Page 78 of Fake It For Him

I waved a hand at him, smiling as I pumped my eyebrows. “You always look good, Mr. Reid. Black eyes or not. We’ll be fine.”

“How much time do you need to get ready?”

I shrugged and checked the watch on my wrist. Before we’d left the city, he’d had a hairstylist come to his place and she made me look and feel like a princess. My long hair was wavy now, with spiral curls and a beautiful, sparkly clip securing the fronts behind my head.

All because I’d made a comment this morning about not knowing what to do with my hair. Calan was turning out to be a surprisingly considerate boyfriend for a guy who’d never been in a relationship before. Beneath his prickly disguise, he was turning into a real dreamboat. The kind of guy a girl would be crazy to let go.

And not only because of the hair, but because that was the way he responded to all of my needs. I wouldn’t have taken him for being so intuitive or so responsive, but he was. I tried to be the same for him, but I didn’t think I was as good at it.

“No more than twenty minutes,” I finally replied. “Should we go finish our drinks while we get ready? That way, we’ll have more than enough time and we’ll still be able to consume our liquid courage.”

He chuckled as he stood up and followed me. “Liquid courage, huh?”

“Yep. Speaking of which, how are you feeling?” I asked as we walked into our bedroom.

I crossed over to where he’d hung my dress against the closet, and immediately set my drink down so I wouldn’t spill on it before I even had it on. As I carefully removed the garment, he stripped out of his jacket and shirt, shrugging as he kicked off his shoes.

“I’m okay,” he said. “Hopeful that this isn’t going to turn into yet another shit show. Finn and I were starting to patch things up in Maui, though. We’ll see how it goes.”

I nodded, leaving the dress on the hanger but out of the bag as I went back to him and took his face in my hands. “Just stay calm and it’ll all be okay.”

He touched his forehead to mine. “That’s why you’re here.”

I laughed softly, pushed away from him, and dug my makeup bag out of our suitcase before I went over to the dresser. Since I never wore a lot of this stuff, it didn’t take me very long to apply the basics.

When I was done, I shimmied out of my jeans and carefully worked my sweater and shirt over my head so I didn’t ruin my hair. It was slow going, but eventually, I was left only in my bra and panties, but since we’d changed in front of one another a lot by now, I wasn’t self-conscious at all.

About to head over to the bed for my dress, I was still standing in front of the dresser when he came up behind me, wearing only his underwear and holding the Swarovski earrings from Freya. Smiling as he looked at me in the mirror, he watched me slide them on and then pressed a hot kiss to the side of my neck.

I sighed, leaning into him. My blood heated up when he planted his hands firmly on my hips. “We don’t have time, Calan.”

“We’ll make it,” he murmured against my skin. Then he picked me up and put me on the dresser, making me forget that we even had a party to go to as he covered my mouth with his own.

Calan’s kisses were hard and urgent, his tongue delving into my mouth and his hands running up and down along the insides of my thighs. I didn’t hesitate, looping my arms around his neck and holding him tenderly, kissing him back with way too many emotions rising up within me.

What he and I had together was real, even if our relationship wasn’t. I just didn’t know if he’d realized it yet and, if he had, if he even wanted any of it at all.

All I knew for a fact was that I did. I wanted it. Him.

All of him. His body, his heart, and even his drama.

Calan Reid was trouble. I’d always known that, but he was the kind of trouble I didn’t want to stop myself from getting into anymore. Not when he was the exact kind of trouble that made me feel like maybe redemption was possible.

Like maybe, just maybe, I stood a chance at love and a happily ever after despite the sins of my past.

41

CALAN

Ella and I arrived at the party half an hour late, but for good reason. At least, it’s a good reason in my book.

I couldn’t keep my hands off the woman and I wasn’t even really trying to resist. There didn’t seem to be any reason to. She was as insatiable as I was and I was more than happy to just keep rolling with it.

Our relationship had definitely changed since she’d moved in with me, our bond growing stronger by the day. Even now, as we walked into my parents’ house, we were holding hands, our sides practically glued together. We were bombarded by my parents, my brother, and Freya.

My parents were holding hands too, both dressed in red with touches of gold. Freya had shiny green reindeer horns on her head and Finn had on a red knit sweater with the Grinch on it. It was as cohesive as I’d seen them look in a long time, but what surprised me was that they had included me.

Mom had sent over a red bowtie to the guest house. I’d found it on the nightstand when Ella and I had finally gotten around to getting dressed, and it was decorated with little Grinches as well. Although it’d pained me to do it, I’d put it on at Ella’s insistence.