Fakers (33 page)

“No, wait.” He took her hand off his chest
and held it. “Kyra, I love you. I meant it when I said it, and I
mean it now. But I can’t go through something like that again. When
I found you, it was…it was unbelievable. I don’t understand why you
couldn’t just tell me. Why did you think you had to carry that
yourself?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer. “I can’t do that
again. I didn’t know if I should even come tonight, but I had to
tell you that what I said that day was true. I do love you. I love
you so much, Kyra, but you scared the hell out of me. I don’t know
if I’m a strong enough man for you.”

Kyra closed her eyes. His words burned her.
He thought he had to be strong for her. But she could understand
his fear and uncertainty. She focused on the fact that he’d said he
loved her.

“I can be strong enough for myself,” she
said, giving the words strength and meaning. She repeated them
silently to herself. She may not believe it completely now, but she
would with time. “You don’t have to be that for me.”

“I want to love you,” Hale said quietly. His
expression was wide open and raw, always honest, always true. “But
I’m scared.”

“I love you too,” she said, smiling at him.
She had an idea. “But what if we forget that we love each
other?”

“Wait, what?” Hale’s brow drew together in
deep, worried lines. His eyes snapped with fear, and he stepped
even closer to her. “No.”

“I mean, what if we just date for a while?
We can get to know each other even better, and I can work on my
therapy. We won’t go too fast, and we can just heal together
without all the extra pressure. And then, when we’re ready, we can
go back to where we were, letting ourselves love each other once
we’re certain everything else is okay.”

Hale quietly thought about it for a moment.
He was silent for so long that Kyra’s stomach began to flip with
nerves. It was a solution she’d been proud of, but now she doubted
herself. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she told herself
she could handle whatever he decided; she was strong.

Slowly, he smiled, flooding her body with
relief. He lowered his head to hers until his lips were an inch
away from hers. “You’re asking me to fake it? You know I hate
people who do that.”

Kyra laughed, but Hale caught the sound with
his mouth. He kissed her deeply and clearly with all the love he
felt in his body. She pulled back slightly.

“Just for a little while,” she murmured,
their lips still grazing.

“For you, I’ll be the biggest faker this
world has ever seen. I’ll have you convinced I don’t love you. I’ll
fake it so good that you’ll wonder if I’ll even call the next
day.”

“Okay,” she said, laughing again. “Let’s not
get carried away.”

He kissed her again. “Tell me one last time
to carry me through.”

“I love you,” Kyra whispered.

Hale smiled, lowering his forehead against
hers. He seemed to breathe in her words, absorb them into his soul.
Finally, as Stevie and Cade clambered up the porch steps, making as
much noise as possible, Hale stepped away from her.

“Eh. I think I probably just like you, but
I’ll give it a shot, I guess.”

His grin was the cheesiest, fakest grin
she’d ever seen in her life, but she loved it the most.

epilogue

O
nce upon a time,”
Kyra began, tucking the pink-colored princess sheets around the
little girl in a canopy bed. “There was a little princess named
Anna. She was the prettiest princess in all the kingdoms, and her
laugh was the brightest sound in all the lands. Her smile was more
shining than the sun—”

“The sun?” Anna asked, her huge green eyes
blinking up at Kyra with enthrallment.

“Yes,” Kyra said, grinning. “More shining
than the sun. And Anna lived in a castle with her mommy and daddy.
And her Grandmother Florence and Grandfather Garlan lived close
enough to visit every day. And her crazy Aunt Stevie lived just
next door, and Anna had to promise to never repeat the dirty words
her crazy aunt said.”

From the bedroom’s door came a snort, but
Kyra ignored it and went on. “And her Grandmother Annabelle, who
had the same name as the little princess, lived in Heaven, but she
watched the little princess every day. All these people and all the
people in the kingdom loved the little Princess Anna with all their
hearts. She was the most loved princess in all the kingdom.

“She would grow up to become a queen one
day. She would be the smartest, funniest, prettiest queen there
ever was. And her future king would love her more than he’d loved
anything. Together, they would rule their kingdom.

“And there would be hard times, but the
little princess would remember that she was strong. And that
everyone has to weather some storms. Though there would be shadows
sometimes, the little princess would find the sunshine inside of
her to light the way.

“And she would live happily ever after.”

Anna was snoring softly when Kyra finished.
She tucked the blankets tighter around her daughter and positioned
her favorite stuffed unicorn next to her in bed. With a final
goodnight kiss, Kyra stood from the bed and walked to her
husband.

“I don’t think her habit of repeating
Stevie’s curse words is going to stop just because you worked it
into her bedtime story,” Hale grinned at his daughter from where he
stood, propped against the doorframe. His eyes flicked back to Kyra
as she approached.

“One can hope.” She stood up on her tiptoes
and kissed him lightly.

“But they would probably just be faking
it.”

dear reader

I hope you enjoyed this story. And I also hope you
don’t struggle with the same issues that Kyra and Stevie do. But if
you do, know that you are not any less of a person because a
darkness plagues you. Know that something is not wrong with you.
Know that the things that keep the darkness at bay may not be the
healthiest way of coping. Asking for help is not a weakness. It’s
strength and courage. It’s the best thing you can do for
yourself.

If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a
quick review. It would mean the world to me!

At the end of this book is the first
chapter from the bestselling release, The Suit, by B N
Toler!

You will want to check out this
awesome new romance!

about the author

Meg Collett lives deep in the hills of Tennessee
where there the cell phone service is a blessing and the
Internet
is a myth of epic proportions. She is the mother of
one giant horse named Elle, one giant dog named Wylla, and one
little dog named Mandy. Her husband is a saint for putting up with
her ragtag life.

Sign up for Meg’s newsletter
now!

Other Books by Meg Collett

End of Days series

The Hunted One

The Lost One

The Only One

acknowledgments

Thank you to my team of people who help me publish.
It’s a long journey to publish a book, and my first stop is always
with my fantastic critique partner, B N Toler. Without your
enthusiasm for this project, I would have convinced myself I
couldn’t tell this story. To my amazing street team turned beta
readers: you all rock epically. Elizabeth Phelps, thank you for
your wonderful editing. And as always, a big thanks to Crenel
Publishing for formatting my books so perfectly every time. Thank
you to Calista for being the friend who I could always talk to. You
know my darkness, and you stick with me through all the bad days.
And finally, thank you to Nate. Your love saves me every day.

preview the first chapter of BN
Toler’s The Suit!

Chapter One

Earl’s
, Holly Springs’ local bar and
grill, is pretty busy tonight. A few people that attended the
funeral today are drinking beer and eating burgers, still wearing
their dress clothes. I couldn’t wait to get out of my dress and
throw on my favorite jeans and just get a moment alone.

“Oh, Edie. I’m so sorry for your loss.” Elma
Hart takes my hands in hers and squeezes them as she plants a hard
kiss on my cheek. I was just heading back to my table from the
restroom when she caught me.

“Mom, it’s Edie…like, Edeeee,” her son,
Jason, lets the last syllable of my name drag on in emphasis,
correcting her for me. I give him an appreciative glance.

She nods her head and backs away. “That’s
what I said,” she retorts as she cuts him a stern glare, and he
shakes his head as he gives me an apologetic look.

“Thank you, Ms. Hart. I appreciate your kind
words,” I offer, not wishing to watch them hash it out. They both
give me a friendly nod and head toward the exit.

I plop down in the booth with a sigh and
pick up my pint glass.

“How’re you holding up?” Nikki, my best
friend asks as she bumps my shoulder with hers.

“Honestly…” I pause. A large part of me
wants to completely unload on her, share my hurt, pain, and fear
with someone, but I can’t. It’s not Nikki’s fault that the last
thirteen years of my life has been filled with losing anyone that
means anything to me. I swear my life sounds like something that
came out of some steamy, tragic romance novel—except it’s missing
the steamy romance part. Besides, Nikki’s been dealt her own shitty
hand in life, with a mother that ran out on her and a father who
seems he couldn’t care less if she existed or not. “Beer’s
helping.” I smile before taking a large gulp.

“You sure?” Nikki gives me worried look.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to become an
alcoholic because I’m sad. But, I might get hammered tonight,” I
warn her.

“Then we should eat first.” She smiles.
“Then get hammered,” she says, as she pulls her long, blonde hair
over one shoulder.

“Always the voice of reason, Miss Reese.” I
nudge her with my shoulder.

“With a troublemaker like you, someone has
to be,” she jests. We both giggle because if you asked anyone in
this town about me, they’d tell you I was as good and wholesome as
they come.
Edie James, sweet as apple pie and loving
granddaughter of Bud James.
While this description is kind,
I’ve always hated it a little bit. Deep down, there’s a part of me
that wants to go wild, live a little. Do things that nobody thinks
I will.

Two hours later, Joey Harris and Dierk
Reynolds sit across from us, and have us giggling like two idiots.
I don’t even know what they’re saying, I’m that drunk, but whatever
it is, it’s funny.

Joey has been a longtime friend and works on
my grandfather’s farm—
or
my farm now. He always looks out
for me and I kind of think of him like a brother. Nikki and Dierk
have this ongoing flirt-fest every time they’re around each other,
but never do anything about it. Nikki, the town beauty, and by
beauty I mean, she’s won all the pageants growing up; homecoming
queen, prom queen—you get the picture—and has a reputation for
being a bit of a tease. Dierk is smart enough not to completely
fall for her antics, but that doesn’t stop him from indulging in
her games. Most men couldn’t help but go crazy for her; blonde
hair, blue eyes, big boobs, tiny waist…basically she’s Barbie.

“When are you going to ask me out Dierk?”
she giggles before biting her lower lip. I roll my eyes at Joey,
and he just smirks before taking a sip from his beer. Joey and I
have had to bear witness to this exchange between Nikki and Dierk
one too many times.

“As soon as you get down on your hands and
knees and ask me to, Nik,” he says before sipping his beer. Dierk
is equally as good-looking as Nikki. Black hair, blue eyes like
I’ve never seen, and a body you can tell he tortures daily at the
gym it’s so perfect. They’d make beautiful babies together, for
sure, but both of them are the types that never work for anything.
If it doesn’t fall in their laps, they don’t get it, but as it goes
for most wealthy, good-looking kids growing up, they seldom go
without anything they want; except when it comes to each other.
They love torturing each other, and neither will ever give in.

“I guess that means it’ll never happen,
huh?”

“What a shame, too.” Dierk leans toward her
over the table. His incredible lips—
yes, I’ve noticed
them
—quirk into a slight smirk. “I think I could show you a
thing or two.”

Joey snorts and Dierk cuts him a sharp
look.

“Mighty confident,” I interrupt. Men always
talk like they’re God’s gift to sex and women should tremble in
their presence. I’m not the most experienced in the sex department,
my lover tally totaling…
wait for it
…one. I can’t say sex was
bad with Mick—
my ex
, but it wasn’t so good I’d beg for a
repeat performance. My fantasies when it comes to men are far and
vast from what’s available here in Holly Springs. Nikki says it’s
because I read too many crap romance novels and it’s made me create
this image of a man that doesn’t exist. Maybe that’s true, but I’d
rather wait for a chance at perfection than settle for
mediocre.