Page 45 of His Fake Fiancé

Jake cleared his throat, and her gaze sprang up to his face.

He was smiling, that knowing, sexy smile that sent panties all over the state tumbling to the ground. One of his eyebrows was raised in that cocky, adorable way.

If she thought her cheeks had been hot before, it was nothing compared to the inferno that raced through them now. The felt like they were going to burst.

“Sorry.” It came out like a squeak, but she couldn’t help it. Her lungs refused to inflate to full capacity. Or even regular capacity. Now that she thought about it, it was almost impossible to breathe.

Jake’s eyebrows drew together, concern transforming his features. He took a step toward her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and her lungs finally unlocked, the air rushing out of her. She took another big breath and continued to nod. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Okay, she needed to stop nodding like a fool. She forced herself to stop and gave him a smile. It felt so brittle, she was surprised her lips didn’t crack. “I was just checking you out… I mean, in on you.”

Holy Freudian slip, Batman.

Jake laughed and handed her a wet and wiggly Olivia. “Hold her for a minute.”

With no other choice, she took the baby, who laughed and grabbed a handful of Claire’s hair. As she rescued her scalp from Olivia’s evil clutches, Jake grabbed a towel off the rack and wrapped it around his waist.

And she was not disappointed at all.

He grabbed another towel and turned to dry Olivia, giving her a good rub, all while Claire just stood there, like a statue. Or an idiot.

Jake was all business, efficient and put together—very un-Jake like. He wrapped Olivia in a towel and pulled her back into his arms. And then he stared at Claire, his eyebrow cocked in that cheeky way.

It took far too long for Claire to realize he was waiting for her to get out of the doorway.

“Sorry,” she said, although it came out weird. Too low and a little raspy. She stepped back. Jake slipped past her, and she could have sworn he purposely brushed up against her. He was so close she could smell the clean, fresh scent of the body wash he’d used. Her mouth actually watered.

Then again, that might have had more to do with all the flesh still on display. Water droplets clung to him, nestling in the nooks and crannies between all those muscles. The urge to lick him dry welled up inside her, and she had to dig her nails into her palms to stop from touching him.

He and Olivia disappeared into the nursery. Shock, awe, and just plain old confusion warred inside Claire. What the hell had just happened? She stared, open mouthed at the nursery door, her brain forgetting to function. Instead, it was replaying all the delicious details of Jake in the shower, the water slipping and sliding down all that corded muscle.

Heat bloomed inside her, spreading down to wrap around her hips and lower belly. Her core throbbed, yearning so acute, she actually fell back into the wall, using it to hold her up. At this point, she wasn’t sure her knees were functional.

Jake’s deep voice carried down the hall, although the words were muffled. But the tone was sweet, and obviously Olivia agreed, because every once in a while, she laughed or let out a small shriek of delight.

Claire didn’t know how long she stood in the hallway, staring at the door, but a knock on the front door kicked her back to reality.

“Shit.” She pushed herself up and raced into the living room. Her cheeks burned like they’d been lit on fire, which was stupid, because she hadn’t actually been doing anything. She took a second to smooth her hair and then flung open the front door.

KC stood on the porch. Her dark hair was pulled up in a messy bun, but Claire knew from experience it was very intentional. Every hair was always in the proper place, and KC was the type to never leave the house without her full face on. Claire often thought she used the hair and makeup like armor.

“Hey, Kase,” she said, the words sounding awfully guilty. Which was ridiculous, because she hadn’t done anything wrong. Sure, she could have turned and left the bathroom once she’d realized Jake had Olivia and the baby hadn’t been kidnapped. But she hadn’t, mainly because all of her neurons fritzed out when she caught a glimpse of Jake naked.

“Hey Kase? What kind of a greeting is that?” KC planted her hands on her hips and cocked her head in that typical KC way.

A lovely warmth spread through Claire, and she wrapped her arms around KC’s petite form, pulling her in for a hug. She squeezed tight, part of her hoping her best friend could feel how much she’d missed her.

KC wrapped her arms around Claire and squeezed back. Claire’s eye burned, but she blinked hard. She had a feeling this reunion with KC would be an emotional one, but she wasn’t about to start blubbering before it had barely started.

Claire pulled away and smiled down at her friend. Claire wasn’t a giant by any means, topping out at about five foot five, but KC was tiny. Five one on a good day, and only if she was feeling lucky. “I’m so happy to see you.”

“I would say the same thing to you,” KC said, giving her a once over. “Except that you look like crap.”

There was no venom behind the words, just KC being her good old blunt self.

Looked like living in the big city hadn’t dulled that sharp edge. It made Claire’s heart

happy. “Thanks, Kase. That’s just what I needed.”