Deceiving Derek (8 page)

Apparently, she’d been napping in class. “Did
you mention this at lunch?” She set down her wine.

“What do you mean, did I mention it? The
reason we’re together tonight is because you agreed to stand in for
Tina.”

His tone conveyed his meaning well—he
possessed zero personal interest in her. If not for this weekend
with the Willoughbys, Justin Kane wouldn’t grant her a second
glance.

Her chest pinched, and she cleared her
throat. So she wasn’t Justin’s type. No biggie. She didn’t want a
relationship right now, anyway. She’d had it with men and their
games.

“I understand I’m playing your girlfriend,”
she replied calmly. “Is it really necessary to use a fake name? I’m
sorry, I didn’t get that from what you said at lunch.”

“I said I needed a replacement for Tina.”

“Yes, but I didn’t realize you meant I had to
pretend to
be
Tina. I thought you needed a generic stand-in
lover, not a specific name brand.”

His gaze narrowed. “You’re backing out?”

“No. I wouldn’t do that.” And risk losing his
account? Not a chance. Besides, she’d already agreed to help him,
and she wasn’t in the habit of breaking her word.

His forehead smoothed. “Look, I’m no expert
at lying, but Nathan knows Tina’s name. He expects to meet Tina
Johnston—no one else. Well, and me, of course.”

Magee smiled. She’d rarely witnessed Justin
Kane’s sense of humor in action. That he could make light of the
situation relieved her misgivings a tad.

“Aw, honey, do you know what this means?” In
her best imitation of a love-struck love bunny, she batted her
eyelashes. “We just had our first fight.”

Justin chuckled. “That’s where you’re
wrong…Tina. We don’t disagree often, but when we do—”

“Ka-boom?”

“In a million pieces.”

“Like today?”

“Pretty much. Except usually we’re sweating
the small stuff. Usually something I can pick up on, and too often
something I’ve done wrong, according to Tina. But the breakup this
morning came out of nowhere. She blindsided me.” He leaned back in
his chair, eyebrows hoisting in the same flabbergasted expression
Magee had seen on Brent Doyle when she’d caught the worm
three-timing her on New Year’s Eve.

An eerie sense of déjà vu crawled over her.
Neglecting her half-eaten meal, she reached for her wine. “Let me
see if I have this straight.
She
broke up with you.”

Justin nodded.

“Would you mind explaining why? Normally, I
wouldn’t ask, but if I’m supposed to be Tina—”

“What does one thing have to do with the
other? I don’t want you to approach this weekend from the
standpoint that you’re ticked off at me. The idea is to portray a
happy couple, to project an image of stability.”

“It would still help me to understand her
reasons for the breakup. Everyone has their sore spots, Justin. I
don’t want to scrape yours by saying or doing something wrong. The
more I know about Tina, the more I can prevent that from
happening.”

“Okay.” His face fell into the hangdog lines
of a man who felt guilty but didn’t think he should. “Tina wants to
get married, and I don’t.”

Magee’s mind spun.
Wow
. If Tina had blindsided him
with that understandable and not uncommon goal, then either Justin
Kane and Tina Johnston had shared the lousiest communication skills
in history—or Justin was a commitment-phobe like Brent.

“Do you love her?” she asked.

“No. For what it’s worth, I don’t think she
loves me.”

“You don’t
think
? Don’t you know?”

“The subject never came up.”

“I see.” Magee resumed eating. The flaky
salmon tasted like foam packing peanuts in her mouth. “How long
were you dating?”

“It would have been six months this
weekend.”

Plenty of time for any sane person to fall in
love. But Magee zipped her lips. A smart account executive wouldn’t
jeopardize her client relationship by telling Justin that if she
were the Queen of Eng-land she’d confer him a snakehood.

And she had to spend the next three days
pretending to be the guy’s lover?

She downed her wine. A moment later, the
waiter materialized and topped up Justin’s glass
first
.

Magee ground her teeth. A fiendish urge to
trial-run her new identity whipped out of nowhere and pummeled the
wiser option to remain silent.

“I’m Tina Johnston,” she informed the waiter
as the young man took her empty glass and poured. “I want to get
married, but my boyfriend won’t have it.” She flicked her hand
toward Justin.

The waiter’s gaze ping-ponged between them.
“Uh, congratulations?”

Justin let loose a belly laugh.

Magee glared at him. This wasn’t funny!

The waiter’s hands shook as he lowered
Magee’s glass. He must have inhaled a massive whiff of Possessed,
because his lips screwed together as if he held his breath.

Face burning, she reached for the stem of her
glass. Their hands collided. The glass tipped. Pinot gris sailed
over her plate and splashed her dress.

Magee shrieked as the chilled wine plastered
the silk to her breasts. Nipples puckering, she gaped at Justin.
Why now, God? Why,
why?

She wanted to melt into the chair and
die.

Their practice date had disintegrated into
the date from hell.

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