braced every muscle in her body, bringing her reaction to him under control.
“Thank you,” she said through tight lips.
Without looking at her, Adam gave a quick nod, and then thumbed the keyless lock.
Summer watched the exchange with a thoughtful expression before she added, “They’re not disappointed. They’re just surprised. It will take them a little while to process it all, but they’ll be fine. It will take everyone a little time before it feels natural. Including you two.”
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Callie said.
“That’s true.” Summer folded her arms under her breasts and regarded them both. “I’m just going to come out and say this. You two don’t look like a couple in love.”
Adam shrugged. “If you’re looking for someone who gushes, you’ve got the wrong man.”
Summer shook her head. “It’s more about how comfortable you seem around each other. Or, more precisely, how uncomfortable.”
“We’ll be fine when the curtain goes up,” Adam said dismissively.
Callie bit down on her lip. Summer was right. No one would believe the story they were going to try to spin if it wasn’t backed up by nonverbal communication between them, and she and Adam weren’t in the least at ease in each other’s company.
“What do you suggest?” Callie asked.
Summer tapped her index finger against her lips and considered them. “A bit of rehearsal time should do it.”
Callie suppressed an involuntary shiver at the thought of practicing touching Adam. Since she’d arrived in his office this morning, they’d barely touched. But memories of touching him freely—of being touched by him—were burned into her brain. No one had ever made her come alive like Adam. She might have been under the influence of alcohol when she said her vows, but she’d been equally influenced by the man himself. By his touch. By his hands. By his mouth.
Even now, in her parents’ driveway, she felt her heart pick up pace at the prospect of experiencing his touch again.
Adam, however, seemed unmoved. His decision about their marriage must have been mainly a result of the alcohol. If she wasn’t careful, she would make a fool out of herself while they rehearsed. What she needed was a chaperone. Someone to remind her that this was all make-believe.
“Will you help?” she asked her sister.
Summer smiled. “Of course. How about now? We could grab some takeout and go back to the apartment.”
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” Adam interjected, everything about him screaming reluctance.
Callie took a step closer, until she was a hand span away, and reached up to cup the side of his face with her palm, ignoring the part of her that demanded she take it further. His jaw was lightly stubbled, and his skin was warm and enticing.
Adam’s eyes widened with surprise and his spine went ramrod-straight.
With great effort, Callie took a step back and met his gaze, hoping that nothing in her own betrayed her. “That’s what Summer’s talking about. We need to be comfortable enough with each other that our reactions to unexpected touch won’t give the game away.”
Adam blew out a breath and leaned against his car. “And you’re suggesting we practice.”
Callie nodded. “Don’t worry. It will be aboveboard. Summer will be there as our outsider point of view. If we’re going to do this, we need to do it properly.”
“Okay. How about you go back with Summer. Give me directions to your place and I’ll pick up some food on the way.”
As Callie told him how to get to her apartment, her stomach fluttered. She was going to spend the evening practicing touching Adam Hawke.
Or, more precisely, she was going to spend the evening pretending to be unaffected while her husband touched her. And she wasn’t even sure that was entirely possible.
Adam shifted the bags of food to one hand and pressed the buzzer for Callie’s apartment. When he’d woken this morning, he’d grabbed a quick coffee before heading for the gym. His head had been full of thoughts about the day ahead: a meeting with a potential supplier and some paperwork he needed to catch up on. Not once had he even come close to imagining how the day would truly unfold.
Less than twenty-four hours since Callie had crashed back into his life, his schedule, his family and his life were all in a mess.
He was used to being the one who solved problems, not the one in the middle of the trouble. But one day with Callie Mitchell had turned the tables on him.
And worse, he might be getting ready to participate in a sham of a marriage, but he’d learned one thing today—his desire for his wife was anything but imaginary. It threatened to overwhelm him anytime she was near. But he had to keep any reaction to her buttoned down. If he was to survive what was coming with his sanity intact, he’d need to keep a very clear line between what was real and what was part of the PR plan.
The door buzzed and opened, and he headed into the foyer and took the elevator to the sixth floor.
Callie was waiting in the doorway to her apartment, giving him a nervous smile, and his shoulders relaxed a little. He was glad he wasn’t the only one uncomfortable about the situation.
He held out the bags in offering. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got sushi, Chinese and pizza.”
Summer popped her head around the corner. “Great. I call dibs on the sushi.” She grabbed the bags and headed back into the apartment, leaving him in the doorway with Callie.
She’d changed into jeans and a sky-blue top, and her long, caramel hair was caught up in a sleek ponytail. She looked understated and utterly desirable.
“Look,” she said, digging her hands into her pockets, “I just want to say how sorry I am that you’re caught up in this.”
He frowned, not quite following her thinking. “I signed the marriage license right beside you.”
“But no one would ever have known if it wasn’t for my job. And my slimy coworker.”
“Still not your fault,” he said dismissively. “Besides, you never know what journalists would have found once they started digging for dirt when Liam and Jenna’s wedding drew closer.”
If anyone was to take the lion’s share of the blame, it should be him. Among his brothers, he’d always been the one who could be relied upon to be the most responsible, a trend that had started when they were kids and his parents would leave him in charge of Liam and Dylan. It was one of the reasons they’d voted him CEO of the entire Hawke’s Blooms company.
Whenever he’d relaxed his guard too much in the past, bad things had happened. Like when he was thirteen and making out with his first girlfriend behind the sheds after school, and a ten-year-old Dylan had wandered off and been missing
