Simon glanced in the rearview mirror at the now sleeping dog. He’d never really bought into that whole man’s best friend thing. They were the illusion of unconditional love when really all they wanted was a full belly and a warm place to sleep. Nothing was truly unconditional. “So you have a pet friendly place you’re staying at?”
She crossed her legs as she shifted in her seat. “Well, the event is a Summer Blowout Bash held by State Financial First Bank. They invite all their executives and pretty much anyone who owns shares or sits on the board of a Fortune 100 and higher company. It’s employee appreciation and marketing all at the same time. I work mostly with Sarah Cliff, who’s married to the chief operating officer, Dennis Cliff. They have this massive place on the beach that’s probably a bazillion times bigger than my apartment.”
She shifted again, recrossed her legs, and Simon struggled to keep his eyes on the road instead of the toned thighs revealed as the shorts rode higher and higher. “Is that a scientific measurement?”
“Very scientific. Anyway, since she pays our travel costs and happens to like me, she lets me and Princess use her guesthouse. It’s two bedrooms, so it’s plenty of room for Andre and me.”
His hands tightened on the wheel. “Andre is staying with us?” He didn’t know why it bothered him. The few times he’d mentioned making their fake relationship not so fake, Grace had recoiled faster than a bullet. He supposed he was a bit too used to getting the women he showed interest in.
But it made no sense. She was an attractive, single woman. He knew she at least approved of his looks, even if she might not feel the same way about his personality. But she was a modern woman. She could appreciate no-strings attached sex.
“We’re getting a free cottage on the beach in the Hamptons, Simon. If you want to complain to Sarah, be my guest.”
He set the cruise control and relaxed a bit into the seat. “So if there are two bedrooms, where am I sleeping?”
She shrugged. “That sounds like a question you should’ve asked before you invited yourself over. But don’t worry. The couch is extremely comfortable.”
“You’re enjoying this too much,” he said with a smirk.
“You’re not upset?” She lowered the seat to a reclining position.
“I’m not such a big snob that I can’t sleep on a sofa.” He’d been accused of a lot of things, but snobbish was a new one. He was able to walk on the factory floor or in the executive offices and get anyone to talk to him. What else did Grace think about him?
Damn it. He didn’t care what she thought. She already agreed to help with DuFord and refused to sleep with him. What the hell did he need her approval for? “As long as the dog doesn’t try to sleep with me, we’re good,” he added for good measure.
“Don’t worry about Princess.” She set her notebook on her lap and pulled out a pen. “Let me know when we get closer and I can tell you how to get to the cottage.”
He nodded, eyes once again shooting to her toned legs. It was going to be a long ride.
“Grace! You poor thing! I can’t believe all those horrible things the news was saying about you!”
Grace forced herself to smile at the high-pitched, screeching voice. Normally she didn’t mind Sarah Cliff, but she’d rather not talk about her recent events.
Sarah stood from the rocking chair that rested to the right of the front door of the cottage, and Grace tried to guess how long she’d been waiting. “It’s been a crazy few days,” she said as she hooked Princess’s leash on and guided the dog out of the backseat.
Simon was already out of the car and walking up to Sarah, hand outstretched. “Mrs. Cliff. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Simon West.”
Sarah eyed Simon as if he were a juicy steak and she hadn’t eaten in days. Grace couldn’t blame her. Simon filled out his shirt like an athlete who spent a few too many hours at the gym.
“Mr. West,” Sarah whispered as she met his hand. Sarah was older than Simon, but probably spent a great deal of time and money on maintaining her beauty. Her dyed red hair was the perfect, rosy color to make her pale skin glow, and the few wrinkles the surgery and creams couldn’t hide only served to give her face more character. Grace genuinely liked the woman and was eternally grateful that Sarah hadn’t dropped Bell Planning the second the scandal broke.
But that generosity might have more to do with the Summer Blowout being in a few weeks and less to do with loyalty.
“Grace, dear,” she called. “I knew you had good taste, but you’ve outdone yourself with this one.”
Simon looked over his shoulder to Grace. His cocky grin spoke volumes.
“He’s somethin’ else.” She shot Simon the most loving smile she could manage. Grace climbed up the steps to stand next to him as Princess gleefully greeted Sarah.
Simon wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her in close, and her body went stiff as a board.
He leaned in and Grace’s heart did somersaults in her chest. “Relax,” he whispered. His warm breath skated along the sensitive skin of her neck.
“Has Andre gotten in yet?” she blurted out, trying her best not to focus on his big fingers that moved back and forth along the hem of her shirt.
Sarah looked up from her cuddle fest with the dog. “Oh yes. I sent him over to the Seaside Inn.”
“Sent him where?” Oh no…
“Well, once I heard you were bringing Mr. West…” She looked up at him. “May I call you Simon?”
“Of course, Sarah.” His voice somehow managed to make anyone’s name sound sexy. When was the last time he said her name?
Sarah beamed. “So once I heard
Simon
was coming with you, I had to make sure you had your privacy. You’re coming to the Blowout, aren’t you, Simon?”
Of course Sarah would want the most in-demand consultant in the city to be at the Blowout.
Simon West truly was a good catch
, thought Grace. Why did that only make her more grumpy? “So Andre’s not staying here?” she squeaked out.
“Oh no. I know both of you are workaholics, so the little bit of downtime you have, I want you to enjoy together. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous this weekend. Now, I’ll be right at the main house if you need anything. Don’t hesitate to call or stop by. Now I’ll let you two settle in,” she said with a wink at Grace.
Heat crept up Grace’s cheeks as she stepped aside for the woman. The half a dozen or so times she’d stayed here with Andre, Sarah had never once told Grace to come up to the main house if she needed anything. She had the head butler’s cellphone on speed dial for that very reason.
No. This was Simon. No wonder he was so spoiled. The rich elite of the city bent backwards to make him comfortable.
“I can’t believe it,” she muttered once Sarah was out of earshot.
“So which bedroom is yours?” Simon let her go and pushed open the screen door.
Grace shook her head as she followed him in and let Princess off the leash. The cottage was a beautiful, modern home. The side facing the beach was floor to ceiling windows, and the open living and kitchen area was filled with light. The entertainment center was located in a smaller basement, which kept the light from reflecting off the television, and the two bedrooms were pretty equal in size.
“I normally take the one on the right.” She walked past Simon to set her purse in her room, thereby not giving him a chance to take it.
He walked between the two rooms, glanced in both before he moved to stand in her doorway. “So you get the big bed then?”
“I’m the boss. The boss gets the big bed.”
Simon looked her over. “You’re not my boss,” he pointed out.
“You’re my consultant. That makes me your boss.”
“You owe me. That makes me your boss.”
Grace stared him down, trying to decide whether he was messing with her or whether he really wanted the bigger bed. The slight grin said playing, but his big frame taking up the doorway definitely said he was serious. For a brief moment, her mind flashed with all the things she could do to him in that big bed…
She took a deep breath. No wonder Sarah was all giggly over him. The man was walking sex. Sure, his normal business attire was attractive, but the full force of that masculine body shown off by a tight T-shirt and perfectly fitting jeans was way too much for a mortal woman to bear.
“You can’t have this room,” she said firmly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
He tilted his head toward her in defeat. “If you say so.”
She stared at his muscular back as he walked away, half expecting him to turn around and put up more of a fight. When was the last time he hadn’t gotten his way?
As soon as he was out of sight, she shut the door, thankful for the privacy. She needed to unpack and then get Andre back here. It was great that Sarah thought she was doing her a favor and all, but this wasn’t a vacation for her. She and Andre had fifteen thousand things to take care of before Saturday, and she needed him with her.
After seeing that Andre hadn’t called, she left him a quick voicemail to head to the cottage as soon as he could. When she left the bedroom to grab her oversized bag from the back of Simon’s Cadillac, she found it right outside her bedroom door. She looked around to thank Simon, but didn’t see him anywhere.
Grace tightened her lips. Just pretend he isn’t there, she told herself. It was almost noon and she had to confirm all the vendors, review the guest list, tell the caterer the final
final
count. After that, she might just have a few hours to head to the country club the Blowout was being held at and get started on preparations.
Grace pulled her laptop and charger out of the case and ventured into the living area. She set her station up on the table that faced the wall of windows so she could take in all the beauty of the sea. Apparently she wasn’t the only one with the bright idea to appreciate the scenery. Simon came out with a jam-packed folder of paper and his own laptop. He set his computer up on the other side of the table, still facing the water, and she tried not to stare.
She pulled up her email and quickly responded to anything pressing. Then she opened up the giant cheat sheet she used for events. Each checklist started out the same, but during the course of planning, the list got longer and longer. Once she could visualize everything that needed to be done, she mentally calculated priorities and what to tackle first.
After that, she got into her zone. Time seemed to slip away as she checked things off the list. The knock on the front door pulled her out of whatever semblance of efficiency she’d found, and her head jerked up.
Simon stood and crossed over to the front door. She silently watched him. Strange. He had such a commanding presence, yet she was still able to work. She’d expected him to be on the phone all morning or pounding away at the keyboard constantly. Working with him was almost as easy as working with Andre.
Speaking of, her assistant walked through the door, looking between Grace and Simon with a wicked grin on his face. “How are the lovebirds doing?”
Grace looked around for something to throw at him, but there was nothing within reach. She debated crumpling up a piece of paper, but decided against it. “Laugh all you want. You’re the one who got kicked off the beach.”
He smirked at her as he set his work bag across from where she was set up, his back to the windows. “Please. My new place has a pool, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say there was a hockey convention in town. The guys at this place are
built
.”
She snorted. “It’s not hockey season.”
“It’s somethin’ season,” he said with a wink.
Grace pushed her stuff toward the middle of the table and moved closer to Simon. “You can’t sit there. The light is going to block out everything on your monitor.”
He eyed the small amount of space available. “Are you sure there’s room?”
“If there’s not, I’m sure Simon can find somewhere else to work.” She gave Simon a pointed glance.
He narrowed his eyes. “I thought we were getting along.”
“We are,” she agreed with a smile. “But there’s only room for two of us here, so…”
He snapped his laptop shut. “Fine.”
Grace’s eyes widened at the sudden action. Was he upset?
“But we need to talk tonight.” He stood.
She blinked a few times. She’d already told him what she knew about Mark. What more was there to talk about? “Why?”
“In public. We should be seen together,” he said as he finished collecting his things.
“Oh.” She’d already forgotten that they were supposed to be an item. Probably one of the reasons she was so bad at real relationships. Once work popped up, nothing else seemed to exist. “Yeah. Sure.”
“There’s a cute little bar next to where I’m staying that the concierge recommended. We can all go out together.” Andre gave Grace a worried glance.
Great. If Andre thought they needed a babysitter, what chance did they have of convincing the entire Hamptons that they were a happy couple? They should’ve left it with the video and public announcement that they were together. She hadn’t seen a reporter in over a day. The whole blitz was dying down, and now they were pushing their luck.
But she made a deal. She’d promised she’d help Simon bring down Mark, and if that happened to make this work weekend a bit more complicated, it was worth it.
“That sounds good.” She tried to be a bit nicer to make up for her snippy attitude.
He nodded. “I’m going out for a walk. Want me to take Princess?”
Her jaw dropped. Was he serious? No, it was all for the act. Of course it would look good to have him walking her dog. It was a normal couple thing and they were a normal couple.
“She’d, um, she’d love it,” he stuttered as she pushed away from the table. “I’ll grab her leash for you.”
Simon reached for the leash lying on the coffee table at the same time Grace did; their fingers just brushed. She jerked away as though she’d been shocked.
“You didn’t have to get up,” he said with a grin. “I was right here.”
“Yeah, I guess,” she breathed. Princess must’ve heard the leash, because she barreled out of Grace’s bedroom and skidded into Simon’s legs. “Um, her pulling days are behind her, but if she sees a squirrel, she still might tug.”