My Fake Fiancee

by Nancy Warren

  She was removing her apron so that she could retreat to her office to work on a menu plan for the masquerade ball she’d agreed to cater when a familiar figure entered the room.

  She saw the tall body, the flop of black hair, the grin that went slightly crooked when he saw her, and she had to push her fingernails into her palms to stop herself running out from behind the counter and throwing herself at him.

  Since the poor guy was probably here for a take-out lasagna, she doubted her tongue in his mouth would be a great substitute. So, she forced herself to speak casually.

  “David, hey.”

  He came up to the counter, not perusing her offerings at all, but focusing all his attention on her.

  “Hi. Looks like you’re doing pretty well for yourself.”

  “So far so good.”

  He nodded. Gazed at her mouth so she had to put ten new dents in her palms to keep her cool. “Are you busy or do you have a few minutes to take a walk?” he asked her abruptly. She’d barely seen him for the last two weeks and now he wanted a walk?

  For the first week, she’d hoped against hope that he’d come by and beg her to come back, at least that he’d call her up and maybe invite her to dinner or a movie. But nothing. It was like she’d exited his home and his memory the same day. So, she was a little surprised at his sudden invitation.

  There could be only one reason he wanted to see her again. However, her days of being a fake fiancée were over. So she pulled off her apron, hung it carefully on the hook behind her door and told her staff that she’d be back in half an hour.

  David held the door for her and they walked out into the evening air. It was warm, fragrant with roses and jasmine that she’d put in the windowboxes together with the fat spill of red geraniums. Maybe it was a slightly unorthodox collection of blooms, but she didn’t care. She liked them all.

  “It’s been a while,” she said after they’d walked for a few seconds in silence.

  “It has.”

  A few more seconds of silence ticked by while she waited for him to tell her that she was needed for the company fussball tournament, or the family picnic, or some other masquerade where she’d pretend to belong to the man she wanted most in the world. Since he remained silent, she finally spoke up. “Whatever you’re going to ask me, can I say right now that the answer’s no?”

  He turned, looked at her in stunned disbelief. “How can you possibly know what I’m going to ask you?”

  “Experience.” So, he was going to ask her a favor. She’d known it the second she saw him. Even as her heart plummeted, her irritation level rose. “Let me be clear. No, I don’t want to be your fake date for the company golf tournament, fishing derby, or some team-building exercise involving riding a mechanical bull. No, no and no. My days of being a fake fiancée are over.”

  “Well, that’s good. But I didn’t want to ask you any of those things.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “No.” He blew out a breath and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I cannot believe what an ass I was. I had no business lying to my boss and coworkers or putting you in such an awkward position.” He turned to her, as sincere as she’d ever seen him. “I’m truly sorry about that.”

  “Thanks. Apology accepted. Then why are you here?”

  “I’ll get to that, but first I want to tell you about my new job.”

  “You have a new job?”

  “Yeah. Well, no. It’s sort of the same job, but after I got over myself I realized that maybe I don’t know it all. I decided to try working with Macabee.” He let out a low whistle. “What that guy doesn’t know about insurance isn’t worth knowing. And he’s connected like you wouldn’t believe. He’s been introducing me to some of his clients. Instead of feeling like I got booted to the end of the line, I’m learning. Every day it’s exciting. I think it’s good for him, too. He needed a new challenge to keep it fresh.”

  She felt ridiculously proud of him. “That must have been a hard thing to do.”

  “It was at first, but now I’m glad. It was the right move. Oh, and just so you know? We all rode the mechanical bull without you.” He chuckled softly. “I kept wishing you were there, though. You’d have loved it. I don’t think I can adequately describe the sight of Piers riding that bronco.” He shook his head, grinning in memory. “Everyone asked about you.”

  “What did you tell them about us?”

  “That we broke up.”

  Even though the whole charade had been a fraud, hearing him say those words was like a kick in the stomach. “How did they take it?”

  “Piers told me he was sure we’d get back together.”

  She snorted. “Hopefully in the next three years, before you become VP.”

  “Nope. That wasn’t it.” He turned to her and she saw an emotion in his eyes she’d never seen there before. “He said it was because he could tell we were in love with each other, and love like that always finds a way.”

  Oh, if only it were true. She wanted to say something slick and cool, but right now her throat seemed incapable of opening for speech.

  “Piers is quite the romantic,” she said, feeling incredibly foolish that her feelings had been so transparent.

  “I’ve had some time to think about a lot of things since you left. Mostly, I needed to clear up some baggage I’ve been carrying around way too long. I thought I was in love once before, and I got engaged.”

  He’d never mentioned it to her, she owed her information to Sarah, so the fact that he was telling her now suggested he was finally able to face up to his past. “What happened?” she asked softly.

  “The story I’ve always told myself is that she kicked me to the curb when her old boyfriend came back to town, and while that’s true, the part I hadn’t figured out before is that she did the right thing. Turned out she loved the guy and she didn’t love me. And it took me way too long to figure out I never loved her, either.”

  “You didn’t?”

  “Nope.”

  A kid rode by them on a bike so she moved closer to David to let the boy by.

  “Anyhow, I came by because you forgot something when you moved out of my place.”

  “Oh, was it my omelet skillet? I haven’t been able to find that anywhere. I wondered if I’d left it at your place.”

  “Omelet skillet.” His eyes twinkled down at her in that disturbing way. “Honey, I wouldn’t know an omelet skillet from a frying pan.”

  “Well, technically, it is a frying pan. A smaller one, with a copper bottom. Oh, never mind. I’ll come around one day and have a look for myself.”

  “You do that.”

  “So, if it wasn’t my omelet skillet, what did I leave at your place?”

  He plunged his hand in his pocket and pulled out something sparkly that caught in the evening light and flashed. “Your engagement ring.”

  “But we’re not—”

  “I always liked that ring on you. Seems a shame for it to go to waste.”

  “But, I can’t—”

  He turned her to face him, slid his hands down her arms and took her hands in his, the ring a hard spot against her skin. “Chelsea, I’ve been the biggest fool in the world. I only figured out that I never loved Suzanne when I realized that I love you.” His eyes were intent on hers and she felt like her heart was going to burst right out of her chest. “I almost let the woman I love get away. There’s no reason you should do it, but I have to ask you anyway. Will you marry me?”

  She opened her mouth. Closed it again. Fought down the craziest feelings of hope. “Wouldn’t they take the ring back?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask them. Thing is, when we started this, I thought you would only be a temporary part of my life. Turns out I was wrong. I can’t stop thinking about you, I miss seeing you every day and being part of your life, and even though we never slept a whole night in the same bed, I wake up in the middle of the night reaching for you.” He stopped, swallowed. “Is that crazy?”

  “Prob
ably. But I do it, too, so we must both be crazy.”

  He laughed, a little shakily. “So, will you?”

  “Marry you?” She regarded the ring he was holding out to her. “To help you sleep through the night? That’s a pretty feeble reason.”

  “How about because I love you. And I’ve never loved anyone before, so I’m pretty sure this is forever.”

  When she looked into his eyes she saw the truth.

  “Oh, David, I’ve been in love with you since I was fourteen years old.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  He took her left hand in his, kissed her fingers before he slid the ring onto her finger, and she did nothing to stop him. “I think you’re right. It works better when I put the ring on your finger.” And then he kissed her mouth, long and deep.

  She put her arms around him and kissed him back.

  When they came back down to earth, he said, “You’ve been in love with me for, like, fifteen years?”

  “Stop gloating.”

  “Am I a slow learner or what?”

  “Definitely slow,” she agreed. Then she relented and threw her arms around him. “But worth waiting for.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-6003-4

  MY FAKE FIANCÉE

  Copyright © 2010 by Nancy Warren.

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