sure. I’d love to walk around a bit.”

“If we’re going to make this work, so we all get maximum benefit, then really give it all you’ve got as a couple,” Mason encouraged.

Cole tried not to appear too nervous or excited, although both emotions were present. He could be affectionate without getting too carried away. No problem.

Mason was turning to leave even before he finished his thought. “Did you decide about the whole moving-in thing?”

Daisy stiffened under his arm. She must not like the thought of living together any better than he did.

“We’re still thinking about it.” He tried to sound sure of himself, but inside he didn’t have a clue what to do. Was he willing to risk this deal over something as silly as becoming roommates with Daisy? But rooming with her would mean all kinds of temptation. Was he strong enough to resist her?

…

Cole took Daisy’s hand as they wandered down the main walkway that ran through the bridal show, noticing how small it felt in his. She glanced down at their joined hands, then up at him and smiled. He couldn’t tell for sure if it was genuine, but if he had to guess, he thought he detected a hint of unease. It didn’t seem to reach her eyes like it did when she laughed. Or even when she shot him a smart-assed remark, which she was practically a professional at.

They stopped in front of a jewelry display. Diamonds sparkled under the bright lights. He looked at the engagement ring already adorning her finger. It wasn’t her style. She picked up a platinum ring, with what had to be a half-carat diamond center stone. Circling the center stone was a row of tiny pink diamonds. It made the ring look like a flower. A daisy. Simple, yet beautiful and timeless. Just like his Daisy.

Not my Daisy,
he thought abruptly, irritated with himself.

“Would you like to try that on, miss?” the jeweler asked.

“No, thank you. I already have my engagement ring.” She moved her hand awkwardly as if trying to show him the ring without actually showing it to him.

“It’s lovely,” he said, almost choking on the compliment before clearing his throat and continuing. “Perhaps you’d like to see what we have for wedding bands instead?”

“I don’t think—”

“We’d love to,” Cole said, winking at her despite the lump of anxiety blooming in the pit of his stomach. She was cute when she got nervous. Maybe if he focused on her, he could get through this himself. “We haven’t decided what bands we’ll buy yet, have we, Dee?”

His old nickname for her slipped out. He’d said it once already, at their engagement party, but he’d promised himself he wasn’t going to let it happen again since using it brought back too many old memories he didn’t want to deal with.

She smiled at the jeweler and sat in the chair he offered as if hearing her nickname had no effect on her. But he knew it had the moment her cheeks turned rosy.

“I guess we do need to pick them out eventually,” she said. “Now is as good a time as any.”

He sat beside her and glanced at the rows of wedding bands, a lump of discomfort settling in his chest and his palms felt so moist all of a sudden that he wiped them on his pants. Why had he suggested doing this?

She picked up a ring, studying it carefully before putting it back and choosing another. He mimicked her so he would look involved, rolling one back and forth between his fingers. The jeweler handed her a white-gold band with diamonds around the entire circumference. It was stunning in its simplicity. She accepted it, slipping it onto her third finger next to the ring Mason had supplied. On its own, the band would have been gorgeous on her, but together with the engagement ring, it was over the top.

She ran her finger over the stones and sighed, then took it off and handed it back to him. “It’s lovely, but I think I’d rather go with something like this.” She picked up a standard yellow gold band instead. It had no diamonds or etchings or anything at all. Plain and boring. Nothing like Daisy.

“Is that really what you want?” It shouldn’t matter to Cole since the wedding wasn’t real, but he couldn’t stop from noticing how much she disliked the band she’d chosen to match the engagement ring he already knew she hated.

“Yes, Cole. For
our
upcoming wedding, this is what I want.” She put a lot of emphasis on the word as if implying that for her wedding to someone else, someone other than him, she’d want something different. The thought of her marrying someone else annoyed him. But it shouldn’t matter what she did in the future. The fact that he cared annoyed him even worse.

“Why don’t you try one on?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, I don’t need to.”

“Yes, you do. Here,” she said, choosing a ring that went with hers and pushing it onto his finger. The metal felt cold, hard, and binding. But her fingers lingering on his hand felt warm, soft, and intimate. She stroked her thumb along the back of his hand, then across the surface of the ring, spinning it slightly on his finger. “It looks good on you.”

His gaze met hers. For a moment neither one moved or looked away. It was as if the rest of the bridal show ceased to exist. All his could see was her peering at him with an expression he hadn’t even realized he’d missed seeing all this time. She looked hopeful, and loving, and… He shook his head to clear away his wandering thoughts. She’d stuck a ring on his finger. The very thing he’d rejected her for merely suggesting last year.

What the hell was he thinking getting caught up in another moment with her? Certainly he didn’t want to lead Daisy on, thinking that he might actually enjoy having that ring on his finger.

He didn’t. He never would. Settling down was not in his future with her or any other woman.

“This one is fine,” he said, taking his hand back from her grip and pulling the ring from his finger. “It doesn’t matter anyway, since the magazine will run a poll with ring choices for us. The magazine readership will decide, and I’ll wear it. Done.”

He stood abruptly from the table, ignoring the look of hurt that flashed across her face. Well, she needed to remember that this thing between them wasn’t real. And neither were his feelings for his fiancée.
Fake
fiancée.