Cougar Christmas Read online

  Genevieve gave him the barest hint of a smile.

  “Why? Because you have to smack them with a rolled up newspaper to make them mind?”

  “I was going to say because we liked to have our tummies scratched.” Drew gave her an innocent, wide-eyed look and then lowered his voice. “Among other things, of course.”

  She looked down again, her cheeks getting considerably pinker.

  “All right—say people did buy us as a couple. What’s in it for you?”

  Besides the right to touch my gorgeous and unobtainable boss without repercussions? Drew thought but didn’t say. He’d had plenty of fantasies about Genevieve in the time he worked for her and not all of them involved her being hit by a bus. But now obviously wasn’t the time to admit that. Instead he arched an eyebrow at her. “There’s a senior marketing position open and I want it.”

  Genevieve frowned. “I don’t know, Drew. You think you’re ready for that?”

  “I know I am—it’s what I’ve been aiming at all along. It’s one reason I’ve put up with working under you these past few years,” Drew said frankly. “You have to know you’re not the easiest boss, Genevieve.”

  She narrowed her eyes.

  “I’m not the easiest wife either, Drew. You might be sorry we made this deal once you realize that. But by the time we get to the resort it’ll be too late to back out.”

  Drew made a beckoning motion with his hand.

  “Bring it on, baby. I’ll consider it a challenge—like the Perth account you dumped on me the other day after Jared mangled it.”

  Genevieve looked thoughtful.

  “I suppose you did do a good job on that.”

  “I made a point of it. So what do you say, are we on?”

  She looked troubled. “I don’t know…I don’t like lying to Stuart.”

  “I’m sure you don’t, but who gave him the right to poke his nose in your personal business? Just because you work under him doesn’t make him qualified to judge what’s best for you and your relationships.” Drew crossed his arms and frowned at her. “I put up with a lot from you, Genevieve but do you think for one minute I’d stay here if you started trying to dictate my love life?”

  She frowned.

  “I guess I can see your point. God, I can’t believe I’m considering this.” She looked up at him. “Are you sure you’re up for this? This retreat goes right through Christmas, you know. Don’t you want to spend it with your family?”

  Drew shook his head.

  “Nah—my folks have my three older sisters and all their kids to keep them busy. They won’t miss me this once.”

  Genevieve still looked indecisive.

  “The counseling sessions at these retreats can get pretty intense from what I’ve heard.”

  Drew shrugged.

  “It’s one long weekend of holding hands and looking soulfully into each other’s eyes—how bad can it be?”

  Personally he probably would have pretended to be married to der Fuhrer for a few days to get the promotion and it would be considerably easier with Genevieve. Despite being a cold bitch she was beautiful and it might be fun to see how much he could melt that icy exterior of hers before their three days and nights together were over.

  Genevieve sighed and put out her hand.

  “All right—deal. You pretend to be my husband at the Intimate Couples Retreat and I’ll promote you. But only because I feel you’re ready for it. Okay?”

  Drew clasped her slim, cool hand in his larger one. “Deal.”

  Genevieve looked into his eyes.

  “I’m trusting you on this, Drew. Don’t make me sorry.”

  He wasn’t sure if she was talking about the impending promotion or the fact that they were about to spend a weekend pretending to be man and wife but either way he didn’t intend to disappoint her.

  “I won’t.” He squeezed her hand slightly for emphasis, holding her gaze with his own. “I promise you, Genevieve, you won’t be sorry.”

  Chapter Two

  Genevieve couldn’t believe she was actually going through with this. An entire long weekend—from Friday until Monday, which also happened to be Christmas Day—pretending her assistant was her husband.

  For the entire ride to the airport she had been asking herself what the hell she was doing. She was trying to pass off a man—a younger man who didn’t even like her—as her spouse of the past five years. It was crazy. And yet, Drew wasn’t acting like a man who hated her. In fact, he was being remarkably considerate—almost too considerate in fact.

  So far he was doing all the things a real husband would do—or so Genevieve assumed since Charles had always been too busy with his smart phone and conference calls to do them. It was nice but unnerving somehow to suddenly be the center of a man’s attention—especially a man like Drew.

  Of course he was too young for her and she was his boss so Genevieve had never allowed herself to consider him in a romantic light before. But when she saw him in the airport dressed in tight, faded jeans and a dark blue sweater that hugged his muscular chest and emphasized his broad shoulders, she had to admit she could have done a lot worse picking a fake husband.

  He seemed to like her outfit too. Or at least his cobalt blue eyes seemed to linger a little too long where her jade green cashmere sweater was stretched over her breasts. Genevieve was glad she hadn’t worn anything with a v-neck—showing cleavage would have definitely sent the wrong signals. She half expected him to make a comment but he only smiled and nodded at her clothes.

  “Dressed for the mountain weather, I see.”

  “You too.” Genevieve nodded back. “They’re supposed to have record lows this weekend.”

  “So I heard.”

  She was expecting him to make a comment about how they would have to keep each other warm—Drew was good at his job but he had a quick wit and in the past he had teased her though no one else in the company dared to so much as crack a joke in her hearing. But he disappointed her expectations again.

  He’s trying to be professional, she told herself, wondering why his failure to flirt, even a little, was bothering her. This is a business deal and that’s all. She tried to keep that in mind as they boarded the plane.

  But she needn’t have worried—the non-flirting only lasted until they got seated. Before takeoff Drew made sure her luggage was firmly stowed, like a good husband would. Then he buckled in beside her and took her hand, casually twining his fingers with hers as though he did it every day.

  “Hey—what do you think you’re doing?” Genevieve tried to jerk her hand away but he refused to let her go.

  “Holding your hand, baby. Husbands and wives do hold hands, or hadn’t you heard?” His smile was pure mischief and she wasn’t sure whether to smile or slap him. His fingers were long and artistic—and as strong as steel. Obviously there was no way he was letting her go.

  “Look, I appreciate you playing along but there’s no need to start until we get there,” she murmured under her breath. “Seriously, Drew, let me go.”

  “Start when we get there, hmm?” He pretended to look thoughtful. “Oh yeah, that’s a great idea, Genevieve. Because we’ll really look married if you jump every time I touch you.”

  She could see his point but that didn’t mean she had to like it. “I can’t help it—it just feels wrong. Like…like I’m coercing you to be intimate with me so you feel like you have to hold my hand.”

  He laughed. “If anyone’s coercing anyone I’m doing it to you. Besides, this is a strictly private business deal between you and me and I’m all in. So you don’t have to worry that the minute I get back I’ll be filing sexual harassment charges against you with Human Resources, all right?”

  “All right.” Sighing, she reluctantly resigned herself to holding hands with him despite the fact that it felt wrong and inappropriate. And tingly. It feels tingly where he’s touching me. She put that thought right out of her head because it was completely ridiculous and tried to concentrate on the vi