Our Totally, Ridiculous, Made-Up Christmas Relationship (5 page)

“Jules! What are you doing back here?” Stacey asks, following my fast pace into the front lobby with all of the actors.

“Richard broke up with me to marry his girlfriend of four years.” I mutter and the look of non-shock from Stacey pierces me. “What?! You saw this coming?”

“Well, not exactly this. But, you do have a history of picking up losers.”

I don’t reply because she’s not wrong. She sounds just like Eddie. “Anyway, I need help. I need to steal an actor.”

Stacey raises an eyebrow, placing both of her hands under her ever-growing belly. “What do you mean you need to steal an actor?”

“No time to explain.”

“Okay, whatever. I have to go get food before I burn this place down and eat people’s ankles, but first, feel that.” She grabs my hands and places them on her stomach, where a weird vibration happens. I try my best not to make a grossed-out face, but I can’t help it. That felt freaking nasty. Stacey nods. “I know right? The joys of pregnancy.”

With that, she turns away and wobbles out of the building. Going back to the front lobby, I walk in front of all of the male actors in the room and stand up on one of the chairs. “I am in need of an actor for a five-day trip to my parents’ cabin to pretend to be my boyfriend.”

The room is filled with silence, all types of green, blue, and brown eyes staring at me with the blankest of blank expressions.

“I’ll pay you one thousand dollars to be my made-up boyfriend. Five days.”

Crickets. Freakin’ A! “Okay, let’s be honest shall we? There’s a .00005 chance that you will land the role for Fresh toothpaste today. This dude over here has eyebrows that are too caterpillar-like. This kid looks like he’s fifteen. And you”—I point to the guy in the corner, giving me a rude look— “you have a nose that would only be featured in a sinus and cold commercial. So if you want to pass up an opportunity to get paid money for eating cookies, opening presents, and hating my sister, then fine. Pass it up. But truthfully, one thousand dollars for acting is more than some of you will make in a year.”

A guy in the back says something, but I can’t see or hear him. I clear my throat, and stand on my tiptoes. “Who said something?”

Out of nowhere this tall, dark figure stands from his chair and steps up. He has beautiful brown hair, perfectly styled facial hair and a jaw line that makes my thighs clench and my lady parts scream, “
Hallelujah!”

“I said, do we get paid half up front?”

When we lock eyes, I can feel my cheeks redden, because he’s the same stranger who picked up the engagement ring for me earlier. He comes to the same realization, and that smile of his widens the same way it did earlier.

“Well, we can work something out.” I blink, but only once, because I want to take in his green eyes for as long as possible. He’s wearing a white button-down shirt that is hiding his clearly toned body. “What’s your name?”

“Kayden Reece.”

“Why don’t I know you?” I know all of our clients. It’s my job to file, file, and file some more of their paperwork.

“I was signed on to the team this afternoon. This is my first official audition.”

Ohh, he’s sexy. I can use fresh meat; they are less likely to ask for a raise. “Age?”

“Twenty-seven.”

Ohhh, older than me by a year. Perfect! “Girlfriend?”

He shifts his glance to the ground and I can tell he’s smiling. An overwhelming amount of desire fills me when he looks up again and I get to take in the smile. It’s sexy and adorable all at one. Sexdorable. His smile is so sexdorable it almost kills me. If I didn’t have a thing against dating actors, and if my heart weren’t currently being dragged through the mud, I would totally be up for making some babies with him.

His looks alone make Danny appear like the ugliest man alive, which pleases me quite a bit, but that’s not all he has that is so much more charming than Danny. Kayden has this deep, sultry, smoky voice that pulls all of the attention to him whenever he speaks. Danny sounds like freaking Mickey Mouse on crack. Kayden also has this edgy characteristic about him that reads badass yet sweetheart all at once. And with a name like Kayden, he was destined to be all kinds of yum.

“No girlfriend to claim at this moment in time.”

I nod once and step off of the chair, giving an evil glance to all of the actors who didn’t step up for the role of a lifetime. “Follow me to my office, Mr. Reece.”

“I’m guessing the proposal didn’t go over too great?” Kayden asks, and my gut tightens. I don’t reply, and watch as he shifts around in his chair. Clearly he knows now that he should’ve kept that comment to himself.

“So, here’s the thing. I can pay you five hundred dollars upfront. You’ll get the rest after we leave Haven Creeks, Wisconsin. You can stop by your place, pack up some things. If you have any white or black winter wear, that would be perfect. Then we can match and be super cute and like a match made in heaven. Then again, I bought a few hats and gloves for the ass whose name shall not be spoken, so I’ll pack that up for you, too.” I scatter papers around my desk, looking for something, anything, just to avoid looking at the beautiful piece of man candy sitting across from me. He’s smirking, which in turn makes my lady parts smirk.
He knows he’s good-looking. He has to!

“Ms. Stone,” he cuts in and I hold my hand up.

“Oh God no. My mom is Mrs. Stone, I’m Jules, please.”

“All right, Jules. I’m sorry, this is all happening pretty fast. So, is there a way we can start from the beginning?” I stop my shuffling and look at the handsome man sitting across from me. He’s leaning forward, running his hand across his chin.

I feel my cheeks heat up, feeling silly that this sudden plan of mine is actually a load of crap. My head falls to the desk and I curse under my breath. When my head rises, I can tell that my curly blond hair looks like hell, but I don’t care about much anymore.

“Listen, I’m a hot mess and this is insanely unprofessional, but it’s also very much like me because I’m a nut job. This isn’t even my office. It’s my boss’s, but he’s gone on vacation with his wife, who loves him. I work in the cubicle in the back corner.” I try to fight the tears that are thrusting their way to the surface. “I come to work every day, happy to help people reach their dreams because I didn’t reach mine. Everyone in my family are freaks. My sister’s a whore who I oddly enough wish I could be. And I date losers because I think that’s all I can attract.” My bottom lip starts to tremble, and the tears of a sad, single girl start spilling from my eyes. “And my only friends are ninety-year-olds who have more make-out sessions than I do!”

Ignite ugly crying now.

I sob into my hands and proceed to get all snotty and gross in front of Sir Hottie-Smiles.

“Um, Jules, is everything okay?” Claire peeks her head in my office, forcing me to cry even harder because it’s not okay. Nothing’s okay. I don’t look up at her because she has a fiancé and she’s happy and younger than me, which adds insult to injury.

“I think she’ll be okay,” Kayden says, making me peek my eyes through my fingers to find him staring at me. It’s intimidating how he looks at me, because it’s not like he simply stares. It’s more like he can see into me. See my spirit, my soul, which is worrisome because if he sees that deep into me then he would be running away any minute now.

Claire looks over to me, and I nod to her through my tears. She slowly closes the office door, locking Kayden and me inside. Kayden moves from his chair and holds his hand out toward me. “Can I try something?” he requests, waiting for me to give him my hand. I look at my hands—all snotty and nastified—and wipe them against my jeans.

Kayden takes my hand, pulls me up from my sob party for one, and walks me to the door. Positioning my back against it, he takes my other hand into his. His proximity to my body is extremely close and somewhat petrifying.
The cold wood from the door touches the back of my neck, creating powerful shivers. He positions himself in front of me, his body demanding my attention. He’s at least six-foot-four, which makes me appear short at five-foot-eight. Is he going to kiss me? Because I’m not going to kiss him.
I don’t even know you!

“I’m not going to kiss you,” he explains.

Oh.
My lips frown for a moment, but I hope he doesn’t notice.

“Well, not yet at least. Close your eyes.”

“Kayden, I understand you really want this job but let’s forget about it. It’s a stupid idea and it’s hardly a real acting job. How about an ‘IOU’? I promise you another audition for a great role and…” I argue all of the reasons why this actor shouldn’t be hovering over me, and I’m pretending to try to pull away. Truth is, I really want to pull him closer and have him press against my body, allowing him to slowly introduce his tongue to mine. He raises an eyebrow toward me; I arch one back and sigh, closing my eyes.

His face presses against mine. The scratchiness of his beard brushes against me as my hands fall to my sides. “Stop comparing yourself to your sister.” His hands slide to my lower back, and before I have the power to go weak, he tightens his hold, pulling me closer to him. When I hear him mention my sister, I go to open my eyes but he stops me. “Keep them shut. You’re nothing like her. And she’s nothing like you. Forgot about all of the losers who didn’t know what type of treasure they let get away. They don’t exist anymore. No one on this planet does. It’s just you and me for these five days. There’s nothing to worry about. No commitment. No planning. Just us and our holiday.”

I can feel his lips mere millimeters away from mine as the words roll off of his tongue with such ease. For a minute, I forget we are standing in my office—er, my boss’s office—and that my mascara is still running down my cheeks. I forget we met five minutes ago when I offered to pay someone an obscene amount of money to be my made-up boyfriend. I forget who Richard, Danny, and Lisa are. All I want to do is find the taste of the man with his hands around my waist.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he warns, edging his face closer to mine. “Unless you stop me.”

I don’t speak a word; I have no reason whatsoever to want to stop him.

When his lips find mine, I feel as if I’ve won the sexdorable lottery. His lips are soft, addicting, and gentle at first before the kiss grows deeper. I place my hands on his chest, stilling myself from tumbling over as his tongue slowly brushes against my lips. The way his rock-hard abs feel against my touch, makes me moan for more. My hips involuntarily rock in his direction, and he lifts me up against the door, kissing me harder, deeper, in a way that makes me feel as if we have been sharing these types of kisses for a lifetime. He allows my legs to wrap around his waist, and he holds me, making me feel so safe at his touch. His fingers stroke through my curly locks of hair, and when he pulls his mouth away from mine, I cannot help but miss his taste, his heat, his made-up passion. His eyes open to find my blues staring back at him, and he tilts my head, giving me one last kiss before I feel him smiling against my mouth. When my feet find the ground, my knees almost forget how to keep me standing, but Kayden’s hand is around my back, holding me, protecting me from falling.

“Well then…” I clear my throat once, “You are a fantastic actor,” I say, breathless, and emotionally drugged up on Mr. Sexdorable.

He doesn’t step back, and I hold his stare, my eyes flooded with his greens. He smirks a small amount and shrugs, “I figure if we’re going to do this then we should have our first kiss now instead of in front of your family. That would take away from the awkwardness of it all.”

“You didn’t even audition for the part yet.”

His tongue runs across his lips and he moves his hand through his dark hair. “I guess I jumped the gun.”

“The gun has been jumped.”

We’re still for quite a bit of time before I blink and realize that if this is happening then we have to hit the road before I come to my senses, wake up from this dream, or have a heart attack from how beautiful he is. I know guys don’t like being called beautiful, but he is.

So. Freaking. Beautiful.