Pretending She's His: A Hard Feelings Novella (6 page)

It was the first time his lips had moved over her skin like that. It was the first time he pressed his mouth to her in a way that made her blush. It was a quick kiss, a brief contact—but the strange effect it had on her lingered long after it was gone.

“Thanks,” she said, her words unsure. He winked and sat down next to her.

Meagan shifted her eyes between them and the scrutiny was torturous. “So you two are really going through with this, huh?” Meagan questioned.

Trevor’s head tilted back in a dismissive nod and his mouth lifted on the corners. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t give me that shit.” Meagan shook her head. “This ought to be interesting,” she speculated.

Eva didn’t say anything; instead, she filled her mouth with the moist deliciousness that was red velvet wedding cake and poured more wine in her glass.

Reed, Luke, Reed’s sister, Becky, and her husband, Conner, made their way to the table. Nerves spiked in Eva’s chest at the very real realization that she was pretending she was with Trevor. How in the hell was she going to pull this off all weekend?

Sitting down in the chair next to Meagan, Reed nodded at Trevor. Sitting down on the other side of Reed, Conner pulled Becky onto his lap. Luke took the other chair next to Trevor. They all sat there for a moment, silence filling the space around them with an awkward residue.

“So anyone going to address the elephant in the room?” Becky asked, looking at Meagan, apparently aware of the awkward tension lingering in the space around the table. Becky had been a royal bitch when she’d first met Meagan, being overprotective of her brother to a fault. Luckily she had tamed down some and had learned to retract her claws, which was a pretty good thing considering Eva had no problem whatsoever letting hers out. For the most part, Eva and Meagan could tolerate her now. But even then, it pissed Eva off that Becky had to be the one to open her mouth to start the cumbersome conversation of her lie.

Trevor glanced at Eva and winked. He used his wink on women all the time, but she was about ready to staple his eyelids open if he kept winking at her. She wasn’t some chick he was going to fuck when the night was over so there was no need for him to attempt to lay on the charm.

She inhaled a deep breath, trying to soothe the bitch that was begging to come out of her. Becky had loaded Eva’s weapon and Trevor happened to be in her line of fire. He was doing her a favor. Trevor was her good friend. A pain in her ass, but a good friend nonetheless. She didn’t need to take her frustration with the whole damn situation out on him.

“Seriously, what is with all the tension?” Reed asked, looking at his new bride with a worried frown.

Lifting her hand to the side of his face, Meagan leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Just a chaste kiss, but it seemed to melt away his unease. “No tension,” she confirmed.

“Okay,” Reed said, unconvinced. “Then what is it?”

Dammit. Meagan wouldn’t call her out. That wasn’t Meggy’s style. She would cover for Eva even if she was holding a dead body in her arms.

This was Meagan’s day, yet her new husband was now worried and the atmosphere was suddenly stiff. Eva needed to fix this—and fast. It was her best-friend/maid-of-honor duty not to fuck up this day for her.

Eva looked to Trevor. She could handle her own shit, but when in doubt, Trevor would come through—at least she hoped. She’d never had to test out that theory until now.

He smiled, seemingly able to read or mind. “You want to tell everyone, babe?” he asked, reaching underneath the table and sliding his hand over Eva’s thigh.

She stilled, her body going rigid to the sensual touch of Trevor’s fingers grazing the bare flesh of her thigh. She wanted to swat his hand away. She wanted to tell him to get his roaming hand on his side of the table before she dislocated it from his wrist. But she couldn’t. She’d wanted this, after all. He was playing his part. She feigned a smile, letting her lips curl upward and allowing her teeth to peek through the thin gap.

Clearing her throat she sneaked a quick glance at Meagan, for a little reassurance, and she was absolutely no help whatsoever. She looked as if the vein in her forehead was about ready to burst from the laugh she was apparently suppressing.

“Well, there’s not really much to tell,” she started, shifting her eyes to Trevor, hoping he would sense her discomfort and come to her rescue again—and he did.

“Eva and I are together,” he announced.

All the eyes, other than Meagan’s, Trevor’s, and Eva’s, darted to Luke. What the hell was that about? Did everyone know how he felt about her? When Eva finally chanced a glance at him she saw that he was watching her, that fucking smile from earlier screwed into his cheeks. His eyes flickered to Trevor who was doing what Trevor did best, standing his ground—emitting his own ounce of intimidation right back at Luke. When Luke’s eyes found hers again, his smile still firmly in place, he looked at her as if he didn’t truly believe it. Like he could see right through her little lie.

Was that the reason he was so cool about things up at the pool? Did he think she was bullshitting him from the start?
Fuck.
He knew her better than she realized—which pissed her off beyond belief. Luke was the whole reason she was playing this little game of make-believe to begin with, and if
he
didn’t believe it, then what was the fucking point?

Something speared through Eva. Something hot and cold at the same time. It felt a lot like anger, but it was completely different. She couldn’t find the correct word to convey the sensation she was experiencing in her veins, her chest, her muscles. She was revved up. Adrenaline coursing through her like she was about to dive headfirst into the black hole that represented the huge lie she was suddenly all about seeing through. Luke was challenging her, he was staring at her with a desire in his eyes as he watched her. She watched them skim over the thin skin at the base of her throat where her heartbeat was pattering rapidly. Then his eyes traveled to her mouth where her breath had started coming in quick puffs, and then to her eyes that were locked on his with a ferocity she hadn’t possessed in a long time.

Yes, Eva was lying like a dog. Yes, Luke was correct in his bold, unannounced assumption that Trevor was nothing more than a friend. And yes, all of it was coiled into one giant clusterfuck of emotions that were spiraling around one another. Eva was suddenly pissed. Mostly at herself for getting into this fucking situation. But now more than ever she wanted to prove her little lie to be true. It didn’t make sense, and how in the hell did someone prove a lie to be true? That was the same as proving a lie with a lie. She was going around and around in a circle of lies but she didn’t care, that’s exactly what she was going to do.

She felt Trevor’s hand slide up her leg and skim over the side of her stomach. The featherlight touch calmed the ball of heat that had accumulated in her chest, right below her throat, and she felt slightly more at ease—which was a gift Trevor had always seemed to possess. Eva had watched him calm Meagan down in all of her panicked Meagan moments with a simple, casual embrace, or with easy, calming words. But there was a difference in the way his fingertips caressed the chiffon fabric of her dress, toying with the flowing material as he trailed his fingers up her rib cage. There was a difference in the way his eyes regarded her—possessed her—as she looked at him. And she realized—he was pretending.

The confidence she usually wore loud and proud for everyone to see started finding its way back to the surface. She lowered her hand from the table, and keeping her eyes on Trevor, laced her fingers through his. He smiled. It was deliberate, and slow, and unfortunately incredibly sexy. She had seen this smile before, but never directed at her. She now pitied the women he aimed that smile at—it was dangerous.

Bringing their joined hands to his lips, he kissed each finger that intertwined with his. His lips hovered over them before he pressed his smooth, wet lips to her knuckles, never once moving his eyes from hers. She felt a trickle in the pit of her stomach, she felt a slight pull between her legs, and a faint flutter in her chest—the telltale signs that Eva was getting turned on.

Holy fucking hell. Trevor was turning her on.

For some unknown reason she was paralyzed, subject to his intense gaze. His upper body leaned in, and she was acutely aware of the subtle sent of cologne mixed in with a small amount of sweat from the heat lingering on his neck. “Dance with me again?” he asked, but it sounded more like an order—one she had no intention of disobeying. His voice was deep, low; just barely loud enough for everyone to hear, but completely loud enough that they wouldn’t miss a single word.

She nodded, and he stood from his chair. She could feel the scrutiny from everyone’s eyes on her as he helped her from her seat. Meagan stood up as well, pulling Reed up beside her. She was relieved. Trevor came through, as always, and not just for Eva, but for Meagan as well. They could put that awkward conversation behind them and get back to the party. And alcohol. Eva definitely needed more of that.

Trevor’s hands easily found the small of her back and his palm flattened against it. He always led her into a room. It was a gesture he had done a hundred times over, but this time when she stepped in front of him, his body closed in against her back and his mouth found its way to her shoulder. He pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her shoulder and she could feel a hint of wet heat from where the tip of his tongue grazed her skin.

She shivered. Dammit, she shivered.

And he smiled. She could feel the tight pull of his lips as they lingered on her skin. Then he moved those damn lips of his to the pillowy curve in her shoulder where it met the base of her neck—and he kissed her again.

She fought back the shudder this time, now that she was prepared for it, but it was still hard to accomplish. A slow country song was streaming through the speakers, one of Eva’s favorites. The second they were back on the dance floor, his hands folded over her stomach and he pulled her against him.

Turning in his arms, she placed her hands on his biceps. “Thank you,” she whispered, her mouth barely moving.

A lopsided grin tilted his lips. “You’re welcome. I could tell you needed saving.”

“Always so quick to play the hero, aren’t ya?”

“Never had the chance before with you. It’s kind of nice,” he said. Which was true. Eva didn’t particularly like the whole damsel-in-distress act. She never relied on a man to get her out of a situation or come to her rescue. She was a soldier, for fuck’s sake. She was pretty damn capable of handling herself in any situation—except this one. She needed Trevor right now. God, there was no way she was going to admit it, though.

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it, buddy. This is just a one-time thing.”

Trevor laughed, his chest moving rapidly as the lush, thick, sound rumbled through his body. She was pressed against him—trapped between his rough hands and his hard body, and she absorbed his laughter. “Would you just relax, Red?” One of his hands left its spot on her lower back and skimmed over the top of her ass, pushing her in tighter to him—if that was even possible. Then, lifting his hand from her ass, he trailed it up her bare arm, just lightly touching her skin with the tips of his fingers. It tickled and she absentmindedly pulled her arm away. “Just relax,” he repeated. “We’re only pretending.”

His fingers picked back up their slow, torturous path, igniting goose bumps across her flesh, until he reached her wrist. Lacing his fingers through hers, he brought their joined hands to his lips again, and slowly kissed each one of her knuckles.

It was such an easy, sweet contact. Nothing intimate. Nothing that would win him an ass-chewing later. But the touch was sensual in a way that she’d never experienced—with anyone.

As the full cushion of his bottom lip puckered slightly, she could feel the warmth from the inside of his mouth. Wet, hot, and dare she say it—tempting. His lips carefully and lightly connected around her skin, brushing a kiss over her finger; and although it was just a quick kiss, he never rushed. He took his time, paying each knuckle the same amount of attention he did as the previous one.

A foreign thought trickled in the back of her mind, startling the shit of out of her—but she thought it nonetheless.

If he kissed her fingers like this, what would it be like to feel his lips trace over other parts of her body?

Hell. No.

This was Trevor. She was not going to entertain thoughts like that, no matter how sexy it was looking into his subdued gray eyes, the silver-blue flecks softening the steel color a bit as he looked straight back at hers . . .

Shit.

“See,” he began, lowering her hand from his mouth and resting it on his chest. “Harmless.”

She wasn’t so sure about that at the moment. Not with the way her blood seemed to be flowing—hot and fast.

“Harmless,” she affirmed, attempting to make the words more true.

His head glanced to the side and a smile that she was unfamiliar with migrated onto his face. Yes, she constantly gave Trevor an endless amount of shit. Yes, his dick had been inside more women than she felt comfortable even thinking about, and yes, he would never be the type of man to settle down with one woman—not that she was the type of girl to settle down with one man. But he was a good guy. He was a genuine guy. If he ever changed course and decided to settle down with one woman, he’d be the perfect guy you’d want take home to your parents. A guy that would shake hands and drink a beer with your dad, then do dishes with your mom. Probably play catch with your brother and earn a little crush from your sister. He was also the guy that would sneak you off into the bathroom while your family was preoccupied and fuck you on the sink . . .

She shivered.

Turning his head back toward her, he pulled his lips up in a knowing grin that had her wanting to wipe that grin off his face with the palm of her hand. “You’re not cold, are you?” he asked. The fucker knew she wasn’t cold.

“Kiss my ass, Trevor,” she sneered, which seemed to be the only retort she could come up with. That wasn’t like Eva. She was quick with the comebacks, smart with her mouth. But with unfamiliar thoughts floating around in the forefront of her mind, and with the warmth of Trevor’s kiss lingering on her skin, for once, she couldn’t come up with anything better. She was flustered.