From Fake to Forever (Newlywed Games 2)

“Diabolical and perfect. Plus it upset Mom and that was a great side benefit in Avery’s mind.”

“But this is only the first strike, right? She’ll have more up her sleeve.”

The dread Meredith’s mother’s article had first induced came flooding back. Ferretting out Avery’s plans—and hopefully nipping them in the bud—was supposed to be Meredith’s job. Fat lot of good she was doing.

“Oh, yeah. This is only the beginning. Now you see why I need you so badly.” His voice had turned husky as his muscles relaxed.

She tried to ignore the way the sound tore through her. For a man who wasn’t supposed to be her forever, he surely shouldn’t cause such strong, involuntary reactions. Especially since he hadn’t meant that he needed her the way she wished he had. And she was falling down on the thing he did need her for.

“I’m sorry, Jason. This sucks.”

She had to do better. Maybe if she succeeded, it would lead to that reconnection she’d been dreaming of.

That thought alone spurred her brain into action, and a half-formed plan began spilling from her mouth. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Get into a meeting with your marketing department and start brainstorming everything Lyn’s done well since the split and then cross-reference that with anything, no matter how small, that Hurst House has stumbled over.”

And the subsequent news blast would be titled: Hurst House—Where Is It Now?

Thanks for the article, Mom. Meredith smiled for the first time since last night.

“I’m listening. Then what?”

Meredith massaged his shoulders absently as she worked it over in her mind.

“We’re going to bury Hurst House with facts about how fantastic Lyn has done since the split and, by default, how poorly Hurst has fared. We’ll pretend the sweatshop witch hunt doesn’t exist and by contrast, your rebuttal will come off as a well-written piece of journalism. You and Bettina will be featured as doing a great job, and as a nice side benefit, Avery’s going to come out of this looking stupid and petty.”

Jason’s eyes flew open and he peered up at her. “Whoa. Are you sure you’re not a Lynhurst? That’s pure genius. It’s short only an evil cackle.”

Warmth filled her cheeks. Meredith could talk dirty—and then follow through—with the best of them and never think twice about it, yet a compliment made her blush? What was the world coming to? “Well, I’ll throw the evil cackle in for free.”

Jason’s appreciative laugh sent the surge of warmth much lower.

“A total bargain.” The smile slipped off his face. “Hey. It didn’t escape my notice that you said ‘we.’ You also didn’t correct me when I barged in and said we have a problem. You could have easily told me it was my problem. Thanks.”

Their gazes fused and electricity rippled the atmosphere.

There you are. Wonderment filled her. This was the open, sensitive man she’d left behind in Vegas. Her breath caught. He hadn’t vanished and she didn’t misremember. Stupid tears of relief pricked at her eyelids and she blinked them away before he noticed.

“Yeah, yeah,” she murmured. “We’re on the same team. Don’t forget it.”

“I won’t.” He reached up and grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips for a quick kiss. “I wish you could be in the meeting with Marketing. I’d love your insight.”

She yanked her tingling hand away from his lips before she forgot about caution and jumped him in hopes of keeping that conduit to his soul open. “Take good notes. Then come back tomorrow night with more takeout and we’ll talk.”

He grinned. “I’ve never met a woman who likes to eat as much as you do. It’s sexy.”

“Shut up and finish your dinner. Serves you right for flirting with me that it’s cold,” she grumbled and slid into her own chair to finish her own cold dinner.

But it tasted a lot better than it had when it was hot. Because she’d finally seen a glimpse of what she’d hoped for—the man she’d never forgotten.

Now that she’d finally established he was still in there somewhere, how did she keep him around?

Six

Unless the building caved in, Jason’s morning couldn’t get much worse.

The labor allegations, while complete bunk, grew legs and promised to keep Lyn’s entire legal department hopping for the foreseeable future. The fact that the allegations were false didn’t seem to matter to Lyn’s factory workers, who must have viewed the new development as an opportunity to bring a few choice grievances to upper management. Jason had been funneling complaints to appropriate departments for hours.