Page 57 of Pretend Girlfriend

Both the fake-girlfriend situation, and the other trouble she’s stirring up with Theo.

Fuck, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. If I wasn’t drunker than a Tennessee skunk, I might’ve gone off to a private room and let a little stress off by myself. My dick was thoroughly of the whiskey variety, though. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders could carry me off to a hotel room to have their way with me and I still wouldn’t have been able to get it up.

Landon said something funny, and Joanna tilted her head back to laugh richly. It reminded me of the way she tilted her head back when she came.

Why can’t I stop thinking about their sex? It wasn’t even in a jealous way. I was just so enthralled by the way she and Theo had fucked. They were good at it.

I also felt strangely connected to the woman. She’d seen right through me at the rehearsal dinner, immediately identifying that I was there to ruin Marisa’s wedding. Being so seen by a stranger was rare. And the blunt truth she’d given me was exactly what I needed.

I also felt bad for her situation, stuck at a bad job and desperate to get away. I replayed the conversation we’d had earlier in my head. How she wanted to quit that job, even if she didn’t score the position at Landon’s company.

And then an idea came to me. An idea that would repay Joanna, while also allowing me to see a whole lot more of her over the next week. I told myself it was the former, not the latter, that was guiding my motivations.

I downed the rest of my drink and went looking for the only woman who could make it happen.

Danicka Cozart.

25

Joanna

A noise woke me.

I was in bed, being spooned by a strong, masculine body. That was nice, although the pounding headache I had was not nice. I sighed and cuddled back into his body, savoring the protective warmth. His hard-on pressed against my ass, even warmer than the rest of him.

“You feel good, Theo,” I murmured.

Suddenly, there was a bright light and a scrape of metal as someone threw back the curtains on the window. Groaning, I shielded my eyes and blinked rapidly to see who was disturbing my sleep.

“Rise and shine!” Danicka said cheerfully.

Danicka. Landon’s mom. She was here, in the bedroom. She had caught Theo and me together.

“It’s not what you think,” I said, leaping out of bed and barely catching my balance. My head really hurt. “We weren’t doing anything!”

She gave me a funny look. “I don’t care what you and my son do in private, dear.”

“Mom? What are you doing here?”

I turned and stared with horror as the man in bed with me revealed himself as Landon. My fake boyfriend whose very real erection was nestled against my ass just moments before. That erection was still obvious through his boxers, which he seemed to realize based on my wide-eyed stare. He grabbed a pillow and covered himself.

“What are you doing in here?” he repeated.

“We paid for the suites,” Danicka replied simply. “I have extra keys to every room here. And a good thing, since you two lovebirds slept through the wake-up call! Our flight leaves in four hours, and I’m sure you both need to go home and pack.”

“Pack? I don’t need to pack,” I said.

Danicka gave me a confused look. “Of course you need to pack. Unless you ran home and did that after the reception last night, but I think you were a little too lush for that.”

“What are you talking about, Mom?” Landon demanded.

“Just get up and come to breakfast. It’s impossible to talk to you before you’ve had coffee.” Danicka left without another word.

I looked at Landon. His eyes had been gazing down at my midsection, but snapped back up to my face. That’s when I realized I was wearing underwear and a T-shirt. And not just any underwear: the thong from last night.

“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered, pulling the sheets up to cover myself. “Can you give me a little privacy so I can change?”

“Please don’t yell,” Landon muttered, touching his temple with one hand while holding the pillow over his crotch with the other. “It feels like someone is stabbing me in the brain with a butter knife.”

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