It's Only Make-Believe Read online

  It's Only Make-Believe

  by Shawn Lane

  Amber Quill Press

  www.amberquill.com

  Copyright ©2008 by Shawn Lane

  NOTICE: This eBook is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution to any person via email, floppy disk, network, print out, or any other means is a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines and/or imprisonment. This notice overrides the Adobe Reader permissions which are erroneous. This eBook cannot be legally lent or given to others.

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  It's Only Make-Believe

  by Shawn Lane

  CONTENTS

  Also By Shawn Lane

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  Shawn Lane

  Amber Quill's Rewards Program

  * * * *

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  It's Only Make-Believe

  by Shawn Lane

  IT'S ONLY MAKE-BELIEVE

  By

  SHAWN LANE

  * * * *

  Amber Quill Press, LLC

  www.amberquill.com

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  It's Only Make-Believe

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  Also By Shawn Lane

  Sorcerer's Lover

  The Squire

  At Long Last

  Jake's Regret

  A Knight For All

  Most Likely To Succeed

  The Other Side

  Pulling Away

  [Back to Table of Contents]

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  It's Only Make-Believe

  by Shawn Lane

  CHAPTER 1

  "So, you're not even having sex?"

  Sebastian Kincaid did not want to hear the answer. Except for not wanting to look like a geek, he would have plugged his ears and sung loudly during Melody Jenks's response to Ming Chow's inappropriate question.

  The three of them were having lunch on the patio of a lovely little bistro where they frequently dined. They'd been discussing Melody's relationship, such as it was, with eligible bachelor Luther Winthrop.

  "Keep your voice down," Melody hissed.

  Indeed, Sebastian thought, lowering his sunglasses a tad to glance around at the other tables. No one seemed to be paying particular attention to them.

  "But to answer your question..."

  Bloody hell.

  "No," Melody said. She took a large sip of her mango margarita, leaving a rather large imprint of dark red lipstick on the rim.

  Sebastian relaxed a bit. So she hadn't had sex with Luther.

  Good.

  "The thing of it is we aren't really dating." Melody leaned her head on one of her hands. Her polished nails bore the same red as her lipstick. They both went rather nicely with her warm cinnamon skin.

  "What? You've been on three dates," Ming protested.

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  Sebastian shot the perky Asian with the dyed red hair a quick look of disdain. She really needed to keep quiet. He made a note to himself to give his paralegal extra work when they returned to the office. He checked his watch.

  "Oh, please," Ming said, watching him. "We haven't been here that long."

  "I didn't say anything."

  Ming rolled her eyes and turned back to Melody. "You were saying?"

  "Luther and I are old friends," Melody said. "Now that he's rich and eligible, women won't leave him alone."

  "I should have such problems," Sebastian muttered. He took a large swallow of his beer.

  Melody smiled. "You might have those problems if you loosened up." She indicated his Armani suit. "Everyone's causal these days. Haven't you noticed you're the only one still dressing like that in the office?"

  "I'm a barrister. I like to dress the part."

  "It's lawyer, Einstein," Ming said. "You're in America now."

  "Well, whatever. What has that got to do with women throwing themselves at me or not anyway?"

  "You're not approachable." Melody studied him with her large, chocolate brown eyes. "You're cute enough for a white guy."

  Thanks.

  "An English white guy no less," Ming said, giggling.

  "I think I have a new case you'll need to do loads of overtime on," Sebastian told her.

  Ming bowed her head and took a sip of her drink.

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  Melody laughed. "The point is you look GQ, but your expression and your attitude all say 'Get away from me.'"

  "Hardly."

  "Anyway, we're talking about Mel and Luther, not you,"

  Ming said. "So women want Luther. Why does that mean you're not having sex?"

  He hated himself for it, of course, but Sebastian almost wanted to know the answer. Pathetic really. He shouldn't be getting a woody over a co-worker anyway. Definitely bad form.

  Melody shrugged. "Like I said, we're old friends. Basically, Luther asked me to pretend to be his girlfriend to keep all the overzealous women away."

  Sebastian snorted. He knew it was indelicate, but really.

  What nonsense.

  Both women glanced at him.

  "What's the derisive snort for?" Ming asked.

  "It's more likely he hasn't come out of the closet and he wants Melody to pretend to be his girlfriend for that reason."

  "Oh, no. Luther is not gay," Melody insisted.

  Whatever. Sebastian gestured for the waiter to bring the check.

  He'd had the hots for Melody since he ended up joining the law firm Peyton, Wallace, and Jenks earlier that year. Melody being the Jenks in the firm's name. He hoped to make partner himself one day, and getting hard whenever he was near Melody would not help his chances. He really needed to get laid. Maybe that would help. Of course, getting images of him and Melody naked out of his head might help, too.

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  "You're more of a bore than usual, Kincaid," Ming declared, reaching down to pick up her purse. "What's got your tighty-whiteys in a wad?"

  Sebastian ignored her and handed his credit card to the waiter.

  Ming rolled her eyes again and turned her attention back to Melody. "Don't you want it to be something more?"

  "Sure, but if Luther doesn't, what can I do?"

  "Precisely," Sebastian agreed, signing the slip. "She doesn't want to appear pathetically desperate like all those women Winthrop wants to avoid, does she?"

  They rose from the table, and Ming grabbed Melody's arm.

  "Let's go for drinks after work and we can talk about this further. You know, develop a strategy."

  "Well..."

  "How about Barton's?" Ming looked back at Sebastian.

  "And you aren't invited, Kincaid. Ladies only."

  "I assure you I have better things to do with my Friday night than drink fruity martinis and discuss Melody's lack of sex with Luther Winthrop," Sebastian said.

  "All right," Melody agreed. "But I can't stay too long.

  Luther wants to have a late dinner."

  Swell.

  * * * *

  Sebastian set his coffee cup on his desk and read through the latest brief on his most important case. He leaned back in his chair and yawned. Saturday morning in the office. How sorry was that?

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  His better thing to do last night was to watch a crime-show marathon on television. Wha
t a bloody idiot he was. Melody wasn't attracted to him.

  "Get over it already."

  "Get over what?" Melody, also known as the object of his lust, poked her head into his office.

  God, he hadn't known anyone else was there. He plastered on his most-fake smile. "A headache. I have a habit of talking to myself."

  "Oh."

  She nodded and stood in his doorway with her arms folded across her chest. Too bad. She was blocking her pert breasts.

  She was dressed even more casually than during the week, wearing gray sweatpants and a thin white T-shirt. Her thick mass of brown and blond braids had been pulled back by a gray twist. No makeup either. His cock didn't seem to care. It leapt to attention.

  "I didn't expect to see you here this morning."

  "I just had a couple of things to do since I left early to go to Barton's," she explained. "You didn't miss much. Too crowded. How was your date?"

  Sebastian's mind blanked. "Date?"

  She shrugged. "You said you had better things to do, so I assumed..."

  "Right, right. It was extraordinary." Lord, he was a geek.

  "Couldn't have been that extraordinary. Look where you are first thing in the morning." She smiled. For a moment, she hesitated, looking like she wanted to say something.

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  "Want to have a seat?" He gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

  "Yeah, there is something I kind of want to talk to you about. Let me get my coffee and I'll be right back."

  Sebastian watched her disappear down the hall. He certainly hoped he hadn't screwed up a case. Though he was new to the firm, he'd been practicing law in California for a few years. He scooted closer to his desk. Wouldn't do for her to see his boner.

  She smiled when she came back with her travel mug of coffee and sat down. "I'm glad you're here, Sebastian. I could really use a guy's opinion."

  "Uh-huh. What's up?"

  "About Luther."

  Great, just great.

  Melody sighed. "The thing is, I'd like to take our friendship further. I've been in love with Luther for the longest time."

  She peered at him over her coffee mug. "I kind of doubt you've ever been in love with someone who doesn't feel the same way."

  Um, welcome to my life, Sebastian thought.

  "Sebastian?"

  "Uh, yes, as a matter of fact, I'm in a similar situation myself," he admitted.

  She raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

  Sebastian pushed away the annoyance. "Why is that so difficult to believe?"

  "I don't know." Melody shifted in her seat. "You just seem so—"

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  "Put together?"

  "I was going to say standoffish. Unemotional." She laughed. "No offense."

  "Sure, stiff upper lip and all."

  "Anyway, we were talking last night at Miguel's Cantina and—"

  "I thought you went to Barton's."

  She waved one of her manicured hands. "I told you, too crowded. We switched to Miguel's."

  And that place wasn't too crowded? he wanted to ask, but decide not to bother. Miguel's was a meat market. He didn't like the idea of Melody there. Not that he had any say, obviously.

  "Ming said if I really wanted to get Luther's attention I should make him jealous."

  Sebastian raised an eyebrow. Leave it to Ming to suggest something underhanded. He sighed. "Why don't you try something old-fashioned?"

  "What's that?" She frowned over her mug.

  "Tell him how you feel." Okay, he should probably take his own advice, but the truth was he knew she wasn't attracted to him. Unless Luther really was gay, Sebastian would bet he did like Melody.

  "I don't think I could do that. I mean, how embarrassing if he doesn't return my feelings. You know?"

  Yes, he knew.

  "So, if I do decide to make him jealous, I need a man to do it with."

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  Okay, his cock perked up at that. He cleared his throat and shifted in his chair.

  Melody laughed. "Well, not do it with, exactly. I meant make him jealous. Someone he could see me going out with and think we were doing it."

  "Bad idea."

  Melody smiled a little. "Sorry you feel that way, Sebastian.

  I was thinking of asking you to be the guy. But if you think it's a bad idea..."

  "Wait." Lord, he'd yelped like a desperate puppy. Down, boy. He forced a casual smile on his face. "You want me to be the one to make Luther jealous?"

  "Well, yeah, Ming actually thought of it." She sipped her coffee and then brightened. "Hey, maybe it could work for you, too."

  "Me?"

  She practically bounced in the chair in excitement. "Sure.

  If the woman you're in love with sees you with me, she might get jealous, too, and realize what she's missing."

  He almost told her the truth, but stopped himself with effort. The sky would probably fall first. Still the possibility of a few dates with the object of his desire couldn't be a bad thing, could it?

  "Sebastian? Look, forget it. I can see you don't like the idea. I can find someone else," Melody said, rising from the chair.

  "No." There was that stupid eagerness again. "I'll do it."

  A bright smile lit her beautiful face. "You will? Really?"

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  "I still think it's brainless and idiotic," he said, "but I am at your disposal."

  "Great. Are you free tonight?"

  Yes, his cock tried to speak up. "Yes. What do you have in mind?"

  "We could go to dinner, and then there's this little jazz club Luther sometimes hangs at. We could go there."

  He loathed jazz almost as much as country. "Sure. Sounds great."

  "Thanks, Sebastian. Don't worry," she said, pausing to laugh, "it's only make-believe."

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  14

  It's Only Make-Believe

  by Shawn Lane

  CHAPTER 2

  The doorbell to her townhouse rang precisely at seven. Mel grabbed her little black purse and went to the door.

  "Right on time," she said.

  Sebastian shrugged. "I pride myself on promptness."

  Mel smiled up at him. Geez, he was tall. She always knew he towered over her five-foot-six frame, but somehow outside the office he seemed even taller.

  His light brown hair was carefully groomed without a single strand out of place. She quickly noted he'd chosen to wear a navy shirt that complemented his blue eyes. Mel blinked. This close, she could see they were a deep sapphire. And if she wasn't mistaken, the shirt was silk. She dropped her gaze and saw he was wearing black dress pants. What had she expected out of Sebastian? Jeans and a T-shirt? Not hardly.

  "Shall we?"

  "Just let me grab my sweater," Melody said. "Could be cool later."

  He turned and headed to his waiting car. Her gaze followed. He had a very nice broad back. Great body, really.

  And that ass. Yum. Whoever he was in love with must be a complete idiot. Mel shook her head.

  He waited at his Lexus for her and opened the passenger door.

  She laughed. "I can open my own door, Sebastian.

  Remember, this isn't a real date."

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  He shrugged again, got in, and started the car. "Where do you want to have dinner? I know this English pub in Santa Monica."

  She wrinkled her nose. "English food? Honey, there's a reason you're all so skinny. You all don't even want to eat that stuff." Melody laughed.

  She thought about it for a minute. She'd decided to dress in black leggings and a white blouse. Couldn't go wrong with ebony and ivory, she'd decided with a chuckle. But if
she suggested Italian food, with her luck she'd splatter red sauce all over her white blouse.

  "Okay, so where?" His tone was a bit impatient.

  "You got a bit grumpy in the last few hours." Mexican food would mean salsa, also red and messy. She knew a soul food restaurant or two, but after she dissed his English food Mel suspected he wouldn't be open to the suggestion.

  "It's not our last meal, Melody. Make a decision." He taped his long fingers on the steering wheel.

  "Are you always this charming on dates?" She sighed.

  "How about Marv's Café?"

  "Done."

  * * * *

  Dinner hadn't been too awkward, Mel decided as she slid into the booth in the corner of the jazz club. This was her favorite seat in the place because she could see the entire club, including the entrance. So far she didn't spot Luther in the throng of mostly African-American patrons.

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  Sebastian frowned. "Are these seats made out of pleather?"

  "What?" Melody asked, returning her attention to him.

  "The booth seats. These aren't real leather, are they?"

  "You really are a snob, Sebastian. Loosen up."

  They'd spent most of dinner talking about their respective childhoods—his in London and hers in South Central Los Angeles. Two completely different worlds, but they'd laughed about their differences. Neither one of them had been unhappy.

  A waiter in tight black pants, white shirt, and black vest came to take their drink orders. Mel ordered a chocolate martini and Sebastian ordered a glass of chardonnay.

  "And just how am I supposed to loosen up?"

  "Well, for starters"—she waved her hand at him—"look at you. You always dress like you expect to be on the best dressed list. Do you even own a pair of jeans?"

  "I—"

  She laughed. "It's okay. I guess it's just you."

  His mouth thinned for a moment and he tapped his fingers on the table.

  "So where's the stud?" Sebastian gazed around the room.

  "I don't see him yet," Melody admitted. She was pretty sure he would be here, though. Luther spent most of his Saturday nights here. She'd been here more than a few times with him. As a matter of fact, she had been surprised when he didn't ask her for this weekend.