Heat Of The Moment (Brooklyn Heat) by Locklyn Marx Page B

wear this in New York?”
    Melissa raised her eyebrows incredulously, but Kenley put the dress in her suitcase anyway. She had no choice -- it was one of the only things she had that was even close to being appropriate.
    “So how much is he paying you?”
    “I can’t really say.” Kenley moved over to the dresser and rummaged around in her underwear drawer, picking up a handful and stuffing it into her suitcase. Her underwear, at least, didn’t matter, since no one would be seeing it. And if Chad thought he was going to, he had another thing coming. This wasn’t going to be like some kind of Indecent Proposal situation. Yes, she was pretending to be his girlfriend, but that definitely did not include sex.
    “You can’t really say?” Melissa screeched. She set her coffee down on Kenley’s nightstand and crossed the room toward her. “You call me up, demanding I come to your apartment immediately, which I do, stopping to bring you coffee on the way over I might add, and you won’t even tell me the details?”
    “I shouldn’t have even told you as much as I did,” Kenley said, moving past her and into the bathroom. Most of her toiletries had already been packed for her trip to Florida, but she wanted to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. She was going to need all the help she could get if she was going to pull this off.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Melissa asked, following Kenley into the bathroom. “You think I have a big mouth?”
    “I didn’t say that.” The truth was, of course, that Melissa did kind of have a big mouth, and that Chad had sworn Kenley to secrecy, had forbidden her from telling anyone. But what was she supposed to do? She had to tell someone. And although it was true that Melissa was a gossip, when it came to the really important things, Kenley knew her sister could keep her mouth shut. At least, she was hoping she could.
    “So then how much?”
    “A lot.”
    “Fifty grand?” Kenley didn’t say anything, and Melissa’s eyes widened.
    “More?”
    “Are you going to be able to drive me to the airport in a little while?” Kenley asked. “My flight leaves in an hour.”
    “Yeah, sure, no problem.” Melissa never worried about things like work schedules or whether or not her boss would just let her take off in the middle of the day.
    She just did, and somehow, it worked.
    “More than fifty thousand dollars,” Melissa muttered as she headed back toward Kenley’s room. “God, some people have all the luck.”

    ***
    The flight to New York was short and smooth, with no turbulence and a relatively enjoyable in-flight movie, but Kenley’s stomach was flipping so much that she couldn’t relax. She tried to read a book, but the words kept dancing on the page. She tried to eat a bag of pretzels, but she didn’t have any appetite. Finally, she just sat there, sipping her water and taking deep breaths, checking her watch every minute to see if they were there yet.
    When they finally touched down, she was one of the first off the plane. She looked around the airport, realizing she had no idea where she was supposed to meet Chad. Was it even Chad she was supposed to meet? Maybe he’d sent some kind of driver or assistant to pick her up. He probably figured that since she wasn’t a real girlfriend, she didn’t warrant a trip to the airport.
    She glanced around the baggage claim area, but she didn’t see him, so she collected her bags. She had just decided to text him when she spotted him. He was walking through the terminal toward her. Her breath caught in her chest. She’d forgotten how sexy he was.
    He had on a pair of expensive-looking jeans that were just baggy enough to be cool but not baggy enough to be ridiculous. A soft-looking black leather jacket was thrown over his white t-shirt. He had his phone out, and he was texting someone. Her phone vibrated in her purse, and she rummaged around, looking for it. One next text.
    From Chad. Stop staring at me.
    She