“Fine. But you will get the job. And I will nail the audition, I promise. I won’t disappoint you. Not as an actor, and not as your fake fiancé,” he said confidently. “So we don’t really need to worry about money. We’re both going to get something we want out of this. I will be your perfect pretend boyfriend.”
She smiled. “I knew you were the right man for the job. We have dinner at their penthouse Friday night.”
Reeve didn’t mind pretending to be seeing Sutton. He’d be lying if he’d said he didn’t want to unbutton a few more buttons on her shirt, and get a glimpse of those round, full br**sts. He could see a bit of cle**age exposed and it made him harder. Add in that hand on his thigh, and he was going to have to picture the entire Knicks basketball team before he could stand up. But that was all there was to this—she was hot, and that made this acting job a hell of a lot more fun.
She held out a hand for shaking. But before he could respond, she said, “That’s quite daft of me. If we’re going to pretend to be involved, we wouldn’t just shake hands. I’d give you a long, lingering embrace.”
She reached for him and began to wrap her arms around him in their first official act of pretend touching.
“Excuse me, Ms. Brenner,” a voice said, booming through the speaker phone on Sutton’s desk. There’s a Janelle Pinkerton here to see you.”
Sutton snapped back and her eyes went wide. “Bloody hell,” she muttered and pressed a hand against her suddenly racing heart. Wasn’t Janelle supposed to messenger the tickets over? Sutton felt as if Janelle were checking up on her, like a school marm inspecting her cursive handwriting. Then she took a breath, reminding herself that she was one step ahead of Janelle. Her pretend boyfriend—her meal ticket, so to speak—was right here next to her.
Sutton brushed a hand against her skirt and rose, walking over to the phone. “Go ahead and send her in please.” Then to Reeve, “She’s on the producing team. So, time to improvise.”
Reeve gave her a thumbs up. Moments later, Janelle walked into the office, a thin-lipped smile on her face.
“Hello, Ms. Brenner.”
“So good to see you again, Mrs. Pinkerton.”
Janelle cast a glance at Reeve on the couch, then raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“Actually, the timing is perfect. This is my fiancé,” Sutton began, but then the awkward word seemed to stick in her throat. Janelle caught on, because she narrowed her eyes in a way that made Sutton nervous. Reeve stood up, took Janelle’s hand and planted a kiss near her wrist.
“Such a pleasure to meet you,” Reeve said to Janelle.
“And you as well. I had no idea I’d be lucky and meet you so early.”
“I can’t wait for Friday night,” Reeve said. “Can I bring anything? I’m not a very good cook, but I will tell you this—I can bake the best the chocolate chip cookies in the world.” Then he flashed a smile at Janelle, and Sutton marveled at the ease with which he slid right into his role as fictional fiancé.
“Oh, I do love a good chocolate chip cookie,” Janelle said, and Sutton was sure it was the first time she’d seen the woman smile. Then Janelle dipped her hand into her purse and proffered two tickets. “For the play tomorrow.”
Sutton took the tickets. “Thank you,” she said, but the words still came out strange and awkward-sounding. Sutton was having a harder time pulling this off than she thought. She cleared her throat and tried to come up with something else to say.
Reeve seemed to notice her discomfort, because he jumped into the conversation.
“Sut and I are totally psyched to see this play. I was telling her how much I wanted to when we were walking The Artful Dodger the other day. And now, look at this. You give us tickets. It’s like serendipity,” he said.
Sutton longed to breathe a deep sigh of relief. He’d not only come up with a little nickname for her, he was already speaking as if he knew her daily routine. In fact, the words felt so true, and he said them with such honesty that Sutton found herself rewinding the day, reflecting on the dog walk with Reeve that never happened.
“By the way, I’m Reeve Larkin. Love your movies. All of them,” he said, and Janelle nodded once in thanks to his acknowledgement of her behind-the-scenes efforts.
“Well, I better be on my way. What are you two up to the rest of the day?” Janelle asked, then lowered her voice in a whisper. “A little session on the casting couch?”
She winked and Sutton was shocked. Janelle had seemed so conservative in the meeting earlier today, and now here she was making little innuendoes. Reeve took the bait and moved over to Sutton, draping an arm over her shoulder and pulling her close. Her skin tingled when he touched her, and to her surprise she shivered as he ran his thumb against the fabric of her shirt.
“What can I say?” Reeve said with a sheepish shrug. “Sometimes I just need to stop by and visit my woman in the middle of the day.”
Janelle nodded as if she understood exactly what Reeve meant. Sutton wasn’t even sure what Reeve meant, and she suddenly felt unmoored, as if Reeve and Janelle were in on something, and she—the one who’d engineered this fake engagement—were the clueless one.
“Enjoy the show,” Janelle said and walked down the hallway. Janelle glanced back once and as soon as she did, Reeve moved in for a kiss. He pressed his lips lightly against Sutton’s, and she was so surprised by the unexpected kiss that she jumped.