“Like that,” he said with a sweep of his hand in her direction.
She narrowed her eyes and her lips twitched. “And what is 'that' exactly?”
He rubbed his forehead and flinched. “Like sex on a damn stick.”
“Awe, that’s sweet,” she said, straightening and dropping a slim hand to her hip.
“It’s not sweet. How the hell do I sell you as my fiancé when you look like a damn call girl?”
Her smile slipped, as did her flirty posture. “Wow, Trevor. I’m kind of surprised you let those words just fall out of your mouth.”
He jammed a hand through his hair and sighed. “Shit, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“The fuck you didn’t,” she said, jutting her chin in the air.
“You swear now, too?”
“Not usually, no, but it’s either swear or knee you in the sperm box.”
He shook his head and snapped his fingers. “I can fix this. There has to be a Walmart on the way to the cabin. We’ll get you a whole new wardrobe for the trip.”
She flipped an errant lock of hair over her shoulder. “Pssshhhhh, like hell we will.”
“High neck clothing. Loose,” he muttered making a mental list.
“I’m not a doll.”
“This isn’t the image I gave my boss. This—” he gestured at her from head to toe, “This is exactly what they expect me to be nail—um, dating.”
“Gee, your assessment of me is so flattering. Despite what you may think, I’m not a cheap whore.”
“Dammit, I didn’t mean that. Look—”
“Do you want my help or not? Because from where I’m standing, insinuating that I look like a whore isn’t a good way to start,” she said.
He blew out a breath and dropped his chin to his chest. Raising his head, he stared her right in the eye. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to do that. I just need to figure out how to get this all back to a place where this plan has a shot.”
She crossed her arms. “Yeah, well, it doesn’t have a shot with Walmart.”
“Okay, Target.”
Her eyebrow shot up and she smirked. “That’s not much better.”
He threw his arms up. “Fine, you have any suggestions?”
“Saks,” she said with widened-eyes and a smile.
“Nope. I need the girl next door here. The girl you used to be. Or, at least an updated version of her.”
“Fine. But at least make it American Eagle or Old Navy. I can work with either of those.”
“Deal,” he said.
“I guess I should take my suitcase back up and go through it.”
He grabbed the handle of her suitcase. “No time, I’ll buy another.”
Popping the trunk of his Jaguar, he tossed the suitcase in, and then opened the passenger door for her. She folded herself into the vehicle, her dress lifting even higher with the movement, exposing creamy firm thighs.
He gulped.
He needed to get those covered. ASAP.
Ahh, her lovely brother had failed to mention that Trevor had turned into an empty-headed, horned up, boob of a man. She’d make her brother pay for that. The fact that she still spent so much time with him and had seen no signs of the same in her brother, made her wonder exactly what kind of man her brother had become when family was looking.
She was so telling Mom.
That should buy her some time and privacy from her meddling mother.
Hell, according to her mother, her brother was long overdue to settle down and give them grandkids. But, if Piper wasn’t careful and made him sound like too much of a player, her mom would write her brother off as hopeless and turn her sights on Piper.
No thanks.
But if the meddling matriarch of the Bradley family thought that she needed to work extra hard and long to save Rye’s gentlemanly soul, Piper would so use this to her advantage.
She took a few minutes to let her gaze roam over her first crush while he navigated the city. Even at thirty, he had those good ol' American football player good looks. Close-cropped dark hair, tan skin, as if he still spent his summer days running drills with the team. His stormy blue eyes, now framed with a few lines, still set her heart to racing.
His lean quarterback physique had filled out, leaving all vestiges of high school and college football god behind, and in its place rock-hard muscles that strained the confines of his jacket sleeves and a wide chest she’d love to scratch her nails down…at least once.
Too bad he’d plundered from god to a total player. She didn’t do shallow. At least not anymore.
She remembered all too well the boy that made sure to pull out chairs for her, the one who smacked the back of her brother’s head when he chewed with his mouth open and said, “Dude, there’s a lady present.”
She had a brother and a slew of male cousins. No girls. So, when Trevor dropped by or spent the night, she cherished those little things he did to treat her like a lady, and for a little while, her brother and cousins towed the line, too.
He was the first boy to teach her what a man was… well, other than her dad, but that totally didn’t count. And now, well, she didn’t know what happened, but disappointment settled in when she realized that man might well not exist anymore.
Or he was buried under fake charming smiles and dump trucks full of bullshit.
Yup, probably that. He just needed a good pressure wash.
Well, either way, she owed him one for taking her to her prom. He’d made her whole high school career, with every guide of his palm on her lower back that night, and for that, she would follow through.
Who knows, maybe she’d do womankind a favor and see if she could find a flicker of that guy again. He had to be in there somewhere.
They rolled out of the city, trading the chorus of honking traffic and the scents of local fare tinged with exhaust for clean mountain air. Trevor had stayed silent next to her, and she’d allowed it, on account that he was navigating the city. She thought by now that muscle in his jaw would have stopped jumping, but nope, there it went again.
She patted his shoulder. “You know, you really need to relax. It’s going to be fine.”
His hands clenched on the wheel. “Well, at the moment, it doesn’t feel like it.”
“The longer you sit there and stew in silence, the less time we have to get our story straight.”
“Shit, that’s right. I put this together for you.” He reached behind her and pulled out a slim binder. “Hopefully it’s everything you need to know about me. I know it’s a lot in a short time.”
She flipped it open and smiled. “It’s fine. I’m a quick study.”
She scanned the information. The name of the company, his movement through the ranks, big deals he’d signed, close associates, Zack and Sebastian he counted as friends.
He’d included pictures of his penthouse, a swanky place in black, white, stainless steel, and marble with two walls of windows. A corner unit, that cost him a pretty little penny. Apparently, ad execs weren’t hurting.
“How much money do you make, anyway?” she asked
He grinned and tipped his head toward her as he settled his wrist over the curve of the steering wheel. “Wow, right out with it, huh?”