AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, I’m resting my voice.” She lifted the green juice with one hand and touched her throat with the other.
A grunt, and Ari swung his gaze back to Leo. “Nice to see you finally performed well enough to get an invite to this thing. It was starting to get boring around here without you. I’ve done this so many years now, you know. It’s good to have some fresh meat at the retreat.”
Leo bared his teeth. Ari never let him forget that he’d been here longer, knew more people, and threw the best events—but they both knew the truth. It was because Ari liked to play dirty. He wasn’t afraid to undercut his own coworkers to get hired for a job.
“Ari, darling, don’t be such a prig.” Vanessa Neale came floating toward them, statuesque and beautiful. Her dress was skin-tight and neon pink. She looked like a Barbie, except for the calculating gleam in her eyes. Her sharp-eyed gaze landed on Leo, then shifted to Amelia. Full, pink lips curled into a predatory smile. “I’m Vanessa. Leo and I gowayback. We’reso close, and I kept telling him to bring you around.Finally, you’re here.” Her gaze slid to Leo. “Took you long enough, silly.”
There was a thick slathering of innuendo in her words, and Leo bristled. They’d never slept together, but Vanessa had made it clear she wanted to. If Leo had met her a few years ago, he wouldn’t have hesitated. But this job was important to him. He wouldn’t ruin it by sleeping with a coworker.
Plus, the thought of sleeping with Vanessa didn’t appeal to him. She was beautiful, but… He couldn’t put his finger on why he felt no attraction to her. Maybe he was just bored of the whole game. Flirting, innuendo, casual sex…it seemed so meaningless all of a sudden.
Amelia smiled at the other woman, something sharp in her eyes. “That’s funny. Leo never mentioned you at all.” Then she turned to Leo, lifted her hand, and stroked his cheek, letting her fingers drift up to push a strand of hair off his forehead. It was blatantly possessive, and Leo’s knees nearly went weak. His eyes bored into Amelia, hands itching to grip her hips and drag her from the room so they could find some privacy.
He’d kill for her to do that again, for her to stake her claim over him in front of everyone. Between one blink and the next, he was hard as rock behind the zipper of his pants. She wanted him, and she couldn’t hide it. She was as desperate for—
Stop, you idiot. It’s not real. She’s faking it. It’s all an act.
Reeling himself back in, he curled an arm around Amelia’s shoulders. “Vanessa runs the California office,” he explained, voice only slightly raspy. He glanced at the two others. “Where are your dates?”
“Mark wanted to go check out the pool,” Vanessa said with a wave of her hand. “He’ll be around for dinner.” Her eyes landed on Ari, and they shared a strange look. “And Ari came alone this year.”
“There he is!” An older man came barreling into their little quad, clapping Leo on the shoulder. “St. James and the mystery woman!”
Leo huffed. “Amelia, this is Robert Lafontaine. He’s our fixer. Anything goes wrong, Rob is there to make it right, as long as you don’t ask too many questions about how.”
Robert grinned, then leaned over and kissed Amelia on both cheeks, pulling back to look her in the eyes. “Glad Leo found someone who understands him,” the man said. “I’ve been telling him to get his shit together for years.”
“Oh, Robbie,” his wife said, coming to join him with a glass of champagne dangling between her fingers. Trudy wore a gauzy, embroidered kaftan, her highlighted brown hair pinned back at her temples. “Stop bothering the lovebirds. Amelia, darling, Leo has told us all about you. You’re a musician, yes? Kitty Cat, is that right?”
“Um.” Amelia cleared her throat. “Kitty Catelli,” she managed to say while maintaining a straight face. Leo wanted to kiss her.
More people flocked to meet Leo’s fiancée, and Amelia began to look a little green. He’d underestimated the amount of curiosity his stories had generated. Their rep for Australia, Sean Walters, dragged his girlfriend over and the two of them had demanded to know if she could sing better than Mariah Carey. Then there were the two brothers who ran shipping and logistics, George and Gregory. They peppered Amelia with a dozen more questions about her band, pulling out their phones to try to look her up online.
She deflected and demurred, obviously uncomfortable with outright lying. Leo kept his winces internal, regretting dragging her into this whole thing.
Finally, Cora Hale hobbled over, shooing all the others away. The payroll administrator was as fierce as she was short, her gray hair permed and set into tight curls. She wore a yellow pantsuit, a matching yellow purse slung over her arm. “Leave the poor girl alone,” she said, swatting at the vultures pecking for bits of juicy meat. She used her purse like a cudgel. “Go. Shoo!”
Amelia gave the older woman a grateful smile when most of the crowd had dispersed. “Thank you.”
“Of course, honey,” Cora said. She grabbed Amelia’s hand in both of hers, shaking and patting it, a smile tugging at her lips. “They’re like dogs,” she explained. “You just need a firm voice to tell them to buzz off.”
Amelia laughed, and the older woman finally let her hand go. “What do you do at Goodhew?”
“Cora makes sure everyone gets paid on time,” Leo said, smiling at the older woman. “The company would fall apart without her.”
“You can say that again.” Cora hiked her purse up and gave him a curt nod.
Leo slid his arm around Amelia’s shoulders. Amelia leaned into him slightly, and some pinched feeling in his chest eased. “She’s a genius with spreadsheets.”
Amelia brightened. “I love spreadsheets!”
Cora laughed, but her eyes sharpened for a moment. “Interesting,” she mused, patting Amelia’s arm before shifting her gaze to Leo. “Found yourself a good one. Hang on to her.”
“I plan to,” Leo said, and it felt like a vow.
Amelia’s head spun.Thirty-odd people milled around the room, and she only remembered a handful of names. Grateful that Leo had stuck by her side, she sipped her third green juice—which was surprisingly delicious—and kept a placid smile on her lips.
These people just had to believe she and Leo were engaged. They didn’t have to like her or think well of her. She just had to stand here and make their fake relationship believable.
