Faking It With The CEO

Harper It felt like the longest day of my life. With the check still in my hands, I drove in a hurry to meet with the manager at the family bank. The Harts had a rule of giving part of the inheritance to all members of the family- even their spouses. The sooner I cashed out my part of the inheritance and left this godforsaken place, the better for me. I tried to act calm as I arrived at the bank and shook hands with the manager. It became harder to act calm as he looked at his documents after I had told him my name and he shook his head. ‘I’m sorry ma’am,’ he said, looking at me. ‘Mr Hart exempted your name from part of the inheritance.’ ‘What do you mean?’ My eyes widened. ‘It means that you aren’t acknowledged here anymore,’ he shrugged. ‘Maybe there’s been a mistake?’ The rest of the things he said just faded into the loud ringing in my ears. I didn’t know how long I sat still, trying to understand everything. ‘When did this happen?’ I asked in a solemn tone,

Xavier I could feel her surprised gaze. Whoever this woman was now, she must be pretty important to affect Stan as much. ‘You’re lying, Xavier,’ Stan sneered, ‘as always.’ ‘Stop being such a pain in the ass,’ I scoffed then turned to the woman. ‘Let’s go, sweetheart.’ ‘How long have you been you sleeping with my brother, Harper?’ Stan faced the woman. Harper… For a moment her eyes widened in shock, but she quickly composed herself. ‘Long enough to be his fiancée,’ she replied. I was stunned. This pretty little liar had some guts, I’d give her that. She held my hand and we both walked out, not saying a word until we were outside. ‘Let’s never do that again.’ She gave out an exasperated sigh. ‘That’s a very strange way to say “thank you,’ I grumbled. ‘Are you actually Stan’s brother?’ She eyed me like I was a fraud or something. ‘Unfortunately,’ I sighed. ‘I never knew he had a brother,’ she said under her breath. She was nervous; I could tell from the w

HarperIt wasn’t Stan who stood by the door, staring at me with an unreadable expression.It was his brother- the one who had kissed me that night, and he looked like he had been expecting the reaction from me.‘What kind of games are you and your brother playing?’ I demanded as I faced him. My knees were still weak but my anger held me upright.His expression didn’t change. ‘We’re not playing-‘I didn’t let him complete his sentence. ‘First I get hired by him, I’m forced to attend this party, and now this silly joke!’ I gestured wildly at the pictures on the wall.‘Oh! I was hoping you’d like it,’ he said in a flat tone, his hands crossed across his chest as he leaned against the door.I stopped short. ‘You…did this?’He didn’t deny it. Instead, he stood upright before ambling towards me, his cologne filling the room as he got closer, stopping only inches away from me.‘Why..?’ I made to ask but was cut short by his thumb on my lower lip, stroking them softly. The touch sent shivers

Harper The first thing I noticed was the sunlight.It poured like liquid gold through the windows, forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut.I hadn’t slept this long in months, and the feeling left a pleasant heaviness in my body. When I finally opened my eyes again, the bedroom around me slowly came into focus.The bedroom was huge and well illuminated, with the sound of the river drifting from somewhere.It took me a while before I remembered where I was. Miami. The city I had run away from because of a failed marriage. I didn’t want to be here, but I had to.For my mom.I looked around, but no sign of Xavier or anyone else. Not wanting to stay in bed any longer, I got out and walked out of the bedroom toward the door.What greeted me was a large hallway also brightly illuminated by sunlight. I thought of going back into the bedroom and waiting for Xavier to show up, but my legs wouldn’t move.The hallway stretched out with murals hanging on each side of the wall- beautiful murals that I

XavierI had shared a bed with different women, all willing to satisfy my needs, but my body never responded to them the way it did when she was near.I couldn’t sleep all through the night. I was aware of the woman lying next to me, her breathing coming in and out softly, her fragrance drifting so softly to tingle my senses. But I couldn’t touch, even if I had craved for her for years.It was pure torture. Before the crack of dawn, I put on my running clothes and dashed out of the house, ready to jog off the pent-up tension my body had stored all through the night. Dinner last night was a total fluke, with Stan turning the tables by mentioning Mara. The girl I had buried years ago.Of course, she looked like Harper. That was the whole point. She was a means to curb my obsession- if that was what this thing was. And somehow Stan had managed to turn the tables, when I had thought I’d finally show Harper the real reason he had married her.Some other time then, I guess.Right now I