This Is Love: Illusion of Love / From My Heart

* * *

So Bennett Cooper wasn’t all bad. And if Val was being honest with herself, she’d had fun. A really good time. The gallery was just the icebreaker she’d needed. It was easier to be free with him when they were walking and talking.

And while he might not be the best neighbor, he was smart. Quite brilliant. The man had been all over the world. He was talking about an expedition to the North Pole next. Once they’d started on travel and food, they pretty much hadn’t stopped talking.

So maybe trying something new hadn’t been the end of the world. Val still wasn’t convinced taking him home was the best idea she’d ever had. And he still was not her type, but he was almost cool. Almost. And it wouldn’t be awkward.

When the elevator let them out on their floor, he hesitated, then mumbled, “Oh, great. Our first test.”

“Isn’t that your lady friend from the other night?”

He gave her a pursed-lip smirk. “She’s not my lady friend. Try my boss’s wife.”

“She seriously putting the moves on you?”

“You could say that.”

“Who’s the guy with her?” The man casually leaning against Bennett’s door was more like the kind of guy Val should take home. Dark chocolate skin, pretty as hell, and dressed to kill in a blazer and dark jeans. She knew fashion well enough to recognize that the jacket was Marc Jacobs. The shoes were Louboutins for men. The dude practically screamed I’m a model.

“That is my best friend, Trevor. He’s back from a stint in Europe. Making New York his home base again.”

“Right. Okay.” She plastered a smile on her face. “So how do you want to do this?”

He ran his hand through his hair. “Follow my lead.”

“Wait, wha—”

But his fingers clasped around hers and he tugged her down the hall before she could argue.

“Trev, my man. Welcome home.” He released Val only long enough to wrap his arms around the other man and clap him hard on the back. “When did you get back?”

Trevor grinned at Bennett just before his gaze flickered over Val. “This morning. But I’m guessing I should have called first. Who’s your friend?”

She stiffened. And this was where she’d have to pull this off. With a deep breath, she slipped into character. “I’m Val, Bennett’s fiancée. You must be Trevor. I’ve heard a lot about you.” She turned her attention to Adriana. “And you’re Mrs. Voss, right? I’m sorry we didn’t get to meet properly the other night. You know Bennett—sometimes he gets carried away.”

Adriana’s face pinched, making her look like a duck who’d sucked on a lemon. Trevor, on the other hand, grinned even as he stared at Bennett. “Yo, man, we have a lot to catch up on. I move to Europe for six months and you go and fall in love?” He added, “And you, Val, we’re going to talk, because if you can rope my man Bennett here, you are formidable and I want to marry your sister.” His gaze slid over her. “Tell me you have a sister.”

Bennett just shook his head. “Dude, shut up. Adriana, did we have an appointment? I’d hate to think I missed something.”

The older woman looked none too pleased. “I’m actually just here to extent the invitation to dinner this weekend to Val myself. I figured you might forget or not tell her how genuinely we want to meet this fiancée of yours.”

Wow. She was a piece of work. Translation: she didn’t believe the ruse. Fair enough. If Val was going to be Bennett’s fiancée, she might as well go all in. “Oh, he told me, Mrs. Voss. And I’m delighted to say we’ll be able to make it. Unfortunately, though, I have a long day tomorrow, so I can’t stay and chat. Baby, I’ll see you tomorrow?” She slid her hand over Bennett’s abs to his pecs, and his eyes darkened.

“You guys avert your gaze. I’m going to kiss my fiancée good-night now.” He walked her to the door, and Val only had seconds to brace herself. She opened her door and tried to center her mind. This is not real. This is not real. This. Is. Not. Real.

But when Bennett dragged her to him and dipped his head, her lady parts forgot all about the mantra. Her libido screamed, Hell, yes, this feels real. His hand slid into her hair and he tugged gently as he anchored her head.

When his tongue delved in, the sweetness hit her first. And she wanted to indulge. Wanted to take her time and savor. He ratcheted up the heat by flexing the hand at her waist, and she gasped softly.

It was Trevor’s low whistle that broke the spell. When Bennett drew back, he looked like he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. “I’ll see you later,” she croaked.

“Oh, you can count on that. Good night, Valentine. Sweet dreams.”

* * *

“Dude, you want to tell me what the hell that was all about?”

Bennett ran his hands through his hair as he tossed his bag on his living room couch. “Don’t even get me started.”

Trevor knew exactly where the imported beer was kept and helped himself. “No, no, I need to know. Inquiring minds and all that. Last I left you, two months ago, you were with that blonde in Sweden, but you were a confirmed bachelor. You were never, ever going for a girlfriend or wife. Now I come home and you not only have a fiancée—with no ring, might I add—but you also have some hot MILF looking like she wants to kill your fine-as-hell fiancée.”

Trevor shifted around Bennett, plopped himself onto his couch and kicked his feet up onto the low stainless steel coffee table. “Bennett, you have some ’splaining to do. And just FYI, not white ’splaining, either. You gotta get me to the nitty-gritty here.”

Bennett couldn’t help a chuckle. Shit, he’d missed Trevor. He sank down on the couch and grabbed the beer his friend held out. “The MILF, as you called her, that’s my new boss’s wife, Adriana Voss. She somehow has it in her head that this is the ride she wants to get on at the fair.” He gestured at his body.

Trevor nodded sagely. “That is a reputation well cultivated over the last decade or more. All women want to experience the Bennett Cooper ride.”

All except his neighbor. “Yeah, well, Voss Magazines is exactly where I want to be. So many options as a photographer. The magazine I want to do the most is obviously—”

“Earth,” his best friend finished for him. When Bennett cocked his head, Trevor merely shrugged. “We’ve been friends since you moved upstate with your aunt. You think I don’t know you want to be a wildlife photographer like your dad?”

That piece of knowledge both warmed Bennett and made him uncomfortable. He cultivated this facade—charming, funny, but not too deep or close—for years. It always unsettled him when people saw past that. Even if that person was Trevor.

“Yeah, I guess you would know that. Anyway. Adriana’s been getting a little too drunk at parties. Way too close. Things she says are starting to border on inappropriate. I’m no dummy, so I’ve been keeping a wide berth. I like my job. I’ve worked hard for my job. Anyway, Adriana crashes a meeting I had downstairs at True North and she wants to see the self nudes I did last year.”

Trevor hooted and cackled. “Bennett Cooper, you are a bad boy.”

“Dude.” Bennett shook his head. “There was no way around it. That woman is persistent as hell.”

Trevor leaned forward. “Yo.” He pinned him with a direct glare. “You tap that?”

Trevor and he had the same no-cheaters rule. Trevor had honed his after years of watching his poor mother get cheated on again and again by Trevor’s father, a former NFL player. “No, man, what do I look like to you? I’m a single man but I have standards.”

Trevor nodded. “How’d you escape with your virtue, then?”

Bennett took a long pull of his beer. “Uh, see, what had happened was...” He let his voice trail off as Trevor laughed. “Okay, so I had to think quick. She was coming up the elevator, wrapping herself around me boa constrictor–style, and Val was getting the brush-off from some dude, so I killed two birds with one stone. Walked right up to her and kissed her, pretending we were together.”

Trevor stared at him. Once again he was reminded of why his friend was so popular with photographers and designers. There was an intensity to him. But there was also a glimmer of mischief and humor just under the surface. Trevor fell back laughing so hard he clutched his sides.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I need your advice, and you’re mocking me.”

“Nah, man. For real, though. Only you would get yourself into this mess. I have always told you the D would get you in a heap of trouble.”

“This from the guy who slept his way through half the models in Barcelona.”

Trevor grinned. “What can I say? I’m pretty.”

“Pretty bastard.” Bennett laughed. “So, what do I do?”