Free Famously Engaged by Robyn Thomas

about to escalate.
    To her surprise it was Jake who spoke first. “Give us a minute, Brad.”
    In contrast to Jake’s calm, Brad sputtered and hissed, tension radiating off him as his hands curled into fists.
    The urge to lean deeper into Jake’s embrace was strong, but she stepped forward instead and eyed the door before addressing Brad. “I’ve never wanted to star in a locker room conversation and I know you grill my dates for details. Your overprotectiveness is one of the many reasons I’ve stopped going on those dates. As for Famous Man”—she gestured at Jake—“I didn’t stand a chance against him because he’s a rock god who seduces every woman he meets. His sole reason for being here is to ensure the eyes of the entire world are on me in the lead-up to your wedding so that I won’t be tempted to hook back up with you. A fake engagement might seem a tad excessive, but he’s very dedicated to the cause. There’s almost nothing he won’t do. Including me.”
    Her exit looked assured but Jake’s voice made her pause in the doorway. She didn’t bother turning around. “That shirt’s priceless, Beth. I don’t want it out of my sight.”
    “Fine. You can have it.” The words were muffled as she dragged the shirt up over her head. Letting it fall to the floor, she stalked toward the bathroom in the nude.

    …

    Brad cleared his throat. “Hell, there’s an image I can’t press delete on. You couldn’t have let her have the shirt?”
    Jake regarded Brad in silence while he debated tactics.
    Honesty—so rare in his world—was the only real option. “I thought she’d keep it on principle. She rarely does what I expect.”
    He proceeded with caution, dragging his jeans on as he spoke.
    “What’s the situation outside?”
    “It’s bad. I heard your engagement announced on the radio this morning and came over when I couldn’t reach Beth by phone.
    It looked like half of Melbourne had that same idea, and I couldn’t get anywhere near the place.
    “I had this vision of Beth pacing around in here by herself wondering what the heck she was supposed to do, so I came up with a solution.”
    “A food van?”
    “Yeah, I figured no one would question a charity worker making urgent deliveries to the city’s needy. I was wrong, but the photos of Beth in my wallet convinced the security guards that I had a legitimate reason for being here.”
    Amateurs. His personal security team would never have allowed the breach.
    Brad studied him in pensive silence and then scowled. “How did this happen? Why Beth? And what was that about her and Ihooking up? That’s never going to happen. She might as well be my sister.”
    “That’s what Beth said.” Brad looked ready to deck him, so Jake summoned a chuckle.
    “You ought to hear yourself sometimes, though. Every second sentence begins with Beth.”
    “Interesting. You seem to have the same problem. I’ve spoken to you on the phone more than a dozen times and you always ask about Beth. I was beginning to think you were unstable. Skyla assures me you’re not, but this ‘engagement’ has me wondering all over again.”
    Skyla had stuck up for him.
    “You don’t know Beth at all, yet you’re staying in her house and you’re engaged to her. Who does that?”
    Brad’s concerns about him were remarkably similar to the ones he’d entertained. That probably meant something.
    “If you had advance warning about the engagement, you should’ve done more with it than take her to bed.” Fury burnedin his eyes as he kicked the quilt. “Beth’s not like the women you usually associate with.”
    “I know that. I won’t hurt her.”
    Brad’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t even want to know what I walked in on.”
    For the first time, he realized how it must’ve looked to Brad— Beth kneeling before him while he was naked. He laughed and the other man’s features turned to stone.
    “She was pretending to be in awe of my fame,