Accidental Love (2 page)

“I think I’m ready.” Jane could have stared at herself for
hours.

“Good, because we don’t want to hold Ben up,” Francesca
said.

As Francesca drove them across town, she talked about the
delicious shrimp and steak that was served at the restaurant. Jane’s mouth
watered at the thought of eating a juicy steak, but once Francesca said the
name of the restaurant, Jane lost her appetite. It was one of the more
expensive ones in town. Jane had never eaten there. Her wallet was hurting from
today’s purchases, and it was really going to be in trouble after this dinner.

This is crazy. Why am I doing this?

Francesca pulled up to the exquisite looking steak house.
Taking a deep breath, Jane unbuckled and climbed out. As she followed her
friend to the entrance, all she wanted to do was run in the opposite direction.
She should be embarrassed that she was sinking this low. A fake boyfriend to
make an ex-lover jealous.

She started to say something, but right away, the hostess
greeted Francesca as if they were long lost friends and showed them to their
table. Ben wasn’t there yet, but had already reserved the table so they
wouldn’t have to wait. That was very considerate of him.

Francesca took a sip of the water already on the dark
hardwood table. It was one of those places where you drank water out of a fancy
glass that somewhat resembled a wine glass.

“This is crazy. I’m way out of my element here,” Jane said.

Francesca rolled her eyes. “You’re fine. Every lady deserves
to be treated like one. It’s about time you were.”

Well, she had a point. Just as Jane was about to say
something else, her eyes locked on the most magnificent man she’d ever seen. He
was tall and lean, but not skinny. There was muscle on that firm body for sure.
He was older. His hair was dark with a few speckles of gray that made him look
distinguished. He wore jeans and a sports jacket over a button-down shirt. The
guy was hot, and he was walking their way.

“Hi,” he said with a big smile. He had dimples too. Jane
thought she was going to burst.

“Ben, so good to see you.” Francesca stood and greeted him
with a kiss on the cheek. Already Jane felt a twinge of jealousy that she had
just laid her lips on the guy who was going to be her fake boyfriend.

“You too,” he said.

Jane was the only one sitting and wondered if she should
stand up and greet him the same way. But then they both took a seat. He was
directly in front of her.

“You must be Jane,” he said.

“Hi,” she managed to say.

This man was drop dead sexy. How he was single, she had no
idea. She was definitely happy to be able to call him hers, even though he
wasn’t.

“You look beautiful,” he complimented.

“Thank you.”

How was she supposed to have a conversation with him? She
could barely form any words. In fact, she wondered if she was drooling.

“Jane isn’t a big talker,” Francesca said. “We’re working on
that.”

“It’s quite all right.” Ben smiled at her.

The waitress came to the table, a bottle in hand.

“I hope you don’t mind, I took the liberty of ordering some
wine.”

A man who took charge. Jane liked it, and strangely it
turned her on. She wondered where else he would take charge.

She was still out of her element. This seemed like
Francesca’s scene. She was completely comfortable, while Jane was curious if
this was the type of place she should be concerned about which fork to use.

A glass of wine was placed in front of her. Francesca raised
her hand to the waitress. “I’m not staying.”

Jane’s head spun toward her. She was
not
ditching
her.

“I’m sorry, but I have a previous engagement. You two
enjoy.” Francesca kissed Jane’s cheek then Ben’s. Before Jane could even argue,
Francesca was gone.

She gazed across the table at the gentleman. Lifting her
glass, she took a big sip. It then occurred to her that Francesca had driven
her there, and now she either had to call a cab or ask Ben to drive her home.
She needed another drink of wine.

Ben thought it was adorable that Jane was so nervous. He
couldn’t recall the last time a woman had been nervous around him. He’d always
dated women like Francesca. They were only looking for a man with money and
power. But Jane here, she was out of her element. He’d just poured her a second
glass of wine, and he could see the wheels turning in her head, debating if she
should devour that one too. He could already tell he was going to like her.

When Francesca first called and begged for the favor, he was
skeptical. He was sure that somehow it would benefit her, especially since she
reminded him repeatedly that he “owed” her after setting her up with one of his
colleagues who turned out to be a complete nut job. Francesca explained that
they needed him to be Jane’s “fake boyfriend”. Something about making the guy
who hurt this beautiful woman jealous.

Letting his eyes drift over Jane and take her in, he could
tell she was a natural beauty. Tonight was probably the most dolled up she’d
ever been. She was likely a jeans and t-shirt sort of girl who spent most of
her time with her feet bare and chipped nail polish. With Jane, he knew he
could be comfortable. But she wasn’t on an actual date with him. Most likely
she had taken one look at him and saw a man in his mid-forties and wondered
what the hell she had gotten herself into.

“Tell me a little about you,” he asked.

“Uh, well…” She fidgeted in her seat. The last thing he
wanted was for her to be uncomfortable.

“What do you do for fun?”

“When I’m not working I enjoy reading.”

“Romance?”

“Horror.”

His eyes widened. He could imagine her in jeans and a
t-shirt sprawled out on a couch reading, but the horror part surprised him.

“Do you like scary movies too?”

“Oh yes. I love them. Especially the true ones. Makes them
that much scarier knowing it happened to someone.”

He would have to remember to pick up something scary if they
ever had a real date. Which he hoped they would.

Dinner arrived and as they ate, they shared small talk. He
enjoyed learning about her. She talked about her pets as if they were children.
He was a dog lover himself. At his house he had two great danes. They even had
their own room with two twin-sized beds.

“I feel like all we’ve done is talk about me. What is it you
do for a living, Ben?”

“I flip houses.”

“You what?”

“I buy houses for cheap, fix them up, then sell them.”

“That’s how you have all this money.” She paused. “That was
rude. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I did very well before the economy tanked. I’m
still doing good, but I’m a saver too. I try not to spend too much.”

They finished dinner and she declined dessert. As she
reached for her phone to call a cab he insisted on giving her a ride home. She
was easy to persuade, which was good. He didn’t want too much of a fight and
she seemed eager to please. The more he got to know her, the more he liked her.
Playing the part of her boyfriend was going to be easy.

* * * *

It was almost lunchtime on Tuesday, and Ben would be
arriving any minute to pick Jane up. She was grateful to be getting out of
there. Matt had given her the cold shoulder all morning, except for the one
time he’d pulled her into his office. She had slight hope that he was going to
apologize for Sunday night, but that wasn’t how it went.

“I can’t believe how you embarrassed me in front of
Tabitha,” Matt said.

“How do you think I felt? We were together in your office
just that afternoon. Then I see you with her. You sure move fast.”

“I told you many times, it wasn’t a relationship. I could
see whoever I wanted.”

“Well, that’s fine.” Jane crossed her arms. “It just so
happens I’m seeing someone else too.”

Matt laughed a full-out laugh. “You’re shitting me. I
don’t believe that for a second.”

For a moment she wanted to punch his pretty face, but she
didn’t. She knew he would get what was coming to him. Somehow, someway, he’d
get his payback.

“I guess you’ll find out.” Jane turned and left his
office without looking back, beaming that she had finally stood up to him.

For the rest of the morning, he’d avoided her. Which was
fine. At this point she didn’t have any idea what she ever saw in him. If it
wasn’t for him laughing at her, she would’ve called off the farce with Ben, but
after that she wanted to prove to Matt that someone could want her.

The door to Hot Bods opened and she plastered her smile on,
ready to welcome whoever was there. It was Ben. Once again, he was dressed to
fully impress. And he did it well. Her nipples puckered just at the sight of
him and a jolt went straight through her and right to the core between her
legs.

“Jane,” he said with a warm smile.

Jane left the front desk and came around the corner to greet
him. She expected a kiss on the cheek, but instead his lips pressed against
hers and her breath left. The moment he kissed her, lights were shooting off
behind her eyelids. She slid her hand around the back of his neck and slightly
opened her mouth to meet his tongue. Her sex grew wet.

When the kiss ended, she gazed up into his blue eyes,
completely speechless. She’d never been so turned on by just a kiss. She could
only imagine what he could do to her in bed.

Matt cleared his throat behind her. Her eyes widened in
shock and she slowly slid her hands from Ben’s neck, down his firm chest. She
turned to face her ex-lover, and Ben’s arm tightened around her waist, holding
her close.

“Hi, I’m Ben.” He extended his hand toward Matt.

Matt kept his arms crossed. He looked pissed, which was
good, she hoped.

“Well, I’m off on my lunch break,” she said.

“Don’t be late, Jane. We have a staff meeting, so you’ll
need to be back to handle any gym members.” Matt walked away, heavy footed.

Ben took her hand and led her outside to his car. As they
reached the vehicle she expected him to drop the act, but instead he opened her
door for her and then closed it once she was seated.

He climbed in and asked, “How long do you have?”

“An hour. Fast food is fine if you want to drop me off and
then pick me up.”

He chuckled. “I know a place where we can share a meal in
under an hour.”

“You don’t have to eat with me.”

“Jane, I want to.”

The hour went much faster than Jane would have liked. Ben
was a lot of fun and took his boyfriend duties seriously. He had opened her car
door and held her hand. This was something she could easily get used to. She
was going to tell him he didn’t have to pretend when they were away from the
gym but each time he touched her she was at peace. Was it wrong to have a crush
on the decoy? Perhaps it was the George Clooney look he had going on. It was
every girl’s fantasy.

Ben parked in front of Hot Bods and quickly came around the
side of the car and helped her out. Taking her hand in his again, he walked her
back. She started to object and it was like he sensed it. Releasing her hand,
he tugged her closer and wrapped his arm around her waist, cradling her to him.

They stopped in front of the door.

“I had a lovely lunch,” he said.

“Thank you. Me too.”

He stepped closer. She sensed what was coming next, and she
was more than ready. He rubbed her cheek with the back of his fingers then
tilted her face toward his. Leaning down, he gently brushed his lips across
hers. She moaned and was almost embarrassed to be reacting this way. He kissed
a small line to her neck and her mouth opened, still whimpering. She was lost
in the sensation of his light kisses and forgot they were out in the open. She
was so turned on that if they had been alone she would have let this man
explore her entire body.

Ben released her face, and she was slightly disappointed it
was over.

“Have a good day.” He kissed her once more on the lips.

He’d kissed her speechless. She didn’t say a word. Instead,
she simply watched as the most amazing man she’d ever met headed across the
parking lot toward his car.

He was good. Very good. Maybe that was why Francesca was
always after older men. They really knew what they were doing.

Shaking her head, Jane knew she had to get back to work. As
she walked inside, for the first time in her life she felt as though she was
floating on air. This was a new feeling for her and she had no idea what it
was, but she knew that Ben had everything to do with it.

After locking her purse up in the employee room, she dashed
for the front. The gym always closed for an hour and a half so all the
employees had time for their lunch break. In about fifteen minutes it would be
open again, and with the meeting she needed to make sure everything was ready.

“Jane,” Matt called from his office. “I need to see you a
minute.”

Usually this would have excited her, but not now. But he was
the boss and she had to see what he wanted. Once she was in the office, he shut
the door and locked it. Jane backed away from him but he was fast. Before she
could even get a word out he’d slammed her back against the wall and forcefully
thrust his tongue into her mouth. His hands were all over her. She kept hers at
her side, not sure what to do. This was not what she wanted.

Finally gathering the courage, she pushed him off her.
“Stop.”

“I want you so bad, Jane.” Matt leaned in again, trying to
kiss her.

Jane jerked her head away. “No, Matt.”

He released her and started to pace the room. “Do you think
I’m stupid? You brought that man here to make me jealous, and it worked. Seeing
him kiss you…” He clenched his fists. “You’re mine.”

“You ended it, remember?”