Penthouse Prince (3 page)

Chapter Four

He tried to recover his calm, but she’d surprised him.
Again.

The ability to throw him off balance made her unique. Few managed it. She was a damned saint. Who actually raised their sibling, called it their own kid, because their father died serving in the military? She was Lifetime Movie material.

People like that were snacks for the sharks that swam in his waters.

Yet she kept him on his toes, and he wasn’t the least of his contemporaries. A glance shot her direction revealed her stealing a peek at her phone, her fingertip hovering as if she wanted to make a call, but she hesitated.

“So, your sister…?”

“Is a kid and doesn’t remember our parents. I’m the mother she’s always known, will always know. I’m her protector, and she needs kept out of this little lie. She’s at an age where a father figure is something she’s starting to notice the lack of in our household. We’re not confusing her with this.” She pocketed the phone and gazed out the window, still not looking at him.

He recognized it as her not giving him the whole story—more surprises for her to blindside him with later. He’d pick at it, figure it out before it became need-to-know information…

“We can set her up in my place,” he said. “Hook her up with a nanny for the duration of your work, and you can be with her whenever we’re in the suite. Not a problem. I’m sure I can hire—”

“If we’re paying someone to keep an eye on her, I know who we’re using. My neighbor. She doesn’t work. She’s on Social Security, has the time, and needs any bonus money she can pick up. You can hire her.”

Finally, the flash of her eyes turned his way, and he identified a clear challenge in her green gaze. “Sounds like we’re installing a few people. Guess it takes a village, in this case. Fine, we hire the neighbor. I’m assuming you can close the deal swiftly, get them both situated as easily? You know, so we can get back to my problems, the ones you’re hired to help me solve?”

“Fine.”

His phone rang over his speakers, and he flicked a button on the dash before answering. “Talk to me.”

A familiar voice yelled, “Where in the hell are you? Stories are flooding the Internet—you’re with some woman while Tasha is in Cannes with someone else—people are calling for a statement and I’ve got nothing. What harebrained scheme are you trying to pull, and why am I not in the loop?”

Lowe. Fuck.

As his best friend/lawyer/head of his public relations team, usually Lowe Richardson knew before Camden what irons he roasted on the fire.

Except today.

Today proved exceptional on many levels.

The snicker from his passenger reminded him to give only what information she needed to know rather than his usual brutal honesty. “I’m engaged, Lowe. The rumors are true, but the fiancée is an unknown who I’ve been seeing without alerting the media. Letting the world know today, shortly after my father had the great pleasure of making her acquaintance, was a tactical move on the part of our office because the wedding is coming soon. Handle it.”

Camden reached forward to hang up, but Lowe spoke before he could disconnect. “Does the fake fiancée have a name, or are we keeping it under wraps for now?”

Good old Lowe
.

The guy figured out fast where this was going. Quick on the uptake, earning the zeroes in his salary.

“Her name is Jeanie.”

“Jeanie Long,” the fake fiancée in question added.

“She’s with you? Now? In the car, and you kept the call on speaker?” Doubt rippled over the car radio.

“Yes, we’re off on an errand, and we’ll be back in about an hour. Meet us at the office at my place. You can meet her. It will be swell.” He flicked her another glance, then added for her benefit, “Lowe is my best friend, and you’ll be seeing a lot of him over the next few days.”

“Hi, Lowe,” she muttered.

“Jeanie…so you’re moving her into the penthouse? Do you know her, or is this something we’re playing out as we go?” It sounded like he was clacking at hyper speed on his computer.

“Just met. She’s a great kisser; her wardrobe is being delivered, so someone should pick it up from downstairs and see that it gets put in the penthouse. I’m going to need a hairdresser and makeup person waiting for her, as well. We’re playing it as we go, but we’ve got the details hammered out. Welcome to the party.” His fiancée caught his attention as she gestured at a building, and he noticed her blush. He didn’t comment on it, instead tamped down on his own little thrill at her reaction. Yes, his little employee could lock lips…but could she pull this act off?

He slid into a parking spot, then watched her get out and head into the building, not a single glance cast back his direction.

“She still there?” Lowe asked.

“Nope, just got out.”

“What in the flying fuck are you trying to pull, here? Tell me she’s not a hooker. I saw that movie, and it doesn’t go that well in real life, I promise.”

“She’s not a hooker, she worked for me. Came up to my office, some complaint about her boss. Her timing was perfect. Dad was right behind me, and she played along until I could get her to sign a contract.” He tapped his fingers on his steering wheel and resisted the urge to follow Jeanie—to see where she lived, what she used to surround herself daily. How a person filled her personal space said a lot about the person. Their nature, their likes…

“A contract?” He could hear Lowe smacking his hand into his forehead. “You typed up something, called it a contract, and now you’ve got some woman lying for you?”

“Pretty much. That’s the synopsis version, anyway. Some photographers found us while I took her shopping. Gave them a little show. Dad’s not buying this, but he’s letting it play out. I think he’s just waiting for me to flop this, so he can revoke the shares. I bought you time. Use it wisely.”

He reached for the button again but stopped when Lowe spoke in a quiet tone. “You can’t buy a wife, Camden.”

“I just did. Meet me at the penthouse.”

He hung up, then snagged his tablet and Googled her.

…

“A vacation?” Kaycee lit up. “Is there a hot tub? A zoo?”

Jeanie smiled and tucked a blond curl behind the child’s ear. “Could be. I haven’t been to the hotel yet. I promise, it will be very fancy. You can order whatever you want to eat. But I have to work, some, while we’re on this vacation, so you’re going to stay with Lori.”

Wrinkling her nose, Kaycee bounced on her heels, which made tying her shoes all the harder. “Can I bring Mr. Lumpkins?”

Snagging the tattered bear, Jeanie then passed it to her before she glanced around the apartment. “Yeah, you can bring him.”

If she were to take along something on this fiasco, what one item would bring her comfort?

Stroking a fingertip across a picture of their dad, she realized there wasn’t a thing, not one little thing, she needed besides Kaycee. Her sister was the one remnant of their dad, of the illusion of family and security. The one fragment of Jeanie’s life from before it fell apart.

“Dad, I wish you were here. I’d love to hear your perspective on this whole mess.”

“Are you talking to the pictures again?” Kaycee tugged at the end of her skirt then demanded, “I have to go potty. Take me first.”

Complying, she waited for her to finish before closing the bathroom door and making sure all the lights were off. She didn’t know when she’d be back home. This gamble might eat her life for a while, removing her from all she’d worked so hard to build and tossing her into a sea of the unfamiliar.

It would be worth it
. Daddy had always said anything worth having required risk.

Pretending to get married? To a man like Camden? Risky. But maybe it was Kaycee’s chance at a life like Jeanie wasn’t able to provide on her own.

I’m engaged to one of the richest men in the world. Oh, shit, how am I going to pull this—

A knock at the door interrupted her racing thoughts, and she opened it to Lori.

“Hey,” Jeanie said. “You ready to go?”

“As ready as I’m going to be. I packed three outfits, some pajamas, and some books. If this runs longer than three days, I’m going to need to come back here for more clothes and to water my plants.” Lori looked calmer than Jeanie felt, her hair tucked back in a neat white ponytail and her soft face not marred by a single worry line.

“He says he’s giving me a car. I’ll give you a set of keys to it. That way, you can go where you want when you want. Just don’t leave Kaycee. This whole thing is so weird. I don’t want her alone without either you or me at all.” She twisted the handle to the duffle full of toys for Kaycee and reached for the rolling suitcase full of clothes for her sister.

“Jeanie, look at me, girl.”

The quiet words snapped her attention to Kaycee, who seemed oblivious to the adults, instead making a zooming noise with her one-eyed bear as she used it as an airplane. “Don’t say anything, Lori.”

The hand closed on her upper arm, and she breathed out a jagged sigh.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? You’ve worked so hard for so long, and this just seems…”

“Risky?” She accepted the hug from Lori before backing up to consider her kind face. “Yeah, this is risky and crazy and I don’t know how I happened to be in the right place to get mixed up in it, but Derek would have fired me if I hadn’t talked to Camden. His offer has nothing to do with me as a person and more to do with just being there when the opportunity presented itself. He doesn’t know me. He doesn’t want to. He wants to fool his father. If fooling the dad means I tuck back a few grand to buffer me looking for a new job, fine, great. Not to mention, he said he’d fire Derek. If he does, I might be able to get my job back in the call center when all of this is over and done, and we’ll have a security blanket for a while. Whichever, it’s more than I hoped for when I headed to work today. We roll with it. If, for some reason, they find out about Kaycee, though…” Panic swelled, a ball of worry she tried to swallow.

“What if you like him?”

The question shocked her past the fear. “Lori, I hardly think that’s my biggest worry this week.” Brushing aside the words with a wave of her hand, she grabbed the rolling bag and called to Kaycee. “Hey, kiddo, let’s blow this Popsicle stand.”

Bounding over to take their neighbor’s hand, Kaycee beamed up at Lori. “We’re going on vacation. I’ve heard of those. They’re fun.”

Lori sighed before returning her somber gaze to Jeanie. “You might like him. She’s been your priority for so long, I don’t know that you remember you’re still young. Love’s not impossible—”

Jeanie snorted. “This isn’t a fairytale where the prince falls in love with the pauper and sweeps her off to his castle to rule over the evil stepmother. This is reality, where a really rich man who thinks he can buy anything bought some of my time because he’s lying to his own father. Don’t get your hopes up, okay? This is work, even if it’s the weirdest job I’ve ever had. Nothing more.”

The memory of his kiss, of his hand trembling, of how he smelled and how her heart raced, all of that might make her wish for a happy ever after, but she couldn’t share that with Lori.

Camden James was a liar of the worst kind. Leopards didn’t change their spots.
Liars are liars…and they stay liars
. Her mother taught her the hard lesson when she wasn’t much older than Kaycee, reinforcing it a hundred times over.

It wasn’t a lesson she would forget any time soon. No matter how great her Penthouse Prince might seem, it was pretend. She’d spent enough time with a five-year-old to know the difference between make-believe and the cold, hard reality of life.

Chapter Five

Closing the door to the rooms Camden assigned Lori and Kaycee for the duration of their stay on Easy Street, Jeanie took a bracing breath. Wandering down the hallway, she tried to remember which way led back to the living room and instead found the library.

Who in the hell has a library in their penthouse apartment?

Then again, who in the hell had an eight-bedroom home on top of the city?

Stroking the bindings of books, she jumped when a throat cleared. “Sorry, I—”

The man staring at her took her breath away. His high forehead softened by dark curls falling in an almost boyish charm drew her gaze to his startling gray eyes, lined by equally dark and heavy lashes. Model handsome, his smile reeked of charm. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m guessing you’re Jeanie.”

Recognizing the voice, she tried to control her expression. “Yes, you’re Lowe?”

He nodded and closed the distance to capture her extended hand. “Yup, also known as the one person you don’t have to fake it for. I’m curious how you wound up engaged to my best friend. Care to share the story?”

“No, she does not.” Camden leaned on the doorframe. “Jeanie, I thought you’d get dressed. Makeup artist is waiting in your room with the hairdresser. All you have to do is sit, and they’ll work their magic.”

His tone didn’t match his relaxed stance, and, if Jeanie didn’t know better, she’d wager he sounded just a little jealous.

Ridiculous.

Retrieving her hand from Lowe, she gave an apologetic shrug. “Maybe some other time.”

“Pleasure meeting you, Jeanie.” Lowe seemed sincere, and she paused to consider him again.

Such a handsome and nice-seeming guy. If she’d met him under other circumstances, they might have become friends or… Knowing he was ass-deep in whatever Camden considered business took away from his appeal. “Likewise.”

As she passed Camden, he snaked out a hand to capture her waist then leaned in close. “Hurry. My father will be here soon. He wants us to go to dinner with him. I’m still trying to wiggle out of it.”

The touch of his hand sizzled heat right through her clothes, and she tried to shake off the reaction. “Will do, boss.”

He released her, and she forced one foot in front of the other. One step at a time, the only way she could cope with all of this, she headed off to become the illusion.

…

Camden clenched the frame of the door, and Lowe poured a drink at the bar.

“She’s beautiful,” Lowe said. “You didn’t mention that.”

“You’re right. I didn’t.”

Sleep
. He really needed to get some sleep. Exhaustion left him jagged, oversensitive, like some walking exposed nerve. He wouldn’t be bothered, if he wasn’t so tired, at the tension in the room between his fake fiancée and his best friend. She was a pawn on the chessboard, and he was positioning her to pretend to be his queen—nothing more.

“She’s attractive enough,” he said. But he knew the truth. She wasn’t beautiful in the stereotypical sense, not like the supermodels he normally dated. She wasn’t just attractive
enough
. She was
more
than enough. His lips were still on fire from the last kiss they’d shared.

“Hmm…I can understand why you didn’t mention it. A gorgeous woman like that, no wonder you felt she was right for the job.”

Lowe didn’t seem to notice a muscle twitched in Camden’s jaw—a good thing since he didn’t understand his response and couldn’t explain it if his friend asked.

“I’m going to need your help to pull this off. Even if it doesn’t last long, this is going to be tricky. Also, I need you to make sure the lawyers are working double time since I bought breathing room, but not much of it.” He joined Lowe at the bar, then poured two fingers of whiskey and slung it back.

“Understood.” Swirling his drink around, Lowe seemed lost in thought.

“What? Say it. I can tell you’re thinking something so hard, you’re just bursting to say it.”

“You like her.”

Snorting, Camden slammed his glass back down on the polished wood a bit harder than he needed to. “Right place, right time. We discussed this.”

“Any number of women might have fit the bill. You picked
her
.”

Camden shrugged and paced the room. “I picked her, and now we work with it.”

“You
picked
her.”

Facing him, Camden risked eye contact. “So? I picked her.”

“You’ve never picked any of the women of your life. Either they were handy, offered themselves up, or you knew they would piss off your father, so you dated them…or he picked them and you danced like a puppet. Her? You picked this one. You didn’t have to jump at that moment, you could have planned this out better, but you didn’t. That’s a choice, even if it was a rash one.” Lowe arched one brow, a characteristic expression. “I think it means something.”

“Hardly.” The denial tasted like a lie.

“Rumor has it your actual fiancée boarded a plane the minute the news of your new fiancée broke, heading back home. She hasn’t released a statement yet.”

“Waste of her time. I’m not going to meet with her while I’ve got Jeanie installed in this position. And I don’t like Jeanie. I just met her.” He realized going back to the topic would show vulnerability…moments after the words escaped.

“Ah, and it bugs you, liking her. Cam, I’ve known you far too long for you to lie to me. Lie to the press, lie to your Dad, do what you have to do…but you can’t bullshit a bullshitter.” Lowe toasted him before swallowing the whiskey and placing his glass on the bar.

“I find her interesting.” Admitting it hurt nothing, he rationalized. “She’s not like anyone I’ve ever met, not so far. I’m sure it’s just the puzzle. Once I figure her out, she’ll become less interesting.”

Lowe’s laughter rang out. “Hey, man, whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Nothing helped him sleep at night. Insomnia was his worst enemy. Not even Lowe knew that little truth. “I want you to stay away from her.” The request surprised him, as did the vehemence in his tone, but he meant it, so he rounded on Lowe to fix him with a stare. “I mean that.”

Adjusting his tie, Lowe smirked. “As long as she’s your fiancée, I’ll keep my distance.”

Relief flooded Camden, but he refused to consider the whys of it right then.

Following Lowe out of the room, Camden breathed a little easier.

As Lowe stopped, waited, and finally turned, Camden recognized his expression and knew his relief would be short-lived before Lowe even spoke. “The minute you’re split, though, she becomes fair game.”

Camden didn’t have a response, so he didn’t answer.

The minute they split.

Eventually they would find a way out of this, and she would go on her way. But the thought of her then being with Lowe?

It shouldn’t have made him jealous. But it did. And for the first time since this all started, he knew he was in trouble.