to interrupt.” Lani poked her head in the door. She looked at him with those huge baby-blue eyes, framed by a golden halo of hair precariously perched on her head. “I’d like to get in here to vacuum and dust, if that’s okay with you.”
Colin found himself staring rudely, but he couldn’t seem to help it. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time, though it’d only been an hour since he’d asked for her help. She was lovely, startlingly so. How could he not have noticed before?
She’d also saved his life.
What kind of a person was so willing to help?
He didn’t know another soul who would have done so. Uneasy with that thought, and irritated that he’d needed her help in the first place, Colin stood and walked around his desk to meet her. “You’re not interrupting. But there are some things we should go over, if you don’t mind.” Some things? It was laughable.
How to ask her if she was willing to put the entire charade on yet another level and attempt to fool the nosiest, most meddling, well-meaning mother that had ever lived?
Lani’s eyes widened slightly as he moved toward her and Colin slowed, realizing she probably considered him a certifiable nutcase.
He would just insist he pay her extra, over and above her cleaning fees, which had always been surprisingly low anyway. He’d yet to encounter a woman not susceptible to his money.
“You…didn’t put on another shirt,” she announced breathlessly.
He’d forgotten. He still smelled like pine, but then again, so did she. Her gaze was plastered to his chest. Her cheeks reddened, but she didn’t stop in her curious perusal of his entire body.
He felt curious, too, though it wasn’t as easy for him since she was fully dressed. A strand of her long hair hung in her still-flushed face. The baggy, shapeless, drab-colored clothes she always wore completely hid her figure, but judging from the lack of meat on her arms, she was a bit scrawny.
Definitely not his type, he thought wryly. Thank God. To have been attracted to her would have made this whole situation all the more impossible to deal with. “I have a bit of a problem,” he said.
She blinked, stopped staring at his chest, and went still. “You don’t need me anymore?”
“Ah…not exactly.”
She shot him a smile then, and it was a stunner. At the impact, he lost every thought in his head and then had to reassess the whole not-being-attracted-to-her thing.
“We need to set a date?” she asked.
“Worse.” He braced himself. “We need to live together.”
“Before the wedding?”
“It won’t get that far,” he said fervently.
“No…wedding?”
Uh-oh. She sounded shocked…disappointed. “This is just for pretend,” he said slowly. “Remember?”
She laughed and quickly turned away, hiding her face. “Of course. It’s just that I thought…never mind. Excuse me…I’ve got…something to do.”
“Lani?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve got to go.” She ran out of the office.
3
COLIN STARED at the empty doorway of his office. What had just happened? No way had Lani misunderstood. He’d made it clear that this engagement wasn’t real.
Hadn’t he?
Running back through the conversations in his mind, he went still. Yes, he’d made it clear it was all for show, but had he let her think there would really be a wedding?
Swearing, Colin went after her, grabbing a shirt on his way, but he was a split second too late. Both Lani and Carmen were gone, speeding down the driveway in her noisy car. Colin grabbed his keys and raced out into the searing heat after them.
Having no idea where Lani lived, he broke several traffic laws trying to keep up with her. And when they crossed the train tracks, bringing them into an undesirable neighborhood, Colin hoped Lani was just dropping off Carmen. She was, but as he again followed Lani, he realized she also lived in this area.
He waited until she’d gone into a rundown four-plex, then followed her. He knocked softly on her front door, which was ajar, but she didn’t answer so he let himself in. Her place was stiflingly hot. Colin didn’t know how people lived in Southern California without air-conditioning, and he hated that Lani had to.
But once he was inside the apartment, he found it much lighter and roomier than he had expected. There wasn’t much in the way of furniture, but the small living room was clean and appealing.
He found her in the tiny kitchenette and when he said her name softly, she jumped, a hand over her heart.
“You need to lock your door,” he admonished. “For safety…”
“I’m safe here.” She turned away and tossed a sponge into the sink. For a brief second, before she flipped on the water, her small, calloused hands gripped the counter tight. “Why did you follow me?”
“You left before we were through.”
“I didn’t see what else we had to discuss.”
So hurt. Dammit. “Lani—”
“What a fool I am, huh? I mean I knew it was going to be for pretend, but I thought we were going to actually do it, for pretend. How dumb! It was ridiculous to think—” She let out a painful laugh.
God, he hated the helplessness that swam through him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You’re so far out of my league, I should never have—” She broke off and her shoulders sagged. Strands of wild, curly hair hid her expression, but he could picture it well enough. Devastated. Humiliated.
Leaning around her, he turned off the water, his mouth forming explanations and apologies. In the confinement of the tiny kitchen their bodies brushed against each other. His arms surrounded her, whether he intended them to or not. It couldn’t be helped. The insides of his biceps grazed the sides of her breasts and, completely without logic, his body hardened.
Silence reigned.
Lani faced him at last, her hands behind her, gripping the counter tight. Now their bodies no longer touched, but a mere inch was the only thing keeping them from an embrace. If she so much as breathed, Colin knew Lani would feel his illogical response to her. The pine scent coming from the bib of her wet, baggy overalls was overpowering, but beneath that, he caught the scent of Lani, sweet and sexy.
“I always prefer to be alone when I’m making a fool out of myself,” she said so quietly he had to dip his head close to hear her. “Maybe you could just go away and pretend today never happened?”
“You’re not the fool, I am,” he assured her grimly, tipping her face up so he could torture himself with her hurt eyes. “I did ask you to marry me, I just never intended to actually have to do it. It sounded so simple in my head,” he said, bewildered. “I have no idea how it got so crazy.”
“I see.”
No, she didn’t. She couldn’t. “I told you how I wanted you to pretend to be my fiancée to placate my family and well-meaning acquaintances so they’d leave me alone to work.”
“Yes.”
It seemed so ridiculous now, and feeling a little embarrassed himself, he offered her a small, tight smile. “I told you also that they have a habit of matchmaking. If they thought I was taken, they’d have to stop. And then I could finish my project.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“You do?”
She smiled tentatively, which