Single Dad Fake Fiancé

by Brooks, Summer

  He looked toward the floor, counting on his fingers.

  “I don’t even know. Anyway, point is that it’s pretty fucking incredible, what they share. And that could be you.”

  “You’re advocating love to me now? You?”

  “Yes, me, jackass. With us — me and Lauren, you only saw what was on the surface. The drama, the fighting, the major disagreements. But you forgot about the countless birthdays. Yes, countless because I’m so fucking old now. And the time when I was still building this business. She really stuck with me through thick and thin, especially then. Go Dot would have never come into existence if it weren’t for her — Lauren's not a bad woman. We've just decided that we want different things at this stage in our lives, and we've agreed to make ourselves happy, even if that means we have to do it separately. But I don't regret the years I spent with her, and I don't believe she feels regret, either.”

  This was the first time that I’d ever heard Henry give someone else the credit for his success — even if it was only partial. His voice was shaky and his eyes glossy as he spoke of his soon to be ex-wife.

  I leaned toward him. “I’m sorry, man. I can imagine how this must be hard for you.”

  He let out a loud exhale, then changed the expression on his face to something that was somehow the complete opposite of sadness.

  “I’ll find someone else,” he waved his arm. “You know me.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “But you probably won’t. You’re not as much of a charmer as I am.”

  “I wonder if you’ll ever get over yourself.”

  “Probably never,” he laughed. “But you need to get over yourself right now. You still have a relationship to speak of, unlike me. There’s still time. If I could go back in time and fix things with Lauren, I would do it in a heartbeat. Correct my mistakes, apologize when I needed to, kick my ego in the butt and do what was right for our relationship. Learn from my mistakes. Don’t push her away, or worse, let her go.”

  I felt as if a lightning bolt had hit me and I’d awoken from a deep slumber. Instead of blowing him off, I started to listen to what he was saying, and he had a good point.

  “You’re right,” I mumbled, my eyes wandering all over the floor.

  I barged out of Henry’s office and shut the door behind me, then looked around to see if I could find Jessica.

  When I couldn’t, I went back into his office. “Think she’s here yet?”

  Henry picked up his phone and asked his assistant to find out if Jessica had arrived.

  “She’s in her office,” he confirmed, then leaned back in his seat, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. “Good luck, Romeo. Come here, Rascal.”

  I walked in the direction of her office, my fists clenching and heart nervously beating. I could handle a lot of things in life, but Jessica’s rejection wasn’t one of those things.

  I had no clue how I’d managed to convince myself that I didn’t want to work it out with her.

  I was clearly falling in love with the woman and the idea of the relationship ending badly had momentarily gotten the best of me, making me retreat into myself just to save myself from any more hurt. I hoped that now I was in the right headspace to communicate clearly, thanks to Henry. Who knew that my older cousin would ever have the sense to inspire me to follow my heart, to give love a shot? All these years I thought he was such a hardass, but it turns out he was just as sentimental as anyone. I bet Jessica would get a kick out of that, if nothing else.

  It’s true that you can never really tell what’s in a person’s heart until things go awry, and that was the case with Henry. He’d pleasantly surprised me today, possibly even saved me from making the biggest mistake of my life — letting Jessica go.

  I knocked on her office door and it soon opened. Deb waved at me on her way out, the expression on her face telling me that she knew exactly what was going on between me and her best friend.

  Popping my head inside while knocking once again, I took a good look at the woman I loved.

  Jessica’s fingers were on her temples and she moved her eyes to look at me without saying a word.

  “Can I come in?”

  She shrugged, pretending to get back into whatever it was that she was doing.

  It was adorable how she was flipping pages, one after the other. I knew it was just a show and she really wasn't doing anything at all.

  “What can I help you with?”

  “A bunch of things,” I took a deep breath. I was nervous as hell, but I couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked even when she was angry.

  “For one, I would like to know if you have accepted my apology.”

  “Maybe I would have if I thought you meant it.”

  “I did mean it,” I said. “What makes you think I didn’t?”

  She finally closed the bulky file in front of her and slid it across the table, then placed her elbows on her desk.

  “What do you want from me, Arthur?”

  “You,” I smiled. “I want you. And I want you to give me a chance. To prove to you that I’m as honorable as you’d once thought.”

  “But you lied,” she said, shaking her head. “Or omitted the truth, whatever. You had so many chances to… I don’t know, Arthur. I’ve already told you that I don’t know how this is going to work going forward. That being said…”

  “That being said?”

  She sighed.

  “If you want me to marry you so you could get your visa status, I think I can do that. But know that you’re not going to get anything else out of it.”

  My jaw clenched and my heart broke, all at the same time.

  “Are you serious?” I asked, to which I received no response.

  “Let me repeat to you what I said a moment ago, Jessica. I want you. Not your charity.”

  Her face softened upon hearing my words.

  “That’s not how I meant it.”

  Jessica’s offer brought back memories of my marriage.

  If I could just get Jessica in my arms, then there wasn’t much else that I would ever have any desire for.

  She had become my whole world, my obsession, and I wasn’t going to back down. Not this time. I was done beating myself up, punishing myself, telling myself that I didn't deserve happiness because of one mistake. I was human, and I that's how we learn to be better - by fucking things up and doing a better job the second time around.

  19

  Jessica

  I went back to my own place after work that evening, Arthur’s disappointed face still flashing before my eyes. I was grateful that I was able to avoid going to his place for a few days, at least, since I still had a majority of my things at my own apartment. I needed time.

  After hanging my coat by the door and wrapping my scarf around it, I kicked my shoes into the tiny closet at the entrance and dropped to the couch. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically.

  I could have come home last night, too, instead of going to Heather’s, but I thought at the time that it was best if I embraced being in her company instead of wallowing alone. The battering helped a bit to distract me, though, and I was now back to feeling as awful as I did yesterday. I wished I could undo the last two days. I wanted to go back to how things were when I would lay next to Arthur in bed, letting him stroke my hair until I fell asleep in his arms.

  Perhaps, I was overreacting, being too hard on him. After all, he’d proven to me today that he didn’t want to be with me only because of the value I was able to provide him. He’d rejected my offer to marry him so he could obtain his visa status. He didn’t even think twice before telling me no.

  I laid on the sofa, drawing circles over black leather, my mind wandering in places that it had no business venturing into. His answer today had shown me that he was genuinely invested in this relationship, but now I wanted to know how he truly felt, and if he felt what I did for him. I needed to know that his feelings weren't going to change any time soon.

  My phone rang inches aw
ay from my face and I groaned, right before breaking into a smile. It was from Lily’s school.

  “Mommy,” she squealed when I answered.

  “How is my little baby doing?” I asked, now sitting up straight. My heart felt happy upon hearing her voice but broke into pieces, all at the same time. I was incomplete without my little one, and even though, now the promotion had given me the means to have her transferred to a school in the city, I still needed to wait it out until the school year was over, because there were no refunds on tuition.

  There was no way I was going to be able to pay tuition at two schools, plus the extra fee for taking in a student mid-year. It was going to be a frustrating seven months, but I had to stick with it. At least, she would be back home after that.

  “I’m fine. I made a drawing with my new crayons today.”

  She went on to tell me about the lion in her coloring book that she’d filled in with the crayons that I got her last month.

  “That’s amazing. Did you color him yellow?”

  “Yellow and green and pink and orange and...” She paused for a second. “And blue.”

  I chuckled. “That’s so impressive, Lily.”

  “I want more KitKat,” she complained. “Miss Keaton doesn’t give us any.”

  I knew where this was going with that. She was going to ask me about that “friend” of mine who had an endless supply of her favorite chocolate. "I miss Arthur," she said. "How is Arthur? I want to see him."

  “Arthur is good,” I told her and stopped there, quickly changing the topic.

  He’d clearly made an impression on her, because Lily almost never remembered people that she met for short periods of time. She was exactly like me in that regard. Not a people person at all.

  I heard a beeping sound coming from my phone while it was still glued to my ear. I glanced at the screen and saw Arthur’s name.

  Rejecting the call, I continued to talk to my daughter and listened to all of her remaining stories about her friends who she’d started to enjoy playing with in the school park.

  Arthur called another time while I was still on the other line and I rejected it again, so when my call with Lily ended, I knew that he would try a third time.

  I answered immediately when he did.

  “I’m outside your building,” he said, before I could say a word.

  I opened the door to my balcony and walked outside with bare feet.

  “Holy shit, Arthur,” I laughed, seeing him standing in the snow and leaning against the car like he planned to stay put for as long as he needed to.

  “Are you… going to invite me in?”

  I smiled through pursed lips, feeling my feet freezing.

  “The door’s open.”

  He hung up and I saw the way he tossed his blazer over his shoulder and walked toward the entrance. I, too, stepped back inside and ran my hands over my clothes.

  I didn’t know what else he would have to say after our little conversation back at my office, but I was interested to hear him out.

  He knocked, then twisted the doorknob and came inside.

  “Hey,” he smiled.

  “Hey,” I replied. “So, why the theatrics?”

  “Because I didn’t think you would believe me unless I did something dramatic.”

  “Like standing outside in the snow and freezing to death?”

  “If that’s what it took, sure.”

  “Arthur,” I tilted my head to the side. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  “Nothing,” he shot back, moving closer and intimidating me with his huge frame that never failed to turn me on. “I don’t want you to say anything. I just want you to believe me when I say something.”

  “And that would be?”

  His hands touched the side of my waist and he looked into my eyes before saying, “I love you.”

  I pulled away, searching for something in his eyes. I wasn’t sure what it was that I was looking for during those few seconds that I wasn’t in his arms. Then, I jumped at him, my legs wrapped around his waist as we kissed fiercely.

  “Oh, baby,” he moaned dropping me over the top edge of the couch and pulling my pants down while half my body slanted down toward the cushion.

  He ran his hands over my stomach, relishing my skin gently till he made me gasp.

  My panties were now on the floor and the bottom half of me was completely exposed. This wasn’t the first time that Arthur was seeing my pussy on full display and it was certainly not the first time that I’d watched him eye me like he was going to swallow me whole. But for some reason, I never ceased to be shy in front of him. I would always squirm under his touch like he’d never laid his hands on me before.

  He teased my clit between his two fingers, making me moan. I tightened my hips. His big hands fell over my stomach to keep me in place, to let him do as he pleased with me.

  It wasn’t until I met Arthur that I realized how much I enjoyed being dominated in the bedroom. That, multiplied by the fact that Arthur had just told me that he loved me was taking me over the edge of excitement before he even filled my pussy with his fingers.

  I moaned his name and he reached over, trailing his pointer finger from my chin down to my cleavage. He didn’t unbutton me, leaving my silk blouse as it was. I felt his hands on my ass when he brought his knees to the floor and his lips to my thighs.

  I reached for the throw pillow sitting next to me and clenched it to my chest. Arthur would ruthlessly spread my legs apart every time the tickle had me bring them closer together. That feeling subsided as soon as his tongue started to swirl around my clit.

  I let go of the pillow and dug my fingers into his hair instead. I never wanted him to stop, but I also wanted what I knew was coming after he was done eating me.

  “Come for me,” he groaned as I lifted my head to look at him. He was fucking me with his fingers while his tongue still remained in place, pleasuring me just the way I liked it.

  I felt myself tighten around his fingers before I came all over them.

  “Yeah…,” he said lowly, touching my lifeless and shivering legs before he pulled his pants down.

  I straightened my back, now resting my ass on the top edge of the couch. I pulled his dick out of his boxers and stroked his already hard length while we kissed hungrily.

  I couldn’t wait to have him inside of me and I screamed right after his first thrust.

  “You feel so damn good, Jessica” he groaned. “Every single time.”

  I was so wet that he slid right out of me.

  “A sign I should wear a condom,” he smirked, bending down to retrieve a packet from his jeans pocket.

  He rolled it over his length and pushed me back down, then unbuttoned my blouse and squeezed my breast before pushing himself in.

  “Fuck,” I snapped my eyes shut and screamed as he rammed into me over and over again, holding onto my ass with both his hands. I dug my long nails into the leather, feeling as though Arthur would fuck me into the new year.

  His thrusts became more urgent, deeper than before, and that’s when I knew that he was nearing his orgasm. I always happened to finish at the same time as him. That gave me such a high. It was like the cherry on top that I cherished oh-so-much.

  “Fuck….,” he let out a deep exhale while he stayed buried deep inside me even after he’d filled the condom with his seed.

  I moved my ass to feel him in me for as long as I could, then he pulled out and removed the condom, tossing it in the trashcan nearby.

  “Gross,” I joked.

  “Didn’t seem like you thought it was gross a moment ago,” he smirked, pulling me in for a kiss when I stood.

  “My back hurts a little,” I chuckled. “But it was totally worth it.”

  He shook his head and smiled, looking into my eyes and lifting me from the floor.

  I yelled as he put me over his shoulder like he had with his blazer while he was standing down there in the snow.

  “What are you doing?”
I laughed, punching his bare back, begging him to put me down.

  He walked toward my bedroom with me still over his shoulder.

  “I’ve been deprived, and I’m not going to be done with you so fast.”

  I gave up and let him lay me over the mattress, then watched as sheer lust replaced the amusement on his face. By the time we were done, I was exhausted, and I don't think I’d ever had a better night of sleep in all my life.

  20

  Arthur

  “Is there anything else that I can help you with, sir?” The woman over the phone asked, who I believed was named Shirley, but I could be wrong. I wasn't really listening to her in all my excitement. It didn’t matter what her name was, anyway. What did matter, however, was that I was done with this. I had finally pulled the trigger on something that I’d been considering for months.

  It wasn’t until my mother convinced me that I had to absolutely go through with it that I decided to play my part in uniting Jessica and Lily. I didn’t ask her before I took the step to call Lily’s school, volunteering to pay for her tuition for the remaining year so Jessica could bring her home earlier than it would be possible otherwise.

  Now, she would only have to worry about getting her daughter into a school here in New York that would accept Lily in the middle of the year. That too, I was willing to help her with, but I didn’t want to push my luck. I wasn’t sure how she was going to react to the fact that I’d taken the liberty to do what I’d done.

  When I spoke to Mom over last weekend, she’d told me to not worry about that.

  “Jessica has a lot of pride and I admire that,” she’d said. “But I’m a mother and I know how this species is. We’re all the same. Having Lily home is going to overrule everything. She’s just going to be happy and you would have done the right thing by her.”

  I thought that would be the end of my discussion with her about Jessica, but it didn’t just stop there.