Cougar Christmas Read online

  Genevieve gave him the barest hint of a smile.

  “Why? Because you have to smack them with a rolled up newspaper to make them mind?”

  “I was going to say because we liked to have our tummies scratched.” Drew gave her an innocent, wide-eyed look and then lowered his voice. “Among other things, of course.”

  She looked down again, her cheeks getting considerably pinker.

  “All right—say people did buy us as a couple. What’s in it for you?”

  Besides the right to touch my gorgeous and unobtainable boss without repercussions? Drew thought but didn’t say. He’d had plenty of fantasies about Genevieve in the time he worked for her and not all of them involved her being hit by a bus. But now obviously wasn’t the time to admit that. Instead he arched an eyebrow at her. “There’s a senior marketing position open and I want it.”

  Genevieve frowned. “I don’t know, Drew. You think you’re ready for that?”

  “I know I am—it’s what I’ve been aiming at all along. It’s one reason I’ve put up with working under you these past few years,” Drew said frankly. “You have to know you’re not the easiest boss, Genevieve.”

  She narrowed her eyes.

  “I’m not the easiest wife either, Drew. You might be sorry we made this deal once you realize that. But by the time we get to the resort it’ll be too late to back out.”

  Drew made a beckoning motion with his hand.

  “Bring it on, baby. I’ll consider it a challenge—like the Perth account you dumped on me the other day after Jared mangled it.”

  Genevieve looked thoughtful.

  “I suppose you did do a good job on that.”

  “I made a point of it. So what do you say, are we on?”

  She looked troubled. “I don’t know…I don’t like lying to Stuart.”

  “I’m sure you don’t, but who gave him the right to poke his nose in your personal business? Just because you work under him doesn’t make him qualified to judge what’s best for you and your relationships.” Drew crossed his arms and frowned at her. “I put up with a lot from you, Genevieve but do you think for one minute I’d stay here if you started trying to dictate my love life?”

  She frowned.

  “I guess I can see your point. God, I can’t believe I’m considering this.” She looked up at him. “Are you sure you’re up for this? This retreat goes right through Christmas, you know. Don’t you want to spend it with your family?”

  Drew shook his head.

  “Nah—my folks have my three older sisters and all their kids to keep them busy. They won’t miss me this once.”

  Genevieve still looked indecisive.

  “The counseling sessions at these retreats can get pretty intense from what I’ve heard.”

  Drew shrugged.

  “It’s one long weekend of holding hands and looking soulfully into each other’s eyes—how bad can it be?”

  Personally he probably would have pretended to be married to der Fuhrer for a few days to get the promotion and it would be considerably easier with Genevieve. Despite being a cold bitch she was beautiful and it might be fun to see how much he could melt that icy exterior of hers before their three days and nights together were over.

  Genevieve sighed and put out her hand.

  “All right—deal. You pretend to be my husband at the Intimate Couples Retreat and I’ll promote you. But only because I feel you’re ready for it. Okay?”

  Drew clasped her slim, cool hand in his larger one. “Deal.”

  Genevieve looked into his eyes.

  “I’m trusting you on this, Drew. Don’t make me sorry.”

  He wasn’t sure if she was talking about the impending promotion or the fact that they were about to spend a weekend pretending to be man and wife but either way he didn’t intend to disappoint her.

  “I won’t.” He squeezed her hand slightly for emphasis, holding her gaze with his own. “I promise you, Genevieve, you won’t be sorry.”

  Chapter Two

  Genevieve couldn’t believe she was actually going through with this. An entire long weekend—from Friday until Monday, which also happened to be Christmas Day—pretending her assistant was her husband.

  For the entire ride to the airport she had been asking herself what the hell she was doing. She was trying to pass off a man—a younger man who didn’t even like her—as her spouse of the past five years. It was crazy. And yet, Drew wasn’t acting like a man who hated her. In fact, he was being remarkably considerate—almost too considerate in fact.

  So far he was doing all the things a real husband would do—or so Genevieve assumed since Charles had always been too busy with his smart phone and conference calls to do them. It was nice but unnerving somehow to suddenly be the center of a man’s attention—especially a man like Drew.

  Of course he was too young for her and she was his boss so Genevieve had never allowed herself to consider him in a romantic light before. But when she saw him in the airport dressed in tight, faded jeans and a dark blue sweater that hugged his muscular chest and emphasized his broad shoulders, she had to admit she could have done a lot worse picking a fake husband.

  He seemed to like her outfit too. Or at least his cobalt blue eyes seemed to linger a little too long where her jade green cashmere sweater was stretched over her breasts. Genevieve was glad she hadn’t worn anything with a v-neck—showing cleavage would have definitely sent the wrong signals. She half expected him to make a comment but he only smiled and nodded at her clothes.

  “Dressed for the mountain weather, I see.”

  “You too.” Genevieve nodded back. “They’re supposed to have record lows this weekend.”

  “So I heard.”

  She was expecting him to make a comment about how they would have to keep each other warm—Drew was good at his job but he had a quick wit and in the past he had teased her though no one else in the company dared to so much as crack a joke in her hearing. But he disappointed her expectations again.

  He’s trying to be professional, she told herself, wondering why his failure to flirt, even a little, was bothering her. This is a business deal and that’s all. She tried to keep that in mind as they boarded the plane.

  But she needn’t have worried—the non-flirting only lasted until they got seated. Before takeoff Drew made sure her luggage was firmly stowed, like a good husband would. Then he buckled in beside her and took her hand, casually twining his fingers with hers as though he did it every day.

  “Hey—what do you think you’re doing?” Genevieve tried to jerk her hand away but he refused to let her go.

  “Holding your hand, baby. Husbands and wives do hold hands, or hadn’t you heard?” His smile was pure mischief and she wasn’t sure whether to smile or slap him. His fingers were long and artistic—and as strong as steel. Obviously there was no way he was letting her go.

  “Look, I appreciate you playing along but there’s no need to start until we get there,” she murmured under her breath. “Seriously, Drew, let me go.”

  “Start when we get there, hmm?” He pretended to look thoughtful. “Oh yeah, that’s a great idea, Genevieve. Because we’ll really look married if you jump every time I touch you.”

  She could see his point but that didn’t mean she had to like it. “I can’t help it—it just feels wrong. Like…like I’m coercing you to be intimate with me so you feel like you have to hold my hand.”

  He laughed. “If anyone’s coercing anyone I’m doing it to you. Besides, this is a strictly private business deal between you and me and I’m all in. So you don’t have to worry that the minute I get back I’ll be filing sexual harassment charges against you with Human Resources, all right?”

  “All right.” Sighing, she reluctantly resigned herself to holding hands with him despite the fact that it felt wrong and inappropriate. And tingly. It feels tingly where he’s touching me. She put that thought right out of her head because it was completely ridiculous and tried to concentrate on the vi
ew outside the plane.

  It was a long trip from sunny Sarasota, where the Spiritual Soul Mates main office was located, and after a while Genevieve started to get sleepy. She’d been up a long time the night before debating the merits of actually going through with Drew’s crazy plan. In the end, only the fact that they had nonrefundable tickets had gotten her to the airport and now with the hum of the plane all around her and the warmth of her cashmere sweater, she was feeling the lack of sleep.

  Sweater’s a little warm now but I bet it’ll feel good once we get to the mountains. Hope we don’t have to do a bunch of crazy relationship building exercises—I’ll die of embarrassment if I have to get too close to Drew. He must really want this promotion badly to suggest this. Hope I won’t regret it…

  Everything got blurry and her eyelids began to feel heavy. Drew didn’t seem inclined to talk, which was a relief, so Genevieve decided to close her eyes just for a moment and meditate.

  She woke up when something nudged her cheek. It was hard and fuzzy at the same time and it smelled really good, like warm skin and fabric softener. Genevieve liked it so much that she snuggled closer. But then the nudge came again and someone murmured, “Genevieve, wake up. We’re here.”

  “Hmm?” She opened her eyes groggily, still half asleep. “Where’s here?”

  “The Blue Ridge. You know, for the Intimate Retreat?”

  “Huh?” At that moment it dawned on her that the warm, fuzzy good smelling thing her cheek was pressed against was Drew’s shoulder. Everyone else on the plane was getting up and gathering their bags but she and Drew were just sitting there because she was practically laying all over him.

  “Genevieve?” he said again. “Gen?”

  She jerked upright. “God, I’m so sorry.” She smoothed her hair as best she could, wishing she could hide her flaming cheeks behind it. “How long was I like that?”

  He shrugged. “Most of the flight, actually. Don’t worry—I didn’t mind.”

  “Well I do—that was really inappropriate. You should have woken me up.” Genevieve hated feeling flustered and embarrassed and right now she was both.

  Drew frowned. “Do us both a favor and don’t start with the inappropriate touching stuff again, okay? If it bothered me I would have woken you up but it didn’t so I just let you sleep. Besides…” His voice softened a little. “You looked really tired. I thought you could use the rest.”

  “Well…thank you,” Genevieve said at last, stiffly.

  “You’re welcome. Come on, let’s get our stuff. I haven’t seen snow since I left Colorado four years ago.”

  “You’re from Colorado? I didn’t know that,” Genevieve said as she stood up and reached for the overhead compartment.

  “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Genevieve.” He grinned and lifted out her heavy carry on bag before she could get it herself. “And probably a lot of things I don’t know about you. But I have a feeling this weekend is going to fix that.”

  “I didn’t think it needed fixing,” Genevieve muttered under her breath. She followed him off the plane, hoping the rest of her bags had made the trip safely and that she didn’t have an imprint of his sweater’s pattern on her cheek.

  Displaying the efficiency she had secretly admired in him from the beginning, Drew got their luggage almost at once and found them a cab willing to go all the way to the resort. Genevieve had elected not to rent a car since they were only there for the weekend and besides, there was nothing else to do in the mountains besides skiing which she had no interest in.

  Everything was going fine until they got into the cab and he put an arm around her shoulders as casually as though he did it every day. Genevieve, who was still embarrassed about falling asleep on his shoulder, glared at him.

  “More cuddling with the little ‘wife?’” she asked through her teeth. “Bet you never thought you’d be hugging the Dragon Lady did you?”

  “What?” Drew gave her a surprised look.

  “Don’t look at me like that.” She shrugged off his arm. “I know what they call me around the office and that’s not the worst name either.”

  She’d heard every one of the hurtful nicknames and ignored them all because she had a job to do. But that didn’t mean she didn’t ache inside when she thought of them.

  “Look—”

  “Holding hands is fine but this is getting ridiculous,” she hissed. “I just want you to know you don’t have to touch me if you don’t want to. At least, not when there’s nobody watching.”

  The cabbie was giving her wary looks in the rearview mirror but she ignored him.

  “Genevieve, look at me.” Drew leaned down, getting eye to eye with her. “Let’s get something straight right here and now,” he growled softly. “Touching you is not a problem for me. So get used to it because, at least for the next few days, I’m your husband.” He put his arm around her again and pulled her close to his side. “Now why don’t you just relax and enjoy the ride—the scenery is beautiful.”

  “Oh yes, it’s gorgeous.” Genevieve was seething inside but she didn’t shrug off his arm this time. She had an idea it wouldn’t do a bit of good because Drew would just pull her close to him again. And damn it, deep down she knew he was right but it was still hard to let herself be close to anyone. Damn hard. Physical intimacy had been the first aspect of her marriage to bite the dust and she’d gotten used to having her own personal space completely to herself. Sure, it was a little lonely sometimes but it was safe too. And letting herself relax against Drew’s hard, muscular side with his long arm around her shoulders didn’t feel safe—not a bit.

  The cabbie chose this moment to talk.

  “So, you two are goin’ to that new couples resort, huh?”

  “That’s where we’re paying you to take us, isn’t it?” Genevieve arched an eyebrow at him in the rearview mirror.

  Drew gave her a look and cleared his throat.

  “Please excuse my wife. We’re having kind of a hard time right now which is why we’re going for counseling in the first place.”

  The cabbie nodded sympathetically.

  “Yeah, I hear you buddy. Me and my little lady went through some hard times too, awhile back. We’re all better now, though—got one of those DVDs by that Stuart Solomon guy. Man…” He shook his head. “That guy might look kinda like a fruit but he knows what he’s talking about, ya know?”

  “Mmm.” Drew nodded noncommittally. “I hear he has some pretty out-there ideas though.”

  “Yeah, but they work.” The cabby nodded solemnly. “Never been happier in my life and the little lady feels the same. Well—here you are.”

  The cab finished climbing the winding mountain path and pulled into a clearing in the tall pine trees that lined the side of the road as he spoke. Drew paid him and they got out.

  “Ready?” Genevieve asked him as they disembarked.

  “As I’ll ever be.” He slung his bag over one broad shoulder, picked up her suitcase in one hand, and grabbed her hand in the other, entwining their fingers.

  This time Genevieve allowed it with no protest although it still felt strange and inappropriate.

  Get used to it, she lectured herself. It’s only for a few days—you can stand anything for a few days.

  Not that touching Drew was unpleasant—quite the opposite, in fact, which was the problem. Touching him was nice, which was probably one reason it felt so completely inappropriate.

  Holding hands with him felt weird and hard to get used to, especially considering her own strict hands-off policy of the last five years with her assistant. Not that she thought Drew would take offense if she got a little too close to him, just that it was better not to give in to temptation, even a little.

  Working with someone as hot as Drew was kind of like having a big, open box of chocolates sitting on your desk the entire day. If you took even the tiniest nibble you were liable to wind up scarfing the entire box.

  Accordingly, Genevieve had always kept even
casual touching between them to a minimum. In fact, the closest she’d ever been to him physically was when she’d fallen asleep on his shoulder during the plane ride.

  Genevieve still couldn’t believe she’d done that—that she’d let herself get comfortable enough to sleep all over him like that. It had been embarrassing when she woke up and realized what she’d done, but she couldn’t help remembering those few moments before she came completely awake when his warm scent and hard shoulder against her cheek had felt so right…

  Stop it, Genevieve, she scolded herself. He’s young enough to be your…well, not son but at least your little brother. So let’s try to reign in the stupid, unrealistic fantasies here and get down to business. The business of pretending to be married.

  Drew seemed to be thinking the same thing because he squeezed her hand and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Nervous?”

  “No, of course not,” Genevieve denied reflexively. Then she took a deep breath. “Well…a little.”

  “We’ll be okay.” He gave her a reassuring smile, as though they were walking into a haunted house together. Lifting their linked hands, he placed a swift kiss on the back of her wrist. This time Genevieve tried hard not to jump but she still found herself flinching a little as his warm mouth brushed against her skin.

  I have to get over this, she reminded herself. Drew’s right—we’re going to have to hang all over each other or at least touch from time to time if we want to pass as married. Crap, this is going to be so embarrassing!

  Apparently her reaction wasn’t lost on him.

  “I don’t bite, you know.” He arched an eyebrow at her.

  “I know. I’m sorry.” Genevieve made a face. “It’s just…this is hard for me. Not because of you or anything. Just because…” She groped for words, uncertain how to explain herself.

  “Because it’s not easy for you to open up,” Drew murmured, finishing the thought for her.

  It wasn’t exactly what Genevieve had been going to say but she had to admit it was surprisingly accurate. She wanted to say something else but at that moment they reached the main door of the resort and the words died on her lips.