The Unintended Fiancé (Captured by Love Book 4) (2 page)

“Which friend?” she asked with annoyance. Yes, it was true there hadn’t been anyone special since Kevin. But frankly, she wasn’t in any hurry to get another boyfriend. After her experience with him, she’d decided to be a bit pickier when it came to men.

“I just want to know, Erin.”

“I don’t see why we have to talk about this, Kevin. Anyway, I have to go. I’m at a party.”

“Okay,” Kevin said softly. “I know it’s hard to get over someone you’ve loved for two years. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.”

Wha-at?

Erin stared at her phone after Kevin had hung up, her jaw hitting the floor. Had that man just insinuated she wasn’t over him? How rude!

“Everything okay, Erin?”

She glanced up and blinked fast, her irritated mood mellowing from the sight before her.

Brad was standing by the threshold, his muscular form apparent from his slim-fit button-up shirt, his handsome face frowning at her with concern.

Yes, Brad was still the best-looking person she knew. And she’d be seeing him every day for at least seven months after he moved in to her apartment.

She smiled. That would more than make up for having to face Kevin every single working day.

Brad might only be a friend, but he was still her favourite eye candy.

*****

B
rad cocked his head to the side, Erin’s pretty smile tempering the surge of protectiveness that had hit him at hearing her mention the name Kevin. After how Kevin had broken Erin’s heart, the man had become a persona non grata in their circle.

“Was that your idiot ex you were talking to?” he asked mildly, an image of Erin’s distraught face from over a year ago, when she’d told them what Kevin had done, playing in his mind.

“Yes,” Erin answered, rolling those beautiful hazel eyes of hers.

“So why is he calling you?”

“He’s starting work at JMR tomorrow.”

“You’re kidding,” he said in disbelief.

“I wish I was.”

“You okay about it?”

Erin shrugged. “I’m not ecstatic that I’ll be working alongside him, but I can handle it. Although I think he thinks I’m still not over him,” she added with a frown.

“Why?”

“Well, he said he knew I hadn’t had a serious relationship after I broke up with him. Then he said it’s hard to get over someone you’ve loved for two years. I’m insulted. What does he take me for? Stupid?” she asked, flicking her lustrous chocolate-coloured hair in annoyance.

“That proves he’s still the biggest idiot,” he said.

“And the last thing I want is for his wife to think that I’m still holding a torch for him,” Erin said. “Do you know that Paula wants to be friends with me?”

“Erin?” Lexie interrupted, walking into the house. “What did he say?”

Erin told her friend.

“How dare he!” Lexie exclaimed. “That Kevin is really so full of himself!”

“I know, right?” Erin said. “What on earth did I ever see in the man that I dated him for two years? I still can’t believe I’d been so blind for that long.”

“If I were you, I’d tell both him and Paula a white lie and say you’re dating someone,” Lexie said. “That should lessen whatever jealousy Paula’s feeling and stop Kevin from being so presumptuous.”

Brad looked on, intrigued by the conversation happening between the women. And with Erin’s face taking on a
Eureka!
look, it was clear she liked Lexie’s suggestion.

A thought gave him a jolt, making him stand up straighter. And it was the perfect idea. It would serve him and Erin equally.

“I think you’re right, Lex,” Erin was saying. “I’ll tell them I’m going out with someone.”

Lexie nodded sagely.

“If that’s the case,” Brad said, a wide smile forming on his face as his perfect idea took hold. “I have a proposition to make.”

“What?” Erin asked.

“How about
we
pretend to be going out? I’m looking for a fake girlfriend, so this is great timing.”

The two women widened their eyes at him.

“Why?” Lexie asked.

“I’m after this contract to provide commercial interior design services for a new complex being developed on an old industrial site in western Sydney. It’s a big project, including a residential high-rise and several low-level buildings. But I just found out that James Coyte, the CEO of the corporation that owns the complex, just got married three weeks ago.”

“And why’s that a problem for you?”

“Well, his new wife Valerie happens to be someone I went out with a few times. Unfortunately, when I attended an industry function last week, I bumped into Valerie. I didn’t know then that she just got married. She flirted with me outrageously and I flirted back. And of course, James Coyte saw and gave me the coldest look as he escorted his wife away.”

“You had to flirt back, didn’t you?” Lexie said dryly.

“I was just being friendly. Just three months ago, Valerie was still calling me, wanting to hook up again. Apparently she and James got married after dating for only five weeks. How was I supposed to know she wasn’t single anymore?”

“Oh, Brad,” Lexie said with a shake of her head. “The women you go out with.”

“Hey, I stopped entertaining her calls a long time ago when I figured out she was a gold digger. Obviously, James has no clue what his wife’s really like. But that’s his problem, not mine. My problem is that James might have put my firm out of contention because of a rumour that has started to go around.”

“What rumour?” Erin asked.

“Apparently, there are whispers that I’m still keen on Valerie. I’m not surprised someone’s out to hurt my chances of winning the contract. This business is as cut-throat as anything, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Warren Oliver who started it. He’ll do anything—”

“Wait a minute,” Lexie interrupted. “Warren Oliver, who used to be your biggest rival in school, and is now your fiercest competitor in business, is going for the same contract? What are the odds, huh?” she added sarcastically.

He sniggered. Everyone close to him knew the competition that had been going on between him and Warren for many years. These days, they battled against each other for multimillion-dollar projects instead of the top marks in class and the hottest cheerleaders.

Their rivalry had been friendly and polite in the past. But three years ago, when Warren had won a contract they’d both competed for, their relationship had escalated to enemy level.

Brad’s firm had been the frontrunner for that project, but ultimately hadn’t been awarded the deal because of whispers that his company was having cash flow problems. Brad had no doubt that the false rumours had been started by Warren. No one else had a powerful enough motive to make him lose out on the contract since their respective firms had been the only two that had made the final round of consideration. And it hadn’t been the first time Warren had tried to trip him during a race to get to the finish line first. Unfortunately, he had no concrete evidence to prove his suspicions that the rumours were all Warren’s doing.

“I can’t believe you’re still locking horns with that guy,” Erin said teasingly. “In almost
everything
.”

“And I’m not letting him win this contract,” he said with determination. This new job was, by far, the most lucrative and prestigious he’d ever gone after. No way he’d hand this one to Warren’s firm. No fucking way.

“So what do you say, Erin?” he asked with a wink. “Would you be my fake girlfriend?”

“What exactly does that position entail?” she asked.

“It means going out with me to dinners and industry functions so relevant people will see us together as a couple. That should stop rumours of me wanting to have an affair with James Coyte’s wife.”

“And will you pick me up at work so Kevin and Paula can see I’m not single anymore?”

“However you want me to act around them, I’d be more than happy to comply.”

Lexie sighed loudly, her disapproval apparent. “Why don’t the two of you just find yourselves
real
dates instead of getting into this fake relationship thing with each other?”

“You know my workaholism doesn’t go well with
real
dates, sis,” he quipped. With past girlfriends having accused him of being married to his company, he’d learned to stay away from relationships.

“You know what, Brad? You have a deal,” Erin said, holding her hand out for a shake.

“Deal,” he said with a wide smile, grasping her hand and squeezing it.

Excellent. Erin was the best fake girlfriend he could hope for. Truth be told, she was absolutely freaking gorgeous. Not only that, she was caring and sweet, and she could hold intelligent conversations with anyone. She’d be great when they had to hobnob with potential clients.

Pity this was a no-sex arrangement. If there was anyone among his friends that he’d love to take to his bed, it was Erin. But he cared too much about their friendship to mess around with her. Plus, he truly didn’t have any interest in being in a romantic relationship with anyone.

His firm was growing at a phenomenal rate and he wasn’t ready to take his foot off the accelerator. While he’d achieved so much in the last few years, including winning industry awards and prestigious contracts, he was still far from his loftier goal: taking Mead Commercial and Corporate Designs worldwide—and doing it before Warren Oliver’s firm did.

He simply didn’t have time for a relationship. He’d decided long ago to not be in one until... well, he didn’t know when. One thing was for sure, it wouldn’t be in the foreseeable future. Having a casual shag whenever he wanted one suited him far better than dealing with a partner who’d ask for more than he could give. And Erin most definitely wasn’t a casual-shag type of person.

Yes, that was a real pity.

E
rin caught a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye and started typing furiously. If she looked super busy, maybe Kevin wouldn’t stop by her desk.

Darn her professionalism. If she hadn’t said it was “absolutely no big deal” when her boss had asked if it would be a problem if she and Kevin worked together, she wouldn’t have had to suffer working with the man—and have him occupying the desk right next to her little corner of the office.

“Morning, Erin,” Kevin said, setting a store-bought cup of coffee on her desk. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, but you can have it,” she said tersely, not taking her eyes off her computer screen.

“But this is the mocha you like.”

“Kevin,” she said in a low voice, not bothering to hide her irritation. “I already told you to stop getting me coffees or fruits or cakes. People are starting to wonder if there’s something going on between us again.”

Kevin smiled. “Would that be so bad?”

She gaped at him in disbelief. “Are you kidding?” After her lunch with him and Paula two weeks ago, she couldn’t believe his comment.

The first few minutes of that lunch had been pleasant enough, but it had quickly turned to one of the most agonising she’d sat through. Kevin and Paula had started bickering. In front of her.

But that hadn’t been the most uncomfortable part. She’d wanted to zip Kevin’s mouth when he’d brought up Paula’s propensity to overreact,
and then
said that Erin had never shouted at him like a banshee the way Paula always did.

Paula’s friendliness towards her had cooled very quickly after that. And Erin still wanted to throttle Kevin for bringing her name up while in the middle of an argument with his wife.

“Erin,” Kevin said, placing both his hands on her desk to lean closer to her. “What’s wrong with being friends again?”

“Kevin,” she said with gravity. “We’re not best buddies. Ease up.”

“I can’t help it,” he said, staring into her eyes.

She looked up to the heavens, letting out an exasperated breath. What the hell was this guy up to? “It’s making me very uncomfortable, okay? Please stop this.”

“Okay, but can we talk? Have lunch with me today.”

“What for?” she whispered almost furiously.

“Please,” he said, his eyes darting around the office.

That made her glance around as well, and she caught a few of their officemates looking away. Amy, her closest work friend, raised her eyebrows at her in question.

She sighed. Best to have a talk with Kevin elsewhere, she supposed. She didn’t relish the thought of being the centre of office gossip.

“Fine. Lunch, then. At the food court downstairs.”

“I have another place in mind—”

She shook her head stubbornly. “Food court, Kevin. At twelve.”

“Okay,” he conceded.

*

E
rin sat down at a table Kevin had been saving for them in the almost-full food court.

“Looks yummy,” Kevin commented as he checked out the grilled chicken and avocado salad she’d bought. “Start eating while I get mine.”

She did start eating as Kevin went to get his food. Normally she’d wait for her companion to come back, but she was annoyed enough to not want to show him the usual level of consideration.

Kevin didn’t take long. He was back with a burger and smiled at her as he sat back down. “Why are you so short with me, Erin?” he asked softly.

Her brows lifted. “You waltz around the office like we’re more than the best of friends. You’re actions are over the top. Don’t you see that you’re being quite inappropriate? You’re married, and I’m your ex. And you’ve made your wife suspicious of me.”

“Erin,” Kevin said, reaching for her hand.

She instantly pulled it out of his grasp. What the hell was wrong with him? Hadn’t he heard what she’d said?

Kevin sighed. “Haven’t you noticed anything?”

“What?”

He raised his left hand and wiggled his fingers.

She blinked. He wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.

“I moved out of the house last week.”

“I see,” she said coldly. “What’s that got to do with me?”

“I made a mistake, Erin,” he said, trying to reach for her hand again.

She let out an incredulous laugh.

Kevin sat back on his chair, taking a long, deep breath. “I’m going about this the wrong way, am I not?”

“I’m not remotely interested in getting back together with you, Kevin.”