“Yeah, just choosing which jerky I want. You know how much I love this stuff.” He winks, and I take a good look at him. Short blond hair, bright blue eyes, and the perfect amount of scruff on his chiseled jaw that would scratch some parts just enough to add to building pleasure.
Whoa.
I shake my head of those thoughts and turn to Patrick. “I wanted to introduce you to a friend,” I smile, ever so grateful to this stranger, who seems to know the exact game I need him to play along with.
“Hey, man, nice to meet you. I’m Harris.” The stranger, who I now know is named Harris, reaches his hand out for Patrick to shake. He eyes us with distrust and finally shakes Harris’s hand.
“I’m Patrick.” He gives a firm nod, and I roll my eyes.
“Okay, well, as you can see, Harris and I are busy, so we’ll get going.” I make to move, my words stammering, but Patrick’s icy smile pauses me.
“I’ll see you at the Mayor’s Ball then,” he states because it would be damn obvious to everyone that if I were dating someone, he’d come with me to my daddy’s big night.
“Uh,” I look up at Harris with wide eyes, my lips pushed together in an apologetic grimace.
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it,” he doesn’t miss a beat—calm, cool, and collected. Unlike me. My heart is racing, my lips are tucked between my teeth, and my gaze is erratic. I look everywhere but at Patrick, fearing that at any moment he’ll burst out laughing while clapping at my terrible performance, and call me out on my lie.
Instead, Patrick gives a terse nod and says goodbye before walking out of the grocery store empty-handed, except for the stick he carries up his butt. My assumption was right, and he only came in here with the intention of cornering me.
“Oh, my goodness.” My head drops down as my chin hits my chest, and I blow out a deep breath from my mouth. I look up and find Harris’s amused eyes waiting for me. “Thank you so much. I’m not the best when thinking on my feet, and I needed a really good excuse to get him to take the hint that I wasn’t interested, and you were just standing there a few feet away staring at jerky, and I moved without thinking it through.” I swallow a deep gasp of air as I finish, rubbing my thighs with my sweaty palms.
“It’s okay.” He lifts his eyebrows, but the hint of a smile ghosts on his lips
“So,” I pause and look into his pretty eyes. “Hey, I’m Poppy. Want to be my fake boyfriend for a night?” I bite down on my bottom lip, fighting the urge to let my blush make an appearance. Gosh, I can’t get myself into normal messes, like normal people. Instead, I somehow wrangle myself into this weird situation.
Harris scratches his scruffy jaw and says, “I’ve been asked a lot of things in my life, but this is a first. That guy looks like a douche, so I can help you out.”
I deflate, letting the tension go like a limp balloon, and my shoulders sag. “You’re the world’s best lifesaver. Where were you when the Titanic hit that iceberg?” I cringe at my terrible joke, but Harris chuckles.
“Guess I was a few decades too late.”
I’m instantly at ease and smile. “Let me get that for you, it’s the least I can do.” I stand taller, reaching for the packs of beef jerky in his hand.
“Nah, you don’t have to.”
“I insist.” I keep my hand out and give him my best arched brow and stern expression. The one I give my students.
“And I insist, you don’t have to.”
I drop my arm and sigh. I guess my intimidation level stops at age eight. “But I totally cornered you, forced you to pretend to be my boyfriend, and now you’re going to have to endure a boring as heck ball in honor of my father with the stuck-up crowd in this town and the ones neighboring us.”
“A free meal? There you go. With a beautiful woman? Don’t think I’m losing anything. Besides, I wasn’t forced. I could’ve easily dismissed you. It was clear that the guy wasn’t leaving you alone, and you were uncomfortable. I doubt you’d do something like this if that weren’t the case.”
“If you only knew,” I mumble, because I’ve done some stupid stuff in my life. But he’s right, there’s no way I’d grab a stranger and pretend to be his girlfriend unless I was desperate with a capital D. Actually, I was DESPERATE in all caps.
“Thanks,” I offer a tight smile. “Anyway, um, I guess I should tell you a little about this ball on Saturday.”
“Sure. Why don’t I pay for this and you can tell me over some coffee? I love Cup-O-Joe and was gonna run in once I finished here anyway.”
“Okay.” I nod and wait for him, twisting my fingers and avoiding Mrs. Douglas’s intrigued eyes, because the pickle I’ve gotten myself into is bigger than any I’ve ever been in before.
Continue reading Pretend You're Mine
Standalones
Perfectly Imperfect
Red Lights, Black Hearts
Twisted in You
Memories of Us
All My Truths & One Lie
Promise You
Love in Everton Series
Write You a Love Song
Roping Your Heart
Pretend You’re Mine
Make You Mine
You Make It Easy
Then I Met You
My Way to You
Rebel Desire Series
Lovin’ on You
Love You Through It
All of You
Restoring Series
Restoring Us (Complete Series)
Resisting You (Aiden and Stacy Novella)
Sweet on You Series
Sweet on Wilde
Whiskey Nights
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Make You Mine. This series has become to special to me, and it’s an honor to share it with you. I hope you love the town of Everton as much as I do! I’m dreaming of it being a real town I can move to.
A huge thanks to the team of people who work nonstop to help me make each release the best if can be—Claire and Wendy from Bare Naked Words, Amy from Q Designs for the perfect cover, Brittany from The Blurb Whisperer for always making my blurbs that much better, Bex from Editing Ninja, and Cary for the beautiful formatting. Thank you ladies for being a part of this book. Your patience, feedback, and support mean the world to me.
Christy and Rachel, you’ve both been there from the very beginning and stuck with me. I can’t thank you enough. #soapythighsforlife
Brittany and Cary, thank you for the chats, the support, and being a part of my tribe.
Veronica and Miriam, you’ve been there from the beginning, and that means the world to me. Thank you for your support and friendship!
Ally, you are the best ever, even if you insist on using the world “Daddies”. Thank you so much for hearing me out, talking things through with me, and offering your advice.
Joy, what would I do without you? Thank you, thank you for always being there for me (even if you think it’s no big deal). Thanks for the “Clone a Willy” and “HP” inspiration. I love our chats and am grateful we met.
Savannah, your knowledge and wisdom have been a gift, and your support and confidence mean so much. Thank you for the guidance and chats.
Fabiola’s Fab Reads, you’re the best group a girl could ask for. Thank you for being a part of my writing career and sharing everything from your fave reads to your life updates. We’re a community.
My review team, thank you for always taking the time to read my books, share your love for them, and help in any way you can.
To all the reviewers, bloggers, authors, and bookstagrammers that have shared my work and supported me, thank you. I see each and everyone of you. It takes a village, and you are all a part of mine.
Fabiola Francisco loves the simplicity—and kick—of scotch on the rocks. She follows Hemingway’s philosophy—write drunk, edit sober. She writes women’s fiction and contemporary romance, dipping her pen into new adult and young adult. Her moods guide her writing, taking her anywhere from sassy and sexy romances to dark and emotion-filled love
stories.
Writing has always been a part of her life, penning her own life struggles as a form of therapy through poetry. She still stays true to her first love, poems, while weaving longer stories with strong heroines and honest heroes. She aims to get readers thinking about life and love while experiencing her characters’ journeys.
She is continuously creating stories as she daydreams. Her other loves are country music, exploring the outdoors, and reading.
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Make You Mine Page 21