Living with Her Fake Fiancé (The Loft Book 3) Read online

  It was more than Brent could handle—the sight of Chloe letting go like this. His back arched, and his hips flew up off the bed as his own climax took him hard. He choked back his exclamation of release as he jerked and shook against her. He came into his underwear, his groin still pressed up against hers.

  They were both limp and gasping afterward. She was sprawled out on top of him, all her weight pressing down into him.

  He wanted it. Needed it. Couldn’t believe her body felt so warm and sated, like he’d given her something she needed.

  He couldn’t believe she’d wanted to do that with him.

  It wasn’t sex, but it was really close.

  After a few minutes, she giggled against the crook of his neck.

  “What?” he asked, gently stroking her back. He loved the way it curved down at her waist and then up again at the full roundness of her ass. She had no straight lines on her whole body. She was made up entirely of soft curves and dips.

  “That was fun.”

  He huffed. “Yeah.”

  She raised her head to check his face. “You liked it, didn’t you?”

  “Are you kidding?”

  “No. I really want to know.”

  “I can’t remember enjoying anything more,” he admitted.

  “Oh.” A smile played on the corner of her lips as she reached over to grab a few tissues and handed them to him. “Good.”

  After he’d cleaned himself up some, she laid her head back down, her body relaxing on top of his. They were lying down fully now, just his head still on the pillows. “You’re pretty good at it.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  He let out a long breath, all the tension leaving his body in a wave of visceral satisfaction. He was suddenly so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open. “Good.”

  He wasn’t sure what happened after that.

  He was pretty sure he went to sleep.

  Five

  CHLOE WAS SO WARM AND content after the little dry-humping session with Brent that she fell asleep too.

  She’d intended to only stay a few minutes. Her body was content after her orgasm, so she wanted to enjoy it for a while before she moved. Plus Brent was so adorable, falling asleep immediately after he’d come as if his climax had taken everything out of him. She didn’t want to pull away and go to her room quite yet.

  She hadn’t expected to drift off too, but she did. She woke up about an hour later, groggy and with her cheek pressed into Brent’s armpit. She was hot and confused as she lifted her head to look down at his flushed face and rumpled beard.

  His eyes were still closed, but her motion must have awakened him. He blinked up at her with sleepy brown eyes. “What’s going on?”

  She smiled, pushing her hair back behind her shoulders. “You fell asleep.”

  “I did?”

  “Yep. About one minute after you finished. It’s a normal guy thing to roll over and go to sleep afterward, but you didn’t even make it two minutes.”

  “I didn’t?” There was a glint of amusement in his eyes, and his voice was dry.

  “Nope. Some girls might be offended.”

  The glint of amusement faded. “Were you?”

  “No. Of course not.” She leaned down to kiss him. “I thought it was cute. It made me think you had a good time.”

  “I did. It was great.” He reached up and stroked her cheek with his knuckles very gently. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you. I had a good time too.” She gave him one more brief kiss but was experiencing a clench of nerves at how fond and tender she was feeling right now, so she made herself pull away from his big, warm body and climb off the bed. “I’m going to go to my room and let you sleep more if you want.”

  “You don’t have to—”

  She laughed as she straightened her clothes and slid on her shoes. “I’m not about to spend the night in here. Can you imagine what Steve and Michelle would think?” She went to the door and peeked out to make sure the hall was empty before she stepped out. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She gave him a last wave as she left him in bed with messy hair and heavy-lidded eyes.

  She took a deep breath.

  There.

  She was good. Normal.

  That tenderness she’d experienced in bed just now was only a fleeting feeling.

  She was having fun with Brent, and they were helping each other out.

  That was all.

  A FEW DAYS LATER, CHLOE was getting into the passenger seat of Brent’s Jeep and feeling kind of sad and heavy.

  She and Brent had gone over to her parents’ house to have dinner with Mima. Everything had gone well. Mima was tired but in good spirits, and she’d seemed to like Brent a lot. Chloe and her mother had been able to control the conversation, so Brent was never put on the spot or expected to make up stories about a relationship that didn’t exist. They’d mostly talked about Chloe’s job and graduate program, so she was able to be completely honest.

  But Mima had been so happy, pulling Brent down to give him a kiss on the cheek as she said good night to them.

  Chloe felt like a liar, and it was so far from who she’d always been that she was having trouble handling it.

  She experienced another swell of indignation when she thought about what her mother had done to them.

  “You okay?” Brent asked as he turned his key in the ignition.

  She leaned her head back against the seat. “Yeah.”

  “I thought it went okay. Did you think it... it didn’t?”

  “Oh. Yeah. It went good.”

  “I did okay, didn’t I?”

  “Yes! You did great. Thank you so much.”

  “So what are you upset about?”

  She shook her head. “Just... just the whole thing. Lying to Mima. My mom being so disappointed in me that she had to make up this story.”

  He was silent for a moment, clearly thinking something through. “You want to stop for ice cream before we go home? You only picked at your food.”

  Despite her heavy mood, she perked up at the suggestion. “Yeah. I wouldn’t say no to that.”

  “Good. Let’s do it.” Brent was frowning as he backed the car out of the driveway, and when he spoke again it was clear he’d gone back to their previous topic. “Your mom really shouldn’t have done that to you. It was a shitty thing to do.”

  “I know.”

  “But it might not have been because she was disappointed in you.”

  “Of course it was. She expects me to be married and have a family by now. She expects me to have my life together and not be bumbling around all a mess like I am.”

  “You’re not bumbling around all a mess.”

  “I know. I mean, I know it in my head and try to keep reminding myself of it. But it’s not always easy to make yourself feel that way. To always be perfectly confident in yourself when it seems like people are judging you.”

  “I know it isn’t.”

  Something about his tone sparked a curiosity in Chloe. “Do you ever feel that way? Like you know you should be secure and confident but can’t make yourself feel that way?”

  “Are you kidding? I’ve spent my whole life that way.”

  “Really? What do you have to be insecure about? You’re so smart, and you’ve done so well for yourself. You got that big fellowship, and you’re obviously going to have a great career as soon as you finish your PhD.”

  Brent slanted her a significant look. “You know I’m a twenty-five-year-old virgin, right?”

  She choked on a surprised laugh. “Well, yes. I know that. But I really don’t think you should feel insecure about that. It’s not a failure on your part. Everyone has different sexual histories. There’s not one right way for it to happen or even an expectation that it should happen at all. Not having had sex yet doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you.”

  “Yeah. I know. Just like not being married and having kids yet or losing your job and having to move back in w
ith your parents for a little while last year doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you.”

  She made a face at him since he was making a lot of sense and it was a little annoying.

  He gave a soft huff of amusement when he saw her expression. “My point is that just because you rationally know something doesn’t mean you always feel that way. I’m like you are. I know I shouldn’t feel bad about still being a virgin, but it’s hard not to be embarrassed about it when it seems like every other guy my age in the world has had tons of sex.”

  “Well, I promise you they haven’t. There’s a lot more inexperienced guys than you’d imagine, just like there’s a lot of inexperienced women. It’s just not something people tend to advertise about themselves, so most of the time you’d never know it about them.”

  “Yeah. I guess that’s probably right.”

  “And sexual experience isn’t always a good thing either. I had sex for the first time when I was fifteen, and looking back now, I really wish I’d waited.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I was just... rebelling or something. I didn’t want to be the good Catholic girl my family expected me to be. And the guy was cute and popular, so I thought... Anyway, it wasn’t traumatic, but it wasn’t all that good, and I wasn’t nearly mature enough to know how to process the whole thing. It’s one of those sick-feeling things.”

  “Sick-feeling things?”

  “Yeah. You know when you think back on something, and it leaves you with this sick feeling in your stomach? Do you ever feel that way?”

  “Yes. I do.”

  “I figure the fewer things that you look back on that make you feel sick, the better. So waiting until you’re ready to have sex is definitely a good thing.”

  He was giving her a faint smile as he pulled into the parking lot of Chloe’s favorite ice-cream shop.

  “And at least you don’t have your mother giving you disapproving frowns about you still being a virgin the way I do about my situation,” Chloe added, taking off her seat belt and getting out.

  Brent chuckled. “My mother doesn’t do that, but I have two older brothers. Maybe you can imagine the kind of grief I’ve always gotten from them.”

  “Did they tease you a lot?”

  “All the time. They thought I was stupid for waiting for Heather—my old girlfriend. Then they thought I was an idiot for not going out and jumping in bed with someone after we finally broke up. They never let me hear the end of it. They still laugh at me whenever the subject comes up.”

  Chloe scowled, immediately annoyed by these faceless brothers of his. “They don’t sound very nice.”

  He stopped in the middle of the parking lot to look down at her. “They’re brothers. That’s what they do. We get along pretty well overall. But you can’t be surprised that I feel insecure about my situation in the same way that you feel insecure about yours even if neither of us should feel insecure.”

  She smiled up at him, feeling better than she had all day. “Yeah. I guess so. Maybe we have more in common than I thought.”

  He lifted a hand in a strange gesture, as if he was going to touch her but stopped himself. Then he smiled back at her and turned toward the ice-cream shop.

  THEY HAD A GOOD TIME, eating ice cream and chatting about more casual topics. Chloe was feeling relaxed and close to him as he drove the Jeep back to their apartment building. He put it into park in his parking space and turned to look at her without getting out.

  She reached out to touch his arm. “Thanks for tonight. For pretending with Mima and for... for everything else. Talking to me.”

  “I like talking to you.” His voice was slightly thick, and it surprised her.

  “I like talking to you too.”

  Their gaze changed in the dim illumination of the streetlights. Before Chloe knew what was happening, Brent was leaning toward her and she was reaching for him, and they were kissing hot and heavy over the console between their two seats.

  The kiss was good, but their position was awkward, so after a couple of minutes, Chloe mumbled against his mouth, “Scoot your seat back.”

  Brent fumbled down for the mechanism and moved his seat back as far as it would go. Then Chloe climbed over so she could straddle his lap, bumping her back against the steering wheel.

  She didn’t care how uncomfortable it was. She needed to feel Brent against her. She needed him as close as she could get him.

  They kissed and rocked together until both of them were tense and aroused. She could feel the bulge of his erection at the front of his jeans, and she rubbed herself against it eagerly.

  They were still kissing and stroking each other over their clothes when they started moving their hips more intentionally the way they had for the past three nights.

  They’d never specifically discussed it, but they both seemed to agree they’d keep their clothes on for now, even though they were going a lot further than kissing.

  Chloe was wearing a long top and a pair of leggings, so she could feel him very intensely. She gasped and jerked out of the kiss when she felt his hand feeling its way up her thigh, sliding against the crease of her bottom.

  “Fuck, Chloe.” His voice was barely a breath as it wafted against her skin. “You’re so sexy. So hot. I love how you never hold back.”

  She was glad he loved it because there was no way she could stop herself. She ground down against him, almost writhing with the intensity of her need. “Oh shit.” His hand moved even more until he was pressing between her thighs through her leggings. “Yes. Yes! Touch me there.”

  She rubbed her clit against his groin as he applied pressure farther back, as far as he could reach from behind. She was so wet she thought he might be able to feel it even through her leggings. It didn’t take long before she was coming with a smothered cry.

  Then he jerked his hips up into her, and she pushed down against him until he let out a long groan and his body shook beneath her.

  They panted and held on to each other as they came down. After a few minutes, Chloe giggled and extricated herself from the tangle of their limbs between his seat and the steering wheel. “Well, that was something.”

  “Y-yeah. Definitely something.” It sounded like he was smiling, and when she turned to look, she saw that he was.

  He was giving her a sated, sleepy grin.

  She giggled again. “You better get out and get up to your room pretty quick, or you’ll fall asleep in the front seat of your car.”

  “I’m not going to fall asleep.” Despite his words, his eyelids were very heavy.

  She opened the passenger door, letting in a blast of cool air. “If you say so. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. It’s going to get cold in the car if you fall asleep here.”

  “I’m not falling asleep,” he mumbled. Then, as if to prove that was true, he opened his door and stumbled out.

  She walked around the Jeep and gave him a fond half hug. “Let’s get you upstairs so you can clean up, change clothes, and go to bed. You deserve it. You were great this evening.”

  “Yeah?” He leaned down to press a groggy kiss against her hair.

  “Yeah. You were great in every way.”

  A WEEK LATER, CHLOE woke up in Brent’s bed.

  She’d gotten in late the night before and came to his room so they could make out, as they were doing now almost every evening. They’d had a really good time kissing and caressing and working up toward a very satisfying climax together. She didn’t remember ever making a decision to spend the night in his room. It didn’t make sense for her to do so since her own room was just across the hall. She really should have gotten up at some point in the evening and gone to sleep in her own bed.

  But she hadn’t.

  Brent had fallen asleep almost immediately after coming, as he always did, so she’d intended to stay for a while to tease him about it as soon as he woke up again. But instead of his waking up, she ended up falling asleep too.

 
; She must have woken up at some point during the night. Both of them must have. They were under the covers in the morning, although they’d fallen asleep on top of them. But Chloe had no memory of that happening.

  She woke up at six thirty smelling Brent. His sheets. His body beside her.

  He was sound asleep still, on his back with one arm bent up over his head. She looked at him for a minute, her heart doing a silly clenching thing at the sight of him sleeping beside her. Then she rolled out of bed, tiptoed to the door, and peeked out into the hall.

  It was empty, so she hurried across to her bedroom.

  It was too late to get back in bed, so she changed out of her leggings and put on pajama pants and a bathrobe.

  No one else needed to know that she’d slept in Brent’s bedroom last night.

  Brent didn’t even need to know.

  As she went out to the kitchen to get coffee, she experienced one of those silly thrills of naughtiness. The ones that came from sneaking around, doing something fun that no one else knew about.

  For the past two weeks, she’d had the best experiences with a man she’d ever had, and they hadn’t even taken off their clothes yet.

  And no one knew about it but her and Brent.

  He wasn’t going to tell. She knew that for sure.

  It was early, and only Michelle was up, working on her laptop at the counter with a half-empty bowl of cereal beside her.

  “Good morning,” Chloe said cheerfully, heading for the coffeepot.

  “Hey.” Michelle sounded odd. Almost surprised. She’d straightened up and was staring at Chloe.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing. Just... I thought you were out.”

  Chloe’s stomach sank slightly, but she maintained her casual pose. “Why?”

  “Because your bedroom was empty when I got up this morning. Where did you...” Michelle trailed off, her brown eyes widening behind her glasses.

  To her annoyance, Chloe felt her cheeks flush. She wasn’t a blushing kind of person, so it was annoying to feel herself do it. She racked her mind for a way to offset Michelle’s coming questions, but she could think of nothing.