Free The Wedding Hoax by Heather Thurmeier

wait,” Cole called from somewhere behind her.
    Why wouldn’t he let her leave in peace? Why did he have to make a scene in front of the people they were supposed to be fooling?
    She glanced around for a quicker escape since the front doors of the convention center still seemed miles away. She didn’t want to have this conversation with him out in the open. Seeing a service door off to the side, she made a beeline for it. She stepped into a small hallway that looked as if it led back to some kind of storage room. This would do.
    Hearing the door open, she didn’t bother to turn around. She knew it was Cole. His cologne blew past her as the door slammed shut.
    “Wow. Our second public appearance and our second lover’s spat. We’re officially batting zero.” Cole chuckled. “I’m sure Mason will be thrilled with us when he hears the news.” He leaned against the wall casually, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
    “I don’t care what Mason thinks.” She crossed her arms, hoping it would stop them from shaking.
    “What’s this about?” he asked, sounding annoyed. “What did or didn’t I do right this time?”
    She didn’t care for his mocking tone. He wasn’t getting away with this as if he hadn’t done anything wrong. “You couldn’t even go five minutes off the market, could you? Was it the ring shopping that pushed you over the edge? Because that wasn’t my idea, if you’ll remember. I said we didn’t have to, and you insisted that we should.”
    “I didn’t want to look at rings, but Mason expects us to do that kind of thing.”
    “Does Mason also expect us to chat up our exes like we’re not engaged? I can’t believe you.” She threw her hands in the air, frustrated at Cole, at the situation, and at herself for even caring. “You tell me to lower my voice when I mention our business deal, which could have been interpreted as sharing a booth at the show, by the way, and then you have the gall to go and flirt with your sexy ex-girlfriend while I’m still trying on wedding bands.”
    “I didn’t plan on running into an ex here and I wasn’t trying to flirt.”
    “Smiling, cheek kissing, arm holding, telling her how beautiful she is…”
    He shrugged. “I can’t help it if she flirted with me.”
    “Right in front of the woman you’re supposed to be engaged to. Smooth, Cole. Great way to show everyone how in love we are.” She rolled her eyes to emphasize how much of an idiot he’d been, in case he hadn’t gotten the hint yet. She wanted to make sure that point came through crystal clear.
    “You’re jealous of Arianna?” He laughed quietly.
    “I am not. I’m annoyed, not jealous. Got it?” She stepped closer to him.
    “Got it.” He raised his hands like he was defending himself. “But you have to admit, your behavior right now does tend to lead me to believe you are actually jealous since you’re acting in a jealous-girlfriend sort of way.”
    She was not jealous. That implied that she had some sort of feelings for him, which she did not. Nope. He could go and flirt with whomever he wanted to right after they were done with this charade.
    “You’re the one who promised me you could keep it in your pants. And here you are, two weeks later, already chatting with your ex. Damn it, Cole. I’m not going to let you ruin this for me. I need this investment.”
    “First, I was simply being polite and saying hello to an old friend. I didn’t agree to become an asshole for our business arrangement.”
    “You didn’t have to sign a contract for that,” she mumbled.
    “That wasn’t nice,” he said. “Second, I have at no time taken it out of my pants for a woman since making that promise to you. But now that you’ve brought it up, I’m a man, and I have needs. Sooner or later those needs are going to have to be met. So…” He smirked suggestively.
    She stepped away from him until she leaned against the opposite wall. “You, Cole Benton, are a jackass. If you