“Did you say something?” Barb removed the vape pen from between her lips and cupped a hand around her ear. “Because I hope I didn’t hear ‘I can’t.’ If ‘I can’t’ is what I heard, then I can’t transfer money into your account, and I can’t recommend you to anyone else.”
“I can stay.” A saccharine sweet smile lifted Tessa’s lips. “It’s not a problem.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“Before the snowstorm hits,” Tessa said. “I’ll have to stop by my apartment. Pick up a few things.”
“Then let’s go, honey bunny.” I draped an arm over her shoulders. “Maybe we can… catch up on lost time.” A few hours alone with Tessa might help me understand where she was coming from. Might help me understand her desperation and might help me understand what Shane’s part in this mess was. But that didn’t mean I was going soft, or that I still didn’t trust her. I wanted the contract and would do what had to be done to get it, even if that meant pretending I was on her side. Shame prodded my gut, but I ignored it.
“Enough already,” Barb said, sounding more exasperated than ever. “Don’t take too long.” She waved her hand as if dismissing everyone then left the office.
“Looks as if we’re going to have the opportunity to get to know each other very well.” I couldn’t help but grin.
“I didn’t think it was possible to hate someone as much as I hate you.”
She strode toward the door, and I couldn’t help but admire the enticing swing of her hips. Maybe this week wouldn’t be so bad after all. A few years had passed since I’d had a decent sparring partner, and Tessa seemed like she’d be the perfect opponent.
Chapter Five
Tessa
Bloated snowflakes looped and swirled down in a rush to turn everything white. Puffs of my chilled breath misted the air as I wobbled down the icy stone steps at the castle’s entrance, clutching the frosty wrought-iron railings to stop myself going ass over boobs.
Chaotic thoughts about Keegan tumbled over one another like a group of sugar-high three-year-old toddlers jostling for their mom’s attention. He had to get the fuck out of my life. How had he found out about my pitch, and how had he found out about my not so little white lie? None of that mattered right now, though, because thanks to however he’d found out, I now had to hop aboard his crazy-train to crazy-town and pretend he was my fiancé.
If my life hadn’t crumbled to crap, and if he wasn’t such a bastard, falling into bed with someone as hot as him would be a no-brainer.
Nope.
Not going there.
I gave my cheek a mental slap. I wouldn’t imagine what he looked like naked. Wouldn’t imagine what kissing those full lips of his felt like, and I most definitely wouldn’t imagine his strong hands moving all over my body.
What other choice did I have except keep up the façade of him being my fiancé? None.
Saving my business and paying off my debts was my number one goal, even if it meant going along with a farce of a relationship. One stupid lie and now my dream job and a chance at redemption were turning into one epic fail after another.
I shuffled across the snow-covered pebbles and made it to the parking lot and my car without too much slipping and sliding.
“Leaving without me?” Keegan asked from a few steps behind, his voice muffled by the falling snow.
“Not at all. I came out to warm up the car. Wouldn’t want my fiancé freezing his balls off, would I?”
He caught up with me, laughter filling his blue eyes. “You’re too thoughtful.”
“Aren’t I?” I opened the driver’s door as Keegan made a move to get in.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“What do you think I’m doing? Solving world hunger?”
“But it’s snowing.”
“It is? Where?” With a deliberate widening of my eyes, I raised my hand and caught a few feathered flakes on my palm.
“We’ll take my rental. It’s safer and about twenty years newer than your rust bucket.”
“I’m driving my car.” I perched sideways on the driver’s seat and planted my feet on the frozen ground. “By the slight twang in your voice, I take it you don’t live in Ireland anymore.”
“Brooklyn, but what’s that got to do with anything?” He lifted his collar until it touched his ear lobes and then buried his hands inside his coat pockets. A pink blush from the cold highlighted his cheeks and nose. Snow spiked his eyelashes, and his hair fell over his forehead. He was a magazine cover come to life.
I stamped my feet to shatter the ice cubes enclosing my toes. “I bet you use cabs or the subway most of the time or walk. I’m used to driving these roads—you’re not.”
“I grew up about an hour’s drive away. I know these roads like the back of my hand.” He hopped from foot to foot and hunched his shoulders. “The roads are going to be an icy mess. I’m not sure you can handle them.”
I rummaged through my bag, and when I found my cell, I held it to my ear. “Hello, 1950. One of your chauvinists managed to make his way here. Want me to send him back?”
He gave me a smooth, slow smile. One that was way too dangerous and way too sexy. “You’re quite the comedian.”
I lowered my phone and focused my attention on the white-peaked mountains. “I live here. You don’t. When’d you leave? Five, six years ago?”
“Ten,” he supplied.
“Long enough to forget what driving
