Page 53 of His Fake Fiancé

Umm, this is borderline stalkery, don’t you think?

He pushed that thought aside, because it was unhelpful. Besides, he wasn’t like a stalker or anything. This was Claire. And he just needed to make sure she was okay.

She had to be okay.

He caught sight of her taillights just pulling onto the 299. Some of his tension eased, the air in the truck suddenly lighter, making it easier to breathe. He turned onto the highway, making sure to keep her jeep in sight.

She wasn’t speeding exactly, but she definitely had her foot pressed on the pedal. He kept up with her, but held back a bit, because he didn’t want to scare her. He briefly thought about flashing his lights, trying to get her to pull over, but changed his mind. That would probably freak her out. There was also a small part of him that didn’t want to test her right now. Didn’t want to watch in technicolor as she refused his request.

The drive out to the ranch flew by, his gaze locked on the little red jeep in front of him. She was coming up to the turn off to the Triple C, and he held his breath. There was a good chance she’d sail by the ranch and head home. As in her family ranch, which was the next property along the highway.

Not that he could blame her.

He didn’t think.

Shit, at this point, he had no idea what to think. It seemed like he managed to fuck up everything he touched these days. Hell, forget these days. It was a lifetime of Jake fucking shit up.

Her blinker came on and she slowed down to make the turn into the Triple C. The relief that washed through Jake would have buckled his knees if he’d been standing. He blew out a breath and flicked on his own blinker.

There were no lights along the long driveway, so he followed her taillights down the long, dark stretch. He tried to think of what he was going to say, but as usual, his thoughts got all tangled together.

She pulled her jeep up to the house and cut the engine. As he headed down the driveway toward her, he expected her to get out, maybe make a break for the house, or hurry around to the guest house. She did neither, just sat in the jeep, staring straight ahead into the darkness.

Finally, she climbed out of the jeep. Like him, she’d left her coat back at the bar. She had her arms wrapped around herself, probably to fight off the cold. Her shoulders were slumped and she was staring at the ground. She looked so sad, so defeated. She hurried around the house, toward the guest house out back and he lost sight of her.

He pulled up beside her jeep, cut the engine on his truck, and climbed out. A shiver snaked through him, and now that he was no longer in the warmth of the truck, the cold seeped through his t-shirt. He hurried around the house, not quite at a run, but pretty damn close. The motion sensor on the front of the guest house sent light flooding across the space. He could see her up ahead, hurrying onto the porch. She still had her arms wrapped around herself, still had her head down.

Adrenaline flooded through him and he raced across the lawn, skirting around the fence surrounding the pool. And then he was leaping onto the porch, coming to a sliding halt next to her.

Claire pulled her keys out of her bag and looked up at him. Her eyes were swollen and red, the tip of her nose and her cheeks pink. Tear tracks stained her cheeks. The ache in his chest burst, full on hurt flooding his veins. He had to make it better. Needed to make it better. Without thinking, because he wasn’t very good at it anyway, he walked over to her and wrapped her in his arms.

Chapter 16

Claire didn’t really know what she was doing, she just knew that she needed to get out of the bar, away from Jake and all of the feelings and desires he stirred up. So, she’d run away, got into her jeep and drove.

The safest place was home, so that’s the direction she headed in. And she was determined to go there, to spend the night in her bedroom, away from the Jake and the Callahans, and the fake little family she and Jake had created.

She knew he was following her. She’d heard him call her back in the parking lot of the bar. She’d ignored him because she was embarrassed and confused and had just burst into tears in the middle of the dance floor. It wasn’t the politest thing to do, but she was beyond being the one to always do the bending. To be the one who always did what was asked of her, regardless of whether it was actually what she wanted.

She saw him catch up to her when she got to the highway, and thought about flooring it, but decided against it. It wouldn’t accomplish anything because there weren’t many places she could go. Besides, with her current luck, she’d probably get a speeding ticket.

Her initial thought had been to head home, back to Stone Creek. But the thought made her already fluttery stomach sour. While a night in her own bed, with her stuff and the familiar sounds of home, sounded like a bit like heaven right now, the idea of running back there felt a lot like tucking her tail between her legs and hiding.

And that was the last thing she wanted to do.

She was stronger than that. And she was tired of being the meek little mouse who hid herself away when things got tough. There was also a big part of her that really didn’t want to hear all the I-told-you-so’s from her brothers. Not that any of them would have actually said it to her face—well, except maybe Linc—but it would have been there, in their gazes, in their actions, in the way they treated her.

And she was tired of being treated like she couldn’t make her own decisions. Like she wasn’t a full-grown ass woman who knew what she wanted. Who knew who and what she needed.

The turn off to the Triple C came into view and she flipped on her blinker and slowed down, turning down the long driveway. Darkness surrounded her, but she wasn’t afraid. She’d spent her life living out here in the sticks, as some people liked to call it, and the quiet solitude was like a balm to her. She loved the wide-open spaces, and the room it gave her to breathe. The possibilities the darkness held.

She parked in front of the house, staring into the dark. It felt like she was at another crossroads, this one with even higher stakes. It was clear her feelings for Jake weren’t going to go away on their own. And spending time with him wasn’t going to end anytime soon, given that she’d promised to go along with this fake fiancé charade.

So, she had a couple of choices: she could suffer in silence, pining away for someone who was more than likely never going to reciprocate her feelings. Or, she could give into her feelings, and this weird sexual tension that had blossomed between them while living together, and take what she wanted.

Even if it was just for a little while.

Honestly, wouldn’t it be better to give in to her feelings for Jake in the long run? She could do what she’d been dreaming about since that innocent kiss in the hayloft. Experience what it was like to be with Jake, take what she wanted, do what she wanted, without worrying about the consequences?