Chapter 10

Ilet out a groan of annoyance as my cell started to vibrate across my desk. Even putting the damn thing on silent hadn't done me a bit of good. For how often it went off, it sounded like a jackhammer bouncing across the wooden surface.

At the sight of my mother's name popping up on the screen, I collapsed back in my cozy leather swivel chair with a huff. If I didn't answer, she was going to keep calling and calling. Hell, she'd probably go so far as to make my father call me, or worse, recruit Charlotte, which meant the rumors flying around town over the past eighteen hours would get back to my brother all the way in Hope Valley, and more likely than not, his head would explode.

For everyone's sake—including my own—it was best for me to answer.

Snatching up the phone, I swiped the screen to answer and brought it to my ear. "Hi, Mom," I greeted as I went back to my laptop and clicked on the track pad to save the work I had been trying to focus on all morning.

The photographs from the Bridezilla/Robot wedding were turning out better than I'd hoped, but I needed to make sure they were perfect before sending them off to Lexi.

"Is there a reason I had to hear from my friend Jean during our weekly Bunko game last night that my daughter has a new man in her life instead of hearing it from her?"

And there it was. The small-town grapevine was in full effect, putting Lorene Prescott in the mood to lay mother guilt on thicker than peanut butter on a slice of bread.

I let out a weary sigh, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose. "Mom, it's not what you think."

"Oh, well then how about you enlighten me, sweetheart, and tell me what it is?"

I opened my mouth to answer, only to come up short, because the truth was, I was still trying to wrap my brain around what had happened in the middle of Sinful Sweets Café the morning before.

One second I was fighting with that arrogant, pompous ass whose only facial expression was an intense frown, and the next, he was kissing and touching me in front of my ex and half the damn town like he had every right.

And the craziest thing about the whole scene—aside from the above-mentioned kissing and touching—I hadn't hated it. I mean, sure, the man was a grade-A jerk, but something about him was downright magnetic. I'd actually liked the way he held me. It made me feel protected, almost cherished. And I'd really liked that kiss.

In fact, I'd replayed that damn kiss more times than was healthy over the past several hours. I'd thought about how the man—I still didn't know his name—had used the perfect amount of firmness. I thought about how nice it felt to have someone else's lips brushing against my own for the first time since Barrett and I had started dating, and how much I missed making out with a man. Our sex life might not have been affected before Barrett dumped me, but I couldn't remember the last time we'd made out, kissed like we couldn't get enough of each other, like the only air we wanted to breathe was what came out of our partner's lungs.

I missed that. And all it took was a relatively chaste kiss with a complete stranger in the middle of a crowded restaurant to spark that craving back to life in a way I knew wasn't going to go away any time soon.

Damn him.

If I'd been smart, I would have hung around and tried to get the scoop on what the hell he'd thought he was doing, putting on that little show for my ex, but the way my body had lit up for him had freaked me out, and instead of handling the situation like an adult, I bolted out of Sinful Sweets like my ass was on fire. I'd needed to get away from all those prying eyes and mumbled whispers. Now people were talking. Rumors spread like wildfire, and I didn't even know the name of the guy who'd started it all.

The worst part was, I couldn't ask around, because everyone would know it had all been fake, and they'd probably think I'd orchestrated the whole thing because I was the pathetic woman who still wasn't over her ex, even though he'd clearly moved on.

Unless I wanted to be the laughing stock of Pembrooke, I had to save face. That was why, instead of telling my mother the truth, I found myself saying, "It's, well... it's still really new."

I squeezed my eyes closed and smacked my palm to my forehead at my lame response. But it was the best I could do in the moment.

"I can't believe you're seeing someone and didn't tell me." I could see her in my mind's eye, shaking her head in disappointment as she sat at her kitchen island, flipping through one of her favorite cooking magazines. "You give one hundred percent of yourself, hoping you're raising your kids right, then something like this happens."

My face screwed up like I'd sucked on a lemon. "Okay, wow. That's a lot, even for you."

My mother's tinkling laughter carried through the line. "Had to see how far I could take it."

I tapped my fingernail on the top of the desk and pulled one of my feet up to rest in the seat of my chair. "And you've officially reached your max."

She blew out a breath and started over. "So, Vaughn Cavanagh, huh?" I heard he was back in town after all these years. Also heard he grew up real nice, but he was kind of... well, a jerk, honestly."

I sat up a little straighter, my curiosity officially piqued. "You know him?"

"No. Not him personally. I know his parents. Not well, but enough to remember him living here when he was a kid before his mother divorced his dad years ago. Vaughn lived with Hershel for a spell before moving away to live with his momma when he was in middle school. I don't think he's been back since."

That wasn't much information, but at least I'd gotten a name. VaughnCavanaugh. It fit him somehow. It was classic and manly and pretentious all at the same time. Just like the man the name belonged to.

"Were you friends with his mother?"

She snorted through the line. "Estelle? Please." I could imagine her rolling her eyes. "That woman was as snooty as the day is long. Truth be told, I'm not sure she really had any friends. It's hard to get people to like you when you walk around acting like you're better than everyone. She had aspirations that went beyond this town. That's fine and all, but she was always high and mighty, looking down her nose at the rest of us."

I went from tapping to unconsciously scratching at the finish on the desk. "She sounds..."

"Awful, I know. And she was. Which is probably why people say her son's just as cold as she was. Probably got it from her."

My mind went back to how it felt to have his strong arm wrapped around me like a steel band holding me to him. He sure as hell didn't feel cold then. Or when he kissed me. In fact, I remember the heat pouring from his body was nearly hot enough to singe me. Even his cologne held a bit of heat. A scent like amber and spice clung to his skin, creating a warmth in my chest when I inhaled it.

I thought back to that first interaction in the middle of the road outside my house and how I thought he'd been a complete asshole. He still gave off that vibe the day before, like he had no desire to be around anyone else. But then he'd seen my discomfort at the thought of running into Barrett, and he'd just acted. A man as cold and unfeeling as what my mother had described wouldn't do something like that for a complete stranger. Right?

I chewed on my bottom lip as I tried to form my thoughts into something that made sense. "Well, he's kind of stiff, and he's got a real hard-on for wearing suits, but, I don't know... there's something about him," I said, a bit taken aback by the fact that the words pouring past my lips weren't an act, but the god's honest truth. "I don't think he's as big a jerk as he leads people to believe."

"Well, of course not. Or my girl wouldn't be interested in him," my mother threw back, her words a reminder that Vaughn and I weren't actually dating. In fact, we weren't anything to each other.

"Yeah. For sure. Of course not."

"I'm glad you've put yourself out there again. Barrett wasn't worth your time, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried when I heard he'd gotten engaged to someone else."

And that someone else just so happened to be my new fake boyfriend's half-sister. How was that the world I was living in?

"You deserve to be happy, sweetie. That's all I want for you."

My stomach dropped to the floor while my heart lodged itself in my throat. "You know, I don't have to be in a relationship to be happy, right? I mean, I've got a lot of other good things in my life. My happiness isn't dependent upon a man."

"Oh, honey. Of course not. I know you don't need to be in a relationship to be happy. But I also know my girl is a romantic at heart. You watched Pretty Woman and that How to Lose a Guy movie so many times when you were younger, you could quote them from memory."

"That's because those are awesome movies," I defended, knowing in my gut she was right. I watched movies like that because I wanted a man to love me the way the heroes in those movies loved their women. I wanted the big grand gesture. I wanted to be the girl walking down the street that someone noticed and couldn't get out of his head.

Ugh.

"Anyway, whether this man is the one or not, I only want to make sure he treats you right. That nut-less bastard never deserved you."

"Mom!" I sputtered, my jaw dropping in shock at the way she spoke about my ex. She wasn't wrong, of course, but Lorene Prescott was known for being sweet as sugar.

"Do I lie?" she asked in that stern mother voice of hers.

I let out a sigh. "No," I relented. "You don't lie."

"Exactly. Now, I'll expect you to bring your new man to dinner this week. Jean from Bunko was all too happy to rub my face in my lack of knowledge, so I expect to be able to pay her back next game night."

My back shot straight, my foot falling back to the floor with a thud. "Uh. I-I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean, we're still so new. I don't think we're at the meet the parent phase of things yet."

"Don't be silly. Any man who kisses you in public the way he did is more than ready to meet your mom and dad. I'll make my famous lasagna. Talk to him about it and get back to me."

"But, Mom?—"

"Oh, gotta go! Doris from book club is calling on the other line. I need to let her know I'm well aware of my daughter's new boyfriend before that Jean gets to her. Talk soon, sweetheart. Love you!"

After blowing a quick kiss through the line, she hung up, leaving me wondering how the hell I was going to track down my fake boyfriend and pay him back for screwing up my life.