Faking It_A Fake Girlfriend Romance Read online

  At the same time, I had to remind myself that her issues were not the same as mine. Though I saw similarities between the two of us, I had to separate my struggles with the industry from her goals and dreams. Did I wonder if she was getting into hedge fund management for all the wrong reasons? Probably, but I wasn’t sure if that was my business. When it came down to it, I didn’t know her on a deeper level, either. I just felt bad that I spoiled what had been an otherwise amazing weekend with a pretty girl.

  With my guilt, I decided I would try to take her mind off of it. Mind you, I would also benefit from this as well. It was fairly early, and my morning wood hadn’t completely settled down.

  “I had this put in a few years ago, and have hardly used it,” I said, escorting her to my patio. I flipped a switch on the wall, and the jets in the hot tub started to rumble.

  “You don’t use this?” she exclaimed. “If I had a hot tub, I would be in here every day. I would kill for this kind of lifestyle.”

  “You say that now, but it’s not as much fun to hot tub alone,” I said. “Sure, it’s nice if you’re entertaining guests, but most nights, I just lay on the couch until I fall asleep. Then, when you have friends over, you have to clean it because I don’t like to have a lot of chemicals in here, and people like to behave badly in hot tubs,” I added with a wink.

  “It’s such a nice day,” she said, looking up at the sky. Fluffy, white clouds drifted overhead, creating perfect intervals of warm sun and cool shade. She held out an arm and let her fingers float over the wooden screen that kept the hot tub private, but still made it feel like we were in the open. “I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”

  I couldn’t help but grin at her naivety. We had engaged in sexual intercourse not more than twelve hours ago and she was concerned about having something to wear in the hot tub.

  “I wasn’t planning on putting on a swimsuit, if that makes you feel any better,” I said.

  She blushed and took the hint. After following my lead, she stripped off my clothes and splashed into the warm water. Her perky breasts floated on top of the water, until she finally lowered herself to her neck and paddled toward me.

  The hot tub was really like a small swimming pool with jets. I would have installed a full lap pool, but there wasn’t quite enough room on the deck. I would have to wait until I bought a house in the suburbs.

  “Want me to give you a massage?” I asked. Other women had told me I was pretty good at it. It was also a sure-fire way to get a different kind of massage from the girl once I was finished.

  “Yeah, actually, that sounds pretty nice,” she said, getting closer to me.

  As I worked on her tense shoulders, she started to relax a little. “I hope I didn’t freak you out or whatever,” I said. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

  “It’s fine,” she mumbled. “Maybe you’re right and maybe you’re full of shit. Either way, I can take care of myself.”

  “Good,” I said.

  “So, what would you do if you weren’t a hedge fund manager?”

  I thought for a moment. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I had some ideas. However, I hadn’t shared these thoughts with anyone, let alone a girl I had known for just a handful of days. As a rule, I didn’t get too close to anyone I didn’t plan on keeping around. Friends, family, and business partners could be trusted. But, since I already broken the façade of a happy career, I figured I might as well tell her more about my future goals.

  “I don’t know,” I sighed. “There’s about a million things I think I’d enjoy doing. Property management might be nice. Unfortunately, if you’re not great at it, you’re just throwing away money. I think I have enough now that I could work on some smaller developments. Housing for college students is pretty hot right now.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “Well, this place is nice. I guess you’ve at least got an eye for style. But, it might be risky when you consider the chance of another housing crisis.”

  “True,” I replied. “I also wouldn’t mind owning my own business. If I were the guy on top, I’d make a lot more money, doing a lot less work. It’s a lot like investment, really. You just have to have the knowledge and intuition to make things work out in your favor.”

  “What kind of business?” she asked, as my hands made their way down her back.

  “Maybe something in tech,” I said. “There’s a lot of potential there. You have to find a nerd with the right ideas, but no business sense. Then, you can leave the business decisions to me, and have the other employees really focus on the product. I don’t know if any major existing companies would take me on as CEO, but I think I could get there on my own.”

  “Well, I’d invest in you,” she replied. “I think you’d probably be good at just about anything.”

  I crinkled my brow and held her waist. “Wait, what wouldn’t I be good at?”

  She giggled. “Well, you’re never going to be a professional chef, are you?”

  I picked her up and put her on my lap, my arms still tight around her waist. We laughed as we got closer, the water sloshing over our naked bodies. Then, with a serious look in her eye, she turned and straddled me, carefully slipping herself on top of me.

  It was a pleasant surprise, having her take control like that. I was extremely aroused by this, and she knew. I kissed her chest and watched her face as she got off on top of me. It was so incredibly sexy the way she ground on top of me that I found myself switching positions with her, just to give myself a little break. We made love in the open air without a care in the world. When it was over, we floated around in bliss, exchanging naughty smiles with each other.

  “You’re full of surprises,” I said, as she got out and draped a towel around her dripping body.

  “You keep saying that,” she replied, wringing out her long hair.

  “It’s because it’s true,” I said, quickly wrapping a towel around my waist. “I’m glad you introduced yourself that day in class. It’s been a good weekend.”

  “I agree. I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but I’ve been here just about all weekend.”

  “You don’t have to go,” I said quickly. “I could order in something.”

  She made a pained expression. “If I don’t leave now, I don’t think I ever will. We have to return to reality eventually.”

  “Okay,” I pouted, opening the door to the apartment for her. I followed her to the bedroom, where she picked her sundress off of my rug and tossed it on the bed as she looked for her undergarments and shoes.

  Seeing her in the nude made me horny all over again. And, when I got to thinking about it, I realized that we had yet to have sex in my bed. We had been too busy getting it on around my apartment that we hadn’t even rolled around in my sheets.

  “Ten more minutes, please?” I pleaded as I caressed her body. She tried to suppress a smile, but it broke through anyway.

  “Fine,” she said, jumping onto the bed. “But only because you asked so nicely.”

  18

  Alex

  I didn’t necessarily want to leave Alex’s apartment, but if I didn’t leave now, I never would. I had finally managed to put my clothes back on, and if I stuck around for much longer, he would talk me out of them again.

  “I’ve got to get back to my dorm and do some homework,” I said. “I guess I’ll see you in class. Is it going to be weird?”

  “Are you going to make it weird?” he asked.

  “No,” I said, but I didn’t really know to how act as though I hadn’t been sleeping with my professor. I wasn’t really aware of how I acted in class before we met, so I had no reference to go off of.

  “Then it won’t be weird,” he said firmly. “Why are we talking about this now? I was going to drive you home.”

  “Nah, it’s fine,” I said, slipping on my shoes. “I’ll take the train.”

  “What? No,” he replied. “At the very least, take a cab. I’ll pay for it.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “It’s the train. I take i
t all the time and I’ve survived this long. Aren’t you a little young to be my sugar daddy? I don’t have any experience with those things, but I always imagined those were middle aged men with much younger women.”

  “Cab fare hardly qualifies me as such. Really, it’s nothing,” he said, pulling cash from his wallet.

  I took it, only because he was so insistent. I hated taking his money, especially for something petty like cab fare, but my budget didn’t really allow for such luxurious transportation methods.

  I wasn’t sure what to do as I prepared to leave his place. Did I give him a wave as I walked out of his apartment, or did I give him a passionate kiss? I wasn’t sure what we were, so I didn’t know how to behave. In his apartment, we were in our own little world. On the outside, we were pretend boyfriend and girlfriend, professor and student, friends and friends with benefits. I was just as confused as I had been the night of our ill-fated date, but with even more complications now.

  Luckily, Alex answered the question for me. He strode forward and gave me a nice goodbye kiss. I loved the way his big hands wrapped around my waist when he got close to me. It was so tender and sweet.

  “I’ll see you around,” he said with a wink.

  I went to the elevator and hit the button for the ground floor, watching him disappear as the shiny doors closed in front of my face. I leaned against the wall, the same one where he pressed his body against mine not long ago. How could I ever return to normal after this weekend? This was by far the strangest week of my life. There had been tears, laughs, and cries of pleasure. I had learned insider secrets and learned more about the mysterious Alex Rye. I had done zero school work and lots of flirting. I left Alex’s apartment a changed woman.

  Feeling pretty hot after a sensual weekend, I strutted out of the elevator like a model on the catwalk. I was wearing yesterday’s outfit from the secondhand store, but I might as well have been wearing Prada. I felt powerful and unstoppable. I did, until I heard a voice from the lobby.

  “Rebecca?” a high pitched man’s voice asked. At first, I ignored it because there was no way anyone knew me there. It was likely someone else. But, when I heard my name again, I slowly turned around.

  Standing behind me, slightly dumbfounded, was one on my classmates.

  “Kevin?” I asked, trying to remember his name. I had talked to him on a few occasions, but I didn’t know him well.

  “I didn’t know you lived here,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic or earnest. He furrowed his brow and pushed his dark rimmed glasses up his nose at the same time.

  “I didn’t know you lived here,” I parroted, laughing nervously. I wasn’t sure how to play this off. He must have known that Alex lived in this building. I wasn’t sure if I was playing if off smoothly, or lying myself into a corner.

  “I don’t live here,” he scoffed. “I was visiting my older sister and her husband. There’s no way I could even begin to afford a one bedroom in this place.”

  “Oh, yeah, huh,” I muttered, working on an exit strategy. “Well, I’ve got to run. I’ll see you in class this week.”

  I practically ran out of the building, my heart pounding in my ears. I grabbed the first cab I could get, nearly walking through traffic in the process. I muttered my address to the driver and slunk back into my seat. Back to reality.

  Would Kevin make the connection between Alex and me? If he did, would he cause a scene? Ordinarily, it might not be a huge deal, especially if it would be hard to prove, but Alex was gearing up to give me a pretty big internship. If Kevin suspected anything, he could easily get the both of us into trouble.

  I really didn’t want to text Alex so soon, but this was an emergency. With my fingers trembling, I typed out a quick message and prayed for a fast response.

  I saw one of my classmates in your lobby. I think it’s pretty obvious I don’t live here. What do I do?

  I took ten deep breaths as I waited for the response. I jumped as the phone buzzed in my hands.

  Calm down. I’m sure it’s not a big deal. How would he know you were there to see me? What did you say?

  I don’t know. I just kind of panicked and mumbled a bunch of stuff. There was a picture of you standing outside of your building on the cover of United Airlines’ magazine.

  This time, it took a few more minutes to get a response. I was feeling queasy.

  Chill out. I don’t even know any of those other students. It’s going to be fine. Don’t worry about it. Just think of me, and how much I rocked your world this weekend.

  I wasn’t particularly reassured by this, but I had no other option but to wait until class this week and see what happened. There was no point in him telling me to chill out. That just wasn’t in my nature.

  Back at my dorm, I was too worried to even remember that I promised Carol I would tell her everything. She grabbed me as I went to my room and basically sat on me until I spilled all of my secrets. I gave a linear retelling of my weekend, starting with some details about Friday’s dinner and ending with our soak in the hot tub earlier that morning.

  “I can’t believe this,” Carol said in shock. “My little Rebecca is having an affair with her millionaire teacher!”

  “Ugh, I don’t think it’s an ‘affair’, really,” I groaned. “He’s only a few years older than us. And, it’s not like he’s attached to anyone else.”

  “It’s scandalous and I want to hear more,” she gushed. “I don’t know if I approve of your choice of mate, but it sure makes for interesting stories. Is he good to you?”

  “Yeah, he’s been great, actually. I’ve had a good time with him. It’s too bad it’s over.”

  “What?” Carol squawked. “But I need more stories! How am I going to get through the rest of the semester without some entertainment?”

  I half-smiled. “Sorry. I just don’t know if it’s a good idea to keep seeing him like this. We could get caught.”

  “Do you like him?” she sang.

  I chewed my lip. My first instinct was yes—I did like him. But, I was afraid to admit it to anyone, even my close friends.

  “You do, don’t you?” she squealed.

  I sighed loudly. “I don’t know. I just don’t know what to think. I think I like him, but then I don’t think anything more will come of this. It can’t, right? Before long, I won’t be his student anymore. There won’t be any excuse to see him. Besides, he’ll move on from me eventually.”

  Carol held up her hand to silence me. “I didn’t ask if you guys were going to get married at the end of the semester and move in together. I’m just asking if you like him.”

  “Yeah, I think so,” I said shakily.

  She grinned. “This is too rich. You’ve got to hang out with him again.”

  “I’ve got to study,” I said, getting up from my seat. I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach again at the thought of being in class with Alex and Kevin. I had too many distractions already. I didn’t really need the threat of being expelled before graduation added on top of that.

  “Sure,” Carol giggled. “I’m sure you’re just going to call your boyfriend.”

  I rolled my eyes at her. I didn’t have the energy for anything else. I curled up on my bed and tried to push out all of the bad feelings with good memories. My mind went to how we cuddled on the couch together, watching TV and talking about nothing in particular. It had all been so nice while it lasted.

  19

  Rebecca

  I didn’t speak to Alex again until I saw him in class. This time, I sat closer to the front in an attempt to act natural. I raised my hand a few times to speak during the class conversation, but other than that, tried not to speak directly to Alex. I didn’t smile excessively or look at him more than anyone else did. And, though I wanted to wear something cute to show off for Alex, I went with my standard combination of jeans and a baggy sweatshirt.

  That didn’t mean that there weren’t other things on my mind. While he lectured about subjects I wa
s hardly listening to, I kept imagining him in the nude. I wondered if I could ever look at Alex clothed and not imagine him in the buff. He truly had a magnificent body.

  Class seemed to drag on forever. I wanted to get out of there so I wouldn’t have to keep up with the charade any longer. While I liked being in Alex’s presence, it was exhausting to pretend as if I was indifferent to the whole experience.

  “I’ve collected your papers and I’ll be grading them in the following week or two,” Alex announced to the class. “Don’t bother asking me if I’m going to choose you as the winner, because I’ll probably go ahead and disqualify you for bugging me about it. I’m grading you based on how a potential employer would grade you. Whoever has the best interview answer will get the job. The winner must accept the offer within three days of the prize. If the winner rejects the internship, I will prepare the runner-up. You’ll get to come into the office, have a short orientation, and start work the week after the end of the semester. You will be paid, but you will not be paid very much. That’s just how these things work. Any questions?”

  Kevin raised his hand. My stomach lurched.

  “How can you be so sure you’re hiring based of the strength of the paper alone and not incorporating any bias?”

  Alex furrowed his brow, a look of confusion on his face. “I’m just going to choose the best one. None of you have proven yourselves to be total idiots yet, so I don’t think you need to worry about any bias. Anything else?”

  He looked around the room. No one replied.

  “Cool. Again, I’m required to tell you that I have office hours this afternoon. I’m not technically discouraging you to come, but if you do, remember that it will be during my grading time, and I will remember who interrupts me. If possible, send me an email and I’ll get back to you when I have time. Now, get out of here so I can get back to work.”