From Fake to Forever (Newlywed Games 2)

Meredith and his mother descended into a lengthy back and forth about the merits of formal education versus finding a mentor, leaving him to stew over his wine.

Why was his temper flaring? This was exactly what he’d asked for—Meredith playing up the part of his wife.

He just hadn’t expected her to do it so well.

Or for his mother to like her so much. How was he going to break it to Bettina when he signed the divorce papers? He hated it when he couldn’t see all the angles, hated it when he hadn’t anticipated the direction a situation was going to go.

He dug into his filet mignon and asparagus tips, determined to get through this dinner so he could take Meredith back to her hotel and get her stuff. They needed to strategize on the announcement and settle her into his condo.

Letting her into his space was going to be a trick and a half. He’d never lived with a woman and had spent the past six months working through the idea of sharing his condo with Meiling. She would have respected his personal territory. She would never have barged into the bathroom with him, curling iron in one hand and a raspberry-filled donut in the other, wearing nothing but a loosely-tied robe.

When Meredith had done that, he’d ended up licking the raspberry filling from the tips of her breasts. Of course, he’d been the one to swirl it there, much to her dark-eyed delight and moans of pleasure.

Maybe she’d let him do it again.

“Isn’t that right, Jason?” his mother prompted.

What had he missed during his donut-induced fantasy? “Uh... What?”

“She was telling me about the innovative partnership you spearheaded with the Style Channel.” Meredith’s eyebrows rose as she silently shot him get-your-crap-together vibes. “Clearly you get your fashion and business sense from your mother. And your ability to pay attention from your father.”

His mother dissolved into a good, long laugh. Jason couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard her laugh like that. An answering smile tugged at his mouth.

“Sweetie, we’re going to get along fine,” Bettina told Meredith. “And you,” she said to Jason, “are back on my Christmas list for having the foresight to marry such a great woman.”

Mission accomplished, he thought sourly and decided to keep his mouth shut the rest of the evening. Which he almost succeeded in doing, at least until he and Meredith slid into the car to go back to her hotel.

“Let me check you out and then I’ll help you pack,” he said. “You can take the weekend to get settled in.”

She crossed her white-cropped-pants-clad legs and grinned. “You sure you know what you’re signing up for? I am a girl. With lots of girl stuff.”

“It’s the least I can do.” He tore his gaze from her shapely legs, but it didn’t erase the sharp desire to feel them wrapped around his waist. “Thanks, by the way. For wearing the outfit I picked out and for being nice to my mother. You were great.”

“You say that like your mom is a witch and I had to suffer through dinner. She’s amazing. Such an inspiration. I had a hard time keeping my inner fangirl in check.”

News to him. But then, they never really talked about Meredith’s interests. It never occurred to him until that moment that she’d yet to share thought one about her long-term plans after buying into the wedding-dress business.

And now he was intrigued anew by this woman he’d married. “I thought you were just being nice.”

She twirled a lock of mahogany hair and batted her eyes. “In that case, I expect to be well compensated for my time.”

“What, a divorce and a hundred grand isn’t enough for you?” he teased.

“It’s a start.” Her wicked smile said the compensation should also include several orgasms in a row.

Despite that, he couldn’t help but ask, “Seriously, what would be enough? If you could have anything in my power to give you, what would you ask for?”

The car had almost reached her hotel, but oddly, he didn’t want to end the conversation. She was a woman of deep passion and convictions and he had the strangest urge to know her better. Not because of any paranoid need to pretend their marriage was real; ten minutes into dinner with his mother, it was obvious there was no danger of anyone questioning the authenticity of it.

But because after a long day of strategy and worrying about all the angles, he just wanted to be with Meredith. Connecting. She relaxed him and he liked it. Probably too much.

“You mean besides sex?” Her gaze softened as she glanced at him. “Oh, so we’re done flirting. You don’t have to give me anything. This has been fun. I’m working for a top-notch designer and I’m learning a lot. Allo’s horrible, but he’s as much a legend as your mom. Sometimes, I feel like I was dropped into the middle of a fairy tale.”