Between Marriage And Merger
Karen Booth
From boardroom to bedroom… and back?Sexy businessman Noah Locke’s fake engagement will solve his professional problems…and his fiancée in name only is the one woman he’s wanted for years. But when the stakes rise, will their intense attraction end in disaster…or a true merger?
From boardroom to bedroom...and back?
Hotel magnate Noah Locke has worked too hard to let a PR scandal ruin the biggest deal of his career. If a fake engagement will fix his image, he’s in. So is Lily Foster, his assistant—and the one woman he’s wanted for years. Soon there’s nothing fake about their heated kisses and steamy nights together. Can this arrangement turn real...or is Lily playing for a different prize?
KAREN BOOTH is a Midwestern girl transplanted to the South, raised on ’80s music, Judy Blume and the films of John Hughes. She writes sexy big-city love stories. When she takes a break from the art of romance, she’s teaching her kids about good music, honing her Southern cooking skills or sweet-talking her husband into whipping up a batch of cocktails. Find out more about Karen at www.karenbooth.net (http://www.karenbooth.net).
Also available by Karen Booth (#u3ea596b3-0433-5051-8b11-16de5b69bbd4)
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The CEO Daddy Next Door
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The Ten-Day Baby Takeover
Pregnant by the Billionaire
Little Secrets: Holiday Baby Bombshell
Between Marriage and Merger
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Visit millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk) for more information
Between Marriage and Merger
Karen Booth
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-07619-7
BETWEEN MARRIAGE AND MERGER
© 2018 Karen Booth
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Cover (#ue23153d6-bee7-5f66-8a7c-cff8f4b901a1)
Back Cover Text (#uf9621f16-3ec4-5a6e-80f1-4a53a4d3d0c0)
About the Author (#uee9db661-be20-5e98-8342-2e96c207230d)
Booklist (#u201d6a5c-b771-54b0-a3c1-8483f27a872e)
Title Page (#u92f1545c-e70a-5f94-a503-bf276b8bb4d1)
Copyright (#u61496e6d-88ca-5682-ac3c-4c84ed14d1ab)
One (#u58b5af68-7697-591f-b3b9-1672431639a1)
Two (#u29dcd206-8bdd-5bd3-a9a8-9d58ff686730)
Three (#uc7e116b6-3573-5bef-8b91-d892707b8490)
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Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
One (#u3ea596b3-0433-5051-8b11-16de5b69bbd4)
Lily Foster delighted in the idea of a wedding—two people so in love they vow to be together forever. The reality of a wedding, even as an observer, made Lily break out in hives. There she stood in the New York City Clerk’s Office, without the usual trappings of organ music or a minister or the bride in a flowing gown, and the nuptials still put her on edge. Her skin felt clammy. She couldn’t stand still. Her instinct was to run out of the building as fast as her pumps would carry her. But she couldn’t do that. She had to stay put. She’d been generously invited to the impromptu nuptials of her boss’s sister. Lily would’ve done anything for her boss, Noah Locke. To her own detriment, she adored him.
Still, for Lily, watching anyone get married was like unpacking a dusty old steamer trunk of miserable memories of her dream day that never was. When a woman has been left at the altar, no matter the reasons for it, she doesn’t forget it. Ever. And Lily’s world seemed hell-bent on dredging up the memory today.
“By the powers vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Tamping down her jealousy and choking back a sob of sentimentality, Lily watched as the bride and groom—Noah’s sister, Charlotte, and her new hubby, ridiculously handsome Michael, got lost in a passionate kiss. For that instant, she could feel the love between them. It was a life force that hit her from five feet away. Tears silently streamed down Lily’s cheeks. Charlotte, in a knee-length white dress that hugged her five-month baby bump, popped up on one foot, kicking the other into the air. It was like the cover of a fun contemporary romance. That was enough for Lily. She couldn’t watch anymore.
She pulled a tissue from her bag and dared to look at Noah, who was standing up for the groom. Noah wasn’t watching the kiss either. His hands were stuffed in the pants pockets of his slim-fitting gray suit. He was staring at his shoes, probably because they were beautiful and expensive, like everything in his life. Noah was a notorious playboy, so much so that the New York tabloids loved to play with him the way a cat bats about a mouse. Weddings were undoubtedly not Noah’s scene. Lily didn’t even need to ask.
It was no surprise that Noah chose to play the field. He was perfect—tall and trim, athletic but not muscle-bound, with expertly tousled sandy brown hair that was tidy around the ears and back, but a bit long on the top. His moss green eyes were hypnotic, or maybe it was the sum total of Noah that made Lily lose her words or her memory of what she was supposed to be doing. Noah was that guy. The one you can’t stop looking at. The one you can’t help but think about. Thankfully, Lily was beyond that for the most part. She’d spent the last two years training herself to ignore Noah’s beguiling features. She’d had no choice. As her boss, Noah was off-limits. Her job was too important. She was good at it, and even better, Noah and his brother, Sawyer, knew it.
Charlotte turned to Lily and Noah. Her newlywed smile took up nearly all the real estate between her diamond stud earrings. “Thanks for being our witnesses. Michael and I really appreciate it. I don’t know what to say. We just got a wild hair and decided today was the day.”
Michael leaned down and kissed the top of Charlotte’s head. These two were so adorable together it made Lily’s cheeks hurt. It also bruised her heart a little bit. She’d had an impossibly romantic love like that once. Or so she’d thought, but it had slipped right through her fingers, groom and all.
“Happy to do it. Congratulations.” Noah stepped in and kissed his sister on the cheek, then shook Michael’s hand.
Charlotte’s phone rang and she squealed, grabbing Michael’s arm and rushing out into the hall. Probably some famous well-wishers. The Locke family was known for their extensive connections.
“Want to grab a drink? It’s nearly five o’clock. No point in going back to the office.” Noah extended the invitation to Lily as if it were no big deal, as if she were just one of the guys, a role she suspected she would always have in his mind. He and Lily had done a few social things together, and they were always fun, but they filled Lily with pointless notions like hope and left her with sexy dreams, the kind where she’d wake up at 4:00 a.m. drenched in sweat and gasping for air. The sort of dream where you couldn’t bring yourself to open your eyes or get out of bed. You wanted to languish in it forever.
“It’s sweet of you to ask, but I think I’m going to head home, get out of these shoes and maybe do some reading.”
“Friday night. Headed to that bookstore you like? What’s it called?”
Lily’s favorite spot in the city was a bookstore specializing in romance novels. “Petticoats and Proposals. You know all my tricks, don’t you?”
“I try. I pay attention. It’s a long-lost art, you know.”
Their gazes connected and Lily’s heart took up residence in her throat, pounding like crazy. Boom boom. Boom boom. It was as if Noah’s eyes were magnetized, pulling on her, not allowing her to look anywhere else. She wanted to put the world on Pause and simply stare into them for a few hours. In between kisses of course. If she was going to slip into a fantasy world, she might as well make it exactly what she wanted it to be.
“It’s because I can’t stop talking about it.”
“I’m sure that’s not the reason.” Noah cleared his throat and looked away for a moment. “Thanks for coming today. Charlotte couldn’t deal with the wedding and the baby on the way. I’m actually happy for her. I wouldn’t want to deal with all of those plans either. It seems like such an ordeal and then it’s all over.”
“Yeah. Me neither.” Noah didn’t know the half of it. And no amount of paying attention was going to get Lily to talk about it. Some things were better left buried.
“Okay, then. See you Monday.”
“Yep. Have a good weekend.” Lily smiled and walked away. Exactly like it didn’t hurt at all to distance herself from Noah Locke.
* * *
Working with Lily, Mondays were always the hardest. Noah had endured a few days away from her, and his ability to keep himself together had worn off. Today seemed like an especially difficult start to the week. He couldn’t even look at her.
“You’re in early for a Monday,” she said, with her usual happy singsong. She was standing in his office doorway, undoubtedly stunning.
“Some emergency meeting about the Hannafort Hotels deal. Charlotte’s coming in for it, too. Not sure if she told you, but we’ve cut her in since she made the initial introduction.” Noah still hadn’t raised his sights, but he could see in his periphery that Lily was wearing her blue sweater. The blue sweater. The one that not only showed off every beguiling curve she possessed, but the one that really brought out her mesmerizing sapphire eyes.
“Oh. Okay. Let me drop my things, check email and I’ll be right in.”
“Sounds good.” As if the sweater weren’t bad enough, he couldn’t avoid her heavenly scent. The faintest trace of it floated in the air when she left the room—sweet and sunny, just like her. His iron will was going to have to work doubly hard today.
“Unless there’s something you need right now,” she added.
He could hear her drumming her fingers on the door casing. For a moment, he imagined those delicate hands unbuttoning his shirt, touching the bare skin of his chest. He had to stop that train of thought right there or he’d lose it. “I’m good. Take your time.”
With that, Lily disappeared from view. Noah sat back in his chair and a heavy exhale rushed from his lungs. This is becoming impossible.
Even after two years, Noah’s love/hate relationship when it came to working with Lily wasn’t getting any easier. He loved seeing her face every day, the way she lit up the office and managed to diffuse tense situations, but he hated how she could turn him into a blithering idiot. He hated being in enclosed spaces with her, like the elevator, where it took superhuman strength to keep from telling her how badly he wanted to kiss her. He hated having this all bottled up inside him. It wasn’t how he operated with women.
But if ever a woman was off-limits, Lily was. She was a dream employee, clever and capable, a quick learner who was also organized and meticulous. She was too valuable to Locke and Locke, the company Noah owned and operated with his brother, Sawyer. As Sawyer had said many times, Lily might be uncommonly lovely and smart and kind, but Noah needed to keep his tongue in his mouth and his eyes in his head. To compensate, he’d been letting his eyes and his mouth wander elsewhere. It helped, but only a little.
“Okay. I’m back.” Lily waltzed into his office and started straightening papers on his desk. She knew exactly how he liked things, and he’d never even had to tell her. She’d simply picked up on his preferences.
“Good weekend?” he asked, making small talk and sneaking a single glance. Her golden blond hair in a low twist brought attention to her lithe and graceful neck. He loved the naughty librarian aspect of it. He wanted her to peer at him over reading glasses and tell him to be quiet.
“The usual.”
“Friday night at the romance bookstore?”
“I can sit there for hours and get lost in love stories.”
He found it adorable that Lily was a bookworm. He, too, loved to read, but preferred nonfiction—history and biographies. He was not an incurable romantic like Lily, which was probably a big part of his attraction to her. He longed to shed at least some of his pessimism about love. Case in point, Lily had teared up at Charlotte’s wedding, even when the civil ceremony had none of the sappy buildup of a traditional wedding. Noah was happy for his sister, but he did not get choked up. The very notion of a wedding unnerved him.
Charlotte’s voice rang out from the hall beyond Noah’s office walls.
“Sounds like my sister is here.” Back to work. Noah stepped out from behind his desk and only allowed himself the smallest of glimpses of Lily in her black skirt. Studying the sway of her hips was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
“Morning.” Noah greeted his sister in the reception area, aka Lily’s domain. Charlotte came by the office now and then, especially since involving her in the Hannafort Hotels deal, but she usually only came at lunchtime. It wasn’t normal for her to be here first thing. She was always too busy running around doing real estate agent things, and lately, mother-to-be things.
“Did Sawyer talk to you about the video?” Charlotte’s voice had a frantic edge to it as she swished her long blond hair to the side and unbuttoned her wool coat.
“Sawyer’s on a call with Mr. Hannafort,” Lily chimed in, buzzing around the office, running the photocopier, answering phones. “He left a note on my desk and said he was not to be disturbed. I’m not sure when he’ll be done.”
Sawyer’s door opened and out he marched. His suit coat was off and his shirtsleeves were already rolled up like he’d been working for hours. This was not a good sign. It was hardly ten minutes after nine. “Charlotte, did you tell Noah about the news story?”
“I haven’t had a chance,” Charlotte said.
“She just got here.” Noah felt as out of the loop as could be. “Does somebody want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Hannafort saw it. He’s not happy,” Sawyer said.
“Oh no.” Charlotte bustled into Sawyer’s office with all the dramatic urgency of a lawyer about to declare “I object!”
“Do you want to sit in on this?” Noah asked Lily. He was unsure what “this” he was about to walk into, but he and Sawyer were making a point of including Lily in high-level discussions. She’d earned the opportunity and it made everything in the office run more smoothly.
“I do, but I’m almost done with the Hannafort projections. You guys will want those for the meeting.” She smiled wide—a flash of bright white framed by full, pink lips. Noah savored that instant. He had a feeling the rest of his day was about to tumble sharply downhill. “You go ahead. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Noah wandered into Sawyer’s office. “Does somebody want to tell me what’s going on?” He took one of the two seats opposite Sawyer’s desk. Charlotte was in the other. The morning sun streamed through the tall, leaded glass windows of their office in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. It was a bright late March day, a bit brisk for Noah’s liking, although the mood in Sawyer’s office was even colder.
“Charlotte called me early this morning,” Sawyer started.
“I tried to reach you, Noah, but I got voice mail. Why do you never answer my calls?”
Noah hated his phone. He often turned it off or simply left it in another room. There was something about being available to everyone at all times that he detested. It made him feel trapped. “Sorry. So what?”
Charlotte pulled out her phone. “I have the link saved.”
Sawyer held up a hand and turned his laptop around so Charlotte and Noah could see it. “Let me save you the time. I have it pulled up on my computer. Lyle Hannafort sent it to me.”
The webpage Sawyer had opened looked to be a spot for online gossip. Not Sawyer’s usual fare. If he was online, he was watching the markets or sports, particularly college basketball this time of year. “Now I’m really lost,” Noah said.
“You won’t be.” Sawyer scrolled down and clicked on the icon in the center of the screen. The video began to play.
Noah only needed to hear his name, purred by a woman with a sultry voice, to feel like the ground had fallen out from under him.
Big Apple businessman, Noah Locke, of the Locke hotel family, has been busy with the ladies over the last several months. And do we mean busy.
All warmth drained from Noah’s body. His hands went cold. He’d been in the tabloids before, but this was different. These were moving pictures—shot after shot of Noah walking into and out of bars, restaurants and apartment buildings all over the city. A different woman on his arm in every picture. With a number counting them off. One...two...three... They stopped at fifteen. Noah felt sick.
Although his brother, Sawyer, and sister, Charlotte, have both settled down, it seems Noah is rallying to keep that trademark Locke wild streak alive. His father, James Locke, has not only been married four times, he’s been romantically linked to hundreds of New York socialites over the years. Perhaps the middle Locke child is patterning himself after dear old dad.
Noah had a real talent for shrugging things off, but right now, he wanted to put his fist through a brick wall. “I’m calling our lawyer. This is defamation of character.”
“Is it? Did they lie about a single thing?” Sawyer turned his computer back around to Noah’s great relief. That final voice-over line and slate in the video was already permanently burned into his brain. Perhaps the middle Locke child is patterning himself after dear old dad. That was absolutely not the case.
“Well?” Charlotte asked. “You didn’t answer the question.”
Noah sat back, kneading his forehead, trying to think of anything they’d said in the video that was untrue. He would’ve asked to see it again if it hadn’t made him sound like such a miserable excuse for a human being. Was he terrible? He didn’t want to think he was. “Well, no. I mean, yes, I dated all of those women. That’s true. But the last time I checked, this is a free country and a single man is allowed to have dinner with a single woman.”
“Or fifteen,” Charlotte quipped.
“I don’t really see the point of this. Is it the slowest news day in the history of the world?” Noah’s jaw tightened. He hated this.
“People love gossip. Especially about rich men who like to spend time with pretty women,” Charlotte said. “You should know that by now.”
Noah did know that, but in the past, Sawyer had most often been the target if there was anything tawdry to be said about the three siblings. A few times Charlotte had been busted for her party girl ways, but that had been a while ago. Now that both Sawyer and Charlotte were hitched, and both sets of wedded couples had babies on the way, apparently Noah was left to be the top of the dubious Locke family heap.
Noah then remembered what Sawyer had said before they’d come into his office. “Hold on. Hannafort has seen this? How in the hell did that happen?”
“It’s the internet, Noah. This stuff spreads like wildfire. He’s not happy about it, either.” The deal they were working on with Lyle Hannafort, founder and CEO of Hannafort Hotels, was massive. A real game changer. There was a mountain of money to be made. “He’s a straight shooter. He doesn’t mince words. And he’s already predisposed to thinking badly of anyone named Locke. You know how hard we’ve worked to convince him we’re not like Dad.” Lyle Hannafort hated Sawyer and Noah’s father and the feeling was mutual. They were bitter competitors. As much as that might have been one of Lyle’s reasons for doing this deal, it was also a reason for calling it off.
“I’m very aware of how hard we’ve worked.”
“He said he’s not sure he can do business with a man who doesn’t treat women as they should be treated,” Sawyer said.
Noah sprang from his seat and jabbed his finger into the top of his brother’s desk. “Now, hold on a second. Taking a woman out to dinner does not equal treating her badly. I’m always a gentleman. Always.”
“You’re just a gentleman a lot.” Charlotte cocked a judgmental eyebrow at him, bobbing her foot. Noah could’ve easily fought back—Charlotte had once dated half of the men in Manhattan—but he couldn’t be mean to her. Plus, she was expecting, and if he was worried about being seen as an ass, lashing out at his pregnant sister would not be a good move.
“I know that you’re a good guy, Noah,” Sawyer said. “Charlotte knows that, too. But Hannafort has built an empire on being a family man. He has five grown daughters, so I’m sure he’s seen his fair share of men behaving badly. He totally owns up to being old-fashioned. He and his wife were high school sweethearts.”
Noah had been impressed to learn that little factoid about the Hannaforts. That was a long time with one person. How did they make it work? In Noah’s family, they didn’t. Their dad had burned through each of his marriages, and there had been many serious girlfriends in between. There was a difference between Noah and his dad, though, and it was plain as day—one man a serial monogamist, carrying relationships to a cherished place only to destroy them. The other man, Noah, knew his limitations. He never led a woman on. Never. He was always clear about where and when things were ending.
“So what is Hannafort saying?”
“Let’s say that we’ve gone from a place where both parties were head over heels to a place where one side is thinking about leaving the dance.”
This deal had been in serious discussion for only a month, so things were still fragile. After months of convincing Lyle to talk to them, they were just starting to get comfortable with each other. This was supposed to be the honeymoon phase, but that seemed to be over. “Seriously? It’s that bad?”
“As he put it, he has no patience for negative publicity that could have been easily avoided.” Sawyer rocked back in his seat.
“How was I supposed to avoid this? No one could’ve predicted this.” Noah had been looking forward to a quiet day in the office. He had no meetings, only a few phone calls, and he and Lily were supposed to have a discussion about some new projects. He’d been looking forward to that, however hard he’d have to try to concentrate on work.
“I think his point was that it never would’ve happened if you weren’t the guy who dates dozens of women.”
“What he really means is that if I wasn’t like Dad.” Which I’m not. Noah grumbled under his breath, frustrated beyond belief. He would never admit it to anyone, but part of the reason he’d been going out so much was because of Lily. The nights when he went home alone were awful. He couldn’t watch TV, he couldn’t read a book. His mind kept drifting to Lily, everything she’d done or said at work that day, replaying in his head like a never-ending movie. There was something about her that stopped Noah dead in his tracks.
But Sawyer had been crystal clear about it—all of that was too bad. Lily is the best employee we have ever had. She is perfect. Don’t mess this up. We need her and all you do is break hearts.
Noah got it. Lily was forbidden fruit.
“How do we convince Mr. Hannafort that Noah’s not that kind of guy?” Charlotte asked.
Sawyer snickered. “By finding him a wife. Or a fiancée.”
Charlotte stifled a grin. “But it would have to be right away. Preferably before we go to Hannafort’s daughter’s wedding.”
“Ideally, yes.” Sawyer stared off into space like he was brainstorming. Charlotte was doing the same. Noah wasn’t about to contribute to their ludicrous meeting of the minds. There was no woman in his life he’d consider asking to marry him. No one was even close.
A knock came at the door. Noah turned as Lily walked in with four black binders in her arms. “I have the revenue projections from Mr. Hannafort’s team. I cross-referenced them with our own, which are considerably more conservative.”
“Great. Thank you,” Sawyer said.
Lily doled out the presentations while Noah remained standing.
“Lily, you can take my seat. I’m happy right here.”
She settled in, rocking her hips from side to side. “You got it all warmed up for me.”
He sucked in a sharp breath. Good God, she was going to be the death of him.
Noah opened his binder. There was no time to absorb all of the information in this report, but one quick glance at a few spreadsheets told him one thing—they were going to make a lot of money if this deal went through. And his actions, which had been perfectly innocent at the time, could end up taking it all away. Charlotte, and Sawyer in particular, would never forgive him. Or if they did, it would take a very long time. There was already enough acrimony in his family from their dad. Noah refused to be the cause for this blowing up in their faces.
“Wow.” Sawyer flipped through the pages. “These numbers are impressive.”
“They are.” Charlotte closed her folder and chewed on her nail. “Can’t let this get out from under us.”
“No, we can’t.” Noah racked his brain for a way to make himself seem less like a Lothario.
Charlotte narrowed her vision on him, then her sights drifted to Lily. She sat a little straighter and turned in her chair. “Lily, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Would you have any interest in going to a wedding with all of us? This weekend. I don’t know what sort of personal obligations you have, and I know it’s short notice.”
As the words out of Charlotte’s mouth found his ears, Noah quickly realized what she was doing. She was setting him up. With Lily. The woman who he’d been fighting to keep in the friend zone. Noah bugged his eyes at Charlotte, but she shot him a steely look right back.
“A wedding? Do you mean Annie Hannafort’s wedding?”
Charlotte smiled effortlessly, like this all made perfect sense and would not cause a single problem. Noah already had a dozen reasons not to do what Charlotte was about to suggest. The reasons were already stacked up and waiting, and he’d only been living with this realization for less than a minute. “Exactly. It’s just that we would need you to be Noah’s date. Well, more than his date. We would need you to pretend to be his fiancée.”
Two (#u3ea596b3-0433-5051-8b11-16de5b69bbd4)
Lily mustered the strength to hold her smile, but only because she was fairly certain her face was frozen. She managed to blink, so her eyes were working. That was good. Her mind, meanwhile, was frantically running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Had Charlotte Locke just said those words? Pretend to be Noah’s fiancée? At a wedding, no less?
Lily’s worst nightmare and her most closely held fantasy had decided to make sweet love to each other.
“Are you serious?” She realized how terrible the question must sound to Noah, but she needed clarification and she needed it now. This felt an awful lot like the moment her biggest high school crush asked her out in front of his friends, only to burst into peals of laughter. That was the day Lily learned how apt the word crush was when it came to love.
“I know it seems a little strange, but there’s a reason behind it and you would be helping the company immensely.”
Noah stepped closer and sat on the edge of Sawyer’s desk, crossing his long legs, facing her with a look that could only be described as raw embarrassment. His expression was difficult to endure, which spoke volumes about how real it was. Noah was ridiculously easy on the eyes.
“You don’t have to do this,” Noah said. “This is not part of your job.”
Lily couldn’t decide if he was saying that because he desperately wanted his own out, or if he was simply being kind. She hoped for the latter, if only to save her pride.
“We would pay you, of course,” Sawyer said. “We’ll have to come up with a number. Maybe you should sit down and think about what you would need for three days away from home.”
“Acting as Noah’s fiancée.” Lily wanted to be sure she’d heard that part right.
“Yes. There was a very unflattering video of Noah that turned up on a gossip website and we’re trying to curb its effects. Mr. Hannafort wants to know that the Lockes aren’t a liability when it comes to publicity.”
“Unflattering video?” Lily could only imagine what Noah’s sister was referring to.
“Do you want to see it?” Charlotte asked.
Noah grumbled. His straight shoulders dropped. “Don’t show her the video. It’s demeaning. Lily and I need to work together. I don’t want her to think of me that way.”
Charlotte leaned over the arm of her chair. “It’s about the stable of women he’s been dating lately.”
Lily could feel her lips mold into a thin line. Oh, she knew plenty about Noah and his dates. A few women had come by the office, all intimidatingly beautiful. And she’d heard him talk to them, as smooth as could be. Lily would’ve done anything to have a man say one-tenth of what Noah regularly said to women he apparently hardly cared about. “I see.”
“So as I said,” Sawyer interjected. “We would need to come up with a number, but I promise we’ll make it worth your while. This isn’t normally something I’d consider, but desperate times call for creative measures.”
Lily crossed her legs, her mind mired in the business of deciding whether or not this was a good idea. She loved working for Sawyer and Noah, so it would be next to impossible to say no. It wasn’t in her DNA to let them down. But one downside of being employed by Locke and Locke was the limited opportunities for advancement. Lily had already worked her way well beyond the parameters of her title of Executive Admin. Sawyer and Noah had given her more and more responsibility, they’d even given her a few raises, but she was capable of even more. If the payoff was there. She was a hard worker, but she wasn’t an idiot. She wasn’t going to kill herself if they were just going to take advantage of her.
“If I do this, I don’t want to be compensated with cash. I want a piece of the company.” Lily was impressed with herself. She’d come out with it, no hemming or hawing. She sat straighter, fighting back any concern over how her proposal might be met. “A small piece, but a piece. I believe I’ve demonstrated that I’m a valuable asset to the company, but I want to do more.”
Sawyer nodded slowly, as if he was still taking it all in.
“This isn’t my call. I’m in on this Hannafort deal and that’s it.” Charlotte looked at her phone. “I’m also going to be late for my doctor’s appointment if I don’t leave now.” She got up from her seat and shot both of her brothers a very pointed glance. “Don’t screw this up. And Lily, don’t let them screw this up.”
Lily grinned as Charlotte excused herself and left. She did love the way Charlotte put her brothers on notice.
“What do you think?” Sawyer asked Noah.
“You’ve said it yourself a thousand times. Lily is by far the best employee we’ve had. She’s irreplaceable. If she’s willing to put up with me for a weekend, we should give her what she wants.”
Sawyer chuckled quietly, and that made Noah laugh, which filled Lily with happy flutters in her chest. She was overcome with pride, knowing that she’d been a frequent subject of conversation between the brothers and in such a positive light, no less. It reaffirmed her decision two years ago to focus on her career and let romance and her personal life take a back seat. This might actually end up paying off.
“I think one percent is fair,” Noah said.
“Agreed,” Sawyer quickly added. “It might not sound like a lot, but if the Hannafort deal goes through, it will be sizable. And it should be income that comes in for years and years. Not bad for three days’ work.”
Lily was a bit of a whiz with numbers, so she knew exactly how big 1 percent of Locke and Locke could end up being, especially after having worked on the Hannafort projections. A nest egg to last her a lifetime? All for one weekend pretending to be enamored with gorgeous, unattainable Noah? This was a no-brainer if ever there was one. Even if the part about Noah did make her stomach flip-flop. Yes, she struggled at weddings, but she’d just endured one. What difference could another one possibly make? “I’ll do it.”
“That’s great news. Thank you.” Sawyer’s eyebrows drew together. “I hope you know this is not something we would normally ask you to do.”
“I’ve been here two years. I know this is not the way things work around here. Sometimes things have to be done for appearances.”
“Exactly.”
“I should probably get back to my desk. I have lots of other stuff to do. Emails to answer.” Lily rose from her seat, but something about this was still leaving her unsettled. Was this the right thing to do? Would it ruin her working relationship with Noah? They got along so well. She didn’t want it to be awkward later. “I do want to clarify that this is for show, right? We’re pretending. That’s it.”
Noah’s eyes found hers and she felt naked, like he was looking right through her. “That goes without saying.”
She smiled and nodded, like the loyal employee she was. But inside, all she could think was of course. Noah Locke was that guy and he always would be.
* * *
Noah closed the door when Lily walked out of Sawyer’s office. “I don’t think you’ve fully thought this out.” He paced back and forth, between the chairs and the window. “We’re talking about pretending to be engaged to each other. Do you know what engaged people do?”
“Um, I’m pretty sure, but why don’t you fill me in.” Sawyer was still poring over the Hannafort reports, dismissing this conversation as if it was nothing.
“Hugging. Holding hands. Kissing.”
“Sounds about right. I know you remember how to do all of those things.” Sawyer flipped to another page.
“But am I not supposed to be staying away from Lily? You were the one who wouldn’t stop going on and on about how I needed to pretend that she was my sister. Don’t mess things up, Noah. Stop making up excuses to be around her, Noah.” He planted both hands on Sawyer’s desk and stared him down. “This could easily mess things up with her. Then what? We lose our best employee because of some stupid stunt?”
“Now you see the validity of my original argument? When we’re being forced to set it aside?” Sawyer closed the binder and looked him square in the eye. “I think the one thing that video proved is that you have no problem with walking away, so I’m certainly not worried about your feelings. As for Lily, she’s being rewarded handsomely and she seems completely comfortable with the idea. She’s a very strong person. I’m a little concerned, but I’m not overly concerned. How confused can two people get over the course of three days?”
“Honestly? I have no idea. I’ve never been fake engaged before.”
“And that’s the important thing to remember. This is fake. It’s not real. It’s not the same as if you had actually pursued her. That would have hurt her feelings when you decided to end it. Or...”
“Or what?”
“Or maybe she would’ve ended up ending it. Maybe she would’ve turned you down. I’m sure it’s hard for you to imagine, but it could’ve gone down that way.”
“You think I don’t worry about that every time I ask a woman out? Because I do.” Noah had thought about that a lot when it came to Lily, if only when he was trying to convince himself that going there in the first place would be a huge mistake.
Surely Lily dated a lot. She simply never mentioned it. In fact, she rarely talked about herself. He could only assume that she didn’t have a serious boyfriend right now. She never complained about working late and she was always doing her Friday night visit to the bookstore she liked so much. It was silly, but a few weeks ago, Noah had been dateless and bored on a Friday night, so he’d gone for a run and accidentally on purpose ended up there. He’d peeked in the window, but couldn’t see the corner she’d talked about. He’d also been too embarrassed to walk in. So he’d pretended his shoelace was untied and jogged back to his apartment, realizing how stupid the whole thing had been in the first place. What would he have said if she’d seen him? I always go for runs in neighborhoods that are totally out of the way from where I live.
“And don’t forget, Lily’s a tough cookie,” Sawyer said. “I’m not as concerned about it as I was when we first started working on the Grand Legacy project and you couldn’t keep your eyes off her or your tongue off the floor.”
“You act like I’m the horniest guy you’ve ever met. Have you not noticed how stunning she is?”
“I noticed. Believe me. I’ve noticed. As have lots of our clients.”
The worst part...or the best part, Noah couldn’t decide, was that Lily didn’t seem to know it. Or if she did, she didn’t seem driven by it or obsessed by it. She simply seemed comfortable in her own skin, which Noah found very sexy.
“Okay. Well, I guess I’m going to go back to work with my fake fiancée. This is officially the craziest thing I’ve ever done, just so you know.”
“I don’t want to be a jerk about it, but this was your own doing. I appreciate your willingness to make it right. It’ll all be fine. We’ll do the deal with Hannafort and you and Lily can quietly break up. I doubt it’ll even be on his radar at that point. But we need to remove any doubt he has now.”
“Got it.” Noah reached for the door.
“Wait. There’s more. We need word of the engagement out before we leave and Lily is also going to need a ring. Everyone will want to see the ring.”
Noah groaned in frustration. “How do we go about announcing an engagement? Do we call the society page?”
“I don’t think we have time for that. I’ll talk to Kendall. We’ll figure out a way to leak it to the press.” Sawyer’s wife, Kendall, was a PR master. She’d done a brilliant job on the reopening of the family’s historic hotel, the Grand Legacy.
Noah stifled another sigh. “Let me know.” As he walked down the hall, he noticed that Lily was not at her desk. He rounded into his office. She was putting things away in his filing cabinet. He came to a dead stop. He didn’t say a thing. Lily had this habit when she was standing, but concentrating on something—she’d step out of one pump and balance on her opposite leg, rubbing the back of her calf with her bare foot. Up and down, over and over until she was finished with the task. It was one of the many inexplicably sexy things she did.
Maybe this fake engagement had a bright side. Maybe this was the chance to get Lily out of his system. His brother couldn’t say a thing about holding hands, long embraces, or kisses now. And if those things continued behind closed doors, and Lily wanted him, too, clothes could come off and he could finally know what it was like to make love to her, to have her hands all over him, and at the end of the weekend, they could part ways on the romantic front. It was perfect.
A little too perfect.
Noah couldn’t escape the notion that his plan sounded like something his dad would do. He was not his father, and he would do anything he could to prove it. That meant he would have to be doubly careful and keep things especially chaste between them, all while trying to create the illusion that they were hopelessly in love. He had no idea how he was going to pull this off.
Lily whipped around, surprise in her eyes. She dropped down onto her bare foot and pressed her hand to her chest. “You scared me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to startle you, but you were so deep in concentration.”
Lily worked her foot back into her black pump. “You could tell?”
“Yeah. You do that thing with your foot when you’re focused.”
Her cheeks turned the most gorgeous shade of pink, like cherry blossoms in spring, except brighter and more vibrant. It made him want to embarrass her more often. “I do?”
Noah swallowed hard. He hadn’t had time to get used to the fact that it would be okay for him to say something about this now. Before, a topic like this was best avoided. “I did. I’ve noticed it for a while now. I’m sorry if that bothers you.”
She shook her head. “No. Of course not. It doesn’t bother me at all.” Was that a hint of flirtation in her voice? If so, he liked being fake engaged to her, even if the clock hadn’t yet started ticking on their charade.
“So, are you okay with our arrangement? There’s still time to back out if you want.” He didn’t want to come off as unsure, but it was important to him that she not feel as though she’d been cornered. There had been three Lockes in that room and only one Lily Foster. It wasn’t entirely fair.
“I’d be lying if I said that I was completely comfortable with the idea. I’m not much for faking something.”
“Yeah. Me neither.”
“But I’m also smart enough to know that people do all sorts of things in business to make a deal happen. And maybe if you aren’t willing to be daring with something, you’ll miss out. This would be a big thing to miss out on.”
“The Hannafort deal.”
“Of course.”
It was good to have clarification, if only to keep things straight. “Well, our next step is for me to take you shopping for a ring.”
“Wow. A ring.” Lily looked down at her own hand as if she were trying to picture it. “I guess that’s a must-have, isn’t it?”
“Can’t be fake engaged without a ring.” He smiled when she shot him a knowing glance. “Except the ring will be real. I’m not putting a fake ring on your hand.” Lily absolutely deserved a real ring, but he did have to wonder if this harebrained plan was going to end up ruining any fantasies she’d had about getting engaged. He didn’t want to make assumptions based on her gender, but she did prefer books with happy endings.
Noah had zero fantasies about marriage. Or engagement. He’d never imagined the moment when he’d get down on one knee. He’d never thought about what it would feel like to love someone so much that the only thing that made sense was to be with them forever. It had always seemed, at best, unlikely and, at worst, doomed. Would he ever be in love? Would he ever feel as though he couldn’t live without someone? Seventy-two hours or so and he usually knew that the woman of the moment wasn’t the one. Or, admittedly, he’d gone into it with the assumption he would not find love. It wasn’t the best attitude, but time and again, things played out that way. It was hard not to assume that the common denominator—his heart—wasn’t built for love.
“Good to know that you’re not going to force me to be excited about a cubic zirconia. Not that I wouldn’t be happy with whatever you gave me. But, you know. A girl wants a diamond if she can get it.”
“The only thing about the ring shopping is that we have to plan it out in advance. Sawyer’s going to have Kendall leak it to the press so it will hopefully make its way back to Hannafort. And if not, we will at least have countered the bad publicity with good.”
She nodded. “So the video was that bad?”
The thought of it made his stomach sink yet again. He hoped Lily never saw it. He hoped she never looked it up on the internet, although if the roles were reversed, he definitely would have done some due diligence. He truly didn’t want her seeing him in that light. Even if it was biased, and pulpy, it wasn’t a lie. There was a whole lot of truth in it. “It wasn’t my best showing, that’s for sure.”
Lily patted him on the shoulder. When she moved her hand, it felt as though she’d marked him for life with her touch. “Hopefully we can make it go away. We should probably start tomorrow.”
“Do I have a hole in my schedule?”
“No meetings from eleven to three. A nice big window.”
“Perfect. Tomorrow at eleven we have a date to buy that ring.” Noah could hardly believe the words after they’d left his lips. For a guy who’d sworn he’d never get engaged, he’d said it like it was no big deal, when he knew for a fact that it was.
Three (#u3ea596b3-0433-5051-8b11-16de5b69bbd4)
Lily did her best to stay busy at work the next morning, but knowing where she and Noah were going at eleven made it tough to focus. A mere twenty-four hours into their fake engagement and Noah was about to take her to buy the ring. She’d be lying if she said she’d never thought about stepping into a fancy jewelry store with a sweet, handsome, romantic guy. Her broken engagement had come with a ring that was a family heirloom, no shopping required. She’d had no idea that Peter wouldn’t be able to go through with the promise that accompanied that ring, but returning it had been a simple process. She’d thrown it at him in a quiet room just outside the nave. He’d cursed her, scrambled on his hands and knees for it, nearly ruining his tuxedo pants. She’d cried and braced herself for what followed—telling a church full of invited guests that they were welcome to enjoy the reception, but there would be no wedding.
The events of that dreadful day were precisely why her fake engagement to Noah, although fun in premise, was about business and nothing else. She’d never had financial security in her life and that became her top priority after the love part went south. She had to take her chance to secure her future. It would be one fewer thing to fret about, in a world fraught with things that could make a woman worry, like whether or not Mr. Right would ever come along.
Out walked Noah from the confines of Sawyer’s office. “So we’re all set with the photographer or whoever is supposed to be outside the jewelry store?”
Sawyer followed his brother. “According to Kendall, yes. As to who it is and where they’ll be, I have no idea. You’ll have to be as convincing as possible. These people are very good at sniffing out a fake. And, honestly, you need to act like someone is watching, even when you don’t know for certain that they are. The video should have taught you that much.”
Noah cast his sights at Lily. It was as if he was saying Can you believe what we’re doing? To which Lily would have replied No.
“I don’t want any obvious signs that this is a Locke and Locke purchase, so put the ring on one of your personal cards instead of the company’s. We’ll find a way to reimburse you for it,” Sawyer said. “I don’t know if they’ll let us return it when it’s all said and done, but I suppose we could always sell it if we had to.”
This was all too strange, an unromantic transaction. Lily dug around in her purse for a piece of gum, just to distract herself from this deeply uncomfortable subject.
“Sawyer, listen to yourself. We’re not doing that.” Noah grabbed his coat and slipped it on. The man had incredible shoulders, but the black wool brought out the strong line of them, enough to make her stifle a sigh. “If I give Lily a ring, she gets to keep it. I’m not asking for it back, even if this is fake.”
Lily’s heart broke out in a gallop, fierce and strong, like a young horse discovering it could run for as long and as far as it wanted to. That might have been the most romantic thing a man had ever said about her.
Even when his sweet sentiment was tied up with a satin bow called “fake.”
Sawyer stuffed his hands into his pockets. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Lily, whatever you choose today, it’s yours to keep.”
“Oh. Well, thank you. I guess we’ll call it combat pay?”
Sawyer laughed. Noah did, too, but it was far less convincing and came only after his brother had started it. He seemed so tortured over this whole thing, it was impossible to feel good about it.
“I’m kidding. Of course. If I wanted combat pay, I’d ask for cash.” She smiled sweetly and got up from her desk, wishing there was a protocol somewhere for interactions with your fake fiancée and your fake future brother-in-law. She felt a bit like she was failing right now.
“You two have fun. Try not to get into too much trouble,” Sawyer said, heading back into his office.
“No promises,” Noah muttered. “And we’re going out to lunch afterward.”
“On the company dime?” Lily asked.
Noah unleashed a devilish smile. “Of course.” He then offered her his arm, which he held in midair while Lily struggled to keep up with what she was supposed to do. “Remember what Sawyer said. We need to act like someone is watching at all times.”
“Right.” She hooked hers in his and he snugged her against his body, sending a lovely shock right through her. One touch, through layers of coats no less, and she felt like her shoes might shoot right off her feet.
They took the stairs down to the street. Noah’s driver was waiting for them, standing outside the sleek black town car. He opened the door as they approached and Lily struggled to stay in the moment, to not let her consciousness become too detached from what was happening. This was a fantasy brought to life, and she should embrace the good parts. There would surely be bad moments when she would end up with flickers of regret over doing this crazy thing. For now, Noah Locke, Mr. Unattainable, was taking her to buy an engagement ring. She wanted to soak up every minute.
They got settled in the back seat. “Warm enough?” Noah asked.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Good.”
“Yes.” Wow. So this is what the world’s worst small talk is like.
“I was thinking...” He looked out the window and shook his head.
“What? You were thinking what?”
He turned back and looked at her so earnestly she thought she might disappear into his green eyes. “What do people do after they buy an engagement ring?”
Have sex? Lily thought for a second about putting it out there, but decided there were only so many inappropriate jokes she could make. That would not be professional. “I don’t know. Kiss?”
“Yes. Exactly.” He nodded a little too fast, almost as if he was nervous, which seemed impossible. She’d witnessed more human moments out of Noah in the last day than she’d ever seen before. It was nice. “And, obviously, we haven’t done that yet. I don’t think it should be awkward. It should seem natural, especially if anyone is taking a picture.”
She put her hand on his. “Right. Like Sawyer said.”
“Following orders.”
“He needs us to put on a good show. We should practice. At least once.” The instant she said it, the air crackled with electricity. She’d pushed things to the next level. With the help of some convenient excuses, of course.
Noah’s clever half smile crossed his lips, and his eyes swirled to a darker shade. The city whizzed by outside the window. Lily was overcome with the freeing feeling of being given permission to do something you shouldn’t. Kissing Noah was such a bad idea, but when you’d thought about a bad idea for two whole years, it was hard not to be excited by it. His hand slipped under her hair and around her neck. She sat straighter. She angled herself closer. Every nerve ending in her body was cheering him on. His thumb settled in the soft spot under her ear. His touch was more than warm. It was a superhuman zap of heat. It might turn her into something she’d never been before.
His lips parted ever so slightly and she raised her chin as he lowered his head. His hair slumped forward. She loved that. She’d fantasized a million times about running her hands through it, feeling the thick strands between her fingers and smoothing it back. She wanted to stare at him forever, but she also wanted to savor every delicious heartbeat of anticipation. Her eyes fluttered shut. When his mouth met hers, she waited for it to change her life, but it was a soft brush of a kiss. A first date kiss. An oh hi nice to meet you kiss. It was nice. So nice. But nice wasn’t going to cut it. Her body didn’t merely tell her so, it was screaming it in both ears. She slanted her head and pushed up from the seat, aiming her shoulders straight for his. He pulled back. Her eyes flew open. Their gazes connected, both of them searching. It was an entire deliberation about their next kiss, wrapped up in two seconds. He smiled. She swallowed. He was coming in for the real thing.
The next thing she knew, she had all ten fingers working into his hair. Her arms landed on his shoulders. His hand was molded around her hip, squeezing like he was trying to get down to the bone. Their lips were in a mad scramble, parted, making way for tongues to roam. In under two seconds, they’d gone from zero to sexy sixty. The kiss was flat-out reckless now, like neither of them cared about ramifications. She was a woman and he was the hottest man she’d ever set her eyes on. One well-placed rub and they might as well be dry tinder. A fire was inevitable.
Lily dropped one hand and worked her way inside Noah’s coat, which he’d been kind enough to leave unbuttoned. She palmed his firm chest, and even through layers of clothes—his suit coat, his shirt—she could feel the frantic pounding of his heart. She wanted nothing more than to experience that with bare skin against bare skin. Noah’s hand traveled down to her knee and under the hem of her skirt. Lily felt like she might burst into full flame. He didn’t waste a second, heading north, his palm caressing her stocking. Her heart was beating like a kid dragging a stick across a picket fence. He came to a dead stop when his thumb reached the top of her thigh-highs. Noah pulled back, breaking their kiss, breathless. Thankfully, his hand hadn’t moved.
“Are those?” His eyes were dark with a brew of lust and curiosity.
She nodded, her lips floating back to meet his and steal one more kiss. “I can’t stand regular panty hose,” she murmured against his mouth. She took a soft nip of his lower lip.
A low groan escaped his throat.
The divider between the driver and the back seat started to lower. Lily scrambled to find a more demure position. The driver, most likely accustomed to this scene, didn’t look at them. “Mr. Locke. We’re here at Tiffany.”
Noah gawked at Lily. Maybe he hadn’t expected her to go for it. Carpe diem, Mr. Locke. Carpe diem. “Um. Ready?” he asked.
For what? she almost answered. For you to tear off my clothes? “Hold on a sec.” She reached out and combed her fingers through his silky hair, which was just as tangled as her thoughts right now. “Your hair.” It was even softer than it had been a minute ago. Maybe it was because she wasn’t wholly distracted by his lips and chest.
“Thanks for looking out for me.” He then scrutinized her hair and smoothed back one strand that was grazing her cheek. “You weren’t nearly as disheveled.”
Embarrassment crept over her, shrouding her from head to toe. She hadn’t merely gone overboard, she’d behaved like a teenager who’d spent her adolescence locked up in an all-girls school. Lily made a mental note: practice some damn decorum. At least this was probably the norm for Noah, women going crazy for him. He didn’t seem particularly fazed by it at all.
* * *
Noah was quite frankly shocked that he could climb out of the back seat and straighten to his full height. It felt like his pants had shrunk two sizes and not in the waist. Thank goodness for unseasonably cool weather, as well as his long wool coat. It could hide a multitude of sins. And stiffness.
He took Lily’s hand as she stepped out of the car. The flush in her cheeks filled him with an unavoidable sense of accomplishment. He liked knowing that had been her response to him, but even better was having experienced it firsthand. She’d gone for far more than a practice kiss, which had honestly surprised him. She was always so businesslike in the office, never showing any interest in him outside the professional. Which was fine, and as it should have been. But it had disappointed him from time to time, for sure. Was there more there? Or was she amped up because her whole financial future was about to become so much sunnier?
Either way, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to be his father. He couldn’t go overboard like that again. He had a professional relationship to maintain with Lily. Kissing like they just had was a one-way ticket to ruin.
They stepped inside Tiffany & Co., the beautifully appointed showroom with a maze of glass cases filled with jewelry, towering displays of crystal bowls and the ever-present flashes of their signature blue. Lily squeezed his hand a little tighter, which only made him want to reassure her that they were in this together. As unorthodox as their arrangement was, they had each other. For a few days.
An older gentleman at the first counter stepped out from behind it. “Mr. Locke?” His British accent made him even more distinguished than his appearance. His silvery hair was impeccably groomed.
“Yes. You must be Mr. Russell.” Noah turned to Lily. “I made an appointment. I didn’t want us to have to wait.”
“Absolutely not. I understand you are a very busy man, Mr. Locke.” He then turned his attention to Lily. A warm grin crossed his face and he stood even straighter. “And this must be the future Mrs. Locke.” He reached out his hand and shook hers, regarding her as if she were made of fine china.
“Yes. That’s me. Won’t be long and I’ll be Lily Locke.” Mr. Russell let go and Lily smiled nervously at Noah. He got it. He hadn’t thought about it in terms of her married name yet either.
They followed Mr. Russell to a counter in the middle of the store. He pulled out a velvet-covered board with at least a dozen engagement rings on it. “I took the liberty of picking out a few things to start. You had said platinum, right? And something larger than a carat? But you also wanted something ready-made. Not a custom ring, correct?”
Noah nodded. He didn’t much like the idea of something right off the sales floor, but thus was their timeline. “Yes. Correct. We don’t want to wait.” He put his hand on the small of Lily’s back. “What do you think?”
Lily leaned down, perusing them, but didn’t touch a thing. When she turned back to Noah, there was a decidedly panicked edge to her expression. “These all seem really big.”
“Yes...” His mind went blank as he tried to decide what sort of pet name Lily might like. “Honey. We talked about this before. Remember? I want you to have a beautiful ring. A ring that’s just as gorgeous and amazing as you.” That was the sort of thing a romantic guy would say, wasn’t it?
“But aren’t these a little extravagant?”
He shook his head as sweetly as possible. “No. I don’t think so.”
Mr. Russell cleared his throat. “Oh, dear. A few of these aren’t quite as clean as they should be. Let me polish them up and I’ll give you two a chance to chat.” He’d obviously been doing this for a very long time. He seemed quite practiced in the art of ducking away when a couple was about to have an argument. “I’ll be right back.”
As soon as Mr. Russell was gone with the rings, Lily started in. “They’re too much, Noah. It doesn’t seem right that I would get that on top of the one percent. I want to be compensated, but I also don’t want to take advantage of you or Sawyer.”
“I hear what you’re saying. And it’s sweet, but you need to think about me and my family. People are going to expect Noah Locke’s fiancée to have a huge hulking ring. Did you see the rock that Sawyer gave Kendall?”
“It all seems very superficial. A man’s love should not be demonstrated by the size of an engagement ring.”
“And it isn’t. The size of a man’s wallet is demonstrated by the ring. The love part people will have to figure out on their own.” That last thought gave him a sour stomach. He and Lily both deserved better than to be picking out engagement rings with someone they weren’t head over heels for. “You’re going to have to trust me on this one. When we get to the wedding this weekend and you show off that ring, we want people to be blinded by it. If it’s small, it’ll just cast suspicion on the engagement and that’s one thing we can’t afford.”
Lily blew out a long breath through her nose and looked around the store, shaking her head the whole time. “You know, I’m surprised the grand Locke family doesn’t have a cache of heirloom engagement rings tucked away somewhere. Surely you guys have been handing down jewelry from generation to generation. Maybe that would be easier. Then I could give it back when we’re done.”
He didn’t like that she was making assumptions about his family or their history. There might have been many Locke fortunes made over the last century, but there had been a lot of sadness and heartache, too. They weren’t all spending their days rolling around on piles of money. “There’s no cache of rings. There is one family ring in the mix, and that’s all I know of. It was my mother’s. The sapphire engagement ring my father gave her. He gave it to me when I turned eighteen.”
“It sounds pretty.”
“It’s beautiful. A big oval surrounded by diamonds.” Noah almost choked on the words. More than twenty years later and he still missed his mom. Plus, all he could think about was what his dad had said when he’d given him the ring. If you ever manage to find the right woman, you should give this to her when you ask her to marry you. I’m just not sure you have it in you to be like me. “I didn’t really think that was appropriate for today.”
The expression on Lily’s face fell. “Oh. Of course. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
Noah understood how bad it sounded, but Mr. Russell was only a few feet away. “Wait. I didn’t mean it that way.”
She waved him off, not looking at him. “No. It’s fine. I get it, Noah. Really.”
“Right, then,” Mr. Russell started. “Have we had a chance to have the ‘size matters’ discussion?” He winked at Lily and she laughed quietly. Thank God for Mr. Russell.
“Yes. We have.” She leaned down, her thumb resting on her lower lip. “I think I’d like to try that one.”
Mr. Russell picked up the ring and placed it gently on Lily’s left ring finger. She slid it into place and held out her hand so Noah could see. “What do you think?”
The ring was stunning. And it looked lovely on Lily’s hand.
“It’s a square solitaire, just under two and a half carats. Platinum setting, of course, and approximately another two carats of small diamonds in the band.” Mr. Russell watched Lily closely. “I’ll get you the exact carat weight if this is the one you decide to take.”
“It’s a gorgeous ring. No question about that,” Noah said. This was Lily’s decision. Not his.
“Okay, then. We’ll take this one.”
“Are you sure? You don’t want to try any others?” Mr. Russell asked. “How does the size of the band feel?”
Lily shrugged. “No. I’m good. I like this one. It seems like it fits fine.”
“Okay, then. You have to appreciate a woman who knows what she wants.” He smiled wide at Lily. “Truly. Some couples are here for hours.”
“I bet.” At least we’re efficient.
“I’ll get the paperwork together.” Mr. Russell didn’t leave, though. He seemed to be waiting, perhaps for the moment he’d undoubtedly witnessed many times with countless other couples.
Lily leaned into Noah and showed him the ring again. “I love it, darling. Truly.”
Noah then remembered the show they were supposed to be putting on. He gazed into her eyes, but it wasn’t the same as things had been when they were in the car together. Alone. This version of Lily was all business. “Good. I’m so glad.” He leaned closer and they kissed. It was sweet and soft, but only an echo of the passion they’d shared mere minutes ago.
Mr. Russell smiled, seeming satisfied. He left for a moment, and returned with a packet of paperwork certifying the diamonds, along with a blue Tiffany box for Lily to keep the ring in, and the final bill. Noah pulled out his credit card, hoping that at some point, this might all start to seem at least a little more normal. Mr. Russell presented him with the receipt, Noah signed on the dotted line.
And just like that, it was done.
They bid their farewell and walked out of the store, hand in hand. As soon as they were in the car, he had to say something. “I’m sorry about what I said about my mom’s ring. It didn’t come out in a particularly kind way.”
“No. It’s fine, Noah. I get it. Our arrangement isn’t real. We both knew that going into it.” She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. The chunky diamond sparkled. “And now I have the ring to prove it.”
Four (#u3ea596b3-0433-5051-8b11-16de5b69bbd4)
It didn’t take long for the photos of the Tiffany & Co. engagement ring kiss to end up online. In fact, it took less than an hour.
Noah’s phone beeped with a text soon after they ordered their lunch at a restaurant he’d suggested. “It’s Sawyer. Kendall just sent him a link to the photo of us picking out your ring. I’m not sure whether I should be happy or not, but we are now officially tabloid fodder.”
Lily scooted closer to him in the half-round booth. It would be so easy to become accustomed to being near him, breathing in his citrusy cologne and putting her hands on him anytime. He showed her the evidence of their dubious newfound fame. There they were on a gossip website, locking lips in the most famous jewelry store in the world. It was so surreal. That was Lily Foster from an average family in Philadelphia, doing something distinctly not run-of-the-mill. “Yikes.”
“Are you not happy with this?”
“It just...” Lily’s stomach was filled with all sorts of uncomfortable feelings. She did not like the loss of control. She disliked the scrutiny of her private life. She hated feeling as though other people’s opinions of her could boil down to this. For the first time, she understood how deeply upsetting it must have been to Noah when the tabloid video was released.
“Just what?”
“It’s strange. Why would anyone care about this?” She winced at how unworldly her words might make her seem. She didn’t want to be naive, but she couldn’t escape the feeling that a person’s love life should not be entertainment for perfect strangers.
“Now you know how I felt when that video ran. At least we knew this was going to happen. That’s a big improvement over the way things happened for me.”
Lily sighed and looked at the pixelated photograph again. This was the new cost of doing business, the price she’d be paying for securing her future with her small piece of Locke and Locke. This was the new normal. “Do you think this will be the extent of being in the tabloids? We won’t have to keep doing this, will we?”
Noah took a sizable gulp of the Old-Fashioned he’d ordered to go alongside his steak sandwich and fries. “This should be enough to do the trick. We just needed Hannafort to buy the idea of us as an engaged couple before we show up at his daughter’s wedding.”
She smiled thinly and nodded. His words pointed to one truth—the notion of Lily and Noah as a couple was indeed something that needed to be sold. It needed the help of smoke and mirrors. “Okay.”
The expression on Noah’s face softened. “Are you just saying okay? I have the feeling this is really bothering you.”
She didn’t want to make a stink. She wasn’t someone to complain, but it did bother her. At least Noah was being thoughtful about it. That she appreciated. “I don’t want to sound like a hopeless romantic, but it’s a big deal to get engaged. It feels like we’re tempting fate by doing it for show.”
Worry crossed his face, a look she disliked. Noah was too perfect to stress. “Think of it this way, it’s helping you build a nest egg, right?”
“Yes. That’s important.”
“And, hopefully, there are worse people you could be fake engaged to.”
I’m not sure there’s anyone better to be fake engaged to. “Of course. Don’t be silly.”
“More than anything, do you have any idea how many people get stuck with super unflattering pictures of themselves in the tabloids? This photo of us is pretty hot. We look good together.” He smiled, seeming like he was desperate to reassure her everything would be okay. It was so endearing.
“True.” Lily gnawed on her lower lip. She had noticed that. “Can you get Kendall to email me that link? So I have it?” She might be upset by the newspaper story, but she might also have that photo blown up and framed. She could hang it on the wall in her bedroom. Oddly enough, the kiss in the jewelry store hadn’t been particularly hot. It had been sweet and nice. She hadn’t noticed when it was happening that Noah had not only rested his hand on her hip, he’d curled his fingers into her coat. Even with the graininess of the photograph, she could see him pulling on her. Like he wanted her. Like that moment in the car when his hand slipped under her skirt and he’d discovered her stockings. There was a good deal of feminine pride wrapped up in being able to surprise a man like Noah. Very few women had likely made such an impression.
Noah’s phone rang. “I’m so sorry. I should get this. It’s Charlotte.” He pressed the button on the screen and jabbed his finger into his ear. “Hey. What’s up?” He nodded and popped a French fry into his mouth. “Okay. Hold on.” He handed the phone to Lily. “She wants to talk to you.”
“About?”
“Something about shopping.”
“Hello?”
“Lily, it’s Charlotte. I’m wondering, and I’m not totally sure how to ask this, but do you have the right clothes for this trip?”
Lily had no clue what that might entail. Did she have nice clothes? Of course. She made a point of being impeccably dressed at work. Did she have fancy, expensive clothes? No. “I’m not sure. Noah hasn’t told me anything about what we’re going to be doing.”
“I’m not surprised. I’m sure it’s the last thing on his mind. Thankfully, it’s the first thing on mine. I do not want you feeling unprepared. You should feel comfortable in the Hannaforts’ world of big money and luxury. I’ll take you shopping to be safe. Plus, Noah’s paying.”
“Does he know that?”
“Not yet.”
Lily snickered. “Okay. When?”
“Now? I had a client cancel on me this afternoon and Michael is working late.”
Lily glanced over at Noah. How anyone could look so smoking hot eating a sandwich was beyond her. And the way his lips curved around the glass? She’d never wished so badly to be an ice cube, to slide down and crash into his mouth. “You sure? You don’t have to do this.”
“Are you kidding? I live for stuff like this. Meet me at the Saks in midtown in thirty minutes?”
“I’ll have to clear it with Noah first, I guess.”
“I’m clearing it. If my brother says a peep, remind him that he’s on thin ice with me right now. Plus, if you’re going to be my pretend sister-in-law, we should spend more time together, don’t you think?”
“Good idea.” It was nice to think that Charlotte could be Lily’s ally in this. She needed someone on her side who wasn’t an impossibly handsome man. Noah wielded too much power as it was. “I’ll see you in a bit.” Lily returned Noah’s phone. “Your sister’s taking me shopping for clothes for the wedding, but she wants me to meet her in a little bit. Can you and Sawyer manage if I’m out of the office this afternoon?”
“I don’t have much choice. When Charlotte decides something is going to happen, it does. Case in point, our engagement.”
“She does seem like a force of nature.”
“She’s always been like that. Even when we were kids.”
Lily had often wondered what it must’ve been like to grow up on the sprawling Locke estate out on Long Island. “What about you? What were you like?”
“Quiet. Uncoordinated.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not. I was always the one in the background. Sawyer was the star. He was the better athlete. He had more girlfriends. He did better in school. Charlotte was the one who was in crisis or kicking up trouble.” Noah sat back and draped his long arm across the back of the booth. Lily hadn’t moved back after scooting closer, so they were only inches apart.
Lily sat there and stared at Noah, his admission still plain on his face. “I can’t even imagine you like that. It seems impossible.”
“I assure you it’s more than possible, it happened that way.”
Lily was seeing Noah in an all-new way and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. Noah always seemed like the cocky golden boy of the Locke family, while Sawyer was the strong type A oldest sibling. Maybe she’d read it all wrong.
Noah got yet another text. “This is why I hate my phone.” He picked it up from the table, shaking his head when he read the message. “Sawyer needs me to get back to the office. You should take the car to meet Charlotte and I’ll hop in a taxi.” He flagged down the waiter and handed over his credit card to pay the check.
“You don’t have to do that. It’s only eight or nine blocks for me.”
“What kind of fiancé would I be if I let you walk in those shoes?”
Lily had strong thoughts on the answer. Peter had once left her to walk to a gas station two miles away when her car broke down. She’d called and asked for his help, but he’d been at the gym and wanted to finish his workout first. Noah probably had no idea how impossibly sweet he was being right now. “I want to walk. But I sincerely appreciate the offer.”
“Okay, but I’ll pay for a cab if you change your mind.” He signed the bill when the waiter returned it, then plucked the card from the leather folio and handed it to Lily. “Shopping is on me, too.”
“You don’t have to do that either. I have money.”
“You never would’ve been in this situation if it wasn’t for me.”
Lily couldn’t forget it. It was omnipresent in her brain. It would be interesting to see where exactly the idea resided once she was back from the Hannafort wedding and all was back to normal.
Noah walked Lily out to the car and opened the door before the driver had the chance. “Tell you what. I’ll send my driver to Saks after he drops me at the office. Then you won’t need to worry about getting back.”
Again, he was being so sweet. “That would be great. I’ll try to be quick.”
“As much as Charlotte likes shopping, she does not dawdle. I predict you’ll be done pretty fast.”
“Good to know.” Lily was about to head up Fifth Avenue when Noah grasped her elbow and pulled her closer. Her heart sprang into action, beating double time.
“I need to kiss you goodbye,” he whispered. “Or else it will seem strange.”
She nodded, her brain as fuzzy as could be. His words were saying one thing, while his lips were telling her yet another. The kiss was soft and sensuous. Much hotter than the first acquaintance kiss in the car or even the one at Tiffany. Had that really been that morning? So much had happened today and it was only two o’clock.
“Bye.” She wished the tone of her voice didn’t contain such longing.
“Bye, honey.” Noah cocked an eyebrow and climbed into the back seat of the car.
Lily stood on the sidewalk for a moment, processing. She’d kissed Noah four times today. Not bad for a day’s work.
She began her short trek up to Saks, winding her way through the continuous stream of pedestrians. The air was crisp and cool, but the promise of spring was in the air. It filled Lily with sunny optimism. Despite her strange arrangement with Noah, things weren’t bad.
She approached Saks Fifth Avenue, with its stony facade and procession of American flags flapping high above the famous windows. The displays, like the weather, were harkening the start of spring with flashes of pretty pastels and flowers. Lily marched through the door and nearly walked straight into Charlotte. “You’re here already.”
“I don’t like to be late.”
Lily pulled back the sleeve of her coat to consult her watch. She was still five minutes early. “Where to first?”
“Follow me.” Through the sprawling cosmetics department, avoiding salespeople threatening spritzes of expensive perfume, up the escalators they went.
Lily had never even been in this store before, although she had been to the outlet a block or two away. It wasn’t that Lily was averse to spending a lot of money on clothes. It was more the product of growing up in a very middle-class family. It wasn’t something that was done. And she’d always acted accordingly.
Lily followed as Charlotte got off on one floor and started tooling around like this was a time trial. Even more than five months pregnant, Charlotte was hell on wheels. “For the record, we should not be doing this on such short notice. We leave in three days.”
Lily hadn’t thought of it in those terms, but Charlotte was right. They’d be leaving for the Florida Keys Friday morning, flying on the Locke private jet, no less. Talk about being plucked from one world and landing in another.
Lily trailed along as garments flew off the racks in the department of every classic high-end designer you could imagine. Escada. Chanel. Louis Vuitton. Each item was handed to a salesclerk named Delia, whom they’d acquired along the way. Delia smiled, but she was definitely struggling to keep up. It would’ve been hard for most people to stay on pace with Charlotte, even without being loaded down with an armful of clothes. Lily herself was testimony to that fact, shuffling along as Charlotte explained her thinking behind each wardrobe choice she made. A dress for this, a skirt and blouse for that.
“Are you sure you don’t want to pick anything out?” Charlotte asked. “I don’t want to take over your fashion life.”
“I’ll let you know if I see anything I love. I trust that you know what you’re doing.”
“I’ve been to weddings like this before, and you will end up needing several outfits each day. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I feel better when I travel if I have a lot to choose from.”
Lily nodded. She’d had a modest upbringing, but her parents had loved to schlep her and her brother on weekend trips when she was growing up. “Yeah. I get that. It seems like a lot of clothes. I don’t want to go overboard when I’m not paying.”
Charlotte’s eyebrows popped up into high peaks. “For what you’re doing, you deserve to be compensated well. Noah backed us into this corner in the first place.”
“The video itself wasn’t really his fault. How could he have known that would happen?”
“He couldn’t. The tabloids aren’t known for giving their prey a heads-up. But still. He’s the one who decided he needed to date half of the women in the city.”
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