Description
P retend to be attracted to her. Lauren’s request rang through Tony’s head two weeks later as he threw a sport coat and slacks into his garment bag.
This was going to be torture. A weekend spent playing Lauren MacLean’s oh-so-attentive boyfriend. He would have to touch her, kiss her, all in the name of convincing her family that they were enjoying hot and sweaty headboard-pounding sex.
He just had to make it through the weekend without letting it happen for real.
His blood hummed with anticipation as he pulled up in front of Lauren’s house. They’d decided his suburban would be much more comfortable than her Jeep for the eight-hour plus drive to Newport Beach. He wondered what Lauren’s parents would be like. He’d always got the impression that she was fairly close to them, but she’d never talked about them in detail.
In any case, he found it a little weird for a mother to be so concerned about her daughter’s sex life, especially since, in his experience, from the time he hit fifteen, most mothers had been trying to keep their daughters away from him.
Lauren flung open the door before he could knock, and stood there looking hotter than Tony had ever dreamed. She wore a bright green V-neck blouse that emphasized her smooth, toned shoulders and deep cleavage. Her jeans were low-slung and tight, lovingly cupping her ass in a way that made him want to lean down and take a healthy bite.
“What?” she said sharply.
Tony tore his eyes from the visual feast of tits and ass and focused on her face. Damn, she actually had on makeup! He thought she’d worn lipstick to his brother Nick’s wedding, but it was so close to her natural lip shade that she might as well not have bothered. But today she had on just the right amount to emphasize the strong bones of her cheekbones and jaw and make her eyes seem huge. He knew he was staring, but he couldn’t seem to stop. “You look…different.”
Her brows knit over the bridge of her nose and she crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
Smooth, Donovan. At least she wouldn’t think he was trying to talk her pants off.
“I look stupid, don’t I?” she snapped.
“No, honestly you look amazing.”
“Really?” She wanted to believe him, he could tell.
“Yeah. Trust me, you clean up really well.”
Lauren turned and walked back into the house. “Karen picked everything out for me. She said I couldn’t pull this off if I showed up dressed like a lumberjack.”
As she reached for her suitcase he took the opportunity to study her. “I’d say Karen did a good job. Did she do your hair?” Her usual ringlets had been tamed into thick curls that bounced softly around her shoulder blades.
“Yeah,” she said, eyes lighting up as she stood and turned toward him. “She gave me this great stuff to put in so it doesn’t frizz out. And it doesn’t make it sticky, just really soft. Here, feel.” She leaned her head closer.
He reached out and combed his fingers through the silky strands. As he did, the fresh citrusy fragrance wafted around him, sending a jolt of lust straight to his crotch. She licked her lips nervously and he wanted to nibble on the plump, glossy curves.
“Isn’t it soft?” she asked nervously.
“Yeah, soft,” he repeated, though he felt anything but.
She cleared her throat and stepped out of reach. “We better get going, long drive and all that.”
He picked up her wheelie back and she tried to grab it from him. “I can carry it.”
“I know you can, but if I’m supposed to be your boyfriend, you have to let me do stuff like carry your suitcase for you.”
Lauren chuckled. “Ooh, chivalry. Be careful or I might start making you carry my toolbox.”
“Oh, I’m carrying a tool for you, baby,” he said with an exaggerated leer.
“I don’t have my needle-nose pliers on me,” she laughed. She locked up and walked out to his car while he tried not to stare at her ass. Damn, he just knew that image was going to taunt him for the next eight hours on the road.
Lauren sang along softly to the Foo Fighters playing on Tony’s state-of-the-art sound system. That was something she loved about being with Tony—the fact that they could sit around in comfortable silence and just hang. She studied him from under her lashes, admiring the way the muscles of his forearms shifted and tensed as he drove. He steered with one hand hooked over the wheel, his other arm resting between them on the bench seat.
He reached out and patted her knee. “How are you doing over there? Need to stop for anything?”
She resisted the urge to push his hand higher up her thigh. When she’d first met Tony, his constant touching had made her uncomfortable. She wasn’t particularly physically demonstrative, and it took a while to get used to Tony’s habitual invasion of her personal space. But she’d realized quickly that he meant nothing by it, that he was just a warm, touchy-feely person.
Pretty soon she came to enjoy how he would sling an arm around her shoulders or give her an encouraging squeeze after a hard day. It wasn’t his fault that his friendly touches had her hormones screaming for more.
“No, I’m fine,” she smiled.
“So tell me about your family. You don’t talk about them much.”
“I told you, my dad’s a director for television, and my brother does the same thing in New York.”
“What about your mom? You’ve never talked about her before, so I thought she might be out of the picture.”
She clenched her jaw and wove her fingers nervously. “My mom used to be an actress, before my brother and I were born.”
“Really? Was she famous at all?”
She sighed. The moment of truth had come. She hoped Tony wouldn’t get all weird and freaked out like every other guy. “You might know who she is.”
Tony glanced at her curiously.
“Did you ever see that movie The Rose Chamber?”
Tony’s brow furrowed. “Isn’t that a p—”
“Adult film, yes,” Lauren said. “My mother is Carlotta Banks. Or, Carly MacLean, as she’s known now.”
Tony’s gorgeous brown eyes almost popped out of his head. “Your mother is—”
“A porn legend. She and my father met when he directed one of her films. Nowadays he does commercials and Lifetime movies of the week, but that’s how he got his start.”
Tony shook his head, stunned. “That movie was a classic. Right up there with Behind the Green Door, and Deep Throat.” His eyebrows raised and he got a wild look in his eyes. “And your mom—” he broke off, frowned. “That was your mom? That was your mom!”
Damn. He was going to get weird on her, just like every other guy she ever brought home. Oh well, at least this thing wasn’t for real. She hoped Tony could still power through it. “Yeah, I know, I look nothing like her, I act nothing like her, and I am anything but a firecracker in the sack.”
Tony’s eyes left the road momentarily to study her. “I don’t remember what her face looks like, but I think you might have her rack.”
Shocked laughter erupted from her throat. Only Tony could say that to her without getting his ass kicked.
“And as far as the other…” his voice got deep and rich, the one that made her think of chocolate-dipped body parts. “I bet if a guy knew what he was doing, you’d show him a damn good time.”
She barely had time to absorb that remark when he said, his tone more serious, “That must have been a heavy load of baggage growing up.”
For all that he loved to needle people, Tony knew when it was time to stop teasing, and he often surprised her with his sensitivity. The same insight he used to mercilessly bust her chops allowed him to see what no other man in her experience had. “Yeah, being the daughter of a porn queen can leave you pretty confused about the whole sex thing.”
Tony snorted at her understatement. “How old were you when you found out?”
“Thirteen. One of the kids at school found a tape in his parent’s room and couldn’t wait to tell the rest of the class that Mrs. MacLean was in a ‘naked movie’ and doing all sorts of crazy stuff. I told my mom, expecting her to deny it, but she got this look on her face and I knew it was true.”
“How did she explain it?”
“Back when she was working, in the seventies, she considered what she and Dad were doing art. They were helping to free American culture from our puritanical hang-ups about sex.” She sighed and looked out the window as they flew past the farms of the central valley. “Unfortunately, the kids in my school didn’t really see the artistic value.” No, instead they expected her to be the same. So she’d started wearing baggy clothes and acting tough enough that boys finally forgot she was a girl. Even when she’d gone to college and no one knew who her mother was, she’d continued to downplay her femininity. “I hope this doesn’t freak you out too much,” she said finally.
Tony smiled, his eyes so dark and warm she almost leaned over to rest her head in his lap. “Don’t worry about it.”
Relief coursed through her. “Thank God. I figured if anyone could handle this situation, it would be you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that you have a casual attitude about sex, and don’t seem to have any issues changing partners like you change your underwear,” she stammered, surprised at his defensive tone. Had she inadvertently offended him?
“You know, I’m not the male slut you seem to think I am,” he said hotly.
“I didn’t mean to imply that you were.” She was silent a minute, smarting at his unnecessarily sharp tone. “But you’re not exactly known for being discriminating.”
“At least I don’t spend Saturday night curled up with a romance novel and my vibrator.”
Five hours later, Lauren still hadn’t said a word to him other than replying when he asked for directions. By the time they turned onto her parent’s street the tension had evolved into a living force inside the car.
Tony rolled his eyes. He knew the vibrator crack had been an obnoxious thing to say, but it pissed him off that she saw him as some kind of major player. Damned if he knew why. Why should he care what she thought about his bedroom habits?
Besides, it wasn’t even true, not recently, anyway. He’d slowed way down since all of his brothers had gotten married and engaged. Not only had he lost his wing man when Mike married Karen; he seemed to have lost his taste for casual encounters. Instead, for the past three months his healthier than average libido had been keenly focused on the woman seated to his right. Too bad his brain had been equally focused on resisting temptation, unwilling to let his dick fuck up a surprisingly deep friendship.
Lauren curled up against the passenger door, squeezing herself as far away from him as possible. Shit. If they were to have a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding in the weekend’s charade, he needed to offer up a convincing apology.
“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” he said quietly. “I know it was a dick thing to say, but it bothers me that you think of me as some kind of slut.”
She didn’t unfold her arms, but she at least looked at him when she replied. “Tony, I don’t give a crap how many people you sleep with, and I don’t see why my opinion would matter, anyway.”
Because maybe that’s keeping you from wanting to sleep with me, he thought. To her, he said, “Yeah, well your opinion does matter. And on the off chance that you do care, I haven’t been with anyone since Nick’s bachelor party.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “You? Go three months without sex? I don’t believe it.”
He shrugged. “Believe whatever you want, but it’s the truth.”
“What about last Saturday? I thought going ‘out’ was like your code phrase for getting a piece of ass.”
“Mike and I met a couple friends at Pete’s and listened to the band. I was home by midnight, alone.”
The corners of her mouth just barely pushed up. She was pleased, for all that she tried to look like she didn’t give a shit who he slept with.
Something suspiciously similar to joy burst in his chest at the thought that she cared, and Tony did his best to stifle it.
“That was a jerky thing to say,” she said. “Unlike you, I don’t exactly have members of the opposite sex breaking down my door—”
“Only because you don’t want them to—”
“And for the record,” she continued, “I don’t use a vibrator. Turn here,” she said, indicating a driveway to the right.
“Well, let me know if you ever need a hand,” he cracked, then sucked in a breath as they pulled into the large circular drive of a beachfront mansion. Even in the dark, there was no mistaking it. Lauren’s parents were loaded!
The cobblestone drive sported a fountain in the center, complete with a bronze statue of a cherub pissing. To the right was what looked like at least a four-car garage. Several more cars lined the drive, and in the glow of the outdoor lights, Tony counted two Ferraris, a Rolls, and a Humvee.
“You never told me your parents were rich,” he accused.
Lauren’s expression was sheepish. “I told you he worked in television.”
Tony shook his head. “Why do you live in that shitty little apartment and drive that hunk of junk?”
Lauren shrugged. “I let them pay for college and they bought me my first really good tool set. But for the most part, I like knowing that I can make it on my own.”
He couldn’t help but admire her. He’d met a lot of trust-fund babes who came up to ski at the resorts near Donner Lake. Most wouldn’t consider lifting a finger for a wage, much less choose a career of manual labor. “Damn, there’s at least a million dollars worth of automotive gear in the driveway alone,” he said on a low whistle.
She sighed heavily. “Unfortunately, they don’t all belong to my folks. Looks like they’re having another one of their gatherings.” Lauren smoothed her hair and tried to brush the rumples from her blouse caused by eight straight hours in the car. “My mom will use any excuse to have a party.”
At that moment, the front door was flung open and Lauren braced herself as an energetic bundle flew down the front steps and threw herself into Lauren’s arms.
Tony had an impression of wild black curls and a lush body hovering just on the edge of plumpness, all packaged in a bright purple sundress. As she stood back, holding Lauren by the shoulders, he knew this had to be Lauren’s mother. Though Lauren towered over her mother and had reddish hair instead of blue black, Tony could tell Lauren had inherited her wide, full smile, sculpted bone structure, and big eyes from Carlotta Banks.
Not to mention the spectacular cleavage, but Tony was trying to ignore that. Former porn star or not, Carlotta was, after all, Lauren’s mother.
“Sweetie, you look absolutely gorgeous,” Carlotta gushed, holding Lauren’s hands out to her sides.
Tony stifled a laugh as Lauren begrudgingly turned in a circle so her mother could appreciate the full effect of her outfit.
Big dark eyes lit on Tony’s face and Carlotta’s grin grew even wider, if that was possible. “Oooh, you must be Tony,” she said and caught him in a fierce, quick hug. She stood back and cast a sidelong glance at Lauren. “I can see why you’d want to pretty yourself up for this one. He’s absolutely gorgeous,” she cooed. Tony stood gamely as Carlotta ran her hands from his shoulders to his forearms. “And so delightfully big.”
Lauren’s expression dared him to make a lewd remark. “Thanks, Mrs. MacLean,” was all he said.
“Oh, you must call me Carly,” she said as she looped an arm through each of their elbows and tugged them into the house. The clacking of her heels echoed off the marble floors and Tony was so dumbstruck by the sheer display of wealth he almost didn’t catch what Carly said next.
“I was so excited when Lauren said she was bringing you, Tony. And I can’t tell you how nice it is to see her dating someone size-appropriate.”
“Mom,” Lauren said warningly.
“Honestly, Tony, the last guy she brought home was so spindly, you just know she would have broken his hips if she got on top.”
“Motherrrr!”
Tony couldn’t contain his laughter this time. Lauren’s face got even redder when he said, “Nothing to worry about there, Carly. I’m built very…solidly.” He followed this with a heated glance at Lauren.
She rolled her eyes.
Tony stopped and gently disengaged his arm from Carly’s and grabbed Lauren around the waist. Knowing that Carly watched his every move with great interest, he said, “Come on, honey, don’t be embarrassed,” he said, and leaned in close to whisper, “Better start the show.”
Before she could react, he caught her firm chin in his fingers and tilted her mouth up to his. He tasted her gasp of surprise, felt her shock as his lips moved over hers. Teasingly, he flicked his tongue against the soft curves, almost groaning when she suddenly remembered her role and obligingly parted her lips. Her hands slid up to wrap around his neck, and finally she kissed him back like the lover she pretended to be.
The hot slide of her tongue against his sent a bolt of heat straight to his groin. He’d imagined kissing her, touching her, for months, and the reality was better than anything he’d ever imagined. She tasted sweet and salty, and the tentative flicks of her tongue made him want to yank down his jeans and bury his cock in her right there in her mother’s foyer.
His hand settled in the firm curve of her waist and slid it slowly up her rib cage. His fingers tingled as they anticipated the soft heavy weight of her breast against them.
But Lauren frantically grabbed his wrist, stopping his progress north. Tearing her mouth from his, she leaned in as though to kiss his neck and breathed, “I think she’s convinced we like each other.”
Heat flooded his face as he reminded himself sternly that this was all supposed to be an act. “Right,” he said and looked up to see Carly watching them with unabashed glee. He raked a shaky hand through his hair, very much afraid that by the time the weekend was over, he was going to have a record-setting case of blue balls.
“I’ll get you two drinks and you can go say hello to your father. He’s out by the pool with everyone else,” she said, gesturing toward the back of the house. “Then you can go be alone,” she winked.
Lauren clutched at Tony’s hand for balance as they continued through the living room and down the hall to the pool deck. The combination of her flimsy kitten-heeled slides and Tony’s unbelievable kiss were enough to throw her completely off-kilter. God, if that was the way he kissed when he was pretending, how would it feel if he meant it?
Not that it would ever happen, but she was pretty sure that if Tony ever turned the full force of his lust on her, she would spontaneously combust. Even now it was hard to keep her focus, and all he did was hold her hand, fingers tightly interlaced between hers.
About twenty people lounged around the pool deck, the night chill offset by several propane heat lamps. Mostly people from the entertainment industry—producers, directors, and their surgically enhanced trophy wives. Immediately she felt the familiar self-consciousness she experienced whenever she went home to southern California. That feeling of being too big, too bulky, ungroomed, and unkempt. Most of the time she was satisfied with her strong, athletic figure. She was toned and fit, and her body could do just about any athletic undertaking she asked of it. But somehow, around her parent’s crowd, she suddenly felt like she should stop taking up so much goddamn space.
She snuck a glance at Tony, who was taking in the scene. She could only imagine how this must look to him, the beautiful people gathered around the exquisite infinity pool that seemed to drop into the ocean below. She could only pray that Tony could keep his prowling instinct at bay enough to convince her family he was truly into her. So far he didn’t look particularly interested in any of the female guests. But tomorrow would be worse, and Lauren had no doubt the guests would include any number of hot young things who had worked with Lauren’s father.
Mark MacLean presided at the bar—a big redhead with a jovial smile that hid a cunningly sharp creative mind. When he saw Lauren, a wide smile creased his tan, freckled face and his blue eyes nearly disappeared in a sea of laugh lines. He came out from behind the bar and swept her up into a big bear hug. She buried her face in his chest and inhaled the familiar, comforting scents of Irish spring soap and salty air.
“Look at you! You look like a girl,” he said bluntly, his words softened by the admiration in his gaze. “I tell you, I could cast you for commercials.”
Lauren rolled her eyes.
“I mean it. I’m doing a shoot for a health club chain, and we need footage of someone strong, fit, and gorgeous.”
“She’s definitely all that,” Tony said behind her and offered his hand to Mark.
Lauren made a quick introduction and fought a grin as her father pinned Tony with an assessing stare. It was the age-old way fathers had of intimidating anyone who tried to get into their daughter’s pants. To his credit, Tony maintained his pleasant smile and said, “You have a lovely home, sir.”
That’s right, she thought, lay on that Eddie Haskell act, the one that no doubt fooled dozens of fathers over the years.
Mark ignored the compliment. “So you and Lauren work together.”
“Yes sir, for about the past seven months.”
“And how long have you been seeing each other?”
“Four months,” he said at the exact same moment Lauren said, “Two months.”
“Well, which is it?”
Tony smiled conspiratorially at Mark and said, “For a couple of months there, what she considered hanging, I considered dates.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and she allowed herself the luxury of leaning into his solid warmth.
Mark chuckled, his face relaxing as he was convinced of Tony’s affection. “Sounds like Lauren. She always had guy friends, but never realized they wanted to do more than watch football, if you know what I mean.”
She shook her head as they shared a knowing laugh. If only what her dad said was true. She’d never told her parents about that humiliating incident with Brandon, the one time she’d been stupid enough to try to push the boundaries of friendship.
“Hey, don’t pout,” Tony leaned in and stole a quick peck. The brief contact was enough to startle her from her musings. But almost immediately, grim thoughts intruded. Once again, she lusted after her best friend. Only this time she had the added bonus of being tormented by touches and kisses that would lead absolutely nowhere.
“I’m not pouting,” she said, pulling away slightly. “I’m just tired from the drive.”
“Just one drink, sweetie, and then we’ll let you go.” Carly’s heels clacked across the terra-cotta stone terrace and she thrust icy glasses into their hands. “I hope you like mojitos, Tony,” Carly said with a wink. “That’s the official drink of the evening.”
Tony took a tentative sip and nodded in satisfaction. Damn, he’s good, Lauren thought as she took a hefty sip of her own drink. She knew for a fact that Tony hated hard liquor in any form, and was strictly a beer and wine guy. But as he politely sipped his drink and made small talk with Lauren’s parents, his face showed no evidence of his distaste. Unless, like Lauren, one had spent several hours a day for over six months watching and studying every gorgeous line of his face. Even then it was hard to spot, but Lauren could see the faint twist of his lips with every sip, the slight flare of his nostrils as the bite of the liquor hit his throat.
And they say women fake it.
Lauren quickly polished off her drink, eager to escape her parents’ inspection and the pleasure-pain of Tony’s delicious loverlike touches that meant absolutely nothing.
She stretched her jaw in an exaggerated yawn. “I’m beat. Mom, should we put our stuff in my room?”
“Oh, no, dear,” Carly said with her tinkling, charming little laugh. “I booked you a room at the Balboa Bay Club.” She winked conspiratorially at Tony. “I wouldn’t want you to feel inhibited by sleeping in the same house as your parents.”