The Unintended Fiancé (Captured by Love Book 4) (10 page)

Erin turned again, facing him. Her arm hit his body as she moved and her eyes fluttered open. Confusion briefly appeared on her face before it broke into a wide smile.

Ah, she was simply stunning.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi. You owe me a third round.”

Her drowsy eyes rounded. “Owe you?”

“You fell asleep,” he teased. “And I didn’t have the heart to wake you up.”

“What time is it?”

They both checked the digital clock on his bedside table. Eight fifteen.

“I think that what I owe you is breakfast,” Erin said sleepily, burrowing against his side.

Chuckling, he put his arm around her. “Remember our conversation last night? You stayed so we could have a third round?”

“Mm. Later,” she mumbled.

He smiled and let her sleep some more. Then this afternoon, he’d have to drag her to that exclusive shop in the city so they could pick up the diamond ring he’d ordered. They’d resized it, and he might as well take her with him to make sure it fit her before paying for it in full.

He grasped her left hand that was resting on his chest and inspected it. The ring would look beautiful on her finger. Hopefully, she’d like it, but not so much that she’d be sad to return it when their act was over. Maybe he’d get her another gift then as a thank you for playing her role.

He sighed. This woman sleeping next to him was, for the time being, his fiancée. Fake though their arrangement might be, it was still a big help that they were truly having sex. It made this pretence appear more real.

Like he’d said, Erin was perfect for the role. He couldn’t be more satisfied with how things were turning out.

*****

“
Oh, my God.”

Brad grinned at Erin’s stunned expression. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were round like saucers as she stared at the beautiful—and large—diamond ring sitting in a velvet-lined case. This was definitely more fitting than his mum’s one.

“It’s one of our best engagement rings, both in diamond quality and size,” the jeweller said, standing proudly behind a glass counter in the private room of the store.

“It’s beautiful,” Erin said, clearly awed.

“Here you go, babe,” Brad said, taking the ring from the case. He took Erin’s hand and put the ring on her finger.

The jeweller clapped enthusiastically. “Congratulations, Brad and Erin. I’m so honoured that you chose one of my rings to symbolise your lifetime commitment to each other. Let’s have champagne to celebrate this occasion.” She motioned to one of her staff, who promptly approached them carrying a tray with four bubbly-filled crystal flutes.

Brad smiled blandly, accepting a glass. Argh. He shouldn’t have taken Erin here with him. He didn’t like all this fuss, especially for an event that wasn’t real. But considering he’d just bought one of shop’s most expensive pieces, he wasn’t surprised at being fawned upon.

He clinked glasses with Erin, the jeweller and her staff, and expressed his thanks for their thoughtfulness. Then he pulled Erin close and whispered in her ear.“Sorry about this. I didn’t know they’d make such a big deal of it.”

“No problem. This is fun,” she murmured back.

He chuckled, relieved. Thankfully, Erin was a great sport, or this would have been quite embarrassing.

“We better go,” he said after a couple more sips.

“Of course,” the jeweller said. “Congratulations again. And when you’re ready to order your wedding rings, just call me on my direct line.”

He murmured his thanks and led Erin to the exit.

“Phew,” he said, letting out a heavy breath.

“Too much for you, hey?” Erin said teasingly.

“Way too much,” he said with a laugh. “I’m reminded why I don’t intend to get married. All this fussing over nothing.”

“Well, I enjoyed it. Gives me an idea of what exactly I’d want when I get engaged for real.”

“And what’s that?”

“I think getting engaged is a big celebration,” Erin said, deep in thought. “Like the jeweller said, it’s about celebrating the lifetime commitment two people have made to each other. I know there’s usually a whole lot of hoopla that goes with the size of the diamond and all that jazz, but that’s not the whole point of it. The important thing is that the act of committing to someone is given the importance it properly deserves.”

“So you think a ring embodies that importance?”

“Traditionally, that’s the case, isn’t it? But all I mean is that one’s lifetime commitment to another person is worth making a big deal of.”

Brad pursed his lips. “I guess.”

“But of course, someone like you who has no intention of ever getting married won’t have to go through all that again.”

“Thank God for that,” he responded.

Erin peered at his face. “Is this conversation making you uncomfortable?”

“No. Why?”

“Well, just in case you think I’m having ideas because I have this big rock on my finger, I want to set your mind at ease. I don’t have any dreams of snaring you as my happily-ever-after.”

“I wasn’t thinking it, but that’s good to know,” he said, smiling. “Anyway, let’s go have dinner. I’m starving.”

He grabbed her hand as they made their way to a restaurant nearby, quietly sighing his relief. So far, things were going swimmingly. Erin truly was the perfect fake fiancée. She wouldn’t be someone who’d stop him from seeing other women.

And she was free to sleep with other men—

No, no. That couldn’t happen. This relationship might not be for real, but they still needed to play the role convincingly. That meant they’d have to be monogamous while this arrangement was in place. It would be disastrous if anyone caught them “cheating”.

Yes, they’d have to be exclusive with each other. That was a good thing, because he was hating the thought of sharing her with anyone else. He was, after all, a selfish bastard.

“Brad!”

He turned his head towards the caller, and his brows rose. “Hello, Warren, James,” he greeted with surprise, shaking hands with the two men.

“Hello, Erin,” Warren said. “Good to see you again.”

“You too, Warren,” Erin murmured politely.

“This is James Coyte, Erin,” Brad said. “James, this is Erin Baker, my fiancée.”

“Glad to meet you, Erin,” James said with a smile. “I thought I wouldn’t see you until lunch on Tuesday, but here you are.”

“Fiancée?” Warren asked, glancing at Erin’s left hand. “You weren’t engaged last Friday, were you?”

“No. It only became official yesterday, after we told our families,” Brad said, hiding his discomfort.

“I see,” Warren said, a ghost of a smile on his face. “Do you know that I’ve agreed to work with your company, Erin?”

Oh, damn. Now Erin would need to tell her workmates about their engagement.

“Um, that’s great, Warren,” Erin said. “I haven’t spoken to Kevin since last Friday, so no, I wasn’t aware that you’d finalised things.”

“Well, I still have to sign the contract, but that’s just paperwork.”

“That’s great to hear,” Erin said, warm professionalism coming through her voice after her initial surprise. “I’m sure you’ll be very pleased with JMR, Warren. The team will look after you well.”

“I hope so,” Warren murmured, his gaze on Erin, scrutinising her.

“Well, gentlemen,” Brad interrupted, “it was great bumping into you. Erin and I are on our way to dinner.”

“In there?” James asked, pointing to the entrance of the high-end establishment in front of them.

“Yes.”

“Warren and I have a booking there too.”

“And you’re not allowed to sit near our table, Brad,” Warren joked. “We’ll be discussing things I’d never want you to know.”

They all laughed, although Brad was keenly aware of the cold, hard look in Warren’s eyes. Well, he’d one-upped Warren this time. His competitor could no longer use the tactic that Brad was after James’s wife. He wondered how Warren would adjust his strategies this time. And when would Warren slip and leave proof that he’d been trying to sabotage Mead Commercial and Corporate Designs?

E
rin hurried to catch the elevator, holding her arm out to stop the doors from shutting. “Thanks,” she murmured to no one in particular as she squeezed into the lift that was full of office workers heading to work on a Friday morning.

Luckily, she was on time today. She’d already been late getting to work twice this week.

Both times had been Brad’s fault. He’d developed the habit of keeping her in bed in the mornings, and she hadn’t been able to resist him.

She grinned. Two months after their first sex together, and they still couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Not that she was complaining. All that bedroom activity was keeping her fit, and giving her a constant dose of the happy hormones.

Well, from today they’d be forced to slow down. In fact, for the next seven days, she’d be alone in the apartment, as Brad had to go to Perth for a week to attend an industry conference as well as meet with his clients based in Western Australia. She would have loved to go with him—he did ask her to accompany him—but she had important work to finish this week.

Even though James Coyte had awarded Brad’s company the project he’d competed for, they had to maintain their engaged-couple act for a little while longer. It would look suspicious if they broke up so quickly after Brad’s successful bid. What was more, with Christmas and Brad’s birthday just around the corner, it would attract too much interest and sympathy if they had a relationship-breaking “fight” around this time. Better to have a quiet parting of ways early in the new year.

She didn’t mind that their pretence was being stretched out for longer than she’d anticipated. Frankly, she was now so used to being Brad’s fiancée that sometimes she had to remind herself that it was a sham.

Brad was charming, thoughtful, sweet, and so freaking sexy that it was impossible not to wish for the unattainable—that he’d somehow want to ditch the act and make it real. Now she understood why all those other women had let their hearts be broken by him. They simply hadn’t been able to stop themselves from falling.

But she was made of sterner stuff. It helped that Brad had been such a good friend for so long that she knew him better than any of his previous sex partners. And she could tell he was still anti-commitment.

He’d casually mentioned a few times that he was enjoying their fake engagement, with the emphasis on the word
fake
. No doubt that was his way of reminding her not to take what they had seriously. And while he’d insisted that they had to be exclusive to each other while “engaged”, it was only because he didn’t want to complicate matters. It wasn’t as if he’d be jealous if she slept with other men.

Sometimes, though, she got confused when he was in one of his protective and possessive moods. During those moments, she truly felt like she and Brad had something deeper than friendship. But then he’d roll his eyes whenever they discussed Lexie and Rick’s wedding, saying that the thought of walking down the aisle made him want to run for the hills. And she’d be reminded again why she couldn’t let her imagination get away with her.

So, yeah. Like Lexie had said before, Brad was an incredibly decent guy
to play around
with. That was it. No more, no less. And she’d be doing herself a big favour if she never forgot it for even a minute.

The lift door opened to her floor and she got out.

“Erin, good morning.”

“Good morning, Roger,” she responded, smiling at her boss.

“Do you have a minute? I want to talk to you about something.”

“Sure. Now?”

“Yes, please. Why don’t you get your coffee and I’ll see you in my office?”

“Okay.” She didn’t like the sound of that, or Roger’s expression, which was decidedly serious. Was she in trouble?

She hurried to dump her bag on her chair and made a beeline for the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, greeting her workmates good morning as she passed them by. Then she made her way to Roger’s office.

“Please close the door and take a seat,” Roger said.

She did so, and gingerly placed her mug on Roger’s big desk.

“I’ve known you for seven years, Erin,” Roger said, his voice low and soft. “And in all that time, I have had nothing but praise for the quality of your work and your attitude.”

She swallowed. No one started a conversation that way, and in that tone, unless they meant to follow it up with something from the opposite end of the spectrum.

“How’s Brad?”

Her brows shot up at the unexpected question. “He’s good, thanks. He’s flying to Perth this morning. He’ll be there for a week.”

Roger nodded. “I understand that your relationship with him goes far back. Before you got together, he was also your very good friend, not to mention being your best friend’s brother, right?”

“Yes,” she answered, her nerves multiplying. Where was this leading?

“I don’t believe that you’re someone who would compromise your work ethic for anything or anyone, Erin. But I have to ask you a question.” Roger paused, as if he was reluctant to say the next words.

She blinked, her heart thumping hard. Clearly, whatever this was had something to do with Brad. And it wouldn’t be good news.

“Have you ever handed any of our clients’ private information to Brad to help him win a contract?”

“What?” she asked in shock. “Roger, I would never do that! We sign an absolute privacy and confidentiality agreement with each of our clients, and not once have I broken that. Even if Brad—or anyone else, for that matter—asked me for any details regarding our clients, I would never give it to him. Not that Brad has ever asked or would ever ask. He’d never put me in a situation where I’d be compromising my integrity.”

Roger leaned back on his chair and was silent for a long moment. “I believe you, Erin. Our initial in-house investigation doesn’t indicate any wrongdoing on your part. But a client of ours is threatening to sue us because he suspects that an important trade secret—one we’d helped him develop—has made its way to Brad’s hands.”

“Which client are you talking about?” she asked, already having an inkling of the answer. Warren Freaking Oliver. Now Warren was using her in his quest to muddy Brad’s reputation because he’d lost out on the James Coyte contract? Unbelievable.