Big Bad Fake Groom: Deleted Scenes

 

Paige

 

 

She didn’t intend to spy on him, but it happened on accident. They were snowed in together at his father’s lodge in Bismarck, North Dakota. Many of Luke’s father’s friends were down the hallway chatting about business while Luke jumped into the shower in the bedroom they were to share to ready himself for dinner.

Oil tycoons.

She was in the company of very wealthy men who dominated the oil business, but only to appease the game Luke wanted to play with them and the press. He wanted to play a game with her too. The only difference was that she knew what game he wanted to play, and while she resisted it, she was crumbling.

Who could resist a man like Luke Turner? He was wealthy. He was cunning. He was as sharp as a surgical blade. It didn’t help that he was irresistible with those long blond locks of hair that were always pushed back from his strong face. His cerulean eyes were the color of a stormy sea during a hot summer day. His body was built from years of working on his father’s oil rig in the Dakotas. Muscles constantly bulged out beneath whatever Luke wore.

The door to the master bathroom was wide open. Steam from the shower curled out from the bathroom and into the bedroom Luke had insisted they share. To help make it seem real. All of it was a business arrangement, but it was pure curiosity and lust that made Paige slowly drop her things to the bed covers.

Her toes were cold as she tiptoed across the hardwood floors to peek around the corner of the door. It took a moment for her eyes to peer through the thick cloud of white steam. When they did, they landed on the strong backside of Luke standing in the middle of the glass shower with hot water pouring over him. Droplets of water trailed down his slightly reddened skin.

Paige’s mouth went dry as she watched one droplet of water trail down the bumps of his spine before disappearing between the valley his taut buttocks. It didn’t seem possible that someone could be so attractive and intelligent at the same time, but Luke was a good combination of both.

She realized with a jolt that one of Luke’s hands was occupied with something out of her sight and in between his legs.

Her fingers digging into the wooden frame of the door, Paige felt an unfamiliar fire flicker to life in her lower belly. She gasped at the sensation of it.

Luke’s head tilted back against the glass of the shower. There was no doubt in her mind what his hand was occupied with. Her eyes were wide with alarm when Luke turned slightly to reveal a hard and large arousal in his hand. There were times throughout her life when Paige had wondered why certain men walked around confidently. Were they confident because of what they possessed below the belt? Or was it because they were trying to make up for the lack of something?

For Luke, it was obvious that he walked around confidently for a good reason. He had the equipment to back it up.

His lips parted as his hand continued to pump up and down. With each movement, his hips thrust forward, and it made that fire in her belly grow until it burned her in all the right ways.

Her mouth went dry when a groan of satisfaction echoed in the bathroom. Then she heard it, a hushed moan and whisper over the sound of the shower.

“Paige.”

He was fantasizing about her.

The thought filled her with feminine smugness. This was a man who could have had any woman in the world to serve a purpose for himself—whether it was for pure sexual needs or for business.

In Paige’s case, he wanted her for both.

It was tempting to lower her guard and forget what she had promised herself years ago. Losing her virginity to Luke Turner was not a part of the deal, though. Sex was not a part of the deal no matter how many times Luke had tried to get her into his bed.

Though there were times it was hard to think of anything else besides jumping into Luke’s bed to let an experienced man guide her in pleasure.

Luke’s eyes fluttered open. They focused on where she stood, completely paralyzed by the sight him naked in the shower, torn between the crashing emotions she felt.

Humiliation filled her at being caught. Her fingers slipped from the wooden doorframe, and she started to turn to flee when Luke calmly pushed the shower door open. He walked toward her with such calm and precision that it rooted Paige to the ground. Her toes were curled into the cold hardwood floor.

Run!

Her legs refused to move. Luke came to stand in front of her. As he tilted his head down to look at her, drops of hot water trailed down the faint blond scruff of his cheeks. The smell of fresh soap filled her lungs. Her heart pounded against her ribcage as she watched drops of water trail down his broad and sculpted chest to the hardness protruding between his hips.

“Like what you see?” he asked, a coy grin tugging at his lips.

“I-I—” She didn’t know what to say to that. She was in a dangerous situation with a tempting and dangerous man. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“I don’t care if you watch,” he said. “You can help me. By all means, please do.”

Paige took a step back in alarm, but he wouldn’t let her go easily. He matched her steps. She shook her head at him while trying to formulate an appropriate response to his offer.

“You know I can’t,” Paige said. “It’s not—”

“Not what? Appropriate? The godly thing to do?”

“Don’t mock me,” she snapped, and she turned on her heel to hurry away from him. “I was just getting something from the room you insisted we have to share together.”

“We do have to share it, or else my father’s friends would think something is up.”

“Something is up,” Paige said, and she heard him chuckle deeply at that. “I didn’t mean it like that, you jerk. I’m sorry I walked in on your personal time.” She grabbed her sketchbook from her bag while keeping her back to him. “I have to get back to playing your perfect wife-to-be, so please—”

Strong fingers curled around her elbow, halting her mid-step. Her hand was a few inches from the brass doorknob.

That was when a damp and hot body pressed up against every inch of Paige’s back. Calloused hands cupped her hips, gripping the bones there sensually.

“Luke—” she started, but her warning fell short on the tip of her tongue when hot lips pressed against the column of her neck.

His lips trailed up to breathe hotly against her ear. “It’s okay to feel good with someone you are attracted to.”

A shiver shot up Paige’s spine at that. She swallowed thickly as she tried to regain control of her rapidly unraveling self-control.

“I never said that I disagree with you on that,” she whispered.

“Then why are you holding yourself back from me?”

“You know why,” Paige said, her heart beating erratically in her chest. “Please, Luke. Don’t put me in a position to have to struggle against you.”

Luke nuzzled the back of her neck, stirring the little hairs there.

“I don’t think you are in a position to fight against me right now. Your body says an entirely different thing, sweetheart.”

“What is it saying, since you’re such the expert here?”

Within a matter of seconds, Luke had whirled her around to pin her up against the bedroom door. It slammed shut under their weight, and he reached around to slide the lock into place. In the next instant, his lips were on hers in a searing kiss that rendered Paige into a hot puddle of nerves.

His tongue worked through her lips to caress her own teasingly. One hand meandered down the back of her spine and molded itself into her lower back. Her pelvis pushed forward to grind up against him.

A moan left Luke’s lips. His hand continued to press against her lower back while he nipped and sucked at the skin below her ear. Paige’s self-control was quickly unraveling with every touch and kiss. It was sorely tempting to just throw it all to the wind—to forget her vows, the conditions to their arrangement, and to just cave into something wonderful for once.

Except, this was Luke Turner grinding up against her with enthusiasm. He wanted her in his bed, but that was it. He wanted nothing else from anyone.

“Luke—” she gasped, and she steadied herself by using his strong shoulders to keep balance. “We have to stop. We can’t have—”

“Sex?” he supplied, not letting her push away easily. “We don’t have to have sex. Hell, I’m going to settle for just touching you right now.”

“You are touching me,” Paige said. Desperate to escape the flurry of desire between them, she tried to squirm out of his strong grip. That only caused him to grip harder. “Luke, your father’s friends are down the hallway.”

Calloused fingers gripped the back of her thigh before sliding around to trail upward teasingly. Her leg twitched when those fingertips reached the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. It felt too good to even think about anything else, but she clung stubbornly to the part of her that screamed that this was a bad idea.

The entire arrangement had been a bad idea from the beginning.

His fingers reached the hemline of the dress he had bought for her to wear. They disappeared upward before Paige felt them toying with the lace of her underwear. She bit her lip meekly when the pads of his fingers brushed against her intimately through the fabric of her underwear.

Luke hummed into her ear in pleasure. “For someone who insists that she isn’t attracted to me, you feel ready for me.”

“That—” Her eyes widened when a finger shoved aside her underwear. “It doesn’t matter if you are attracted to someone. That doesn’t mean you jump into bed with them.”

“It’s worked for me,” Luke said. “I’ve done it a couple of times.”

That finger pushed against a bundle of nerves. Pleasure shot through Paige’s belly, and her fingers dug into Luke’s arms in response. He rubbed there in a circular motion that made Paige’s blood rise in temperature and her heart rate soar to an incredible speed.

“You can’t tell me that this doesn’t feel good,” Luke whispered, and for good measure, he pressed up against her even harder.

It had the desired effect. Pleasure spiraled through her again, and something loomed in the distance, a tension that wanted to be released from her lower belly.

Chuckling, he reached out with his free hand to tug her lower lip from beneath her teeth before they could puncture the skin.

“Relax,” he coaxed, rubbing against her in a steady friction. “Don’t try to fight it. Just let yourself feel what you feel. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

She clung stubbornly to the reality around her. The heat of the fire in the fireplace. The heat of Luke’s skin pressed up against hers. The way his lips tasted of whiskey when he leaned in to kiss her deeply. She was on the cusp of some sort of delicious oblivion that her body begged to jump into.

And that little tug terrified her beyond measure. There were things Luke was doing to her that made every inch of her crave something more than just his hand pleasuring her steadily with ease and confidence. Her eyes drifted down to the hard organ protruding between his legs. A part of her wondered what it would feel like to have that inside her.

Luke’s mouth tore from hers to trail hot kisses down her neck again. He didn’t stop at her collarbone. Using his free hand, he tugged the fabric of her dress and bra down to bare her breasts to him.

Her hand instinctively shot out to cover herself, but Luke nudged it away with a chuckle. His hot breath fluttered across the sensitive skin there before his lips found a nipple and tugged it into his mouth.

Helpless against the onslaught, Paige let her head fall back against the wooden door. There was nothing she could do besides let the pleasure take over her like her body ached and pleaded for her to do. It pleaded for her damn head and heart to stop worry about what would happen afterward.

Nothing would happen afterward. They had to return to the dinner party, and Luke knew where her values were. He wouldn’t press her if she told him no.

Except, that was the problem. Paige sucked in a shaky breath as she felt sweat drip down the back of her neck. He could trap her in the middle of her own desires. He knew how to coax things like that out of her.

She was skyrocketing upward with Luke’s hand guiding her along the way. His lips were all over her breasts. Sweat dampening his own skin as her fingers clutched at him to hold herself steady.

“That’s right,” Luke said, lifting his head from her chest. “I can feel you that you are so close. Just let yourself go. Give in to it, Paige.”

It didn’t take much coaxing. Her hips were moving against his hand of their own accord. The friction was too much, especially when his fingers parted her to rub even harder. The delicate bundle of nerves twitched helplessly as a searing orgasm, hotter than anything she ever could have imagined, came barreling down upon her.

A cry escaped her lips, followed by a hazy and sated feeling. Tears pricked the back of her eyes as Luke’s hand left her center to pump himself frantically. The hand on her right breast tightened as a low-throated moan left his mouth. His body twitched violently a moment later as he released himself onto her thighs and his hand.

They sank against each other in relief. It was Luke who pulled back first to grin down at her with a hand on the door above her head.

“Just imagine what the real thing will feel like, sweetheart,” he said. “Just imagine it before you start to doubt and think what we did was wrong, because this,” he gestured between them, “isn’t wrong. I refuse to not let myself feel attracted to you. You shouldn’t feel like that either.”

She realized, deep down, that Luke was right to a degree. Still, she couldn’t give in to him just yet. There were other things they needed to do first.

Luke

 

 

“I’m starting to regret that I brought you here.”

A storm of jealousy and possessiveness swirled through Luke as he gazed out across the oil rig to where Paige had settled herself in the grass to draw. The cold wind fluttered her brown waterfall curls that were loose and pretty about her petite shoulders. She had opted for a nice pair of jeans, UGG boots, and a chunky purple sweater to fend off the cold.

She was an attractive sight to look upon. Many of the men on the rig were glancing over at her as well.

It had been a mistake to bring her to North Dakota. The whole arrangement with Paige had been a mistake on his part—not because he didn’t think she looked the part of a dutiful and loving fiancé; only because he couldn’t have her the way he wanted her.

Footsteps approached him from behind. He looked up right as Toby looked over to where his attention had been focused on. A knowing grin tugged at his lips.

“I think you both are doing good,” Toby said. “The publicity is up. Everyone is talking about how you two appear to be in love.”

“We aren’t in love,” Luke said flatly. “I told you this is purely business. This was your brilliant plan to help me get what I want.”

Toby arched an eyebrow at his testy tone. “What is it that you want exactly? You had every right to tell me that it wouldn’t work out with Paige.”

“You were also the one who said my father would like her. I agree with you on that. I just—”

He ran an aggravated hand through his hair. He enjoyed sex, a lot. More than he should. Attracting women into his bed had never been an issue up until meeting Paige. He had never had to work hard at it since most of the time the opposite sex came willingly into his bed. Not with Paige. She was determined to uphold her end of the agreement, which was no sex.

These urges he had developed for Paige over the past couple of days felt entirely different than the previous ones. He had gotten a taste of those sweet lips on occasion, but nothing to satisfied his baser urges. Sex had been causal to him for the longest time, but now it was transforming into something he wasn’t sure he was entirely comfortable with.

Paige cupped a hand over her eyes to look up in their direction. Turning abruptly, Luke stepped out of her line of sight.

Sex was meaningful to Paige. It also thrilled him to think that he could be the one and only man Paige ever sought pleasure with if he stuck with the marriage.

“I’m going blue all over,” Luke said, shifting himself out frustration. “I can’t keep going at this pace without finding a release somewhere.”

“Don’t find a random woman to sleep with,” Toby warned, wagging a finger at him. “We have way too many people snooping around for a good story. That type of story would scare Paige away and ruin everything you are trying to do.”

What was he even trying to do at this point?

Marriage and monogamy had never been Luke’s thing. Even when his father, an oil tycoon, had lectured him repeatedly for never settling down, he hadn’t cared. He just couldn’t fathom spending the rest of his life with only one woman.

He glanced back over the railing to find that Paige had risen from her spot on the ground and was no longer alone. One of his employees had found the courage to stride right up to her.

Jealousy surged through Luke fast and hard when Paige let out a small laugh at something that was said. He shoved the clipboard he had been holding into Toby’s unexpected arms.

“I’ll be right back,” he barked, and slid his way down the metal stairs with an ease that came from years of working on this rig for his father.

Wind ripped at him as he came around the corner of the small trailer the managers used as an office. The second his employee, a baby-faced newbie, saw him coming toward them, his face visibly paled. He scurried away without looking at Luke before anything could be said.

Paige watched him go in bafflement before turning to look at Luke. “What is going on? Why are you—”

“I don’t want you talking to these men out here,” Luke said sharply. “They aren’t talking to you to be friendly. They are talking to you—”

“He was just being nice,” Paige said, shaking her head at him. “Why are you acting like such a possessive jerk all of a sudden?”

“I just know how it is out here is all. You are gone for weeks at a time, so it has a tendency to make someone horny.”

“And you thought I was going to sleep with him in this wide-open field here where everyone can see us?”

She swept a dramatic hand at the landscape. Horny himself, Luke grabbed ahold of her hand to tug her in the direction of a trailer that was empty. He ignored the tension in Paige’s arm as she followed him up the rickety steps.

He slammed the trailer door shut and locked it before turning to face her with a passionate gaze.

“If you are going to sleep with anyone,” he drawled out, “it’s going to be with me. I’m not working this hard for nothing here, darling.”

Her eyes widened in a mixture of alarm and something different. Passion, he realized with an excited jolt, lingered in her eyes. None of the times Paige had kissed him back had been clumsy, as he had expected in an inexperienced woman when it came to the art of arousing. She was a virgin, but not naive by any means. She knew what she was doing to drive him wild with desire.

“What are we doing here?” Paige asked, her voice a quiet murmur in the stillness of the trailer. “What do you want?”

Outside, there was a clatter of oil pipes followed by robust conversation. He knew they didn’t have all the time in the world to fulfill what he lusted for. Toby would come looking for him soon, or one of the mangers would return to the trailer.

He decided honesty was the best answer when it came to pleasing someone like Paige. She knew when he was lying.

“I want you,” he said. “That is what I want. You are what I want right now.”

Paige’s head snapped back in shock at those words. She swallowed nervously as she took a step back to put some distance between them.

“We can’t,” she said, shaking her head. “Not unless—”

“We are getting married, per the terms of my father’s will,” Luke said. “That is also your requirement too.”

“Beforehand,” she corrected.

“What difference does it make? I don’t even know if I can let you go after all this trouble you are putting me through.”

“Trouble?” Paige sighed at him in irritation. “It’s not trouble when you’re in a relationship. Even if it’s a fake one.”

“It’s a headache then,” he snapped. “I’m tired of feeling like I am going to burst.”

“What if someone comes looking for you?”

He could see her defenses crumbling quickly. Seizing the opportunity, Luke took a small step forward.

“I’m not saying we are going to have sex right here,” he said. He knew sex would have to come at a later date, when he had time to make sure Paige never forgot it. No, he had something else planned to release tension.

“What are you saying then?” she asked.

Without warning, he darted across the room in a couple of seconds and wrapped his arms around her in a strong, fervent kiss. The force of it knocked Paige back against the wall, but he kept his grip firm to keep her upright. His hands went to either side of her head, and they melted into each other. Their mouths fought against each other’s for dominance.

Their tongues slipped in and out of each other’s mouths. Paige’s fingers ghosted his jawline and then trailed down the sides of his neck. He couldn’t stand it any longer. He was hard and ready to go, and he rubbed ardently against her thigh that was trapped between his legs.

Paige broke the kiss with a gasp. “Luke—”

“This is how much you drive me wild,” he groaned. “Please, Paige. Just touch me. Just touch me is all I’m asking you to do at this moment.”

“People could—”

“They won’t,” he growled, and he kissed her hesitation away again. “I’m going to go insane with you if you don’t do something quickly.”

“I…” She trailed off, a red hue filling her cheeks. “I’ve never doing something like this before.”

Her fear softened the lustful haze that had taken over his mind and body. Tracing her jawline with his fingers, Luke pressed a soft kiss against her lips.

“I can show you,” he said. “Then you can rest easy. I won’t bother you again for maybe a day.”

“A day?” she repeated dubiously. “That’s not very long.”

“I’m a man, sweetheart. A hot-blooded man.” He shrugged his shoulders before letting his fingers slip down to her collarbone and then to the swell of her breasts. “You feel so good, Paige. It’s hard not to be attracted to you.”

The sound of voices passed by the trailer. Luke refused to let up his grip on her when she squirmed. He watched the conflict play out on Paige’s freckled face before, much to his joy and surprise, she gave a nod.

“It may not feel that good,” she said, and her eyes darted down to the bulge in his pants. “I don’t know what I’m doing or—”

“I’ll help you. Don’t worry so much.”

He reached down to release himself with a relieved groan. Finally, after all this time of figuring out a way to get her to touch him, it was going to happen. He took ahold of Paige’s hand, and after pressing a tender kiss to her fingers, he wrapped her hand around his hardened shaft.

The sensation of her fingers gripping him tightly nearly did it for him. He nearly tipped over that blissful edge into a much-needed release, but he fought for control as he guided Paige’s soft fingers up and down himself. If he hadn’t been so fixated on how good it felt to finally have her touching him, he would’ve laughed at the wide-eyed look on her face.

To savor the feeling a bit longer, Luke leaned forward to occupy her mouth in a kiss. He swept his tongue into her mouth as he pressed her up against the wall with their hands working together between their bodies. He poured everything he could think and feel into that kiss, because a selfish part of him wanted her to give him permission to go the final step.

Paige’s kiss tampered off from the intensity though. He felt hesitation and nerves shoot through her again as voices approached and then disappeared. He needed to let himself go before someone did walk in on them. Not that it mattered. They all had watched Luke bring her into the trailer. They were all aware of what was probably going on, so he let that thought go.

His heart rate increased to a frantic pace that left him winded and dizzy. Unable to control the pleasure any longer, Luke tore his lips away to nip and suck at the exposed skin of Paige’s neck until he was confident there would be a mark—a mark that would show everyone that she was only his for the moment. His legs felt wooden as every bit of blood in his body pooled to that one organ that craved release.

That was when he felt the first signs of an impending release shoot up his spine. Luke let go of Paige’s wrist as she continued to pump him while watching his face with rapt fascination.

“That’s right,” he groaned, resting his head on the wall next to hers. “Keep going. For the love of god, do not stop.”

She didn’t, even though he was sure her fingers ached from the unfamiliar rhythm and motion. The tension in him coiled up before one last stroke over the tip of him finally, and rather violently, threw him over into the choppy sea of one of the most intense orgasms he had ever experienced in his life.

Paige’s hand continued to milk him until there was nothing left to give besides the lingering pleasure. Sweat poured down the back of Luke’s neck as her fingers fell away, but he refused to let her go just yet. He could sense the uncertainty building up in her again, so he gathered her up in a tight embrace to soothe that part of her.

“Don’t freak out,” he gasped, trying to regain control his racing heart. “It’s okay, Paige. That was the best feeling.”

“I don’t doubt it was,” she said, letting out a wavering breath. “It just…”

Luke lifted his head to look at her. It wasn’t hesitation that he sensed. The entire thing had aroused some sort of interest in her. Another rush of lust went through him when he realized that Paige had potentially been stimulated by watching him cave into his desires.

“You’re aroused,” he said. “Am I right?”

Paige chewed on her bottom lip. “I don’t know if that’s what I would say it is.”

“It is that. And I better return the favor then.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head when he let his hand meander down her back to grab at an ass cheek. “You don’t have to do anything. Let’s not push it today.”

“It’s not pushing anything. Do you doubt my abilities to give you pleasure? Because I sure as hell don’t doubt yours now.”

“It’s not about that. We shouldn’t even be doing this in the first place.”

Not willing to let Paige talk herself out of what she felt, Luke kissed her to distract her from that logical side of her brain that often got her into trouble. It worked after a few minutes, when he felt the tension leave Paige as she kissed him back with just as much passion. While their tongues tangled again, he let his hand grip at her hip sensually before sliding down to rub at her through the fabric of her jeans.

A gasp filled his mouth in response. He reached for the button of her pants when someone pounded on the trailer door, dousing the both of them in ice.

“Luke?” Toby yelled. “You in there with Paige?”

Luke pulled back as he gazed down at Paige. There was no mistaking the roar he felt deep within his chest.

He was going to have her by the end of the thirty days, even if that meant exhausting every trick in his playbook.

 

THE END