Page 27 of Rim Job

I zip my suitcase closed, and a knock sounds on the bedroom door.

Evelyn shouts, “We're ready to go when you are. Jen and I will be by the front door.”

Jen and Evelyn were shocked, to say the least, when I told them my plans. Even more so when I invited them along for the ride. They made arrangements to have their bakery covered for an additional week, and Stacy, who owns the shop next door to them, is helping to keep an eye on things. I asked Kelly, who we recently hired, to mind the book store for another week. She was happy to agree.

Glory and Kelly became fast friends after Kelly caught her and Beck in a compromising position at the restaurant where she used to work. Glory went back to apologize, and the two have been close ever since. She's doing a great job at the book store, and we’re lucky to have her.

I take one last look around my hotel room before grabbing my bags and heading for the front door. Never in a million years did I think when I left home a week ago that this is where I'd be.

Evelyn and Jen are laughing as I make my way toward them. Thank goodness they are coming, or I totally would chicken out. I'd be lost without my girls.

“You girls ready to get on the plane?” I ask, rolling my bag up next to theirs.

“Yep. Are you? You're sure you want to do this? It's not too late to change your mind,” Jen asks as she pulls her hair up into a messy bun.

“Are you kidding me? She is spending six months pretending to be the wife of a hot ass Lord. I'll do him. I mean it. If you don't, Ti, I'm stepping in. I'll be Lady Banks any day.” Evelyn winks at me, but I know if I changed my mind, not just right now, but at any point, they'll have my back.

“Yes. I'm sure. It will be fun. An adventure,” I add, trying to mean the words and not sound terrified.

“Lord knows you can use that in your life. This is forcing you to move beyond your list. You can't plan everything, honey. I'm proud of you for getting outside your comfort zone, but, I have to ask, aren’t you concerned it might get messy? That’s a long time to pretend to be a married couple and not have some sort of feelings evolve.”

I chew my bottom lip with a new-found nervousness. I hadn't even thought about being his wife. I mean, not really.

Can I pull that off? Will his friends and family see through this facade? Oh, my goodness, can I pretend to be in love?

Jen must sense my worry. She steps up to me, placing her hands on my face so I'm looking right into her eyes. “You got this?”

I huff out a breath and try to release some of the tension in my body. I implemented a no sex rule. That should help keep things simple, or, well simpler. I know this is an arrangement, it will end. I can do this, really. So, yeah, I got this.

“Let's go.”

* * *

"Holy shit, Ti. Never leave him. Ever." Jen sits with her mouth hanging open.

Can't say the thought isn't a tempting one; a girl could get used to traveling like this. I sort of thought I was out of my depth before, but now, as I sit in this limo Rimmington sent, staring at the sleek black jet with the handsome man himself standing in front of the stairs, I officially know I'mwayout of my league.

“Um, I think I might be in over my head here, girls.”

“Hell no. We've been on Beck’s jet. Nothing new here,” Evelyn says as she pushes the car door open. The driver scrambles to hold it for her, clearly caught off-guard.

Yeah, it's pretty fucking new.

I've never pulled up in a limo in front of a jet where my husband waits.

“Oh, my gawd. Ti, you better have sex with him soon, and remember it this time, because I am going to need every detail. Damn, please tell me he has a brother.”

I can’t even respond to Jen. I just stare at him.

He's so damn pretty.

Almost like slow motion, the wind ripples the fabric of his button-down dress shirt, highlighting the muscles encased inside. He looks like the cover of my new favorite romance novel.

"Shit, that's hot," Jen gushes before she steps out onto the tarmac. I can only sit in silent agreement.

And my word, she's not wrong.

I gulp down my desire to run at him and tear his clothes off. How dare they hide all of his perfection from me.

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