Pretend for Me (20 page)

****

Andy stared down at the leaflet Travis had given him.
The picture on the front showed Sara holding a copy of her latest book. He’d
read
Friends with Benefits
several
times. The inspiration behind the storyline was obvious.

“She’s hurting, Andy. I’ve seen her standing outside
of Cube crying. This is a lot harder than I ever thought. You have to do
something about it.”

Travis turned away from him. He watched his friend run
his fingers through his hair in agitation.

“I never thought I’d say this, but you need to speak
with her. You’re meant to be together.”

Andy started laughing. In the past few months he’d
grown a beard. He ran his fingers over the growth while he looked at his
friend.

“Are you telling me, Travis, that you think I should
marry this girl?”

Travis faced him looking him up and down. “You look
like shit. You’ve not been the same since you left her. If I can see this then
the others can. You love her, Andy. Go and get her.”

Andy shook his head. “There is nothing I can offer
her. Shit, I’ve got nothing to my name.”

“You’re a fucking coward if you’re going to let that
little matter worry you. Don’t you see?” Travis asked.

“See what?” Andy turned the leaflet over.
Seeing Sara even on the small leaflet felt good to him.
The
only pictures he possessed were the few he’d taken on his phone. None of them
were anything like having her in his arms.

“Her family won, and so did her ex. You’re gone, and
she thinks you hate her.”

“I could never hate her,” Andy said.

“Look at it from her perspective. Her family came in,
took over, and now she’s alone because you left without a goodbye.”

Hearing Travis speak the truth gave him little
comfort. He’d not done anything to harm her. His love for Sara was the only
thing keeping him going.

“That book signing is in a couple of days. If you
don’t react now she’ll be lost forever.”

Travis words hung in the air like a warning.

“I thought you didn’t believe in marriage or
committing yourself to one woman?” Andy asked. He remembered his friends,
including Travis, adamantly refusing to have anything to do with women who
wanted more than a good time. What had changed in Travis for him to want Andy
to go to Sara?

“
I
don’t
want marriage, Andy. I’m not the marrying kind. I can’t keep it in my pants
long enough to make a commitment, but you can. Sara isn’t a woman you screw and
leave. She’s the keeping kind.”

He watched Travis leave the small apartment he’d been
living in. For the past few months he’d been working in a mechanics shop to pay
his way. The bank couldn’t help him out of the bind he’d gotten himself into. Andy
had no choice but to file for
bankruptcy,
and the
clubs had since been sold off.

Sitting down on his sofa he stared at the picture of
Sara. She smiled while holding her recent book, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
There was no happiness at her success. He stared intently into her deep green
eyes and saw the pain he felt in his heart.

Sara was hurting just as much as he was.

Champion barked to let him know his dog was still
waiting to go for a walk. He put the leaflet down then grabbed his book and
headed for the park.

The park was busy with people on lunch break or
letting their kids wander around in peace. He let Champion off the leash and
sat on the bench reading
Friends with
Benefits
.

He’d read the book several times, but each time he
read it, he saw some of their memories together played out on the page.
 

“That’s one good book you’re reading,” a woman said
taking the seat next to him. She was a heavy set older woman.

“She’s a good writer.”

“Captures the emotion of every scene and I just can’t
put it down. I’m driving my old man mad with my obsession with this book.”

Andy chuckled. He’d never had a woman sit next to him
to talk about a book.

“If you ask me, this woman has her own personal
Andrew,” the woman said.

“What do you mean?” he asked, flicking through the
pages of the book.

“The author knows about love. The way she tells it
just pulls on my heart strings. I wish I knew who her Andrew was. I could kiss
him.”

The woman stopped talking as she grabbed her own copy
out of her bag.

He flicked through to the front page where the
dedication was. Every time he’d read the book he’d skipped the dedication not
wanting to get a view of her personal thoughts.

To Andy, you know who you are. Without you in my life I wouldn’t have
been able to write this book. You’ve given me hope when I thought I was going
to fail. This book, and in fact all my writing, is for you. You own my heart
and always will. I love you completely and not just as a friend. Yours forever,
S.

She’d confessed her feelings for him in a dedication.
He turned the book over in his hands and saw the whole story with new eyes. The
book to everyone else was a love story between friends. To him, this was a
story declaring Sara’s love for him. She’d never spoken the words directly to
him, but no one could mistake what she meant.

He got up off the bench and called Champion to him.

There was a fight he needed to start.

Chapter Eighteen

Andy shaved away the beard and packed up his clothing.
He filled his car with the few belongings he’d not packed away in storage.
Champion barked at him in between intervals of him packing up his car. He
ignored his dog as he sorted through his plan of attack with regards to her
family.

He told the mechanics place he wouldn’t be back and
thanked them for the time they’d given him. Once he was done with his close
contacts, he jumped in his car and started towards Sara’s hometown. He needed
to talk with her parents and then with Dylan Cross in the city. They needed to
know he wasn’t backing down. He was in love with Sara and was going to marry
her.

Backing down was no longer an option. Sara was his
woman, and he intended to fight for her until the end. He could make her happy.
The last five years proved to him he was the right man for the job.

Her entire family was at the house. Andy counted the
cars then made his way round the back of the house where he found them eating.
They all stopped when they saw him.

Tracy stood and hugged him close. “Have you heard from
Sara?” she asked.

“You haven’t?” He frowned when he saw her sister shake
her head
.

“She doesn’t want to have anything to do with us,”
Tracy said.

Sara had picked him over her family. The revelations
he was discovering startled him. Sara loved her family even if they drove her
insane.

“Why are you here?” Danny asked.

“I’m here to tell you I’m not going anywhere. I love
your daughter.” He stared at Martin and Harmony. “And I know she loves me. You
can do whatever the hell you want to me. I want you to know I’m not going to
run. I love Sara, and I’m going to marry her.”

Martin stood, followed by the rest of her family. “We
underestimated you. Sara hasn’t spoken to us since the wedding. Make my
daughter happy, and even though this doesn’t make amends for what happened, I
hope it can help with our apology.” Martin held out an envelope.

Confused, Andy took the envelope and looked inside to
see the deeds for his club. They were still in his name. “You bought the
clubs?”

“We’re trying to repair the damage done to you. I love
my daughter, and I want to see her happy.” Martin offered his hand. “You’re the
man for the job.”

Andy stared at the hand held out to him. The desire to
walk away was strong. They were Sara’s family, and he intended to keep the
peace and be better than they were.

Once he was done with her family he travelled back to
the city to speak to Dylan. He walked into the large building. The receptionist
asked for him to wait. Andy waited for an hour. He knew what Dylan was doing.
They needed to have words before he went and claimed Sara for his own. He
wasn’t running anymore, and he was going to show Dylan he wasn’t going to be
intimidated.

After two hours of waiting Dylan made his way down to
the reception. Andy stood wearing his faded blue jeans and white shirt while
Dylan wore top of the range Italian designed suit. This man was a world apart
from Andy.

You’re the one who can make her happy. She ran from this man because she
didn’t love him.

Andy squared his shoulders and held out his hand.

“Andy.” Dylan shook his hand.

“Dylan.” Andy tightened his grip.

Silence descended between them. Andy stared at his
former opponent.

“Let us take this to my office.”

They travelled in silence up to the top floor.

When they were inside his office with the door closed
Andy finally spoke. “You’ve made a good life for yourself.”

“I intended to share it with Sara.” Dylan took a seat
behind his desk.

“I have her family’s backing. They know I can make her
happy.”

He saw the smile slip on Dylan’s face. “You’ve got nothing
to make her happy.”

“I know, and that must be eating you up inside to know
she picked me instead of you. You can offer her the world whereas I can offer
her nothing.” Andy took the seat opposite the desk. He didn’t feel small.

Dylan merely wanted something that he could never
have,
Sara, and all her money.

“Why are you here?” Dylan asked. All trace of
friendship was gone. The man before him was the businessman.

“To tell you to
back off from Sara and from me.
I know it was
you who organized the bank to reject my loan extension, and you’re the one who
shut down my clubs.”

The other man sat back with his hands behind his head.
“Why should I do that?”

There was no denial of what Andy said.

“Because you’ve
got no chance of winning.
Sara is my
woman, and you’ve got no chance at her. You can either accept it or continue
fighting, but I should warn you, Sara will be by my side throughout it all.”

Andy sat back staring at the other man. His gaze never
broke from his. Finally, Dylan looked away.

“You’ll never make her happy. You haven’t got what it
takes.”

“I’ve been making her happy for the past five years.
All you’ve been doing was making her miserable. I know what it’s like to love
her, Dylan. You don’t love her. You want the power being married to her could bring
you, but she doesn’t love you. You’re wasting your time and money. Even her
family wants nothing to do with you. You lost, Dylan, and Sara is mine. There
are women out there who want what you’re offering.”

“Yes, I screwed up. Sara was always supposed to be
mine, and I took it for granted,” Dylan said.

“Did you even love her?” Andy asked.

Dylan stared at him for several minutes. “No. She was
there, and it was easy. My parents wanted us to get together, and I didn’t
fight it. I didn’t see a point to fight it.”

“Then why try to take her from me?”

“She was there, and it was easy,” Dylan said again,
then shook his head. “Yeah, I lost a great deal of investment because of her.
Her family has pulled out all of their funding. It’s not a problem. You can
leave now.”

“You really don’t care?”

“No, I don’t. Money makes the world go ‘round, not
love or commitment. Danny will learn that.”

It was a cold way to look at the world. Dylan was
blind to what he could have had. Andy shook hands with the other man then made
his way out of the building. Andy felt better than he ever felt before. Dylan
was never going to try to come between them. He pulled out the leaflet and saw
the signing was tomorrow. Andy found a motel for the night. There was nowhere
else for him to go.

He sat on the bed staring at the ceiling. In his mind
he was with Sara, her naked body pressed against his as he took her. The
morning couldn’t come too soon for him

****

The day of the book signing Sara got up and checked
her emails. Her publisher had sent her a contract to sign for her latest book.
She scrolled through the words and then put it aside to sign later. Next came
several emails from agents offering to represent her.

She pushed them into the file she’d designed to answer
later. Her career was moving faster than she ever imagined. Glancing down at
her watch she saw she had two hours left to get ready and arrive at the book
store for her signing.

After a quick shower Sara dressed for the event in a
pink summer dress. The shade of pink didn’t make her hair look garish. She
wasn’t the most color coordinated person and wished her hair had been a shade
of brown at least.