Faking Ms. Right (Dirty Martini Running Club, #1)

by Claire Kingsley

I figured if more people made an effort to be friendly, the world would be a much better place.

Martini Mondays. Taco Tuesdays. Wine Wednesdays. Thirsty Thursdays. Fast-food Fridays (don’t judge).

“I’d like to propose a toast.” Nora lifted her glass. Hazel and I did the same. “To Everly. May this time of singlehood be as long or as brief as she wishes. And may the next man in her life be the one to sweep her off her feet, and may he also have a big dick.”

After the champagne and the Manhattan, I was in danger of bypassing a little tipsy and heading straight for telling inappropriate stories and asking strangers for hugs. Not that I’d ever done that before. Okay, yes I had.

We stared at each other, like we were both shocked at our own outbursts. And our copious dropping of f-bombs.

I needed a shower, so I went to my bedroom. Our bedroom? Evidence of Everly was everywhere. She kept her things neat, but I could see her yellow slippers next to the bed. A book on her nightstand. A pink tank top tossed on a chair. Her clothes peeked out from the partially open closet. So many colors. Pinks, yellows, and blues. She was going out with her friends tonight. Glancing at her clothes made me wonder what she’d wear. That little black dress she’d worn when I’d taken her to dinner? My hands clenched into fists. She looked sexy as fuck in that dress, and I didn’t like the idea of her wearing it to some random bar with her girlfriends. Of course, she’d have a ring on her finger. A big one, at that. It had only taken a week to get her ring and she’d been wearing it for the last several days. My lips twitched in a half-smile. Her ring would certainly be a deterrent. No man would hit on her when she was wearing that thing. Unexpected benefit of Everly now posing as my fiancée: She had my ring to mark her as mine.

“Where’s your ring?” She held her hand out and glanced down at it. “Oh, I took it off to go running.” It was the oddest thing. We’d already decided that she wouldn’t wear it in the office; she was concerned about the gossip and I agreed it was best to keep things quiet at work. But there was a deeply primal part of me that wanted to insist—no, command—that she wear my ring at all other times. Running, shopping, out with her friends drinking martinis—I wanted that ring on her finger. But I stopped myself from insisting. Clenched my teeth and looked at her hand for a few seconds. She stood frozen, her arm outstretched, her eyes on my face. I cleared my throat and moved past her into the kitchen. It didn’t matter if she took it off to go running. It wasn’t real. She wasn’t my girlfriend, or my fiancée. She was just Everly, my assistant. Except she wasn’t. She was a hell of a lot more, and I didn’t know what the fuck I was going to do about that.

“Are you ready to go?” Everly asked. “Yeah.” She slipped her hand in mine as we walked down the long hallway. It felt good to touch her like this. Natural, like she really was my fiancée. Like that ring on her finger wasn’t just for show. We stopped in front of the elevator and I pushed the button to the parking garage. I glanced at her. “Thank you for coming.” She looked up and smiled. “Of course. I’m glad he’s okay.” “Me too.” I didn’t look away, losing myself in her eyes—those sparkling pools of blue. Neither did she. Her expression changed, her smile fading into a look of resolve. She grabbed my shirt, right in the center of my chest, popped up on her tip toes, and kissed me. Her soft lips pressed against mine for a few seconds before she pulled back. Her eyes widened and she took a breath as if to say something. I didn’t wait to find out what it was. Surging in, I cupped her face and kissed her back. For a beat, we were both stiff. But like ice on a hot day, she melted into me, her body going languid. She slid her hands up my chest and around my neck, leaning into me. I traced the seam of her lips with my tongue. She opened for me, tilting her head, sliding her tongue against mine. God, this felt good. A deep sense of satisfaction filled me. I’d wanted to do this for longer than I’d let myself admit. And now that I was, it felt better than I’d imagined. Our mouths tangled, tongues mingling. A long, deep kiss, pushing all my thoughts aside. Vaguely, I was aware that we...

Nora had been wrong about catching feelings. There was no catching involved. They smashed into me, shattering into my soul with a million tiny sparks, filling me with a warm tingly sensation. He turned back, meeting my gaze, a disarming openness in his eyes. Right there, in that exact moment, I did a terrible, terrible thing. I fell in love with my boss.

I looked up, meeting his eyes. Before I even started speaking, I could tell my filter was gone—smashed to pieces by Shepherd’s vulnerability. “Thank you for inviting me. Your band is amazing and you’re really good and I’m having a very hard time staying over here on my side of the table. Because you’re so sexy all I want to do right now is launch myself at you.” Without a second’s hesitation, he stood and yanked me off my stool. His strong hands held me tight against him as he leaned down and took my mouth in a hard kiss. I flung my arms around his shoulders and had to stop myself from jumping up to wrap my legs around his waist. My fingers tangled in his messy hair as his tongue delved into my mouth. He tasted like whiskey and sex and potent masculinity. Under normal circumstances, I would have held back a little. After all, we were in a public place. But there was no holding back now. His arms were hot steel around me, his delicious mouth tangling with mine. My heart beat furiously as he sucked on my lower lip, one hand moving beneath my shirt to splay across my ribs. I wanted to rip his clothes off—rip my clothes off—but a tiny part of me, way back in the recesses of my hormone-soaked brain, was still rational. We were in a bar, surrounded by people. I pulled back, almost gasping for breath. “Where’s your car?” “I’m parked out back.” “Let’s go.” He nodded, grabbing my hand, and led me through the crowd to a side door. My vision was hazy, my lips sensitive and swollen, e...

“We’re going home and I’m going to fuck the shit out of you when we get there.”

The drive to my condo went by in a haze of explosive sexual tension. My entire groin ached, the pressure radiating outward, making my back tense and my shoulders tight. Her scent and the feel of her silky wetness sliding over me lingered, tortuous and tempting. I’d wanted to fuck her right then, in the back of my car. The primal urge to take her—to thrust my cock inside her and claim her as mine—had been almost overpowering. But enough of my rational brain had been functional to stop me. Plus, watching her make herself come like that had been fucking incredible. The sight of her straddling me with her skirt hiked up her thighs, her panties pulled to the side, had been hot as fuck. A few more minutes of that, and I probably would have come too. She sat next to me, her hands in her lap, her cheeks still flushed an adorable shade of pink. It was hard to keep my attention on the road. We were both silent, but I couldn’t have held a normal conversation even if I’d tried. There wasn’t enough blood in my brain. Luckily, it was late, the roads were fairly empty, and we made it back to my building without any delays. I parked and we got out, my heart still thumping, my dick aching. With my hand on the small of her back, I led her to the elevator. When we got in, I didn’t press the button for the penthouse. Instead, I selected the floor of my other condo. My escape. The place I never showed anyone. Showing her was a risk. I was crossing lines with Everly that I’d never crossed with ...

“Oh no. I’m sorry.” “Sorry for what?” “I scratched you.” She leaned in and kissed a red mark on my chest. I’d barely noticed. “It’s fine.” “Did I hurt you?” She kissed my chest again. “Baby, you can’t hurt me.” She kissed me a few more times, then settled back against me. I felt her take a deep breath. “No one knows about this place, do they?” “Nope.” “Like the band?” “Yeah. Like the band.” She nuzzled her face against me and tilted her chin up to kiss my neck. “Thank you for sharing it with me.”

Because I fell in love with her. Jesus, where had that thought come from?

“I wasn’t pretending when I kissed you at the hospital.” “You’d just been through a really stressful experience.” “Or at the bar.”

“Everly?” “Yeah?” He hooked his arm around my waist and pulled me toward him. I found myself on his side of the bed for the first time, crossing yet another invisible line. He was shirtless, dressed in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. I could feel the warmth of his body through the thin fabric of my nightie. He propped himself up to look down at me and skimmed his hand over my ribs. “I like you.” “Okay, fine, I like you too.” God, that smile. One corner of his mouth pulled up, puckering his dimple. The fact that he so rarely smiled made each one feel like gold. He leaned down and brought his mouth to mine. His lips were firm, brushing across mine in a soft caress. I ran my hands across his dusting of chest hair. It felt so indulgent to touch him, here in his bed. Like I could finally have what I’d been secretly craving. Him. His hand slid beneath my nightie and palmed my breast. The feel of him touching me like this made me want to purr like a cat. I ran my hands up his chest and around his back, feeling the hard planes of muscle. His body was positively glorious. Fit and strong, with bulges and ridges in all the right places. The tension between my legs grew as he kissed and touched me. Why was he hesitating? Why didn’t he yank my clothes off, climb on top of me, and make it all better with that magnificent cock? I wasn’t mad anymore, but my earlier pout-fest had left me with a lot of pent-up frustration. I wanted some of the fire from last night. Tilting his head, he ...

Shepherd came into the bedroom and paused, looking me up and down. “There you are.” “Hey. I was just talking to my sister. She and Miranda will come to the party. And, you know, go along with everything.” “Good.” His eyes were intense—predatory. I loved it when he looked at me like that. “What are you doing now?” “I was thinking about taking a bath, but I could do something else.” “No, take the bath.” He started cuffing the sleeves of his button-down shirt. “I want to watch.” Nibbling my lip, I got up and darted into the bathroom, already thinking about ways to make this fun. Lying in the water did make my boobs look amazing. He came in and dimmed the lights while I started the bathwater. I slowly peeled off my clothes while he watched.

My focus shifted as soon as I got to the conference room—from work, to Everly. I’d been reading an email from my CFO, but as soon as I heard her voice, I stopped outside the door. That sweet voice made me feel like I was unraveling. Suddenly all I could think about was the taste of her lips. The feel of her skin. The sting of her nails on my back. No one would suspect what the girl with the sunshine smile was capable of in the bedroom. I still had her bite marks on my chest. I was an addict, and she was my secret dealer. I’d never indulged with a woman the way I did with her. She bit and clawed at me and I fucking loved it. I couldn’t get enough. My body craved the powerful sensory stimulation. It wasn’t pain to me, so much as raw intensity. Every bite and scratch cut through my emotional paralysis and made me feel.

I stepped into the conference room. Damian didn’t make eye contact with me as he left. Everly started placing a blue folder in front of each chair. “You’re early.” She was right. I was. But she hadn’t been at her desk. Her pull was like gravity to me. I’d come down to the conference room early because I figured she’d be here. “I know.” I looked her up and down, enjoying the way her yellow dress showed off her curves. But it wasn’t her gorgeous body that was impressing me right now. “You really put Damian in his place.” Glancing at me from the corner of her eye, she set another folder down. “You heard that?” “Some of it.” She gave me a little shrug. “He thinks he can push people’s boundaries and get away with it. I’m happy to disabuse him of that notion.” “You’re something else, Miss Dalton.” “Why thank you, Mr. Calloway.” I wanted to do a hundred dirty things to her on that conference table. Bend her over and hike up that pretty dress. Finger fuck her until she was wet, then sink my cock in deep. I could lay her down and bury my face between her legs. Lick her beautiful pussy until she came in my mouth. Someone walked in behind me, once again snapping me back to reality. I was doing far too much fantasizing lately. But I couldn’t help it. This woman was consuming me. The development team filed in and took their seats. I sat next to Everly, casually letting my leg brush against hers while we listened to the presentation. Above the table, we were all business. Below, I slid ...

The doors opened again and three women walked in, all dressed for the party. Everly’s friend Nora was on the left, in a deep red fringe dress and a sequined headband in her long dark hair. Hazel was on the right, wearing a similar dress in black, with long black gloves and a pair of glasses perched on her nose. Between them, dressed in a stunning silver fringe dress, was Everly. Her blond hair was curled in a vintage wave and her sequined headband had white feathers on one side. Thin straps showed her graceful shoulders and her lips were painted deep red. I stood, awestruck. She looked incredible. It reminded me of the surprise I’d felt the night of the gala. She’d stunned me in that red dress, and here she was, doing it again. She was so fucking beautiful. Her smile was radiant, those red lips begging to be kissed. She stopped, her eyes landing on me, and her smile grew. “There you are,” she said, breaking away from her friends. She touched the lapels of my jacket. “Don’t you look handsome.” “You’re stunning,” I said, my eyes sweeping over her.

“Do you like it?” She twisted her hips a little, making all the silver fringes swirl around her. “You’re both insanely sexy and adorable as hell in that thing.” “Thank you. I love this suit on you. It’s very debonair.” “I actually don’t hate it.” She patted my chest. “You’re a good sport. Let’s go have some fun.”

I traced my thumb along the back of her neck, feeling her soft skin. She tilted her face up. “How’s my lipstick?” Looking at those bright red lips made me want to kiss the lipstick right off them. “Perfect.”

I kissed her because, in that moment, there was nowhere else I’d rather be, nothing else I’d rather be doing. And no one else I’d rather be doing it with.

“Everly, you’re the best assistant I’ve ever had. You’re amazing and I have incredible respect for you as a professional. I don’t want to lose you. But I’m also a realist, and I know you won’t work for me forever. That email you got was inevitable. You’re amazing, and everyone you come in contact with knows it. If it isn’t this opportunity, it’ll be something else. And I’m not going to hold your career back. If this turns out to be the right move for you, then I’ll be nothing but happy for you.”

“Just promise me one thing,” he said. I sat up and brushed more tears off my face. “What?” “If and when you get a new job, help me find your replacement. I’m trying to be the mature professional here, but I’m actually not sure how I’d ever live without you.”

“Oh, son.” He tossed back the rest of his whiskey. “If you haven’t figured it out yet, you will soon.” “Figured what out?” “You’re in love with that girl.”

“That’s the thing about love, though. If you never open yourself up to the risk of being hurt, you’ll never give someone the chance to get close enough to love you back.

“Tell you that it wasn’t fake. Not for me.” “What?” “I love you. I think I’ve loved you since the moment you stepped out of that car in that goddamn red dress. And I’ve fallen a little bit more in love with you every day. I should have told you a hundred times, but I’m an emotionally stunted robot.”

“From the very beginning, I was fighting my attraction to you. Do you remember the first night we slept in bed together?” “Yes.” “I barely slept because all I could think about was how beautiful you were. How good you smelled. I kept wondering how I’d worked with you for years, but I’d never really seen you. But I know exactly why. I didn’t let myself see you. Not because you worked for me, although that was part of it. But mostly because deep down, I knew if I did, I’d fall for you. And that fucking terrified me.”

Everly, thank you for everything. I asked you to turn your life upside down for me, and you did it. Regardless of whether you thought it might get me to agree to something else, you did it because you care so much about the people in your life. Even me, and I’d never done anything to deserve it. Thank you for your kindness to my dad. For coming into my world and injecting color. Maybe this sounds stupid, but your sunshine warmed my cold soul, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”

“Everly,” he said, his voice soft and low. “I love you. Please come home.” My eyes stung with tears and I squeezed them shut. Relief poured through me. He’d said it. It was real. Shepherd Calloway loved me. “I love you, too.” And there it was. That smile. The one that showed his perfect teeth and puckered his adorable dimples. The smile he never gave anyone else. The one he saved for me.

“I wasn’t trying to say goodbye,” he said, caressing my cheek. “Not exactly. I was formulating a plan B. Wondering how long it would take to buy a private jet. I wasn’t going to let you get away so easily.”

The corner of Shepherd’s mouth hooked in a little grin and he leaned down to kiss me. I caught his lower lip between my teeth and bit down, just hard enough to get him to grunt. “I’m going to fuck you so hard for that later,” he growled in my ear. “Promise?”

“Everly, you have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. And I’m about to ask you to give it to me, forever. All I have to give you in return is mine, which, to be perfectly honest, isn’t enough. But I love you with every bit of it—with every piece of my soul. Will you marry me?”

“Shepherd, this looks like the ring I tried on when we bought the fake ring.” He pulled the ring from the box and held it up. “It is the ring you tried on.” “You found one just like it?” “No, this is the same ring. May I?” I nodded, holding out my hand. He slipped the ring on my finger. “I can’t believe it was still there.” He took my hand in his and ran his thumb across my knuckles. “Actually, I bought it at the same time as the other one.” “You bought this when we were faking? Why?” “I honestly don’t know. It was a whim. And I never have whims; I always think things through. But I saw this ring on your finger that day and I had to buy it. So I did.”