The Hookup Hoax (Entangled Lovestruck) Read online

  “Dinner’s ready,” Sophia called from the dining area. It wasn’t a typical formal dining room, but more of an extended eat-in kitchen.

  As everyone headed toward the table, Sawyer made a beeline for Olivia, catching her hand, stopping her. She gazed up at him, her eyes giving away her surprise. He smiled lazily as if he were looking at a woman who’d offered to make pancakes at three in the morning instead of at the woman whose acting abilities held the future of his family’s cabin.

  “How are you holding up?” he asked, dropping his voice so only she could hear. He wrapped his hands around her waist, drawing her against him. If he wasn’t mistaken, her eyelids fluttered for a moment before she responded.

  “Great. Your family is wonderful.” She pressed her hands to his chest. The heat from her palms penetrated his shirt in the most pleasant way. “I told them we reunited at dinner with Aidan after I got back into town and instantly hit it off. I think they bought it.” She smiled sweetly up at him.

  “Planning our story in advance was a good idea. You handled yourself really well, even with Gran’s questions.” Without thinking, he brushed his fingers along her cheek. Her skin was even softer than it looked. Her eyebrows rose with his intimate touch, but she didn’t pull away. Instead he heard a tiny intake of breath as she licked her lips.

  Damn those lips.

  Every time he looked at them, he found them more and more intriguing. His thumb brushed against the corner of her mouth as her tongue swept past. A fraction of a second earlier and she would have licked his fingertip. A bolt of heat went through him at the idea of the other areas of his body where her tongue could explore. She wouldn’t need a map; he’d inadvertently flagged the spot.

  “Dinner’s not getting any warmer, but if you two get any hotter we’ll have to send you both straight to bed,” Gran teased from the dining room doorway.

  Sawyer took a step back and slipped his hand into Olivia’s, laughing at his grandmother’s terrible timing and dirty mind. “Gran, is that how you want to talk in front of Gramps?”

  “Who do you think I learned it from? Your grandfather is no saint. In fact, he’s a downright sinner in the bedroom and I love him for it.” She laughed and wandered back into the dining room with a spritely spring in her step.

  “My ears can’t unhear that, Gran,” Sawyer said with an amused chuckle.

  “Think of how I felt,” Tyler grumbled from the other side of the table. “I’m the one who had to fix their bedframe when a ‘mysterious earthquake’ rattled it too hard. I took half a day without pay to make sure they had somewhere to sleep that night.”

  Gran’s cheeks pinked and Gramps’ smile grew to a devious grin as they shared a knowing glance. “We don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  The comment from Tyler might have been funny to everyone else, but Sawyer couldn’t ignore the undertone—it was Tyler who’d been there to help out Gran and Gramps when they needed it, not Sawyer.

  Ever since Sawyer had taken over the business and moved into the city, it was his cousin who was nearby to lend a hand as needed, and he took every opportunity to mention how important he was to Gran and Gramps. But they were all Sawyer had left as “parents,” and he wasn’t about to let Tyler come between them, not now, not ever. He’d make sure to check and see if there was anything he could do before leaving tonight. After dinner, he’d ask Gran, privately.

  Right now, he had to focus on convincing everyone he and Olivia were a real couple.

  “Dinner will be interesting, won’t it?” She whispered beside him. “Have we had sex yet?”

  Sawyer stumbled and pulled her back against the wall outside the dining room. The mere mention of being with Olivia in that way sent his mind reeling. One palm pressed flat against the wall beside her head, blocking their faces from view, while his other cupped her jaw. His thumb stroked along the softness of her chin. His breath caught in his throat when he tried to speak quietly, his voice suddenly husky and filled with longing. “If we had, it’d be something you’d never forget.”

  Olivia had the nerve to roll her eyes at him. She was the one who’d brought up sex in the first place.

  “I meant if they ask—which after Gran’s comment seems likely—have we been intimate already? Is that something they would expect or frown upon?” She whispered into his ear, so close her warm breath simultaneously tickled and aroused him. “Have we banged or not?”

  “Banged?” he asked, the corner of his lip curling. For whatever reason, he’d expected her to be more innocent, a “we made sweet love” kind of girl. But perhaps she was more of a “quickie on the kitchen table” type.

  He was totally okay with that. She kept getting more enticing.

  “You know, slept together? Fooled around? Have we done it? I need to know how into you I’m supposed to be, since this is not a topic I expected Granny Sterling to bring up tonight.” She sounded out of breath when she finally stopped talking. His gaze darted down to her chest as it rose and fell in quick succession. With every inhalation, her breasts strained against the fabric of her shirt and it took all of his willpower to pull his eyes away from those heaving mounds of temptation.

  “If you’re at dinner with my family, we’ve been there, done that. Multiple times. In one night.” He grinned, letting himself indulge in the image of Olivia straddling his hips—naked, throwing her head back in pure ecstasy while she rode him, hard and uninhibited. “And in case you’re wondering, it was fucking fantastic. The best you’ve ever had.”

  “Think pretty highly of yourself, don’t you?” She tilted her head slightly, peering up at him. A twinkle of teasing flashed in her eyes.

  “I’ve never had any complaints, sugar,” he said, trying not to let her get under his skin.

  “Too inexperienced to know the difference, were they?”

  “Very funny.”

  She smirked. “I thought so, too.”

  He wanted to silence her smart-talking mouth with his, give her something to compliment instead of criticize. Sawyer brushed his thumb across her lower lip before trailing his hand down her neck. Stopping at her collarbone, he willed himself not to go any further. Not here. Not now.

  No, not ever. Even if it had been on his mind since she walked into his apartment, and his life, almost a full week ago.

  “I’m not going to tell you how to act, or force you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.” He fingered the pendant of her necklace where it dangled an inch above her cleavage. A little longer and the beautiful opal would be safely hidden between her luscious breasts, exactly where he’d like to find himself right now.

  “But if anyone asks, I’m going to claim we’ve slept together already because if this was a normal situation and you were at Sunday dinner, we’d be one moment away from getting engaged.”

  For a second her demeanor changed from smiling, teasing, and flirting to sadness, pain, and longing. Before he could question her, she squared her shoulders, set her jaw, and the glimpse of raw emotion he’d seen a moment earlier disappeared entirely.

  He took one last glance at the intriguing woman pressed between himself and the wall and wished she wasn’t his best friend’s little sister. All this discussion about having sex with her—even fictional, past tense sex—made his dick hot, heavy, and painfully confined.

  With sudden clarity, he knew resisting her would be the hardest thing he’d ever done, but if he didn’t, he put everything in jeopardy. He could unintentionally hurt Olivia, destroy his friendship with Aidan, and lose the only place he had to really call home. No woman was worth that much risk, not even temptingly sexy Olivia.

  …

  Olivia looked around the table, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of being part of a family again. She hadn’t had a meal with both of her parents in the same room at the same time since their divorce. This feeling was welcome and what she wanted in her future—her own happy family.

  She’d been silly to think for one second that Sawyer’s family would gri
ll them on the intimacy of their relationship. They were far too considerate to ask something so personal. They were mostly curious about her adventures around the world, and she’d spent more time talking than eating.

  “So what will you be doing for work in the city?” Gran asked.

  Olivia wiped her mouth with her napkin before answering. “Sawyer found me a job at Sterling Enterprises. It’s not a permanent position, but it will give me plenty of time to figure out where I want to work and gain some experience for my resume.”

  “What kind of position is it? I thought Sterling was full,” Tyler asked.

  “It was until last week,” Sawyer said. “Bethany had to take a sudden medical leave, which left us with an opening. Lucky for us, Olivia is more than qualified to do Bethany’s job until she returns.”

  “Wonderful,” Gran said. “And how nice that the two of you will get to work so closely together.”

  Would she have to work directly with Sawyer? Living in close proximity would be challenging enough, if every time he looked at her she got flustered. How would she manage working closely with him as well?

  “It’s not like her desk will be right in my office or anything,” Sawyer said. “Not that it would really matter if it was. What’s a little office space sharing, when we’re already cohabitating, right?”

  Sawyer placed his hand on her thigh for the fourth time since dinner started. Not that she was counting. She couldn’t help noticing how quickly he’d forgotten their no touching above the knee rule.

  She resisted the urge to squirm. The warmth of his touch sent another shot of liquid heat to the pressure building between her legs, and it was everything she could do to ignore it. Regardless of how hard she tried, his touch, his smile—all of it—fanned a flame ignited deep inside.

  When she’d agreed to this deal, she certainly hadn’t taken time to think about all it would entail. Sure, saying they were dating was one thing, but acting like it was completely different. Acting like a fake couple shouldn’t come with the very real feeling of his hand on her thigh, or the real reaction his touch caused.

  “You’re living together?” Gran asked, sounding surprised.

  “Are you joking? The bachelor hooked up and shacked up?” Tyler probed.

  “How unlike you,” Sophia said.

  “I…we shouldn’t have… I’m sorry…” Seeing the expressions on everyone’s face made hers burn hot with embarrassment. She’d assumed they’d be okay with their living arrangement, since it was Sawyer who’d suggested it. He could have warned her his family might take issue.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for, sugar,” Sawyer said. He took a sip of his beer as if this news was no big deal. “Olivia moved in this week.”

  “Already?” Gran asked. “But you’ve only started dating. You’re not even engaged yet. You barely know each other.”

  “That’s my boy,” Gramps cheered, tipping the neck of his beer bottle toward them like a salute.

  Sawyer mimicked his grandfather’s motion. “Thanks. Olivia may have only come back recently, but we have history together. It doesn’t even matter that we haven’t seen each other since…” He paused while taking an unsteady breath. “Since the accident. I feel like I’ve known her my whole life.”

  Olivia squeezed his hand. Hearing him mention the accident that had taken his parents’ lives felt like a stab to her chest. From deep within the recesses of her mind, her parents’ voices spoke, trying to comfort Sawyer shortly after it happened. She’d been listening from down the hall, sent to her room so they could have privacy, but she’d eavesdropped, and even though she hadn’t seen his face, the torture in his voice had been vivid.

  Sawyer squeezed her hand, too.

  “You were probably sick of seeing me always tagging along with you and Aidan back then, huh?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood and ease the hard memories back into the past.

  There was a smile on his lips, though she could see the pain still lingering in his eyes, still hear the twinge of sadness in his tone even as he tried to joke. “It’s possible,” he said with a chuckle. “But I was a kid and therefore can’t be held responsible for my poor judgment.”

  Sawyer removed his hand from her thigh and slipped it around her shoulders instead. “We figured, why wait, you know? I’ve fallen hard for this one.”

  He pulled her close and she peered up at him with what she hoped was a convincing expression of adoration and love on her face. She was met by a smile that made her question if what he said was really an act.

  That was a silly thought. Everything was an act. He had to make his family believe he’d found someone he could settle down with, or he’d never stand a chance to own the cabin. He was a good actor. She should take a lesson from him and stop feeling more than she was acting. Acting was safe. Feelings were trouble.

  Gran’s expression turned from surprise to happiness. “Why don’t we have dessert and coffee in the living room?”

  As they moved from the dining room, Olivia excused herself to use the bathroom. She didn’t actually need to go. She simply wanted a few minutes alone.

  Behind the safety of the bathroom door, Olivia closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Sawyer’s hand on her body felt good, too good. She hadn’t been prepared for how much touching would be involved in this scam. Tonight had been an eye-opening experience and, somehow, she would have to endure this kind of reaction to him every Sunday.

  If his touch hadn’t been enough, hearing him say he’d fallen for her had pushed her over the edge. She’d longed to hear a man say that. It was exactly what she’d hoped to find when she returned to the States. Of course, his words had only been pretend. Even though she knew that in her head, it didn’t stop the rest of her body from responding to him as if it had been a truthful declaration.

  “You need to get a grip on reality,” she whispered to her reflection. Smoothing a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, she willed her nerves to steady and her hormones to chill. It was all an act, and she was not the one supposed to fall for it.

  Olivia pulled open the bathroom door and stopped short of walking into Tyler. “Sorry, I’ll get out of your way.” She attempted to step around him but he moved, his broad shoulders and stocky build blocking her path. He was about the same height as her but twice the width, which made him come off as rather formidable.

  “Actually, I had a question for you.”

  Something about his body language put her on the defensive.

  “Ask me anything,” she said, forcing a smile to her face. If she acted at ease, maybe she would feel at ease too.

  “You and Sawyer, huh?”

  Was that even a question, let alone one worth stopping her to ask?

  “Yep,” she replied simply.

  “How’d that happen?”

  “Oh, didn’t you hear when I told your wife and Gran the story? I was staying with my brother Aidan when I first got back and he invited Sawyer and me out for dinner. I guess it was a love at first sight kind of thing.” She shrugged. That sounded about the same as what she’d told the others. Sticking to the story would be hard if she had to keep repeating it.

  Tyler narrowed his eyes, crossed his arms. “Funny how you could go from being such a free-spirited world traveler one minute to someone so domesticated the next.”

  “I guess that’s how things—” She coughed, clearing her throat, which felt like it was closing. “I meant love. That’s how love works.”

  “Sure it is. Love is a funny thing.”

  If no one else had given her a hard time, why the hell did he feel the need to cross-examine her? She held her gaze steady, not wanting to scan the room for Sawyer, as Tyler might read it as a sign of weakness.

  “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the deed, would it?”

  “What deed?” she asked, playing dumb.

  “Dating and living together and yet you don’t know about the deed to the cabin? Interesting.” His voice was thick with suspicion.
/>   “The cabin? Of course I know about the deed to the cabin.” She wouldn’t let him leave thinking she and Sawyer weren’t close enough for her to be involved in every detail of his life.

  Before she could say anything else, Sawyer was at her side, his arm around her shoulders. The scent of sandalwood and something spicy surrounded her. Her body responded to his aroma, which made her head spin.

  “I’d prefer you don’t question my girlfriend for no good reason. If you’re worried about the deed, that’s your problem. Leave her out of it.”

  “I’m supposed to believe this is real? It’s very convenient that your new relationship status happened to coincide with Gran and Gramps inferring they wanted to leave the cabin to someone who will have a family to share it with,” Tyler said.

  Sawyer tightened his arm around Olivia as if drawing strength from her. His smile was easy and casual and completely contradictory to how his body felt. “Fate works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it, sugar?”

  She smiled up at him lovingly. “It certainly does. I’m so glad fate brought us together when it did, because I can’t imagine spending time with anyone but you.”

  Olivia rested her head on Sawyer’s shoulder while her hand caressed his chest. She tried desperately to ignore the firm muscles beneath his shirt, but when her fingers accidently slipped between two buttons, a fine dusting of hair tickled her fingertips.

  Tyler sighed in disgust. “Get a room. Isn’t it enough Gran knows you’re living together? You can’t even manage to keep your hands off of each other here?”

  As he walked away, Olivia felt Sawyer relax, and she turned to look up at him. She shifted back a step to give herself some much-needed distance from his tempting body and intoxicating aroma, but he held her close.

  His hand traced a path up her spine to settle in her hair. His fingers grazed the nape of her neck and she tilted her chin up to him in an automatic response. He moved in, his lips drawing nearer.