My Fake Fiancé (3 page)

His grin disappeared, and his leg started
bouncing under the table. “It can’t be that difficult to pick a
reason or two.”

I forced a laugh and tried to remember my
dream guy checklist. “Because you’re successful and driven, and
wild in bed.”

He wagged a finger at me. “No, no. You’re the
wild one. I can hardly keep up. I’ve never met anyone like you. I
dumped two of the Patriot’s cheerleaders for you. Twins. And
remember that time on my boat with those thigh high boots?”

I reached for my glass and took a long drink.
“Ahoy captain, you’re an excellent seaman,” I finally said.

“And the chocolate body paint. There’s just
no stopping you.”

I blinked at him. Justin and chocolate would
be a memorable combination.

He reached across the table and patted my
hand. “See? We’re coming up with an awesome scenario.”

I was relieved when he pulled his hand away.
Note to self: touch this man as little as possible. May lead to
spontaneous combustion, and no way will that be pretty at Carrie
LaMont’s country club wedding
.

An hour later, we’d decided on a perfect back
story: he’d seen some of my work, hired me to sculpt something for
his lobby, flew me to his office in Australia to oversee the
installation and it was love at first sight. I stayed with him for
two weeks and then he decided to spend some time in his Boston
office, and commute there from Springfield. On his private jet. He
proposed to me with an ad on a billboard he’d created and installed
on the Mass Pike, and now we were just deciding which office he’d
work from after the wedding.

“Sound good?” he asked, after rehearsing our
spiel one more time.

“It sounds like a dream.” Well, the kind of
dream that would make Carrie jealous. I’d die if someone proposed
to me in such a public way. And an ad exec with worldwide offices
certainly wouldn’t have time to go for long walks in the park or
even notice what the thread count was on our sheets. He’d never be
home. But it didn’t matter what I wanted. What mattered was what I
thought Carrie wanted.

I stood up. “Thanks. I better head home.
Gotta spend tomorrow picking over the scraps on the wedding
registry.” Hopefully, something under two hundred bucks was still
left.

“Let me walk you to your car.” He led me out
of the bar, held the door for me, and walked me to my five-year-old
Accord.

“Hey, what kind of car do I drive?” he
asked.

“A Mercedes?” I suggested.

He laughed. “Then we better not valet park
next Saturday, just in case anyone gets a glimpse of my old VW
Beetle.”

I laughed. “Can’t wait to see it.” And I
meant it. I’d always loved punch buggies, imagining kids in
backseats slugging each other whenever one drove past.

He was closer to me than felt comfortable, so
I stepped back even though I was dying to feel his lips against
mine. It was possible we might have to kiss at the wedding, just to
make it authentic, but I already looked desperate enough hiring him
to be my future husband. I wasn’t going to humiliate myself and
move in for an unwanted make-out session. I certainly didn’t have
enough chocolate in stock if he protested.

He must have sensed my reluctance because he
moved back and smiled. “See you next week, my dear wife.”

***

I redid my tie for the third time, and
finally was happy with the knot.
Wish I could get rid of the
damn knots in my stomach
. What the hell? I never got nervous
before performances, and this was nothing more than that—a
performance. Maybe because I didn’t want to screw it up. Sam was
counting on me and I didn’t want to let her down.

Or maybe it was because she was hot—and I was
nothing like the man she wanted. I looked at myself I the mirror
and shrugged. “It’s just a job,” I said to myself. “So play the
part.”

My phone rang as I was leaving, and I pulled
my cell out of my pocket. It was my mother. “Justin, are you
bringing your new girl to my birthday party next week?”

“Uh, hmmm. I hadn’t thought about it. She
might be busy.” More knots tied up my stomach.

“Oh. I ordered an ice cream cake and
everything. I just really wanted to meet her. It’s been so long
since you’ve gone out with anyone…” Her voice trailed off and her
disappointment almost killed me. Or was she playing me?

I got into the car and bounced my head
against the seat. Maybe if I told Sam she didn’t have to pay me,
she’d help me out and return the favor. “I’ll see what I can
do.”

“Excellent. I’ve got the menu all
planned.”

“Dinner, too? Not just cake?”

“Yep. I’ve already gone shopping. This is a
special occasion. It’s not every day I meet a new girlfriend.”

I hung up. Oh, yeah. I was being played.

***

I was debating over which shoes to wear, when
Micki flew through the door.

“You’re back! Did he dump her at the last
minute?” I grabbed her arm. “Please tell me a pregnant girlfriend
showed up. A sex tape surfaced on the internet?” This wedding was
making me whacko; normally, I’m a fairly nice person.

“No! I’m wearing the wrong dress. This is for
the wedding I’ve got in two weeks. Carrie almost threw up when she
saw me in this. And she’s pissed I didn’t get rid of the blue
streak in my hair.” She unzipped her dress and let it drop to the
floor. “Help me change! Grab the slate gown in my closet while I
get out of this.”

I ran to her room and looked at all the
dresses hanging in her closet. “What color is slate? Silvery gray
or blue-gray?”

“Blue-gray with one strap and the Swarovski
crystals.”

I should have known the outrageous one was
for Carrie’s wedding. I dashed out to Micki with it and sighed. “Am
I entirely pathetic bringing a fake date to the wedding?” I still
had time to back out of this.

She grabbed the dress from me and tossed me
the green one. “Not entirely,” she said, shimmying into the gown.
“Someone entirely pathetic wouldn’t have the capacity to realize
it. Don’t worry. Everything should be fine.” Then she flew out the
door.

“What do you mean by ‘should?’” I called
after her. But she was long gone. I looked at the crumpled dress on
the floor and picked it up. Carrie LaMont probably would have left
it there. Like I said, I’m usually a nice person.

I still had to put on my fake eyelashes, when
my doorbell rang. “Shit! I’m not ready.” I ran to the door and felt
my knees wobble a little when I saw Justin standing there.

His eyes swept over me. “There’s my girl. You
look great, love.”

I wandered over to the couch so I could sit
for a moment after hearing that accent again. How had I never dated
a guy with an accent? Instant lust.

“You ready to go?”

I squeezed my knees and stared at my hands,
taking a deep breath.
You can do this, you can do this
. Then
I screamed. “I forgot to get a fake engagement ring!” I screamed
again.

He walked over and held out his hand. “Come
on. We’ve got time to stop at a store. Where were you planning to
get one?”

I threw up my hands. “I wasn’t. I totally
forgot about it.” I bit my lip and tried not to cry as my plan
unraveled. I popped up and started pacing the room.

Justin slid a big hand over my elbow. “We’ll
work this out. I’ve got an idea.”

He walked me to his bug, and as we pulled out
of the parking lot, I wondered how late we were going to be.
Fashionably late would be good. Make it look like I didn’t care
that much. That her wedding was an afterthought I could squeeze in.
After my tennis lessons.
Yeah, that’s it
.

“Where exactly are you going to get me an
engagement ring?” I asked.

He took a deep breath. “My mother. She’s
divorced, but I know she still has the ring. It was this beautiful
antique passed down through the family. Should do the trick.”

“And she’s just going to let you walk off
with it.” I shook my head, a tendril from my updo grazing my cheek.
“What are you going to tell her?”

“That it’s for my girlfriend.”

“Do you have a girlfriend?” Man, should have
cleared that up sooner.

He paused and looked out his window. “No, but
she thinks I do.”

I had a bad feeling in my stomach. “And who
is this pretend woman?”

He turned to me. “You.”

I blinked at him.

“I told her about you.”

He told her about me? I was worthy to be his
fake girlfriend? That set my heart fluttering. “Really? Why?”

He sighed. “She’s been pestering me about not
having a girlfriend for quite a while, and when you asked me to
fake it for you, I thought I could fake it, too—for her sake.
She’ll be thrilled to give me the ring. Of course, I’ll give it
back when we break up.”

I nodded. “Of course. What if it doesn’t
fit?”

“Let’s just take a chance and see. It’s our
best bet right now.”

Justin seemed as nervous as me and I was
touched by the lengths he was going to help me out. Do you add
gratuity on for a job like this? Is he going to expect me to put
out?
Not that I’d mind
…

***

Sam stayed in the car while I went in to talk
to my mother. I had to pull this off quickly. I knocked on the
door, and she was surprised to see me. “Hi, honey. Is everything
okay?” Concern lined her eyes. My mother was always expecting bad
news to slink into her life. She had good reason to believe so.

“Everything’s great. I have something
important to ask you.” I took a deep breath. Even though the whole
thing was a setup, I felt nervous. My mom was going to be on cloud
nine about this news, and then I was going to pull the plug in a
few weeks. I hoped she’d be able to get over the
disappointment.

Mom sank onto the couch, like she didn’t
believe I could be marching in with good news. That just didn’t
happen in her world. “What is it, honey?”

“I know this sounds crazy and impetuous, but
I’m going to propose to my girlfriend and I was hoping I could use
your ring. I can’t afford one, but I’m crazy about her. It was love
at first sight.” I hoped I sounded convincing. It was hard for me
to act around my mother.

Her eyes widened and a tear slipped out. She
got up from the couch and framed my face with her hands. “I’m so
happy for you. Of course you can have it.” She kissed my cheek then
scurried to her bedroom. “I can’t believe I haven’t even met this
girl, but if you’re happy, I’m happy,” she said from her room.

I heard her rooting around in a drawer. Then
she came back to the living room and set a small white leather box
in my hand. “I hope this brings you more happiness than it did
me.”

It was true. That ring hadn’t brought much
joy at all. Life with my father hadn’t been great. He was demanding
and overbearing and he’d cheated on her when I was in middle
school. I should have seen the signs. I should have made him stop.
But I did nothing, and now she had nothing. Nothing but me.

I hugged Mom and felt like I should spend
some time with her before dashing off with her ring. But Sam was
waiting. “I’ve got to split. I’m going to a wedding with her and it
just struck me that it would be the perfect time to propose.”

She sighed. “Such a romantic.” She squeezed
my hand. “I’m so happy. This is the best news I’ve had in years.
Can you bring her by tomorrow? I can’t wait until next week to meet
her.”

I froze. “Um, sure. I’ll try.” I kissed her
and dashed out to the car trying to remember if this is what my
stomach felt like the last time I’d puked.

Sam’s face was pale. “Did she give it to
you?”

I handed her the box. “She’s thrilled. And
she can’t wait to meet you tomorrow.” I gave her my most endearing
smile.

“You’re kidding.”

“Unfortunately, no.”

She twisted her lips. “What if you just tell
her I said no to your proposal? That we broke up?”

I started the car and headed for the church.
“I was hoping we could keep up this charade for a while. My mom’s
been ill, and I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time. Tell
you what. Instead of paying me for tonight, you pretend to be my
girlfriend for a few weeks and we’ll call it even. It would really
mean a lot to her. And to me.”

She blinked at me. “I’m a horrible liar. I
don’t even know if I can pull this off tonight.”

“Let’s see how it goes. If it works, can we
just try it tomorrow?”

She shrugged. “I’ll do my best.” She snapped
open the tiny box and took out the ring. She gasped. “This is
absolutely gorgeous. It’s so old fashioned looking.” She slid it
onto her finger and splayed her hand. It looked like it belonged on
her. “It’s a little big, but it’ll work.” She smiled at me. “I
can’t thank you enough, Justin.”

“No problem.” I just hoped the next few weeks
together wouldn’t be a problem. Sam was great, and my mother might
not be the only one upset when we broke up. Spending more time with
her wasn’t going to be easy. Especially how she looked so beautiful
tonight. And the way she smelled. Her perfume was driving me crazy.
And her short dress showed off gorgeous legs…

“What happened with your parents?” she asked,
interrupting my lascivious thoughts.

I opened my mouth then closed it. That
question cooled things down. I hated remembering. “They got
divorced.”

“I’m sorry. What happened?”

“He cheated on her.” I didn’t tell her the
role I played in it. My father was the coach of our football team
in middle school. He was a college star, and the school was
thrilled to hire him part time. But I was so wrapped up in my own
world, that I didn’t notice how close he’d gotten to my buddy
Mark’s mom. She was in the booster club. They’d be in his office
after practice and I was busy in the locker room with my Game Boy,
clueless. I could have stopped it. I should have stopped it. But I
didn’t.