Pretend for Me (4 page)

“I need a little more information than that.”

Sara growled at him in frustration. “Whenever you ask
for a favor I do it without hesitation. I organized the band for you for Cube,
and all I’m asking is for you to be my pretend boyfriend for a weekend and then
again in a month’s time.”

“Wait, two occasions you need a pretend boyfriend?”
Her words were rolling into one, and he couldn’t understand what she actually
needed anymore.

“Yes, keep up, Andy, this is important to me.”

She stood up and started pacing. Champion followed her
movements like the devoted pup he was. The only reason he’d bought the blasted
thing was because she’d fallen in love with the animal on sight. If he was
being truthful to himself, he’d fallen in love with Champion as well even if it
was an ugly dog.

Her pacing was giving him a headache. Andy stood,
grabbed her arms and sat her down in front of him. “Now, we’re going to go
through this without all your pacing and panicking. You need a pretend
boyfriend, and I’ll play the part as long as you tell me why,” he said.

Sara turned and threw her arms around him. “Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. You’re a real lifesaver.”

He stroked her back. His thoughts turned sinful as he
wondered what she’d feel like pressed against him naked.

“Right, Danny my oldest brother is getting married in
a month’s time. Bethany is having a bridal shower, and the two families are
getting together before the main event to celebrate and get to know each other.
Are you with me so far?”

Andy nodded waiting for her to continue.

“Dylan Cross is an ex-boyfriend of mine. On the night
he proposed I kicked him to the curb and moved here.”

“Wait, a guy proposed to you?”

“Yes, Dylan was a couple of years older than me. We
started dating before prom. He took me to prom. He’s the golden boy in my
parents’ eyes and in town. Everyone adored him, and I thought I was in love
with him. I’m not, but my family truly believes he’s the right man for me.”

He didn’t like that. She’d never told him about having
a serious relationship. Andy felt jealousy strike him. Another man had been intimate
with her.

“What’s the problem with him?” he asked, trying to
stop the jealousy stabbing at him.

“Everyone thinks he’s the golden boy, but before he
proposed I actually caught him kissing another girl. I heard his intentions,
and instead of settling for a cheating scumbag that the town adored, I ran.”

“Oh.” He hated Dylan on principle. “Did you love him?”

“I thought I did, but on great reflection I now know
he was only a passing fancy.”

“Why the pretend boyfriend?” he asked.

“Dylan is going to be there. I can’t be sure if he’ll
bring a date or not. If he doesn’t then my parents are going to try to push us
together. I know my family better than anyone. They want to see me married off,
and I can’t handle that. I’m not angry at Dylan, but I don’t want everyone to
know what happened between us.”

“I’ll do it.” Andy took her hand in his. There was no
way he was risking Sara leaving him for a guy who went around kissing other
girls. Besides, Sara was his.

“Are you sure?”

“You need a pretend boyfriend, and I’m the man for
you.”

“Oh, Andy, you’re a lifesaver.” She repeated the words
she’d said before.

She threw her arms around him once again. He could get
used to having her pressed against him.

He held her close as she laughed.

When she pulled back she cupped his cheek. “Thank you.
You’re going to have to convince my three brothers that you’re the right guy
for me.”

Seeing the smile on her face Andy was prepared to face
anything.

“Sara, we’ve known each other for the past five years.
I’m sure there isn’t that much between us that we don’t know about each other.”

“I’m going to go and get my photograph albums. I’ve
not shown you them, and I need you to be prepared for next week.”

She jumped over him and left his apartment door
partially open.

He stared down into Champion’s eyes and knew he was a
goner.

“What the hell have I just done? I’ve agreed to be a
pretend boyfriend for a girl I want in my bed.” He ran his fingers through his
hair. Champion barked at him. The more time he spent with his dog, the more he
was convinced Champion understood the human language.

****

He agreed. He agreed.

Sara danced into her apartment feeling excited by the
prospect of going home. Their friendship was firm, and their relationship would
be pretend. They could pull this off together. She opened up one of her boxes
and pulled out the three family albums she owned. On the walk back upstairs she
paused as the euphoria started to die off.

What if this was a big mistake?

Their friendship survived because they never crossed
that forbidden line into lovers. Sara was attracted to Andy, but he never
seemed interested in her like that. She stared at the albums in her hands and
thought about Dylan. Her parents didn’t know why she walked out on him. The
kissing hadn’t been all that bad, and if she had not heard him organize a date
to meet the woman then she wouldn’t have run. Would she have married him?

Had she run from Dylan because she’d been hurt?

A couple passed her on the stairs. She smiled at them
and watched as they walked out holding hands. The love she was looking for was
similar to the couple who’d passed her. Holding hands and the secret smiles
over the table while other people talked around them. The type of love she
wrote about. Shaking her head, she walked up the stairs and back into Andy’s
apartment. He had moved onto coffee. The aroma of the bitter grains he loved so
much filled the air in the apartment.

Champion lay asleep in his spot in the corner. She sat
down on the sofa as Andy brought over the two steaming mugs.

“There are a lot of photos,” he said.

“A lot of memories are wrapped up in here. I come from
a family of seven. Five children and two parents and believe me when I say
there was never a dull moment.”

She opened the first photo album.

“Take me on a trip down memory lane.”

He sat down next to her, and Sara was struck by his
masculine scent. It never failed to amaze her how successful and handsome Andy
was. When they first met on the stairs the silence between them had lengthened.
Sara hadn’t been able to look away from his gaze. She’d been struck by his
intense brown stare. Brown eyes had never appealed to her before. Brown eyes
had always struck her as dull, but with Andy they took on so much more meaning.
Whenever she saw him staring at her, goose-bumps erupted along her arms.

She could write thousands of words to describe his
stare, and not one of them did them justice. There were times she felt she was
the whole of his world and at other times like she didn’t even register on his
radar. He confused her constantly.

“Do I have something stuck between my teeth?” he
asked.

“No. Sorry, the writer in me was back at my computer
desk.” She felt her cheeks heat at the lies she spun.

“I don’t know how you can find much inspiration in
that room.”

“I’ve got a great imagination. Besides, I don’t know
how you can work the clubs you do from your apartment.”

He laughed and tapped his head. “It’s all up here.”

She opened the photograph album and started the
journey of her life. “That there is my mother, Harmony Carroll.”

“Harmony
Carroll?
You’re got to be joking.”

Sara glared at him.

“What? You’ve got to find the humor in the name.”

“If you mention any jokes with regards to my mother’s
name you will be castrated by the end of the weekend. My mother would cut you
down. The man she married and the name she claimed as her own is no laughing
matter.”

Andy held his hands up in surrender. “I get it. No
laughing at the amusing name.”

She smiled at him. “Away from my family and all prying
ears, I do find her name thoroughly amusing, but I’m warning you, please, keep
the name to yourself.”

Sara laughed as he zipped his mouth up and threw away
the invisible key. “This is my father, Martin.” She pointed to the big stocky
bloke in the picture. “He doesn’t take kindly to anyone mocking my mother. If
you want to get in good with him then I suggest you let the introductions go
without laughing. Dylan did, and I think that is one of the reasons my parents
actually like him.”

“I’m sure they would understand if you told them the
truth about him.”

“I’m not the type of person to go telling my family
about everything that goes wrong in my life. It’s bad enough moving away from
them and having them phone me every week to make sure I’ve paid my rent and the
bills.”

“They still phone even after five years?” he asked.

“I can’t complain that they worry about me,” she said.

His hand rested on her thigh as she turned the page.
She felt the heat from his touch run through her whole body. There was not a
part of her that wasn’t deeply connected to the man beside her.

She was going to need to rein herself in if she was
going to survive a weekend with him posing as her pretend boyfriend.

“That’s Danny. He’s getting married to Bethany. They
were high-school sweethearts, but they have put off marrying each other. They
broke up for a few years, but everyone knew they’d get together. It was
inevitable for them to be together.”

“They look lovely together.”

Sara smiled at his words. He was already saying the
right things. “That’s my next brother. I’m showing you in order from oldest to
youngest.”

“I’ve got it, Sara.
Stop being
nervous.
I’ve got your back.”

Feeling happier, she pointed to the next brother.
“This is Jake. He travels to the city and is a defense lawyer for one of the
law firms. He’s not seeing anyone, but he’s a bit of player. He pretends he’s
not for my family’s sake. Mom and Dad are great believers in the sanctity of
marriage.”

“So when I’m around him I’m to pretend I don’t play
the field or anything.”

She saw he was teasing and thumped him in the arm. “My
dad will ask you about your views on marriage. Please, to make this work I need
you to make out as if our marriage is on the cards but we’re waiting for mutual
reasons or something.”

“I’ll not let you down. We’re studying your family to
pretend to be a couple. Don’t you think we’re a couple anyway?” he asked.

“We’ve never been out on a date.”
 

“Not on an official date. To some people we’ve been
out on plenty of dates.”

“Attending your openings does not class as a date. Let’s
save that argument for another time. This is James, and he works in
advertising. I’m not completely up to speed on what he does. Oh, here is my
sister Tracy.”

For the next few hours she spent a great deal of time
going through her family history and brought him up to speed. He listened and
for the most part remained quiet.

“Are you sure you’re okay with all this?” she asked,
yawning.

“I’m fine with it, Sara. I think you need to get some
sleep. It has gone two in the morning, and I need to rest. We can pick this up
tomorrow.”

He walked her down to her apartment door this time.
She opened the door and turned to him. Sara wrapped her arms around him. “Thank
you so much.”

Chapter Four

The following morning Andy woke up with a pounding
head and dry mouth. The memories from the night before came to him in one quick
jerk. He sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes, and saw the photograph albums he’d
brought to his bed. Grabbing the first one closest to him, he opened the page.
Sara gazed back at him, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. He saw the laughter
in her eyes as she stared at the camera. She had a close family. He witnessed
it in the pictures he’d seen.

Her brothers were all large and protective. They
surrounded her like a blanket. He recalled the number of times she’d complained
about one of them sending her cash and the other demanding weekly reports.

Champion padded into the bedroom.

“What am I going to do with this family?” he asked the
dog. He didn’t get an answer from talking with Champion. Andy ran a hand over
his face and once again thought about the kind of mess he’d gotten himself
into.

His phone rang. He picked it up without looking at the
caller ID.

“Hello,” he said.

“Hey, you’re awake.” Travis was on the line.

Turning to his alarm clock he saw it was past ten. He
wondered why Sara hadn’t given him a wake-up call. “I am now.” Andy rolled over
and stood up. He stretched his arms over his head before heading out to his
kitchen.