Mind Play (Bennett Sisters Book 3) (8 page)

Claire had been in the presence of
good-looking
men all her life. There were several that Mike and Abby worked with that
were
just as perfect as this
man
, but she still couldn’t control the heat
that traveled to
her cheeks. Claire shook his hand
.
“Thank you, Mr. Pearson
,
i
t’s nice to meet you, too
.”

No tingles assaulted her body from his touch, unlike when Butch touched her. Claire smiled and pulled her hand from his
and shook her head from the awkwardness of her thoughts
. Her hands went to her pearls
,
and she twisted them. “I’m here to sign some papers for the fundraiser.”

“Ah
,
yes, please follow me.” Andrew leaned over the counter
. “Mary,
p
lease
get Ms. Bennett’s papers I had drawn up this morning and bring them to my office.
”

“Yes
,
sir.”
Mary nodded and started rummaging through files.

Andrew walked in front of her
to
ward
the door he had just exited
. “This way, please.”

Claire followed behind the bank manager. Her
gaze
traveled the length of
his
suit
-
clad body. S
he couldn’t tell much about the body underneath from the
tailored clothes
, but he looked like a man that worked out every
day. Claire glanced back
up to see him turning into the office
.
He
walked through the door and
stood to th
e side with his hand on the knob
waiting to close it behind her. “Please have a seat
,
Ms. Bennett.”

“Thank you, and please call me Claire.” Claire set her purse next to her in the chair
,
crossed her legs
,
and glanced around his office
.
There were no personal items out on display, no pictures on his desk, no sports team memorabilia, or even a diploma on the wall.
He must not have had time to unpack.
Andrew took his seat behind the desk and leaned back. His elbows perched on the arms of the chairs
,
and his fingers clasped
in front of him
.

“Forgive me, Claire.
I assumed you would have called before coming
.
I would have already
had everything ready
and waiting
for you, and please call me Andrew.”

Claire studied
the man behind the desk. There was something
underneath his smooth façade that was just a tad bit off. S
he couldn’t
quite
put her finger on
it, but it was there
. She’d never met him before, at least not that she remembered
, but he seemed vaguely familiar
. Claire cleared her throat. “
Andrew, h
ave we met before?”

“No
,
I don’t think so.
I think I would have remembered
meeting such a beautiful woman
as yourself
,
and
I don’t think I would have
ever
let you out of my sight.
I’m positive we haven’t.”

Oh
p
uleezzee
.
This guy hadn’t known her for ten minutes
,
and he
was
already trying to feed her a line
, and a
cheesy one at that.
It might have worked on some woman, but not Claire.
What exactly
was
his game and why
was
he playing it o
n her?
Claire was use
d
to Butch
flirting with her
. H
e’d been doing it in small spurts over the last year. It hadn’t been till recently that he’d upped his game.
There were a lot of men that found her attractive but
knew better then to feed her a line so quickly. Claire wondered
if
she was weird for not falling for his crap
;
he was attractive after all
. Nah.

“Uh, thank you.” Claire
’s smile had turned from genuine to forced in the amount of time it had taken for him to feed her his line.
“I think you
’
r
e
right. I believe I would have remembered you too.”

Mary
kno
cked once on the door before opening it
. “Excuse me, Mr. Pearson, can I see you for a minute
?
There appears to be a problem.”

Butch
brushed
pas
t
Mary into the office.
“There’s no problem
,
sugar
.
I’m with Ms. Bennett
,
and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I joined
in
, would you
,
angel?
”
Butch said as he
narrowed his eyes and
glared a
t her.

Claire let the fake smile on her face fall.
Claire was silent for a brief second before she stood. “No
pe
, no problem at all, Butch
.
W
hy don’t you have a seat
?
”

Claire gestured
to
the seat next to hers. He walked to her, placed his palm on her arm
,
and kissed her on the cheek before
sitting down.
“I was getting worried waiting in the car. I thought I’d come in and check on you.
I
didn’t think you would mind.
”

Claire took her seat next
to his as Mary
pulled the door closed
. Claire spared a
quick
glance at Butch, hoping that he could read her mind and tell how uncomfortable she’d been in the office with the bank manager.
The air sizzled with her apprehension and her readiness to leave.

If he could
,
he didn’t let on. Andrew took his seat
,
and Claire pasted the smile back on her face as she grabbed Butch’s hand
,
giving it a gentle squeeze
, hoping Andrew notice
d
and return
ed
to being professional and
not
a
creep
. 

Butch gave her a quizzical look, glanced from her to the bank manager and back to her, then grinned bigger than she’d ever seen him grin before.
That look can’t be good.
His eyes twinkled
,
and he looked as though he w
ere
ready to laugh. He returned his gaze to Andrew. “I’m Butch Edwards, Claire’s fiancé.”

Oh no he didn’t just go there
.
Claire squeezed his hand hard. She couldn’t believe he’d said that. All she wanted was for Andrew to think she was happily taken so they could resume their business, and now Butch had
gone
t
o
o far. If she corrected him, then Andrew would know the truth
,
and she wasn’t sure if it was worth it. Better to let Mr. Creep
y
think she was seriously taken th
a
n expose herself to more of
his unwelcome
“passes.”
He was new to town
,
and no one
outsid
e of this room would ever be
the wiser.

“Congratulations, I was unaware Claire was engaged
,
” Andrew said to Butch even as he kept his eyes
trained
on her
and raised his brow
. Claire shrugged and smiled.

“It’s a recent engagement. She just said yes this morning. We haven’t even told her family yet. She won’t
even
consider it real until we go pick out the ring. Isn’t that right
,
angel
?” Butch turned toward her and crossed one leg resting
his ankle
on top of
his other leg.

He was enjoying this at her expense
,
and it didn’t appear he was going to play it low
-
key. She was going to have to deal with this
b
ank
m
anager for a long time, or at least until she could have her accounts moved, but she decided to play along. She could always tell him later that they broke up
.
Right? Right
.

“He’s right. I believe we settled on three-karats, didn’t we
,
darling?” Claire gave Butch a smirk.

Butch looked back at the banker
with a devious smile
. “She’s right
;
we did. Right after we settled the agreement about having five kids, and that should be easy since she can’t keep her hands off me, right
,
angel
?”
Butch turned to look at her.