6. Easy Peasy

Chapter 6

Easy Peasy

Jade

What the fuck was I doing?

My boyfriend? Did I really want to make the situation with my parents even more complicated?

I didn’t know much about Noah, but Badden Apparel was a well-known company that did major business with a variety of athletics programs and professional sports teams. And Lex Badden? Well, most people knew who he was—he’d been named one of the hottest bachelors under twenty-five a few years ago. Plus, he’d just tried to hit on me.

Oh, God, had Noah put him up to that? Had he been watching and cackling the entire time?

Suddenly, the reality of this situation smacked me across the cheek, making my face burn. Noah had heard me talk about self-pleasure and orgasms .

Where was my palm? I needed to introduce it to my face.

“Boyfriend?” My mother’s shocked yet jubilant voice brought me out of my mental freak-out. “Well, this is a surprise. And with a Badden?” She put her hand over her heart, and I shit you not, tears were in her eyes.

My father didn’t seem as happy, and his eyes hadn’t left Noah’s. “How long?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Noah covered my hand and squeezed. “No need to worry, sir. We just recently met. It’s new, but from the second we laid eyes on each other, we couldn’t help but feel this connection. We’re actually neighbors, and her cat is absolutely obsessed with me.”

I snorted back a laugh. “Yes, Captain has taken a real liking to his zucchini.”

“Jade Destiny Dalton, must everything from your mouth be inappropriate?” If my mother wasn’t careful, she would need more Botox to stop the wrinkles caused from all her frowning.

Noah chuckled. “Her cat really does love my zucchini. He even tried to eat one... right after he had some fun digging up my spinach. I’m an avid gardener.”

My father looked uncomfortable and adjusted his lapels. “You’ll both join us for brunch at the hotel tomorrow before we go back to San Diego. We’re staying at the Beverly Hills Bella Grand. Does nine work for you?”

Noah and I spoke at the same time.

“I don’t know if?—”

“Yes, we’d love to join you.” Noah squeezed my hand.

What the hell was happening? I didn’t want to go to brunch, and especially not with Noah pretending to be my boyfriend. It was a recipe for disaster.

“Very well. Margaret and I just wanted to stop and say hello before we left for the evening.” He gave me a tight smile and a small nod. Was it too much to ask for a hug?

As much as I currently disliked my parents, I still loved them. They’d never been big on affection, but ever since I’d made the life choices I had, I felt more like a thorn in their sides than anything.

My mother looked like she wanted to say something else, but my father pulled her away before she could. I didn’t think I could handle any more condescending remarks.

Damn, I really wished I would have ordered a drink.

As soon as they were far enough away, I dropped the charade and turned to face Noah. “What was that?”

He smirked. “Well, it seems you told your parents I was your boyfriend.”

I put my hands on my hips. “You could have let me talk my way out of brunch.”

“Noah!” a woman called from behind me.

Noah cringed as he looked over my shoulder. “Shit. Let’s dance.”

I let Noah drag me to the dance floor and glanced back at the woman who had called his name. She was stunning, and I recognized her immediately from when I was younger and attended events with my parents.

“Who is she to you?” I tried to keep my voice casual, even though I couldn’t ignore the pang of jealousy.

He shrugged as we got into a dancing hold and started swaying to the music. “Just someone I know. ”

I raised an eyebrow. “Just someone you know? She seems pretty eager to talk to you. She’s shooting daggers at me right now.”

Noah sighed. “She’spersistent. Doesn’t take hints well.”

“Got it. Did you sleep with her?” This was ridiculous and didn’t even matter. Noah and I weren’t together, and it was none of my business, but I still couldn’t stop myself from asking.

“Now, Jade, is that jealousy I hear?” His blue eyes sparkled from the lights from overhead or maybe from goading me.

I chose to ignore him and change the subject. “About what happened with my parents... I panicked, and I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that. You don’t have to go to brunch tomorrow. I’ll put on my big girl panties and deal with them for an hour while drinking bottomless mimosas.”

Noah’s brow furrowed. “I have to go to brunch with you tomorrow. There’s not really a choice now that you’ve claimed me so publicly.”

Why did this man make me want to roll my eyes so hard they might get stuck? “I didn’t claim you.”

“You put your hand on my chest and said I was your boyfriend. You totally claimed me.” His thumb stroked the bare skin on my shoulder blade not covered by my dress. “Badden Apparel has a major contract with your father’s football team. One that we had to fight tooth and nail to keep when he became owner.”

That took me by complete surprise. “Wait, what?”

“The San Diego Seawolves are one of our biggest and most important clients this season. I can’t jeopardize that. ”

I groaned, letting my forehead fall forward against Noah’s shoulder. I was probably going to leave makeup on his suit jacket, but oh well. “I had no idea. Don’t worry, I’ll tell them I broke it off with you because I’m my own woman.”

Noah’s hand came up to rest on the back of my neck, his thumb brushing against my skin in a soothing motion that felt anything but soothing. “The way they spoke to you wasn’t okay, Jade.”

I laughed dryly. “Nothing new there. You come from money; you should understand how they can be.”

His thumb stopped moving, and instead, he squeezed lightly. Why did that feel so good? “My parents have never spoken like that to any of us. Have they been disappointed? Sure. But never belittled us for something we feel strongly about.”

I lifted my head to look at him, our faces inches apart. Don’t you dare look at his lips. “Things will be ten times worse if you go. It’ll be fine.”

“Things will be a hundred times worse if I don’t go.” He searched my eyes. “Let me be there as a buffer.”

I shook my head. “You have no idea what you’d be getting yourself into with my parents. They can be absolutely brutal when it comes to protecting their reputation and legacy.”

“I’ve dealt with tough clients and demanding people my whole career. I can handle a couple of overly critical parents.” He spoke with the confidence of someone who had twenty years of experience.

“Your whole career? And how many years is that?” It was impossible for me to determine his age. If I went off how he acted about my cat, I’d say early twenties, but if I considered that he had a massive vegetable garden he was very protective of, I’d say eighty.

“Almost four years.” He smirked. “And since you were really asking me how old I am, I’m twenty-seven.”

As he licked his lips, my eyes darted to them, despite my best efforts. He did not need to be so attractive. He’d let his facial hair grow from the last time I saw him, and now it was somewhere between scruff and a beard. Add in his black formal suit, and he was by far the hottest man in the room.

So naturally, I should take him up on his offer, right? He’d come to brunch with me, and we’d pretend we were a new couple for show. My parents would be pacified that I wasn’t ruining my chances of marriage, and when I went home for Christmas, I’d tell them it didn’t work out.

Easy peasy.

I bit my lip. “You’re really sure about this?”

Noah brought my hand to his lips, brushing a kiss across my knuckles. “I’m sure.”

My breath caught in my throat, and all I could do was nod as he guided my hand to the back of his neck. His fingers brushed down my arm as he made his way to my hip.

He was just changing the dance hold, but trying to tell that to my lady parts was pointless. They’d already made up their minds that they really liked Noah’s touch.

“What’s wrong, girlfriend? Captain’s not here to get your tongue.”

A laugh burst out of me, and heads turned in our direction. The last thing I needed was for this crowd of gossips to start running their mouths about how intimate of a dance we were having .

As the song ended, we made our way off the dance floor, and Noah shoved his hands into his pockets. “So…”

I smoothed down the front of my dress, despite it being flawless. “I should probably go mingle and convince all these people to donate more money.”

“Badden Apparel will be making a generous donation. Not because you’re my girlfriend now or anything, but because it’s an amazing cause. Your speech was really something.” He seriously needed to stop trying to break down my defenses.

My cheeks probably turned as red as my dress. Did he mean my mentions of self-pleasure and orgasms or helping women entrepreneurs? “Thank you, and I’m not your girlfriend. This is fake and just for tomorrow.”

“Mm-hmm.” He pulled his hands out of his pockets. “Hug?”

I’d barely nodded before he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. What would it be like if we really were dating?

I immediately tried to brush off the thought as ridiculous. Men never understood my career, and they always ended up feeling threatened or intimidated. It wasn’t worth the effort or potential pain right now—or ever. I was perfectly content with a cat to keep me company.

I pulled away, straightening my spine and holding my head high. “Thank you for the dance.”

“Anytime.” He pulled out his phone, held it up to scan his face, and handed it to me. “Text yourself so I have your number. Want to leave around eight-thirty tomorrow? ”

“Sure.” I texted myself and handed him his phone back. “But we don’t have to go together; we can meet there.”

He took his phone from me, and our fingers brushed, making goose bumps spread up my arm.

“And what if your parents wait for us outside or walk us out when we’re done? Besides, you’re drinking mimosas, aren’t you?” He had his eyes on his phone, his thumbs flying across the screen.

What else are his thumbs skilled at?

“Good point, but we’re going straight home after.” I needed to get away from him before I started imagining what other parts of him were skilled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Before anything else could go wrong, I made my way back to my table, my mind reeling. Noah Badden, my fake boyfriend for the next... well, hopefully, less than twenty-four hours.

I grabbed my clutch, wanting to have my phone and business cards ready, if needed. Pulling out my phone, I unlocked it to check my messages and found one from an unknown number.

Unknown Number: I hope you know CPR because you took my breath away on that dance floor. Can’t wait to see what other moves you have. *winking face emoji*

Me: Wow, that was so cheesy, I think I need a Lactaid pill. You better bring your A-game tomorrow morning.

Noah: Challenge accepted. I’ll be the most doting boyfriend you’ve ever had. Hope you’re ready for some PDA.

Me: Easy there, tiger. Let’s keep it PG.

Noah: PG? And here I thought you were all about embracing pleasure.

Me: Yeah, with myself.

Noah: You wound me. Fine, PG-13.

I held back a grin. This was probably the worst idea I’d ever had.