Page 40 of His Fake Fiancé

“I promise,” she said and smiled up at him, her chest aching just a tiny bit. At the last second, she threw her arms around him and squeezed tight. It was like hugging a brick wall.

It took a second for Brock to relax, and then he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed back. It was almost tight enough to bruise, and she loved every second of it.

“Alright, then,” he said, his voice a little raspy. He disentangled himself, and then put his hat on, pulling it low so it shaded his eyes. She’d bet just about anything his eyes were glassy. Mainly because her throat had gotten so thick, it was practically closed up.

He gave her a bop on the nose with his finger, which was something he hadn’t done since she was a little girl, and then turned and walked out the door.

Her eyes filled with unexpected tears, and she didn’t care. She stared at the door, letting them spill over, and run down her cheeks. The men in her life were going to be the reason she needed to invest in tissue stock. She hadn’t cried this much since she was a hormonal teenager. This last little bit had been brutal.

She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands, and sat down at her desk. She glanced at the clock. Already eleven thirty. She’d wasted half the day already. With a sigh, she pulled up the budget spreadsheets. She needed to know exactly what they were looking at if they couldn’t sell the cull this fall.

At least the threat of financial ruin was sure to be enough to keep her mind off the hot and heavy make out session from last night. She told the disembodied laughter that rang through her head to shut up, and got down to business.

Yeah, so even though she thought being busy would keep her mind off kissing Jake, Claire found her brain splashing around in the gutter all afternoon. Every time she stopped—hell, every time she breathed—the vision of him lying under her, the feel of his erection between her thighs, popped into her head. Honestly, she was lucky she hadn’t drooled all over the invoices.

Her dad hadn’t come back to the office, which was probably a good thing. She had so much going on in her life right now, she didn’t have any energy left to deal with that mess. And yes, she realized it was probably her fault their relationship was so terrible, but if she was being honest, there probably wasn’t a whole lot she could do about it now. And getting into a fight with him, when he was already dealing with this cull thing, wasn’t fair to either of them.

Linc had wandered in sometime in the afternoon. He’d started harassing her about the Jake thing, but he also had food with him, so she didn’t kick him out right away. She waited until she was done eating the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he’d brought before she suggested he go take a long walk off a short pier.

Could you die from testosterone poisoning?

There was definitely an overabundance in her life these days. Hell, there was an overabundance of testosterone in her life every day. Throwing living with Jake into the mix just made everything even more complicated.

Her phone rang and she jumped as the noise cut through the silence. She fished it out of her shoulder bag. KC’s number and photo flashed on the screen. She pushed the answer button. “Hey, Kace.”

“I’m here.” KC sang the words, her voice going so high at the end Claire winced.

Shit. After all of the bombs that had been dropped on her already chaotic life, she’d completely forgotten her call with KC this morning. And the ludicrous idea that she was flying in from Los Angeles because she’d heard about Claire and Jake kissing in the bar.

Even so, there was a part of her that was thrilled her friend was back in town. It had been almost a year since she’d seen her bestie, and even though they talked or texted all the time, there was nothing quite like being in the same room together.

“Where are you?” Claire couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face, even though she was still concerned about KC and her get-to-the-bottom-of-shit nature. KC wasn’t going to be satisfied with the lie that Claire and Jake had suddenly realized they were perfect for each other. Mainly, because Claire had spent most of her life lamenting to KC.

Her friend wasn’t an idiot. There was no way she was going to buy what Claire and Jake were peddling. Maybe Claire could… nope, she had nothing. Once KC caught whiff of something off, she was like a bloody bloodhound. And she wouldn’t give up until she got to the bottom of whatever she considered a problem.

“In the car,” KC said, the words slightly muffled, like she was multitasking while talking on the phone. Which was typical. KC was the kind of person who could never sit still. She was always on the go, doing this, that or the other, usually all at the same time. Her ability to multitask was almost superhuman.

Oh, good. She’d probably need to stop at her dad’s place first, drop off her bag and everything. It gave Claire a little time. “I’m almost done here and I need to see you and hug you and all that stuff. Do you want to meet somewhere?”

“How about I come out there and then we can decide.” The sound of a car door closing sounded over the line.

“Sure, just let me know when you leave your dad’s place and I’ll be ready.”

KC laughed and the sound seemed to lodge itself in Claire’s chest where it fizzed with a mixture of happiness and longing. Jeez, she’d missed KC. She just didn’t quite realize how much until right now. “I’m actually almost there. Just had to stop at the Stephen’s to pick up some jam.”

“What?” Claire pushed to her feet. Leave it to KC to light a fire under her butt. “Don’t you have to stop in and see your dad?”

“I already did. He was the first stop I made. We had a nice chat.”

“How’s he doing?” A stab of guilt sliced through Claire. “I haven’t stopped by in a while.” The stuff with Jake and Olivia had taken up all her free time recently. Normally, she made a point to stop in and see Mr. Sousa once every couple of weeks.

Not having a mom was one of the things that had bonded Claire and KC when they were little. In KC’s case, however, her mom hadn’t died, she’d just picked up one day and left, leaving KC and her dad by themselves. KC hadn’t heard from or seen her mom since she was five years old.

Claire didn’t know which one was harder; not having a mom at all because she died, or knowing your mom was out there somewhere, but didn’t care enough to bother with you. Nope, never mind. The second one was definitely worse. At least in her situation, she knew her mom would be here if she could. Which, again, was why the guilt still chewed her up.

“He’s good.” It sounded like KC was doing twenty-five things at once. There was shuffling and banging and all manner of stuff going on in the background. “He’s taken up doing Tai Chi at the senior’s center a couple times a week, and oh my God, I had to hear all about the dance they had there last Friday night on the ride from the airport. I mean, yeah, I’m glad he’s getting out there and everything, but I really don’t want to hear about the geriatric badonkadonk, you know?”

Claire snorted. Mr. Sousa wasn’t that old. Her dad was actually a decade older than her Kase’s father. She couldn’t imagine her dad ever talking to her about that stuff. Secretly, she’d always been a little envious of the relationship KC had with her dad. And she was not dwelling on that right now. “Yeah, I’m not touching that one.”