Unwrapping Ainsley Read online

  “Everyone calls me Will.”

  William John Hicks was seventeen years older than me, given the date on his license. Whoa, that was a lot, but I’d had a daddy once who was almost fifty so I was used to age-gap. That daddy had been one experience I would never repeat, but at the time, it had been good. It had kept me out of a bind when I arrived in New York, an eager fresh-faced youth with the last three hundred dollars in my wallet.

  I snapped a picture of the license.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” He rounded the truck and snatched the card from me. “You need to delete that.”

  “I will, as soon as I send it to my sister. I’m not just going to get in a car with you, and nobody knows where I am. Come on. Give me credit for not being stupid.”

  “This whole idea is stupid,” he mumbled beneath his breath, walking back to the driver’s side of the car. “Are you getting in?”

  “Just a sec, Willy.”

  “It’s Will!”

  I tried to hide my grin as I ran around to the front of his truck and snapped a pic of the license plate. Good, I had enough to ensure if I didn’t see another day, they would solve my whodunnit-it case. He revved the engine of the truck, and I hurried toward the passenger seat. It didn’t escape my attention that he didn’t hold the door open for me this time.

  “Seatbelt,” he said, his already firmly in place.

  With a sigh, I reached for the seatbelt. “What? You want me restrained to make it easy on you?”

  “Exactly.”

  He drove from the parking deck, and I stopped pulling his leg long enough to send a message to my sister with the license plate number and his license.

  I got a ride from the airport. Here are his details in the event I go missing. Love you. XO.

  To preserve my phone battery, I shut it off and dropped into my knapsack before sliding it to the floor at my feet.

  “Nothing seems to have changed,” I remarked, half-masting the window to let in some of the cool air from outside. I liked the feel of the wind through my hair although it would probably be a mess when we arrived at the restaurant. I was surprised to find Alabama as cold as it was. The temperature rarely dropped this low and if it continued it may even snow a bit.

  “What do you mean?” he asked. “You're originally from Alabama?”

  “Yeah, I lived here until I was just shy of my eighteenth birthday. I left and never looked back.”

  “Alabama can be a hard place for a gay man to live,” he replied. “Where did you move to?”

  “I live in New York. I got a nice apartment overlooking Central Park.”

  He whistled. "That must cost a lot.”

  I shrugged and didn’t reply to the comment. I knew what he was probably thinking. Often when I mentioned where I lived, people automatically assumed I had a wealthy daddy who spoiled me rotten while I sat at home looking pretty. It might have been true at one point, but that was complicated. My relationship with Martin had been a vulnerable one. He had meant comfort, and for a while, I had thought I was in love with him. He had been the savior I needed at that point in my life.

  He drove up to the restaurant and parked. If I didn’t convince him we could pull this off, I wouldn’t have a ride home. I would have to call a cab or something to get me to Gardendale where my parents lived. I had wanted to pay for a room at the Birmingham Marriott hotel, but I would have offended my parents. Things were already so strained between us that I didn’t want to exacerbate the issue. I was only spending a week with them anyway. I would be able to last for seven days.

  “Well, here we are,” Willy stated the obvious as he removed his car key from the ignition. “You've only thirty minutes to plead your case."

  "Our case," I reminded him as I opened the car door.

  Chapter Four

  Will

  “Here’s the deal,” my soon-to-be sassy-mouthed boyfriend said as soon as we were halfway through our meal. We were seated at a corner table, and I admitted I had gotten at least one thing wrong about him. He might have been slender, but it wasn’t because of surviving on lettuce. He had ordered chicken nuggets along with a deluxe chicken sandwich, waffle potato fries, and a large glass of unsweetened iced tea. He had taken one look at my stunned face and declared ‘don’t judge me’ before digging in.

  I wondered at what else I had wrong about him. “I’m listening.”

  “I left ‘Bama three years ago and haven’t been back since,” he replied after taking a long drink from his tea. I watched the way he brushed his hair over his shoulder. His hair was really long, trailing down his back in loose curls. I was unprepared for the image that popped up in my mind of him lying beneath me on my bed, hair spread out about his head. “This place doesn’t exactly have the best of memories. My sister, Nicky, comes to see me in NYC from time to time, but this is the first time I’m seeing my parents. I had hoped having my ex there would have made things flow smoother. But like you, I was dumped a few weeks ago. My family is expecting this fiancé that Nicky’s mentioned, and I know it will be torture showing up with the news of being dumped. So that’s why I need your help.”

  I had so many questions going through my head but wasn’t sure if I should ask. I wanted to know for instance why someone would dump him. This guy wasn’t just hot. He was friggin’ hot with a capital H. If I were into guys like him, he would have been perfect. But I wasn’t. He was definitely not my type, and I needed to remember this, especially if we were going to do this fake relationship.

  “You were right about at least one thing,” I told him. “Nobody’s gonna buy that we’re a couple. The age gap between us is huge for one thing.”

  He shrugged. “That won’t be a problem. I’ve dated older guys before. Trust me, they’ll believe it.”

  I frowned at him. “Okay then, but doesn’t your sister know your ex? She’ll know we’re different.”

  “Umm, that’s it. I’ve no need to have you pretend to be my ex. I want you to pretend to be yourself.”

  “What? I’m completely lost.”

  “What I mean is that I’m not going to hide the fact that Cam and I broke up. I just want to give the illusion that it doesn’t matter because I’ve already moved on with a great guy.”

  My eyebrows rose. “Are you always this extreme? One moment insulting me, then another complimenting me?”

  He tugged the straw from between his pale pink lips. “When have I ever insulted you?”

  “Your dig at my fashion sense.”

  He batted his eyelashes, and my stupid heart fluttered as he dished out the cuteness. Shit, if I agreed to his plan, I would be in trouble. He was all dimples as he smiled at me. “That was not a dig. Just an observation. Trust me, you’d know if I were making a dig at you.”

  I chuckled then sobered when he snatched one of my fries from my tray. “Hey! How the heck did you put away all that food?”

  He glanced at his plate as though startled at the question. “I’m a growing boy?” His face turned red, and I couldn’t help my laugh. This was going to be entertaining at the very least. I couldn’t say that I met guys like Ainsley every day.

  “And here I thought you survived on lettuce leaves and sparkling water,” I confessed.

  He scowled at me. “Don’t do that. Judge me before you get to know me.”

  “Like you didn’t do the same to me?” I challenged him. He glared at me, and I glared right back at him, still more amused than seriously pissed. “Look, if we’re going to do this, we have to stop swiping at each other so much.”

  “Why? The hottest sex comes from an argumentative relationship.”

  My cock jerked at his response. Mother of all that was holy. Did he have no filter?

  “But it gets draining fast,” I replied. “Then before you know, you’re both all burned out.”

  “Let’s rewind a bit.” He made a rewind motion with his index finger. “You said if we’re going to do this. Does that mean you’re in?”

  I sighed. “As crazy as th
is is, okay fine. We’ll do it. If you think your folks are bad, you should have seen my mother last Christmas. I swear she had every single gay man in Alabama lined up at her door.”

  “Fuck, yeah!” he exclaimed, and without warning, got up to lean over the table and smacked me a kiss on the cheek. He smelled divine. “You’ve no idea how much better I can relax now.” He just sat back in his seat like he was used to kissing random strangers. If he was, I wasn’t. It was damn unsettling, and I reached for my glass of coke to avoid touching the spot where his lips had been.

  Luckily, I didn’t have time to spend thinking about the kiss as he launched into our plans. He would call his parents and let them know he was staying with me for a couple of days. When I expressed surprise at this plan, he casually mentioned not to worry as he would stay at a hotel. We would spend some time with my folks, and then with his folks before we would both go our separate ways. He would head for New York, and I would have a whole year to figure out how to tackle the next Christmas to avoid my mother’s matchmaking efforts. Maybe by then, I would have had a new boyfriend. Not one I found on the internet or at the airport.

  He excused himself to use the bathroom and call his sister to apprise her of our plans. I watched his slender back as he skirted a table to get to the restroom. He might be slender, but he had a nice ass in the tight-fitting jeans he wore. I’d never been with a guy before who wore heels, but they gave a snap to his hips and ass as he walked.

  “Fuck, you’re in way over your head, Willy.” I scowled at my slip-up in calling myself Willy as he had. I had a bad feeling this was all going to end sour for me, but I couldn’t back out after committing. Besides, this would make the holidays better for me. There was just the problem of having him fit in with my family. They were simple people who would make him feel at home, but they might find his mannerisms a little bizarre.

  I took out my phone and rang my sister. She answered on the second ring.

  “Did he make it after all?” she asked breathlessly as though she had run for the phone.

  “No, he didn’t,” I answered. “Look, let’s forget about Brody. I’m bringing someone home with me though, and I need you not to say anything. Just go with it.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m bringing a boyfriend around. He’s not Brody, but he’s a pretty okay guy. Just don’t act like anything strange is going on, and everything will be fine.”

  “Um, okay?”

  “Also, he’s a little different. He’s doing me a solid, and I don’t want anyone to make him feel out of place, okay?”

  “Now you’ve got me worried.”

  “Don’t be. It’ll all be fine.” An idea came to me. “In fact, we might drop by first on the way to his hotel. That way, he can meet Mama and Dad briefly before we all have dinner together.”

  “Oh, I can’t wait.”

  “Yeah.” I spotted Ainsley walking toward me. “I’ve got to go. See you later, sis.”

  “See you!”

  I hung up the phone as Ainsley slipped back into the seat across from me. He had a wary look on his face. “Your internet guy called?”

  I shook my head. “It’s safe to say he’s disappeared.”

  He gave me a sympathetic look and reached across the table to rub the back of my hand. “At least he didn’t get any money out of you.” My face flushed, and I glanced away from him guiltily. “Oh no! You sent him money?”

  Hearing him say it out loud just reinforced how dumb I had been. “He didn’t have enough money to pay for the plane tickets, so I sent it to him.”

  “Ever thought about buying the tickets yourself, genius?”

  I wished I could gag him. He made too much damn sense. “Yeah, it’s my fault I was too trusting. I’m glad that won’t be happening again.”

  He clucked his tongue. “I hope so. Are you ready to go?”

  “Yeah. Let me get the bill.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll do it.”

  “No, you can pay the tip. I’ll get the tab.”

  He didn’t argue further but allowed me to pay for our lunch. It didn’t miss me that he tipped bigger than the bill.

  “Are you up to meeting my folks now?” I asked him as we left the booth. I caught the door and held it for him. He smiled at me as though to say thanks, and that made my heart skip a beat. I had been holding doors almost all my life. Even Luke had started taking it for granted after a while.

  “Now?” he asked. “I thought we would drop me off at the hotel, and tomorrow I officially become your lover.”

  His eyes were full of amusement, and I tried not to show him how much the last word affected me. I fought hard to keep out the image of him naked. It was too tempting.

  “I was thinking that if we stop by now, we can use the excuse that you just flew in to pop in and out. That way, you won’t have to spend a long time with them during your first meeting.”

  “Oh, that makes sense. I was kind of dreading the endless questions.” As we reached my truck and separated, he winked at me. “I don’t even know what’s your favorite position.”

  I shook my head as I climbed into the truck and slammed the door shut a little harder than necessary. I didn’t reply but locked in my seatbelt and started the car.

  “I don’t know if you’re a top or a bottom,” he continued. “Maybe versatile? No, you look like a top. You’re a top, aren’t you?”

  “For fuck’s sake Ainsley, is that necessary?”

  He sighed heavily. “Alright, don’t tell me. By the time we break up, I’ll figure it out anyway.”

  I glanced at him. “Are you flirting with me?”

  He sat up straighter in his seat. “I don’t know. Maybe? It just kinda happens. It doesn’t mean anything serious so relax.”

  Right. This isn’t real. It’s all pretense. He probably doesn’t even like you. He just wants you to help him out of a situation so stop trying to read into things.

  “I’m relaxed,” I stated, finally getting a grip on my emotions. His words were exactly what I needed. I must have been without a man in my life way too long to have this slip of a boy affecting me like this. I hadn’t slept with another man since my husband passed away. Apparently, rubbing one out when I was horny wasn’t enough to withstand a guy like Ainsley who oozed sex appeal and charm. But it had to be enough. After a few days, he would be back in New York, and I would be back to my life revolving around my veterinary practice.

  Chapter Five

  Ainsley

  “I must be out of my mind. This is such a bad idea.”

  Struck by uneasiness, I stared at the two-story house that loomed before me. Why did I feel like I could deceive these people into believing Willy and I were a couple? He was right. I was hardly the kind of respectable looking guy one brought home to meet family. If we had gone to the hotel first, I would have at least been able to change my heels. I frowned, annoyed at myself. I had never been bothered before about what people thought of me, so why was I starting now? I had no idea why I wanted Willy’s parents’ approval. It wasn’t like we were going to be a real couple.

  Beside me, he groaned as he parked the truck in the yard next to a gray car. “My mother loves this time of the year. She always goes overboard, hence the reason the house looks like someone vomited decorations all over it.”

  Willy’s grumpy tone snapped me out of my nervousness. “It doesn’t look that bad. It’s kind of cute.” In an overdone way. The huge red sleigh at the front of the yard looked like it came straight from the North Pole. He was right that his mother had gone overboard. In addition to the sleigh, the house had a Santa Claus and reindeer perched on the rooftop. The porch of the house was wrapped in greenery and tagged with big red bows. Lights were draped through the greenery but were currently off. A wreath trio hung in the center of the door from top to bottom with a huge festive bow in the middle wreath.

  “You’re not changing your mind, are you?” he asked. “I mean you can if you want, and I’ll drop you off
wherever you want to go.”

  I almost told him yes, I changed my mind, but I shook my head and took a deep breath. I had promised him, and he had promised me. We would do this together, and no one would know our relationship was as fake as my claim of twenty-twenty vision.

  “You’re stuck with my family for the week,” I told him. “Come on. We’ll only spend like fifteen minutes, right?”

  “Hopefully.” He hopped out of the truck before I could respond, and my heart melted a little when he walked around the vehicle to my side. I hadn’t been shy since I learned in high school that Joey had videoed me sucking him off in the janitor’s closet that day. The video had been leaked to the entire school, and I’d lost my sense of shyness. I’d become defensive. I could feel myself getting bashful, however, as Willy opened the car door for me. I couldn’t help pondering, if he did this for a stranger, he must treat the men in his life special.

  “Watch your step. There’s a patch of ice right here. It’s one of those weird winters here with a little snow.”

  I blamed his closeness for my clumsiness. I should have avoided the ice, not step on it. As soon as my heels connected with the ice, my feet scattered beneath me. Mortified, I clutched at Willy in desperation, but I was already halfway down. I grabbed his pants, and as my legs continued in opposite directions, his sweatpants went down. To make matters worse, I hadn’t just grabbed his sweatpants. I couldn’t release his pants if my life depended on it. I was too stunned to find his cock inches above my head.

  Time stood still. I kept hoping for him to do something. The crotch of my pants was killing my balls from my split, but I didn’t dare move. I was perched in an awkward position, just a few inches of nothingness between my ass and the ground. I made the mistake of licking my lips. Recognizing what I had done, I glanced up, hoping he hadn’t caught the move. He had. His eyes bore into mine. A twitch later, and I dragged my eyes away to where his cock was slowly hardening.