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Nicky frowned at her options, all of which were now lying around her small bedroom. It’ll have to be the little black dress, she decided, quickly pulling it over her toweled head. Then she set to work on drying her hair and powdering her face. She quickly put on some lipstick and mascara. Just as she picked up her black purse, the buzzer sounded.

  Let him wait, she thought, deciding she didn’t want to invite him in. It wasn’t so much that she was embarrassed about where she lived, it was just that every piece of clothing she owned had been removed from the closet for inspection. The place looked like a dress store performing their yearly inventory.

  She slung her evening bag over her shoulder, locked her door, then proceeded down the long flight of stairs to the outside door. Matt was standing there waiting, his eyes busy taking her in.

  “Wow,” he breathed. “You look wonderful in that dress, Nicky.”

  “This old thing?” She let him take her hand as she followed him to the car, checking him over too. Gone were the jeans and white T-shirt she’d liked so much. Back were the formal pants, the white shirt and black jacket that told her exactly who he was—an Anderson in the long tradition of successful Anderson business tycoons. And she was the decoration on his arm.

  Yes, that’s what Matthew Anderson was, all business. Well, so be it. If she did concede to signing on the dotted line, she could certainly use the things he was offering her in exchange. And God knows she’d handled a whole range of equally strange tasks in her work for Smith without the kind of reward Matt was offering. Yes, she could handle this. Really, she could.

  “Are you all right, Nicky?” he asked, as he helped buckle her into the passenger seat.

  Just feeling a little trapped… “Yes, of course. Why, don’t I look all right?”

  He smiled. “Like I said, you look good.”

  Now she was paranoid. Well, no wonder. It was always nerve-racking meeting the in-laws. But this situation was made worse by the fact that she and Matt were only pretending to be a couple. Suddenly, Nicky felt she was back at Matt’s front door last week, ringing the bell and pretending to be someone she wasn’t. Someone she would never be.

  She took a deep breath. “You know, someday I’m going to get Smith back for giving me the Anderson file.”

  Matt laughed softly as he steered the car onto the street. “You’ll do great—just like you always do,” he said, giving her a sidelong glance. “You’re not nervous, are you?”

  “Of course I’m nervous,” she snapped. “I’m a bad actress, remember? The worst, I think you said.”

  “Oh, Nicky,” he said gently, “perhaps not the worst.” He tried to catch her gaze but she turned away.

  Suddenly, he steered the car over to the side of the road, pulled on the emergency brake, and turned to her, taking one of her clammy hands in his. The warmth of him felt good next to her ice-cold palm. So why did everything about this situation seem so cold?

  “Listen, Nicky. Just be yourself. I know my family will like you,” he urged, trying to hold her gaze. “We just need to make them believe we’re an established couple so I can get everyone off my back. And considering how compatible we are, I don’t think that will be too difficult. Oh, and I almost forgot…”

  Nicky watched as he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled something out. Then he placed a small object that felt like velvet in the curve of her hand.

  Nicky held her breath. She opened the small velvet case and let her gaze fall over the diamond engagement ring. It was a simple silver band with diamonds embedded at every turn. It was very tasteful, she had to admit, as she let out her breath.

  “I thought we’d better make this look as realistic as possible. If you’re not wearing a ring, my mother will definitely have her suspicions.”

  Nicky nodded as she took the ring out of its case and threaded her finger through it. She wiggled the band over her knuckle, managing with some difficulty to slide it down to the bottom of her finger. “It’s a bit snug,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to get it off again.” She glanced up at Matt, half-hoping he would suggest she wouldn’t need to, that sooner or later, all of this would be real to them.

  Matt shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. It looks nice on you.”

  She frowned and covered it with her other hand, feeling like an imposter. She couldn’t keep going like this—she needed more from him. She needed to know how to think about all of this in a way that made sense to her.

  Aware he was watching her, she turned to meet his scrutinizing gaze. “If we do go through with this, what happens after? I mean, after the ceremony?” she asked, wondering just how far they’d have to take this charade. “Will I move in with you in order to keep up appearances?”

  Matt hesitated. “This is what we could do.” He turned away to look at the busy Friday night traffic whizzing past them. “It can all be very simple. You can stay in your own apartment, and I’ll remain at Lindenfield, so the marriage is—er—unconsummated. In other words, we wouldn’t actually be living together. Then an annulment will be no problem. You’ll have your life back in no time, except you’ll have a few things you didn’t have before,” he said, turning to her again, his eyes wide and serious. “We’ll make sure all of that is down in writing so you feel quite comfortable with it. I’ve already asked my lawyer to start drawing up a formal contract.”

  Now she was seeing the real Matthew Anderson in action. The man was all business details, contracts and fine print. Whatever happened to the easygoing person she knew last week? The trickster who’d made her believe he was a mechanic. The perfect dinner companion who had put her enjoyment ahead of his company’s problems.

  “How does that sound?” he asked, raising his right hand to caress her bare shoulder, sending goose bumps rippling down her arm. It seemed as if he was already practicing for his role tonight.

  “Better,” she muttered unconvincingly. Was he trying to give her a way out of the marriage contract, or was it his own freedom he was worried about protecting? “So, where are we going exactly?”

  Matt placed his hand back on the steering wheel and put the car in gear. “To my mother’s place. She bought a house in the city when she married her new husband…”

  Nicky tried to concentrate on Matt’s condensed version of his family’s long history, but her mind was aflutter with too many worries about the evening ahead. What if she turned into a klutz and spilled red wine all over his mother’s white carpet, or broke her favorite vase? What if not a single one of the Andersons liked her? What if they thought she simply wasn’t good enough?

  Trying to ignore the ring that felt so new and tight on her finger, she pressed her hands against her knees covered in black stockings. If they didn’t like her, she would simply bow out of this situation, it was as easy as that. And if they approved? Then she might just surprise herself and sign her life away. A life that would include a new job and all the places she would travel to with her newfound salary. She would certainly be able to use a vacation on a beautiful beach somewhere after all of this was over. A honeymoon for one, she thought, glimpsing Matt’s concentrated expression as he negotiated his way through the heavy Boston traffic.

  Nicky turned away from him and looked out the passenger seat window as they approached a rich residential neighborhood, the kind she was often sent to in order to photograph cheating husbands and wives. All these marital games, she thought, and this time she wasn’t just watching. This time she was playing too, and being watched and judged at the same time. Now she had an idea what it felt like.

  * * * * *

  Matt helped himself to the spread of catered food arranged along one side of his mother’s living room. Every once in a while he glanced through the crowd to check on Nicky. He spotted her now with Kate, the two were talking and laughing as if they were lifelong friends.

  He wasn’t surprised by the way his family was taking to her. After recovering from an initial case of nerves, she seemed to charm everyone she met, from his
resentful cousin Larry to Uncle Ken and Aunt Linda. She had impressed even his stepfather and that circle of relatives. The only one she hadn’t quite managed to win over yet was his mother. Which wasn’t unusual. It was difficult for Eleanor to approve of someone—anyone. Especially if that someone happened to work for a living. But he figured that now, with the deadline less than a month away, she couldn’t afford to be too fussy.

  He picked up a canapé piled high with imported cheeses and shoved it in his mouth. Of course, he hadn’t told his mother that if it wasn’t for her meddling, he’d never have met Nicky in the first place. He had to smile whenever he thought of that ironic little twist. His mother might have her reservations, but if she ever openly disapproved of Nicky, he could always point out the fact that, in a way, it was all her doing.

  Deciding he was bored of spending time with the finger food, Matt started across the room. Might as well try to make their impending union as believable as possible. Of course, nothing had been formally announced—yet.

  As Matt approached, Nicky turned to him and smiled, making his heart turn somersaults. “Having fun?” he said, nodding to Kate while draping an arm casually around Nicky’s shoulders. He thought he felt her stiffen slightly, so he squeezed her closer. “I see you two are getting along like a house on fire.”

  “Just like sisters!” Kate giggled, twisting a lock of her shoulder-length blonde hair around her fingers. “Oh, Matt, wherever did you find her?”

  “Along the side of the road, actually,” he replied, caressing Nicky’s shoulder. He couldn’t help noticing how soft her skin was under his hand. “Actually, she found me. Didn’t you, Nicky?”

  She looked up at him and smiled shrewdly. There was a knowing glint in her eyes that told him he wasn’t going to get away with anything tonight. She was up for the challenge, ready to match him, blow for blow.

  “That’s right. The truth is, Kate, he was like a lost puppy at the time, all dirty and not remembering who he was. I think he’d been working too long under one of those antique cars of his. I actually felt sorry for him.”

  Kate let out a gurgling laugh. He frowned as he nodded. “Okay, you’ve got me there, Nicky. Kate, would you mind if I borrowed her for a moment?” He slid his arm down to Nicky’s waist and led her through the living room to the empty kitchen.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, her steps hesitant as he directed her towards the patio door.

  He removed his arm from her waist and took her hand. “Just want to get some fresh air, sweetheart,” he replied, as he stepped out the back door with Nicky in tow.

  She pulled away once they were outside. “Okay, now what was that for? Why are we out here?” she asked, her tone and manner indignant. “Aren’t we supposed to be in there impressing everyone?”

  He smiled. “You’ve already done enough of that for now. And besides, I wanted to give you something.” She was about to protest when he stopped her mouth with his thumb. Following the soft curve of her bottom lip, he could feel her quiver beneath his touch. He could feel her breath fluttering against his thumb. Then he leaned in closer, replacing his thumb with his mouth.

  Something inside his chest swelled at her gradual submission. Slowly she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. The kiss grew more passionate, reminding him of their last kiss in his car. Except this time there was an added intensity as their bodies connected, her curves sinking lusciously against him.

  She drew her lips away from his mouth to caress his cheeks, then his forehead, eventually coming back to his mouth. And as she kissed him again, suddenly, he knew why it was so intense. In spite of themselves, they were breaking through all the games and playacting to what was real. What was true.

  Matt broke the kiss to crush her against him, forging a trail of small kisses down the back of her neck. She giggled. “We’d better go back inside or they’ll start to wonder where we are,” she whispered.

  He shrugged as his hands rose to her breasts that were enhanced by the little black dress she wore. The dress made the most of her cleavage, spurring on the imagination to what lay beneath the silky material. “All the better if they find us like this. Pretty convincing, I’d say.”

  “I don’t know,” she said, pulling away.

  He looked down at her and noticed her cheeks flushing from embarrassment.

  “Aren’t we taking all of this a bit too far?” she asked in a raspy voice that stirred him deep.

  He pulled her back to him. “If you ask me, it can never go far enough,” he murmured, his voice caught between the nape of her neck and her long, loose hair. He took a long, deep breath of her, inhaling her into every cell of his body.

  His groin grew tight as his hands wandered over the thin spaghetti straps that ran halfway down her back. Beneath his trousers, his penis was already stirring, pressing against his boxers.

  Nicky pulled away from him just far enough so she could place her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look deep into her eyes. “Don’t say things like that, Matt. Not unless you really mean them.”

  “I’m not playing around, Nicky,” he stated firmly. “I meant what I said.”

  Her eyes searched his as she smiled back at him. “If that’s true, I’d better sign the contract and make an honest man out of you,” she said, and he noticed the tone of her voice was perfectly even, her gaze unwavering.

  He didn’t know what to say. He gazed into her starry green eyes that were reflecting the last golden hues of the setting sun. A nest of songbirds were singing in his mother’s yard, and, for that singular instant, the world and everything in it seemed right.

  “I really love…your family, Matt,” she said, still holding his face in her hands, her soft thumbs caressing his strong, freshly shaven jawline.

  For a minute, he’d wondered whether she had wanted to say something else.

  “Kate is so great. You’re lucky,” she added.

  “I know I am. Very,” he replied, waiting for a smile to soften her lips before he took them once again, drinking in the taste of her, the wondrous smell of her—

  “Here’s where you lovebirds have been hiding out! Well…”

  Matt swung around to see his mother standing at the door, hands poised on her hips.

  “Oh, sorry, Mom,” he mumbled, quickly pulling away but still clasping Nicky’s hand. “You’ve met Nicky, right?”

  She nodded. “Briefly. But I must say she’s changed quite a bit. She looks nothing like the picture you showed me.”

  Matt found himself frantically retracing his steps to figure out which picture he’d shown his mother.

  “Not only is her hair a lot longer now, but it is red—and her eyes are no longer blue,” she mused knowingly. “They’re green, aren’t they?”

  He stared at his mother. “Which picture are you referring to?”

  “Why, the one on the bureau in your bedroom, of course.”

  Nicky was laughing uncontrollably.

  He coughed awkwardly. “Ah, oh that one.”

  “Nicky, we’ll have to get to know each other better,” Eleanor said with a wink.

  “I’d like that, Mrs. Anderson. Looks like we probably have some notes to compare.”

  “Fine,” he nodded, holding up a hand to his mother. “But not now, if you don’t mind. We were just leaving.”

  “So soon? But you just got here!” his mother protested.

  “Sorry, Mom. We’ll catch you later.”

  Nicky was still laughing as Matt tightened his grip on her hand and quickly led her down the patio steps away from his mother. He guided her through the small garden and along the side of the house to the driveway where he’d left his car. As she climbed inside, she felt dizzy from a heady mixture of his kisses blended with the resounding success of her first meeting with his family. More than ever, she felt altogether comfortable with him.

  Wanting to continue where they’d left off, Nicky subtly lifted her left hand and placed it on Matt’s right thi
gh as he started the engine. He glanced at her with mischievous eyes, then put the car in gear and sped away from his mother’s house. She squeezed the firm muscle beneath his soft trousers and sensed his reaction in a subtle tremor that rippled up his leg and made him squirm. But still he managed to keep his eyes steady on the road, almost as if he were ignoring her.

  But he clearly wasn’t. Holding onto the wheel with his left hand, he reciprocated her touch by settling his right hand on her left leg. Through her whisper-thin stockings, she could feel the heat of him as he squeezed her just above the knee. Her pulse raced as he moved his hand upward, and then slipped his fingers under the hem of her dress. Shifting his hand higher still, he paused at the place where black lace garters marked the end of her stockings and the beginning of her naked skin.

  She heard him utter a sound from beneath his closed mouth—a murmur of surprise as he explored her garters and her naked thighs. “Oh Nicky, did you have to wear these?” he murmured. “You’re going to drive me off the road.”

  She smiled and grasped his forearm that protruded from beneath the hem of her dress, pulling it toward her. With her encouragement, he didn’t remain where he was, but kept sliding his hand higher and higher, until he reached the thin thong she was wearing.

  She threw her head back against the seat, sighing as he prodded her through the silky triangle of fabric. Driving the car slower now, but with his eyes still directed on the road, he edged his fingers under the silk and fondled her mound that was already damp and engorged with her barely contained excitement.

  He wove his fingers through her pubic hair, teasing her at first, then tormenting her as he continued, the tips of his fingers barely touching her yearning genitals.

  By now Nicky had learned to ask Matt for what she wanted. “More, Matt. Give me more,” she breathed.

  Waves of intense arousal washed through her as he sank further into her crotch, dipping his fingers into the trapped juices of her labia. Then he touched the peak of her clitoris, once, twice. The contact sent liquid energy through her body that seemed to leave every cell of her body vibrating.