Pretend You’re Mine: A curvy girl romance

by Laurent, River

  "What is that smell?" Dane asked as he walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. He had nothing on but his boxers, his hair was still a mess and yet I wanted to climb him all over again.

  "I thought I would make us some breakfast," I said as I transferred the eggs from the pan to a plate. "You're just in time. Are you hungry?"

  "Starving." He settled down at the table. "What's on the agenda today?"

  "Their joint bachelor and bachelorette parties," I said as I sat the plates down on the table and poured both of us cups of coffee. I settled in across from him. "Other than that, I think it's mostly a free day until tonight when we party with them.

  Dane grinned. "I bet it's going to be wild. Robert might look like an upstanding guy, but I know what a big pervert he is. I'm sure they'll have strippers and all kinds of insanity there."

  "Even though it's joint affairs?"

  "Oh, yeah. Catherine loves strippers too. She used to visit them with her friends all the time when we were together."

  I nodded but went quiet. I didn't have anything against strippers, but it bothered me a little. The thought of Dane as he sat and ogled other women wasn't the most comforting thought, but it was more than that. Hearing him reference Catherine and their relationship irked me. She clearly still wanted him and I didn't know where we stood. It made things complicated and I didn't like doing complicated because complicated things never ended well.

  Dane glanced up at me and I realized he'd been talking and I hadn't heard a word. I smiled at him, nodded, and dug into my food. I didn't want to talk because every self-doubt I had came pouring back. We hadn't said what we were the night before and even now, he wasn’t saying anything about it either. I resigned myself to being patient. What else could I do?

  "Hey, are you okay?" Dane asked as he paused and examined me with narrowed eyes.

  I nodded. "Of course. I might be a little exhausted from last night."

  "You're the one that wanted to stay up late and watch that sappy movie." He laughed. "Don't blame me if you're sleepy for the rest of the day."

  "You’re the one that started having sex with me halfway through," I retorted.

  Dane's smile faded. "Okay, seriously what's going on, Savannah? You're acting weird and I watched your face go from happy to worried, just like that." He snapped his fingers. "You know if something's wrong you can tell me, right?"

  "Yeah, I know."

  "Is it something I said?" he pushed.

  I shook my head. "No, I'm fine."

  "Savannah."

  “Please, Dane. Let it be. Everything is fine.” I forced a smile then I collected up my plate and carried it into the kitchen. Dane never knew when to let shit go and it drove me nuts. I didn't need to discuss what was going on inside my head. I just needed a little space. I felt sure that by the time the party rolled around I'd be okay.

  Probably. Maybe.

  I decided to go on a little walk. I grabbed my bag and headed for the front door when Dane left the kitchen and cornered me. I shrugged when he asked where I was going.

  "I thought about going to sit out in the garden for a little while. It's a nice day and I want to check out the flowers again."

  Dane still held my arm. "I can tell something's on your mind, Savvy."

  "It's fine. There's always something on my mind. Look, I just need a little walk and I'll be fine, okay? I'll see you in a little bit."

  I didn't give him time to answer. I dipped around his body before he could say or do anything more, and slipped out of the front door. I jogged down the path a bit until the cottage was behind me.

  Did I make a mistake?I thought about the way he held me all night in his arms and how amazing that felt. However, that seemed to be all that he wanted. I was sure that Dane didn't have any feelings for me besides wanting to get me into bed.

  Wouldn't he have said something by now, otherwise?

  I thought he'd at least bring it up in the morning and tell me how he really felt, but nothing. I couldn't take the risk and have him break my heart again. We'd done that once and though I never told anybody, it had nearly destroyed me. I couldn't take another heartbreak from him.

  Dane

  I watched blankly as Savannah jogged away from the cottage. What the hell was that about? As far as I knew we'd spent an amazing night together, had fun, done new things and then she decided to clamp up and run away? I had no idea what her problem was, but it irritated me. I hated women who played games and I had never imagined she might be one of them.

  I shook my head and decided to let her have the space she claimed she so desperately needed for a while. While she was gone, I decided to get my head together, shower and get ready for the day. I changed into a pair of jeans and a button up by the time I was done and someone knocked on the door.

  "Savannah?" I called immediately.

  But quickly realized it wouldn't be her. Savannah would walk right in since she stayed here too. Then I wondered if it was Catherine. Inwardly, I groaned. She would not let up with the flirting and chasing me no matter what I tried to tell her. I had already explained she and I were friends and nothing more, but she didn't seem to want to get the message.

  It made me feel even worse for Robert. While we were in college together, I knew he felt like girls liked me more. I didn't think so, but he'd pointed it out once and told me how jealous it made him sometimes. I didn't understand it. I mean, Robert was a good-looking guy. It wasn't like he couldn't get any girl he wanted, but for some weird reason, he tended to fall for the insane ones who would flirt with me while they were with him. Used to piss me off to no end.

  When I opened the door, Robert waved, and stepped inside.

  He was dressed similar to me in dark jeans and a button-down shirt rolled up at the sleeves. He glanced around before his eyes settled on me. "Where's Savannah?"

  "In the garden, I think," I muttered as I poured myself another cup of coffee and nodded toward it. "Want some?"

  "Yeah, I could use a cup."

  I poured one for Robert too and we ended up carrying them outside. There was a bench right on the porch, so we both sat down and sipped our coffee.

  Robert hummed happily. "Great coffee. Did Savannah make this?"

  I nodded. "Yeah."

  "You have a hell of a woman, there." He smiled.

  "Yeah," I muttered. "Why did you come over?"

  Robert waved a hand. "It doesn't matter now. I can see I was supposed to come over to figure out what the hell is going on with you two, so spill it. I know that look on your face. It's a cross between irritated and upset. So, what happened?"

  I sighed. How was I supposed to explain things to Robert without telling him the rest of it? If he knew I'd hired a fiancée for his wedding, I knew he'd not only be offended but hurt too. He'd think that I really was a threat to his marriage and that even I knew it. How humiliating would that be? I couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I shrugged and decided to give him the smallest amount of information that I could give him. "I don't think Savannah believes I really care about her. It's just a feeling, but every time we start to get really close, she does shit like this. It's like she can't wait to get away."

  "Even though you're engaged?"

  "Yeah…" I sighed. Oh, what a web we weave when we start the first lie. "Even though we're engaged."

  Robert pondered it as he sipped his coffee. "It sounds like you need to really show her how much you love her. You do love her, right?"

  That was a loaded fucking question. I cared about Savannah. I wanted her, desperately. I thought about her all the time. When I couldn't have her, or be around her it felt like I couldn't breathe. When I watched that bastard flirt with her, it set me ablaze. And I didn't want a life where she wasn't part of it. I didn't know what all that equaled to, but I had time to find out. Right now though, Rob was looking at me with an expectant face. Any answer that was not positive wouldn’t be acceptable. "I think so," I mumbled.

  "You think so?" he asked incredulously. "If
you're about to marry her, you better be damn sure."

  "How do you know you love Catherine?"

  Robert sipped his coffee and set it down. "When I'm around her the world makes sense. She makes me a better person. When I'm not, then I'm a little bit lost. I know she loves me, despite all her flaws and mine. I'm very protective over her too. If she's in trouble, I'm right there to bail her out and be there for her. And it's just a feeling that I have deep in my gut. I couldn't be without her even if I tried."

  I stared at him as he looked off with a wistful look on his face. The corners of his mouth tugged up and I just knew that he was thinking about Catherine and how much she meant to him. Is that how I looked when I thought about Savannah?

  "I should go talk to her," I said as I polished off the coffee. "I'm sure she's had enough time by herself for now. Maybe she'll feel like talking."

  "Good idea. You don't want to leave a woman alone with bad thoughts for too long. She'll decide you're a piece of shit in no time at all." He laughed.

  I grinned back at him. "You're not wrong about that."

  "I'll see you guys tonight for the bachelor party. I'm sure things will be better between the two of you by then."

  "How can you be so sure?"

  Robert shrugged. "You might not be sure, but I’ve known you forever and I can tell you love her. And I would put money down that she loves you too. It’s all on her face whenever she looks up at you. Both of you can play it cool for each other, but to the rest of the world it's clear that you’re crazy about each other. Don’t hang around, overthinking it Dane. I don't want you to lose out on the most magical feeling on earth. Or her. So, go get your girl. Now." Robert passed me his mug.

  I waved him off and returned to the kitchen, where I put the dishes away before I decided that he was completely right. I didn't want to miss the good stuff with Savannah just because I was too stubborn to chase her down and find out what was wrong.

  I headed off for the garden and nodded politely at the other wedding guests who were strolling about. I finally found Savannah wandering through some beds of pink flowers.

  "Savannah," I called.

  She stopped and gazed at me with concern written on her face before she quickly wiped it away. "Do you need me for something?"

  I nodded. "I need to figure out what's going on with you."

  She turned away instantly, so I couldn’t see her expression and that told me everything I needed to know. She had a lot on her mind and it more than likely had to do with me. But for some reason, she didn't want to just get it out in the open and stop driving me crazy.

  "I'm fine," she said.

  I grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away. Not this time. I wasn't about to let her wander off and give me that lie once more. I needed to know what was going on. Since whatever it was that tormented her had to do with me, I could definitely help. If she'd just let me in.

  "About last night..."

  I let go of her arm. "I thought you didn't have any regrets. Did you change your mind again?"

  She rubbed her arm where I had grabbed her. "No, I didn't. I had a great time and it was just what I needed after the insane day we'd had. It's just that I think we need some boundaries."

  "Boundaries? Like what? Don't we already have a million and five rules that we're supposed to follow?"

  "Well yes, but we've already broken a few of them, so now we need to make sure we don't let things go too far. I know you don't think they can, but I just need clear boundaries in order to make this work for me."

  "Okay," I said with a long-suffering sigh. "What do you suggest then?"

  "I need to make sure we're on the same page, Dane. What we're doing, it's only a sex thing, right? No feelings, no commitments, just sex."

  I stared at her incredulously. Is that what she wanted? Just sex? I'd thought we were heading to where we would be something more, but apparently, that wasn't what she had in mind. I thought about my conversation with Robert. Boy, how wrong he was.

  "That's all you want? A fuck buddy?"

  Savannah glanced up at me. I didn't know what she was looking for in my eyes, but she apparently didn't find it because she shrugged and glanced away. She looked almost embarrassed as she rubbed a hand up and down her arm. "I mean at least while we're here. Once we leave we can go our separate ways and I'm sure everything will be fine."

  Go our separate ways? She wanted to just up and abandon everything that had happened between us? I thought we'd been getting closer, but apparently, I was entirely wrong. My lips tightened.

  It wasn't what I wanted. I wanted her in so many ways that it hurt, but apparently, she didn't want that from me. It was karma. Once I wanted nothing more than sex and now, the tables were turned. I couldn't force her to love me, so what was the point in arguing about it? Savannah examined me and must have seen some of the emotion I was trying to hide. She reached out to touch me, but I stepped back. Pity from her was the last thing I needed.

  "That's fine," I said as I cleared my throat. "Sure, let it be a sex thing."

  "Oh," she said and sounded a bit disappointed.

  This reaction surprised me. What the hell did she want?

  She forced out a smile. "Good. Well, then I guess we should go and mingle or get ready for the parties tonight. Whatever you're up for."

  "Either is fine with me," I muttered.

  Savannah tossed me one more confused glance.

  But I was so over it. I turned around and headed for the entrance to the garden. If she wanted to be on her own then I'd give her exactly what she’d asked for.

  Savannah

  "You ready to go?" Dane asked while I was in the bathroom.

  I sighed. If I was ready to go, wouldn't we be gone? I swear he was on my last good nerve, but for some reason he seemed to enjoy pressing on it. But I had decided not to engage and focused on my makeup instead.

  Ever since the conversation in the garden, Dane had started to act differently. At first, I thought everything was okay, but bit by bit, he started being a pain in my damn ass. Rude and… Well, maybe rude wasn't the right word. It was more like clipped and short with me now.

  He knocked on the door. "Aren’t you ready yet?"

  "No," I said through the door as I swiped on my lipstick. "What you are you afraid of? It's not even..." I checked my phone. "Ten yet. I'm sure all of the booze and strippers won’t be gone in the next fifteen minutes."

  "Don't be a smart ass," he called through the door.

  "It's really difficult not to when I'm so damn smart," I shot back.

  Dane huffed and the sound of his footfalls as he walked away echoed in my ears.

  There, I felt a little better. I finished up with my hair and adjusted the tight black dress I'd chosen to wear to their party. It showed off an ample amount of cleavage and hugged my ass at the same time. It stopped mid-thigh and I paired it with a diamond choker and small earrings. Once I was satisfied, I walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen where Dane was impatiently waiting for me.

  "Ready?" I asked as I picked up my heels and slid my foot into one of them.

  When Dane didn't answer, I glanced up at him. He stared at me and I almost felt vindicated. If he wanted nothing from me but sex then I would make him crave it even more. I knew he couldn't resist the way I looked and it turned me on that I had so much power over him.

  "Yeah," he said slowly. "I'm ready to go."

  No witty banter. No smart remark. I grinned at the absence of everything he normally threw at me. It felt good. I slid into my other shoe. Then I lifted my leg and pushed my foot onto the edge of his chair. "Could you do the clasp for me?" I asked, my voice sultry and low.

  "You can't do it yourself?" he asked, looking up at me.

  The expression in his eyes was crazy. My head felt like it was spinning. Never taking my eyes off his, I shook my head slowly.

  Dane's hand ran up my foot and over my ankle. He picked up the strap of my shoe and fed it through the clasp until it was secured
tightly. Once it was in place, he trailed his fingers over the softness of my skin. He swallowed hard and I watched his Adam's apple bob up and down.

  "Thank you," I purred. "Couldn't have done it without you."

  "Don't be an asshole," he said tightly.

  "I'll try not to." I laughed.

  Dane stood and it was my turn to swallow at how handsome he looked. He took my arm, and I held onto him and let him lead the way. Even if he still had a little bit of an attitude with me, I had a job to do. He'd be fine after I poured some drinks into him. I knew he wasn't too angry. The look on his face when he'd fixed my shoe told me the fire was still burning strong. If he'd been pissed then he wouldn't have been so damn turned on.

  We followed the path through the estate before we wound up at the main manor. The warm lights spilled out onto the lawn and music could be heard before we even got inside. I fixed my curls before we stepped in and glanced around.

  The guests stood around and drank like fishes. Servers moved through the party wearing tiny bikinis that left nothing to the imagination and the men were in tight speedos that emphasized their cocks and tight asses.

  “Robert's friends sure know how to party,” I remarked.

  Dane grabbed a couple of drinks off a passing tray. "Yes, they know how to have fun."

  I had a feeling it was a dig at me, but I let it pass and followed him through the mass of people. There were more than there had been in the beginning, now that the wedding was so close. I sipped at my drink as we traveled through the party.

  I downed the drink and grabbed another. The nervous feeling I got when it came to being around crowds didn't always fade without a little liquid confidence.

  As I worked on the second drink, Dane raised a brow at me. "Are you trying to get hammered?"