The Hookup Hoax (12 page)

Chapter Twelve

Olivia knocked on the office door and crossed her fingers that tonight would go well. Earlier, Marcus had called and requested another meeting the following week, and now Sawyer was determined to work as many hours as needed to prepare, even if it meant not leaving the office until ten each night.

“Come in,” Sawyer called.

“Dinner’s here,” she said, trying to be cheerful instead of stressed. “I didn’t know what you’d want so I got a little of everything. Egg rolls, fried rice, beef and broccoli…”

“Great. Thanks,” he said, without looking up from his computer.

She put the bag on the table then fished out the individual containers, setting them aside until she found the ones she’d ordered for herself—moo shu chicken and green beans. Taking a seat at the small table, she waited impatiently. “Are you going to stop long enough to join me for dinner?”

He was truly a man on a mission. He’d been going strong on the Marcus project since the meeting went on the books, but even he needed a break to eat, hydrate, and rest.

“I thought we were going to eat later.” He looked more than a little annoyed.

“You can keep working if you want to, but I’m eating now. It’s late, I’m starving, and the food is hot. And delicious, I gotta say.” She let out a sigh of pleasure. Hoisin and soy sauce, scallion and garlic, mixed together on her tongue.

“I guess work will have to wait.” He sat down across from her and opened various containers, taking a few forkfuls from each.

“You know, it’s okay to take a little time for yourself. You’re allowed to eat,” she said. Pushing a reusable bottle of water toward him, she added, “and drink.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “I eat. I drink.”

“I know, but maybe not enough.” She took another bite while her words hung in the air. His expression didn’t look amused. “I sit outside of your office every day, and I see how much you work without taking a single second out of your day for yourself. Aside from getting a refill of coffee and wandering to the bathroom or meetings, you’re so stationary. You need to move more, and maybe think about your needs for a change, instead of just your clients’.

“People like you work too hard, not that I don’t appreciate your amazing work ethic and accomplishments so far. But if you’re not careful, you could work so hard that you forget to take care of yourself, and before you know it, you’re dead.”

He laughed. “That’s a little drastic, don’t you think?”

“Not really. I’m not saying you should slack off entirely. I’m saying taking a break to stretch your legs isn’t a bad thing.”

“Why do you care so much about my health? Aren’t you the one who keeps telling me how temporary our arrangement is?” He looked down at his food immediately after speaking.

“I’m surprised you don’t get it, after everything with your dad.”

Sawyer clenched his jaw. “What does my father have to do with anything?”

“I don’t want to see you end up like he did…”

He put down his food and leveled his gaze at her. “My father died because of a boating accident.”

“Because he had a massive heart attack while on the lake and crashed the boat,” she said softly. “I don’t want to see you work yourself to death.”

“My father’s death isn’t your concern,” he said, barely getting the words through his tight jaw. “He did everything right and still died, so what good is worrying about the future when I might not even have one?”

The thought that Sawyer didn’t believe he had a future because he was destined for the same fate as his father made her chest burn. She ate quietly for a minute, afraid to say the wrong thing and piss him off more. It wasn’t her intention. “Listen, I wasn’t trying to put my nose where it didn’t belong, and I shouldn’t have brought up your dad. It is none of my business how you live your life. From now on, I’ll stay out of it.”

He sighed. “No, you’re right. I work too much, and lately I’ve been playing too little, but that’s only because you’ve been around.”

So I’m the problem? Nice.

“Sorry. In less than two months you can have your precious playtime back, without me in your way. I won’t remind you that this whole thing was your idea.”

“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I like having you around.” He dropped his empty containers back into the bag. “I work hard because I have to. That’s all. If I don’t…”

He trailed off, looking out the doorway into the rest of the office, and all the empty, darkened cubicles. Sadness she hadn’t seen before glimmered in his eyes. “If I don’t, I could lose everything.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the table. The physical contact warmed her skin. “Let’s get to work so we can get the hell out of here.”

“Sounds good.” She joined him at his desk, leaning over his shoulder to read his computer screen. The scent of his cologne infiltrated her senses, making her head spin and a pressure build low in her abdomen. She sucked in a quick breath then stepped away.

“Can we turn the monitor so I can sit in a chair?” She grabbed one and pulled it around to his side of the desk, close to him, but hopefully with enough distance between them that she wouldn’t have to smell his delicious scent anymore.

“Better?” he asked, twisting the monitor.

“Much. It hurt my back to bend over you like that. Not that I was bent over. Just leaning, really.”

Crap.
Why hadn’t she come up with a better excuse than her back hurting? Her back was fine. It was her libido getting in the way. If her stupid, horny, girl hormones would get under control, she’d be fine.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “All this talk about you bending over me makes me want to bend you over my desk. Not that I would, what with your back hurting and all. I will point out, conversations like this one do nothing to help me stick to our strict ‘no touching’ policy. And frankly, it’s mean for you to tease me this way.”

“I…I wasn’t teasing,” she squeaked out between tight breaths. She may have daydreamed about Sawyer, his desk, and a little less clothing a time or two, but she never would have said it out loud for him to hear. “I was letting you know why I moved to the chair. It’s not my fault you have a perpetually dirty mind.”

“If you’d get over your hang up about us, I guarantee you’d rather enjoy my dirty mind, and all the places it takes me. Just because you’ve decided we’re off-limits doesn’t mean my mind has to agree.”

He turned back to the computer monitor as if their conversation had been nothing more than regular office chatter. Meanwhile, her panties were distinctly more uncomfortable and she fought the urge to squirm in her chair. God only knew what response that action might elicit from him.

He took a few minutes to show her everything he had so far. He’d done a great job already. The marketing was clean and the message was clear. Use the products, get healthy, stay healthy. And with many of the products being designed for children, she couldn’t imagine a parent who wouldn’t want that for their child.

“So, what do we need to do next, since this already looks awesome?”

“I wish I knew. Technically, this is all Marcus asked for, and while I think it’s great, I’m worried it’s not enough. I feel like we need something that will set us apart from the competition—an idea or twist no one else has thought of yet. Something that will make buyers in the States, which has potential to be his biggest market, take notice of his product despite all the others out there.”

Olivia studied the mock-ups for the shakes, bars, and snacks that Marcus wanted to sell to the world. Full of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and electrolytes, they basically had everything a person could want in a health food.

She took a deep swig from her aluminum water bottle and leaned back in the chair, contemplating what she would look for in a product like that. How would she make her decision to buy it, instead of the competition? Tapping her foot while thinking, her eye was drawn to her new vegan shoes, the ones she’d spontaneously purchased because she couldn’t resist how cute they were, how comfortable they were, and how awesome it was to have cruelty-free shoes.

“That’s it!” she exclaimed, sitting forward.

“What’s it?”

“I know you already think I’m an environmentalist hippie or something, but save your snap judgments and hear me out.”

“Of course.”

“Of course, as in I’m a hippie environmentalist, or of course, as in you’ll listen?”

He squished his lips together, shrugged innocently, then motioned for her to go on.

She narrowed her eyes for a second, knowing he was being elusive. “The packaging. We should suggest changing it before it goes into production. These plastic bottled drinks are all individually wrapped in more plastic, then boxed in cardboard. Skipping the plastic wrapping would cut back on a lot of waste. Then if we could even find a way to make those ring holders that are always on six-packs of soda out of a different, biodegradable material, then we could get rid of the box too.”

Ideas tumbled out of her so fast, her mouth could barely keep up. Less packaging, different materials, starting with post-consumer recycled products to begin with—it would all lead to a better carbon footprint and would go a long way to proving Marcus wasn’t in it to make money and actually cared about the health of his customers, and of the planet.

“A healthier you, right from the ground up,” she said, finally pausing long enough to take a sip of water.

“Wow.” Sawyer leaned back in his chair, staring at her.

Her excitement fizzled. “Good wow or bad wow?”

A grin spread across his face. “Great wow.” He shook his head, his eyes never leaving hers. “You’re absolutely amazing.”

He turned back to his computer and typed everything she’d said into their file, noting all the changes that would need to be made, stats they’d have to research, and anything else they’d need to pull together before their meeting with Marcus the following week.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, after shutting off the monitor. “We’ve definitely done enough for today, thanks to you. Tomorrow I’ll fill in the rest of the team and we’ll get to work with a fresh new focus.”

As his chair swiveled around so he could face her, their knees brushed together. Tingles danced a path up her legs, all the way to the junction between her thighs. Thoughts of him between her legs, in his office, made her head swim. He squeezed her knee, and she couldn’t stop herself from imagining his hand sliding across her skin to find her throbbing center.

She licked her lips, fighting the urge to spread her legs and invite him in for another go. It wouldn’t accomplish anything but temporary relief and long-term heartache. Even as her head knew the facts, her body only knew the feeling, and it definitely craved his touch again.

He peered deep into her eyes then stood, pulling her up with him. His hands on her shoulders, he spoke with such genuine admiration and appreciation in his voice that an overwhelming sense of pride consumed her. “You really are such an asset to this team. Being more eco-conscious is exactly the kind of thing Marcus is going to respond to. I don’t know how you came up with the idea, but you’re brilliant.”

“It was two things,” she said, nervous at his closeness but not doing anything to change it. “One, he mentioned something at the gala that led me to believe he’d care about his company’s carbon footprint.”

“The other inspiration?”

“My shoes.” She glanced down quickly at the black flats. “They’re vegan.”

“Your shoes don’t eat meat?” he asked, chuckling.

“No, they’re made from cruelty-free products. It made me think, if a shoe company can make vegan shoes, surely we can improve on the proposed over-packaging of Marcus’ product.”

“Every time I think I have you figured out, you do something else to amaze me.” Taking her hand, he led her out of the office. They settled into the car and she was thankful he needed his hands free to drive. Any more contact and she might not be able to stop from doing something she’d regret, like kissing him again. Or worse.

“Everyone’s getting together at the cabin for the long weekend,” he said.

“I’m sure they’ll have a great time.”

“We’re going too, of course.”

She forced her gaze away from the twinkling city at night to face him instead. Was he suggesting they try to fool his family for an entire long weekend? “Do we have to? Not that I don’t like your family or anything, but three or four days away together is a long time to act like we’re in love.”

“True, but we always help Gran and Gramps get the cabin ready for the summer season.”

A few more family-time obligations acting like a couple and they may as well be one. The thought sent a pang of longing through her, but she shook it off before it could take hold. Flirting and faking it with Sawyer was one thing, but falling for him was completely unacceptable. But did she really have any choice to not go? She’d agreed to this arrangement knowing what it would mean, and now she had to play along. It wasn’t right to refuse him when going was critical to his getting the cabin.

She sighed, hating her inner logic. If she really were his girlfriend, she’d want to go. It wasn’t as if he asked something out of the ordinary or unreasonable.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

“Well, don’t sound so thrilled about it.”

“I’m not, but this is what I signed up for, so I’ll do it.”

“It’s not like I’m asking you to walk into a lake filled with piranhas. It’s a weekend with my family at a beautiful cabin.”

He smiled as if seeing the cabin in his mind. If she wasn’t mistaken, his eyes looked moist and almost teary.

She sighed and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying something stupid. Of course he would have mixed emotions about the cabin—it was home to him, but the lake was also the site of his parent’s accident. He was lucky to have somewhere that felt like home, not that she’d say that to him. The last place she’d called home had been sold after the divorce. She’d give anything to have that kind of structure and stability in her life again.