“I do. So I guess that’s something you’ll need to take into consideration, Ivy Chapman. In fact, just short of making love, kissing is one of my favorite things.”
Nolan thought the scowl on her face was priceless. “Sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear but now is the time to be honest. And since I’m in such an honest state, I might as well come clean and say that regardless of what you might think, Ivy, I think you are sexy as hell.”
IVY NEEDED TO take a drink of her wine. Not a sip, a full gulp, but she took just a sip instead. This idea of pretending to be lovers was hers, but it seemed she hadn’t thought through all the ramifications. Maybe he was just messing with her.
“I take it you don’t believe me,” Nolan said.
Of course she didn’t believe him. Sexy? Her? Please. It wasn’t that she thought poorly of herself but she knew most men didn’t see her that way. They couldn’t get beyond the fact that in most cases, she found computers more fascinating than men. If he thought she would fall for the kinds of lines he fed the women he normally dated, well, she had news for him. She wasn’t that hungry. “You don’t believe yourself, Nolan, so can we get serious and decide what we plan to do?”
He took a sip of his drink, and continued to stare at her. “I’m being honest with you, Ivy. I can only give your plan real consideration if I think it will work. Like I told you, I have my doubts.”
“Just because you don’t think we can make it look real enough.”
“Yes.” A smile touched his lips. “But only on your part.”
“My part?”
“Yes. There’s no doubt in my mind I will be able to make it look real. But the question of the hour is will you go along with me whenever I do so?”
Ivy frowned. “There will have to be limitations on any public displays of affection,” she said, negotiating. She didn’t like how he was complicating things.
* * *
“LOOK, IVY, I believe your plan has merit but it has to be our best-laid plan.”
“Our? Does that mean you’re going to do it?”
“Only if I think we can get a sure win out of it. Otherwise, we’ll be wasting our time. Are you willing to do whatever needs to be done to convince everyone we are truly serious about each other? And before you answer, I know about your limitations. To rest your mind, we won’t be sleeping together. We’ll just give the impression that we are. The only persons who will know that we aren’t are you and me.”
Why did he make it sound like they would have a little secret? And why did the thought of sharing a secret with him suddenly make her feel giddy inside? Snap out of it, her brain admonished. Remember, this is not the man for you, no matter what Nana thinks. Didn’t Damien prove that she was better off without a man? They deliver fake love before the very real heartbreak. But she would admit it was hard to remember the bad Damien while sitting across from a man who looked so darn good. Billboard model, tall, dark and handsome personified.
Nolan waved a hand in front of her face and she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Now that I have your attention,” he said, looking at her with an intense expression on his face, “will you answer my question?”
Ivy hoped the reason she had his rapt attention wasn’t because she’d been caught drooling. She swallowed deeply before asking, “What was your question?”
“When do we start?”
Suddenly she felt like she was on the edge of her seat. Was that excitement? Or was it anxiety? There was no room for either. They were on a mission to free themselves of the interference of two people who thought they had some God-given right to run their lives under the pretense of knowing what they needed and what was best for them.
“I guess now is as good a time as any,” she heard herself say. “Nana and Mama Laverne know because of their manipulations that we’re here together.” She couldn’t believe what she was about to suggest. “It might look suspicious if I go back to the city right away.” He took another sip of his wine. She watched him, thinking how perfectly his mouth fitted the rim of the glass. She’d been drawn to his mouth a lot tonight; especially when the subject of kissing had come up.
“I agree. Hand me your phone.”
“Why?”
“Because it would look rather odd if we didn’t have each other’s phone numbers. Don’t you think?”
Yes, he was right. She stood and pulled her phone out of her pocket to hand to him. “Here.” Moments later his phone rang.
“Now I have your mobile number and you have mine. And to make our affair believable, especially since there’s no doubt in my mind there are allies out there who will report to Miss Chapman and Mama Laverne of our activities, I think it would be best if you stayed here.”
“Just for the night, though,” she clarified.
“No, for the week.”
The bunched nerves inside Ivy’s stomach kicked. “For a week?”
“Yes, a week. You had originally planned to do that anyway, before you discovered we’d been set up, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.” She nervously licked her bottom lip. “But...”
“But what?”
“Where will you be?” she felt the need to ask.
“I’ll be right here with you.”
* * *
NOLAN THOUGHT THAT if the situation wasn’t so serious, he would find the look on her face downright amusing. In just the short time he’d been with her, he had noticed several things. Like how her brows would bunch tight when she was annoyed by something, how she would push curls away from her face when she wasn’t sure about something, how she would lick her bottom lip with the tip of her tongue when she became nervous. Then there were the times she would push her eyeglasses back on her face whenever they slipped down that cute little nose of hers. The gesture usually preceded a strong rebuttal. He didn’t mind. Women who thought it would be in their best interests to agree with anything he said irritated him. It was as if they couldn’t speak or think for themselves. Obviously Ivy had no such hang-ups.
“Mama Laverne will expect it. Trust me. I know how her mind works. We mustn’t forget that our goal is to make her assume her plan is working, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then sharing this place for a week is what we’ll need to do. The sooner we can convince her we fell in love, the sooner we can convince her we’ve fallen out of love.”
He saw the uncertain look on her face and on cue she pushed a few wayward curls back from her face. He’d been tempted to do it. “I promise not to bite, Ivy. This plan that we pretend to be lovers was your idea. I agreed with the stipulations
