The Dating Arrangement

by Kerri Carpenter

Grace let out a squeal that only that dog from the night before could hear.

  “This. Is. So. Exciting.” Grace punctuated each word as she did a little dance in her chair.

  “Exciting? Are you nuts?”

  “You have a boyfriend!”

  Emerson shook her head. “I have a pretend boyfriend, and I’m lying to my entire family about him.”

  “Maybe he’s your soul mate. Maybe you’re going to marry him. Maybe I’ll get to plan your wedding.” She finished with another squeal.

  “I’m not thinking about marrying him, Grace. Or anyone,” she quickly added. “I’m afraid I might be thinking about sleeping with him though. Ugh.” She flung her head onto the desk.

  “What’s wrong with sleeping with him? You’re both adults. Is he attractive?”

  “Oh good Lord, yes. That’s the problem.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a problem to me.”

  “Every time I’m around him, I just want to...to...jump his bones,” she finally finished.

  “What’s stopping you?” Grace wondered.

  I’m scared. She should have been married for a year already. But Thad hadn’t only called it off; he’d broken up with her in the most humiliating and public way.

  But if Emerson was being honest with herself, she’d had a feeling that something was off. In her profession, growing up helping her mother out at the wedding shop, and even with assisting Grace, she was around brides and weddings constantly. A bride could be stressed out beyond belief, but they still managed to have a certain glow. There was an excitement, an anticipation, that came with being engaged.

  Emerson had never felt that. Sure, she’d been happy when Thad had proposed. They’d been dating for two years. He had given her his mother’s cushion-cut diamond ring. They’d taken professional engagement photos. She’d registered for a china pattern that she didn’t really like but her mother had insisted was amazing.

  Between her business, planning the wedding and buying the townhouse, she hadn’t had time to really ask herself if she was in love with him. Well...she hadn’t allowed herself that time. If she had, Emerson would have had to admit the truth.

  “I don’t know if I’m ready to be with a man again,” she said to Grace. “In that way or any other way. It’s too soon.”

  Grace reached across the desk and squeezed her hand. “It’s been a year, Em. It’s time to get back out there.”

  Suddenly uncomfortable, Emerson started fidgeting in her seat. “I’m happy, you know.”

  “I know.”

  “I love my job. I have a great house. Fabulous friends.”

  Grace smiled. “I know,” she repeated. “But did you ever think that you could have more?”

  More sounded scary. She’d had more. She’d lost it.

  Emerson didn’t like the serious feeling that was permeating the air, so she shook her hands in front of them as if she was wiping away the mood. “It doesn’t matter anyway, because Jack is in the middle of some major life changes. His dad just passed away. He’s been given this bar. And he inherited a dog.”

  “Ooohh, a dog! Men with dogs are so hot.”

  “He’s really cute too. The dog, I mean. His name is Cosmo and he is just precious.” She took a long breath. “But he doesn’t really want the bar. He doesn’t even know if he’s going to stay in the area.”

  “What do you mean?” Grace looked shocked. “He’s not going to live here?”

  “Maybe not.”

  Grace appeared to be deep in thought. “You like him.”

  “I just met him.”

  “You like him. I can tell. But if he’s going to be leaving soon, you really need to protect yourself. I don’t want to see you get hurt again. You’ve already committed to this lie with him. But try to keep your wits about you. You don’t want to get in too much further at this point.”

  They began talking about the wedding Grace needed help with. Emerson was happy for the topic change.

  Still, her friend’s words were echoing throughout her mind. She didn’t want to get hurt again either. Yet she had the feeling she was already in way too far with Jack.

  * * *

  Jack didn’t consider himself an indecisive person. Nor did he scare easily. Yet he’d picked his phone up and considered calling Emerson, before returning it to his pocket, about a hundred times already.

  Once again, he unlocked the screen and studied her name. He hadn’t heard from her since Thursday night, when they’d had dinner with her parents.

  Since you kissed her.

  He shoved a hand through his hair. “Christ,” he said into the silence of the empty bar. It was only Monday. And she had texted a few times.

  But he wanted to talk to her. He really wanted to see her. And he definitely wanted to kiss her again.

  He’d spent the weekend mooning over Emerson like some love-crazed teenager, when he should have been thinking about the bar, his dad’s house, his life. He had serious decisions to make and all he could do was obsess over a kiss.

  The only thing keeping him from going that extra mile and hitting Send on his cell phone was the unknown. Did she regret the kiss? Jack could tell she’d been into it in the moment. And he sure as hell had been too.

  She’d been fairly quiet on the drive home from her parents. Hardly surprising, considering the events of the evening. The reminder of her mother’s behavior caused him to exhale a long, frustrated breath. How could she not see how amazing Emerson was?

  Even more frustrating was Emerson herself. Jack understood respecting the people who raised you, but Emerson’s blatant lack of self-respect was troublesome. Why didn’t she defend herself?

  His earlier worry morphed into anger. Emerson was awesome and he wanted everyone to know that. Especially her.

  He snatched his phone from his pocket once more and punched the send button.

  “Hey, Jack,” Emerson answered, after two rings. “I—”

  But he didn’t let her finish. “I want to see you.”

  The line was disturbingly quiet for a long moment. Jack worked hard to calm his breathing.

  Finally, she spoke. Jack thought he heard a bit of humor in her short answer.

  “Okay.”

  Okay? That was easy. He was about to say so when the door of the bar swung open and she appeared, looking professional and beautiful in gray pants and a navy blue sweater. Her auburn curls bounced around her face as she stepped into the bar.

  “Here I am,” she said with a smile.

  Instantly, he relaxed. “That was fast.”

  She laughed and made her way toward him. “Well, I was actually on my way over here.” He stared at her blankly. “You know, to talk about plans for the bar?”

  “Oh. Right!” He met her halfway, by coming out from behind the bar.

  “Want something to drink?”

  She shook her head. “I’m good.” She looked around the room. “Where’s Cosmo?”

  “He’s at home. I didn’t think keeping a dog here was the most sanitary thing on the planet.”

  Her face fell. “Oh. Well, I brought him some treats from the doggie bakery down the street.”

  Jack stared at the bag she offered, covered in little bones. “There are doggie bakeries?”

  “Of course. There are doggie gyms and doggie daycares, not to mention doggie happy hour. Oh,” she said excitedly, clapping her hands together. “You should look into doing something like that. People love it.”

  Jack ran a hand over his face. “I am not serving a four-legged beast a daiquiri,” he said stubbornly.

  “Maybe the four-legged beast preferred a beer anyway,” she said with a smile. “How was your weekend?”

  “I was here all weekend.”

  “Was it busy? A lot of customers?”

  Jack groaned. “Hardly. We really nee
d to turn this place around.”

  “That’s why I’m here.” She walked to the closest table, placed the bag she was carrying onto it and reached inside. “I’ve been working on the bar all weekend.”

  He sat at the table with her and raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

  “Yes. Thanks to me, The Wright Drink is now on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. I also did some upgrading to your website. Thanks for getting me the access to it, by the way.”

  She pulled her laptop out of a separate bag and pulled up the website. “Until we clean this place up, do a little redecorating and decide on some events, there’s not much I can do with the website. We need photos. Videos would be even better.”

  Emerson showed him each of the social media platforms. He was impressed to see small followings in each place.

  “Wow. You did all of this in a couple of days?”

  “Well, I took Saturday off completely, if you must know.”

  His fingers itched. This moment definitely called for one of his banned cigarettes. “This is really great, Em. I’m on Facebook, but none of those other things. I’m not really a social media kind of guy, so I don’t really have the expertise to manage them. Or the time.”

  “Of course not. I hired someone for you.”

  “You what? Who? When? How much does something like that cost?”

  “Don’t worry. I have a couple of people who I work with on the social media side of things. Katlyn’s really good. And she’s inexpensive. But she’ll have a ton of social media attention in no time. It’s the easiest way to advertise, and it can be cost-effective too.”

  She really had her stuff together. How could her family not see that?

  “Happy, shmoopie?” she asked with a wink.

  “No.”

  “No?” Her face fell. She fumbled with the laptop, toggling between pages. “What don’t you like? I was just playing around with this banner on Twitter, but we can certainly change it.”

  Jack had noticed that, all during her social media spiel she hadn’t made eye contact with him. That’s when he realized that she might be embarrassed about what had happened between them the other night.

  So he grabbed her chair and pulled her closer, forcing her to look up at him.

  “I don’t like that you’ve been using work to avoid me.”

  Her cheeks blushed red. “I haven’t been avoiding you.” She quickly averted her eyes.

  With a light finger under her chin, he tilted her head up so she had to meet his gaze. “Emerson.”

  “I’ve been working for you.” She gestured toward her computer.

  “Are you embarrassed about something?” he asked.

  “Such as?”

  “You tell me,” he countered. She was cute when she was annoyed. Her blue eyes took on a bright crystal color.

  “My parents? Well, it’s probably too late to get adopted into a new family, as you suggested the other night.”

  He shook his head.

  “The awful photos you saw of me at their house?”

  He waited patiently.

  “What?” she asked.

  With his finger still under her chin, he gently pulled her face closer. “That kiss,” he said quietly. He moved his other hand to caress the soft skin of her cheek.

  “No, I mean, I, well, I...”

  “I really liked it,” he filled in for her.

  Her lips twitched. “Really?”

  “Oh yeah. Did you?”

  Her tongue poked out to wet her tempting lips. “Um, that would be a definite yes.”

  He gave a hard nod. “Good. That settles that.”

  “No, it doesn’t. Things are complicated between us.” She tried to pull away, but he held firm. “We’re lying to everyone. We’re pretending to date. I’m helping with your bar. To top it off, you said you’re probably going to move out of the area in a month or two. I would be crazy to start anything with you. To kiss you again.” But she tilted her head as she said the words.

  Jack didn’t need more invitation than that. He took her lips for a second time.

  Instantly, her lips softened, and he took advantage by moving his mouth over hers. Hungrily, greedily.

  She moaned as her arms came up to wind around his neck. He pulled her even closer, unable to get enough of her.

  The kiss felt amazing, surreal. He ran his hands through her hair, tangling his fingers in those silky curls. His tongue dove into her mouth, taking the kiss even deeper.

  Someone made a guttural sound and he had no idea which of them it was. He ripped his mouth from hers and trailed it down the column of her neck. She obliged by throwing her head back.

  But he needed more.

  He yanked her up and pulled her onto his lap. She met his gaze, with her eyes dark and full of lust. Threading her hands through his hair, she brought her head down for another satisfying, delicious kiss.

  “Excuse me?”

  They both started and moved to separate, but Jack was seated in one of the chairs and Emerson was on top of him. Realizing they were more entwined than one of the soft pretzels served at the bar, they both turned toward the voice.

  “Am I interrupting something?” A man stood right inside the door, wearing a long black coat over a black suit, and he had an amused grin. He walked down the three steps and his grin got even bigger.

  “Xander Ryan,” Jack said. His best friend from high school was standing there as Emerson jumped off his lap and adjusted her top, her gaze ping-ponging between the two of them.

  “I think one of the last times I saw you in high school, you were in a similar position with Lizzie Demarco.”

  “Ass,” Jack uttered as he stood. But he was grinning from ear to ear. He grabbed Xander in a hug. “Good to see you, man.”

  “Ohmigod,” Emerson groaned. “This is so embarrassing.” Jack turned back and saw Emerson glance down at her sweater and then run a hand through her hair. He didn’t think it was wise to point out that her lips were swollen from their make-out session and her face was flushed. He also imagined that the majority of her lipstick was on his face.

  “Hi,” she said to Xander, extending her hand.

  He shook it—maybe too enthusiastically, Jack observed. “Hey there. I’m Xander, this loser’s best friend. We went to high school together.”

  “Emerson Dewitt. I’m helping this loser whip the bar into shape.”

  “Hey,” Jack protested. Before he could say more, Emerson was grabbing her laptop and other supplies from the table.

  “Well, I think we can finish discussing this later. I’ll let the two of you catch up.”

  “Em, wait.” But she was already at the front door. “When should we talk again?”

  “Um, just text me. We’ll work it out.” With that, she ran out the door.

  “Dammit.” Jack needed a drink. Ignoring Xander, he walked to the bar.

  “Nice business meeting,” Xander said, following Jack.

  “Shut up.”

  “No, really. It’s not exactly how we do things at the firm, but to each their own.”

  “Drink?” Jack held up a bottle of whiskey.

  “Wouldn’t say no.”

  Jack filled two glasses and pushed one across the counter, finally taking a moment to give Xander a once-over. His formerly rowdy and mischievous best friend was all grown-up, wearing a tailored suit, with his dark hair short and perfectly in place.

  The two of them had played baseball together. Not to mention, they’d constantly gotten into trouble together, as well. But Xander had always been able to talk his way out of any jam.

  When his mom had died, Xander sat next to him in the funeral home. He never pushed him to talk about it, which Jack appreciated to this day.

  “It’s really good to see you.” Jack saluted him with his glass
.

  “You too. Sorry about your dad. And I’m really sorry I couldn’t be at the funeral. I was across the country, on business.”

  He’d sent flowers though. And a mountain of food to the house.

  “No worries. Thanks for everything you sent.” Jack leaned against the bar. “Xander Ryan, Esquire. Can’t believe a real live attorney is standing in my bar.”

  “Can’t believe this is your bar. And I’m not just an attorney. I’m the top divorce attorney in the state.”

  Jack cocked an eyebrow. “You come up with that yourself, or are people aware of your awesomeness?”

  Even though they hadn’t been in the same room in close to ten years, they had stayed in touch over the years. Phone calls, Facebook, text messages. Being in the same room again didn’t feel any different from when they’d been teenagers.

  “Everyone is aware of me. But I don’t want to talk about me. How about you fill me in on that lovely lady who just ran away from you?”

  “Emerson,” Jack supplied.

  “New girlfriend?”

  “No. Yes,” Jack remembered. “Sort of.” He straightened. “How much time do you have?”

  Xander responded with an arched eyebrow. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited. Jack told him the whole story.

  “Well,” Xander said, and then chuckled. “That’s quite the situation you’ve got yourself in.”

  “You’re no help.”

  “Sorry, dude, this is uncharted territory. I’ve seen you with lots of girlfriends. But fake girlfriends? That’s definitely a new one. At least Emerson seems cool.”

  She was more than cool.

  “Interesting,” Xander said.

  “What?”

  “That dreamy look you just got. You sure this is all fake?”

  “Of course. She’s helping me with the bar and I’m helping her out with her family. Especially her mom. She seems to put a lot of pressure on her.”

  “Isn’t that kind of common with mothers and daughters?” Xander asked.

  “Not like this. I mean, Emerson is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. She started her own business, and you should see how she’s been building it up. Plus she’s beautiful.”

  “Uh-huh.” A grin broke out on Xander’s face.