[Anthology] A Clean Fake Marriage Romance Collection

by Victorine E. Lieske

  “I can’t paint my kitchen tan. Any other colors catch your eye?”

  She shuffled through the samples and then held up a light blue. “I like this one.”

  He leaned over her shoulder. “Jamaica Bay. I like that one. Mostly blue, but has a little bit of teal in it.”

  “I think it would go well with the dark fixtures you have in here.”

  He nodded. “You’re right. Jamaica Bay it is.” He grinned at her. “Wanna come to the store with me?”

  Her first instinct was to say no, that she had something with Ted, but then she realized she couldn’t use Ted as an excuse anymore. “Are you trying to sucker me into helping you paint?”

  “Would it work?”

  “Only if there’s ice cream involved.”

  “Deal.” He turned his full grin on her, which made her heart flip-flop in her chest.

  She turned away, unable to bear it. “Okay, let’s go.”

  It didn’t take long to get to the store. Blake talked to the paint guy while she walked down the paintbrush aisle. She grabbed a roller and then looked at the brushes. When Blake came around the corner, she held up two different kinds. “This one is cheaper, but this other one will do a better job.”

  Blake scratched his chin. “Better to spend an extra dollar or two now, and have a better paint job in the end.” He took the cheaper one from her and slid it back on the peg hook. She ignored the tingles as their fingers touched.

  When the paint was ready, they paid for their items and left the store. Blake drove down the street, staring straight ahead. “Do you mind if I ask what happened, between you and Ted?”

  Sidney groaned inwardly. Nice. Now she had to lie some more. Guilt made her stomach turn. “We realized it wasn’t working.” That was sort of true. It wasn’t working, because they weren’t really dating...and because Grayson figured it out.

  He nodded, still not looking at her. “And what made you come tell me about it?” He clenched his jaw, like he was upset about something.

  “I just figured you should know.” Did he think she was trying to imply something? She quickly went on. “I mean, not that I think you and me...” She nervously laughed. “You’re dating Angie now. So don’t get the wrong idea.”

  He lifted an eyebrow and looked at her. “The wrong idea?”

  Gah. Now he wanted her to explain herself? “Yeah. We’re just friends. And friends tell each other stuff, right? That’s all. I was just...telling you.”

  Oh, please let that be enough.

  He clenched the steering wheel and slowly nodded, staring ahead again. “I see.”

  He didn’t say anything more, and she breathed an internal sigh of relief.

  Chapter 20

  Blake didn’t know what was going on. Sidney was abandoning her fake relationship, but was not coming clean about it. She was still holding onto the lie. And to make matters worse, she was still keeping her distance. He wasn’t sure why she hadn’t simply kept up the pretense of her and Ted. And why had she come all the way over to his house? It didn’t make sense. The only thing he could gather was that she wanted to tell him something more, but was too embarrassed.

  He pulled into the garage and opened the door for Sidney. Maybe if they spent the day together, she’d open up. They brought the painting supplies into the kitchen. “Here, let me get you something to put on over your shirt. I’m sure you don’t want to get paint on your nice clothes.”

  She shrugged. “Okay.”

  He went into his bedroom and rummaged through his closet. After he found an old dress shirt that was too tight around his neck, he walked back into the kitchen and tossed it at her. She held it up. “You want me to wear a dress shirt? To paint in?”

  “It’s too tight. I won’t wear it again.”

  She looked at him like he was a bit crazy, but put the shirt on anyway. The sleeves hung down too long, so she rolled them up.

  Man, she looked good in his shirt. He turned away. “That works.”

  She poured paint into the tray and they both got started in with their brushes. Blake glanced at her as they worked. She was going fast, but her paint was smooth. “You’re good. You have a lot of experience painting?”

  “Yes. My freshman year I worked for a guy who flipped houses. I mostly painted, but sometimes he had me laying tile or putting up drywall. I learned a lot.”

  “Impressive.”

  She smiled. “He paid well, and I enjoyed the work. Sadly, he went out of business after a year, so I had to find another job.”

  He wanted to keep her talking. She was more relaxed that way. “What did you do then?”

  “Don’t laugh.” She pointed at him.

  “That’s not fair. You can’t tell me I can’t laugh, because that makes me think of laughing. Now I have to laugh, no matter what you say.”

  “Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “I was a telemarketer.”

  He chuckled. “No way.”

  She dipped her brush into the paint. “I know. It’s a terrible job, but it pays well. Even better than painting.” She’d covered twice as much as he’d done, in the same amount of time.

  “Did you get a lot of angry people on the phone?”

  “No, not really. It wasn’t so bad. I was an inbound telemarketer, which is the kind you get when you call in to a company. So, I mainly took orders and tried to up-sell people.”

  “Ah, so you weren’t the annoying girl who called at supper time.”

  She peered at him, her lashes low. “No. I was the annoying girl who took your call to order a handbag, and by the time you got off the phone I’d convinced you to buy the matching coin purse, wallet and shoes.”

  He smiled. “Ooh, what color purse did I buy?”

  “Blue. To match your eyes.” The way she’d said it sounded quite flirty, and she blushed.

  Blake laughed. “I can see why it paid more than painting. I bet you up-sold quite a bit.”

  She didn’t answer, just focused on her painting while turning a deeper red.

  “Looks like we can start with the rollers.” He set his paintbrush down and picked up a roller.

  She was faster at that, also, and soon they had the entire room painted. Sidney stood back, looking at their work. “You did a good job priming the wall. I don’t think we’ll need a second coat.”

  He stood beside her, studying the wall. “I agree.”

  She turned to him. “It looks nice.”

  “I’m glad you made me go with the lighter color. Makes the room look bigger.” He studied her face. “You’ve got an eyelash on your cheek.”

  She closed her eyes. “Get it off.”

  He brushed her cheek with the pad of his thumb, not realizing he had paint on him until she looked like she was preparing for some tribal war. “Oops.”

  She opened her eyes. “What?”

  He chuckled. “I got some paint on you.”

  Her mouth dropped open and she turned and bent over to look at her reflection on the toaster. “Oh, you’re gonna pay for that.” She picked up her brush.

  Blake took a step back, his hands up in a defensive move. “It was an accident!”

  She smiled, a devilish glint in her eyes. “Hold still, and it won’t be so bad.”

  “I’m not going to hold still while you paint my face.”

  She came at him fast. Her paintbrush bristles left wet paint on his nose before he caught her wrists. “Ha!” She laughed. “Gotcha.”

  He tried to turn her own paintbrush on her, but she was too strong. He couldn’t get it close enough. So he stepped forward and used his nose to get paint on her other cheek.

  “So not fair!” she said, laughing. “You wiped off all yours.”

  He was suddenly aware of how close he was to her. They were just inches apart, and he could feel her breath on his cheek. It made his heart speed up. He looked into the depths of her brown eyes, and all his playfulness vanished.

  He wanted to kiss her, but he knew he couldn’t. It wouldn’t be right. He co
uldn’t take that intimacy from her. She needed to give it to him.

  She sobered. “Okay. I surrender.” She let the paintbrush fall to the drop cloth, and she squirmed.

  He let her go and turned away. He needed to give up the idea that she was going to open up to him. She was still putting up walls, even if they were no longer named Ted.

  SIDNEY TOOK A DEEP breath as she washed out the paintbrush. Why did Blake have such an effect on her? She really needed to get away from him. Being around him was just more torture on her. If she didn’t have the guts to tell him she loved him, then she needed to get out of the way and let him explore a relationship with Angie.

  The thought of Blake with Angie made her want to scream. But she’d matched them because they had so many common interests. And they both deserved someone in their life.

  Her stomach turned sour, and she looked at Blake. “I’m not feeling well. I’d better head home.”

  He turned off the faucet and gave her a concerned look. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. I think I’m just tired.” She walked into the living room. “I might go home and take a nap.”

  “All right.” He didn’t look convinced. “Give me a call later. Let me know how you’re doing.”

  “Okay.” Not gonna happen. She didn’t look him in the eye. Instead, she picked up her purse and headed toward the door. She needed fresh air.

  She stepped out onto his porch. “See ya.” She hoped she wouldn’t. She needed a break from seeing him.

  He nodded. “Okay.” His eyes held something, but she wasn’t quite sure what.

  She practically ran to her car and sped home. Once inside, she plopped down onto her living room chair. She looked down and realized she still had Blake’s dress shirt on. Dang. She unbuttoned it and tossed it on the coffee table. She’d have to give it back later. Or not.

  She snuggled down in her chair, the one perfect for watching TV, and turned on Netflix. Time for a Psych marathon. Shawn and Gus always made her laugh.

  But even as the opening song played, she knew it wasn’t going to make her feel any better. She’d gone to Blake’s house to get everything out in the open, and she’d failed. And the whole thing made her feel miserable.

  Two hours later, her phone pinged. She glanced at the screen.

  Grayson: Flying out in the morning. Want to do dinner?

  She smiled and typed out a reply. Okay. What time?

  Six. I’ll pick you up.

  Sidney hoped going out with Grayson would improve her mood, but as the time grew closer, her stomach grew worse. By six o’clock, she was feeling like she’d never get out from under the heavy feeling settling inside her.

  Grayson pulled up in his rental car. Sidney hopped in, glad to be doing something other than moping around her house. Grayson would be a good distraction.

  When he pulled into Sue’s parking lot, she groaned. Just what she needed, to be reminded of when she and Blake ate there.

  “What?” Grayson said, clearly annoyed. “You love Sue’s.”

  “Sorry. It’s fine. I’m just in a bad mood.”

  Grayson shot her a weird look and got out of the car. After they were seated, he leaned over his menu and cleared his throat. “Okay, spill it.”

  She stared at him. Was he taking her out just to get more info about her and Ted? That was a low thing to do. She frowned. “Spill what?”

  “Everything. I know about Ted, and I know you’re in love with Blake, so tell me what’s going on.”

  She pinched her lips together. Did the whole world know? “I guess there’s nothing to tell. You apparently already know everything.”

  Grayson snorted. “Come on. Why are you lying to everyone?”

  She folded her arms across her chest and gave him her best glare. She didn’t appreciate the ambush. “My business was failing.”

  He waved his hand dismissively. “You didn’t have to tell Mom you were engaged. Why did you?”

  She huffed. “If you must know, I did it because I didn’t want Blake to find out it was a lie.”

  “And why did you want Blake to think you were engaged? Did you think he’d find you more desirable that way?”

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  Grayson looked at her like she had two heads. “Then why?”

  The answer was too much to bear, and she blinked back tears. “Because I didn’t want Blake to stick around. I didn’t want to fall for him again.”

  The server walked up to their table, smacking on her gum. “Are you ready to order?”

  Sidney was too upset to speak, so she ducked her head. Grayson sat forward. “She’ll have the cheeseburger meal with a vanilla malt. I’ll take the cheese frenchee meal.”

  “You got it,” she said. “Can I have your menus?”

  Grayson handed them to her, and she left. Then he placed his hand on Sidney’s arm. “What do you mean? You’ve been in love with him since we were kids.”

  She sniffed. “I know. Then something happened, and it took me ten years to get over him. I didn’t want to do that again.”

  Grayson looked puzzled. “What happened ten years ago?”

  Great. Now she had to tell him. The only positive thing to come out of the whole ordeal was that Blake had never told anyone what had happened. He’d had the decency to keep her humiliation between them. Sidney rubbed her temples and tried to think of a way to say it that wasn’t so embarrassing. “I was sixteen.”

  He nodded, and when she didn’t go on, he prodded her. “And?”

  “I wanted to show Blake I was interested in him. So I got dressed up, and Leena put makeup on me.” She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. “That was the day Blake came for dinner.”

  Grayson frowned. “Blake was always over for dinner.”

  She shook her head. “No, he was in college. This was the last time he came over for dinner.”

  Apparently, Grayson didn’t remember the event, because he shrugged. “So?”

  “So, I flirted all through dinner, and Blake didn’t even look at me. He was looking at Natalie.”

  “She was more his age. You can’t blame him.”

  She stared down at the table. “You’re right. But I was young and stupid.”

  The server came back with their food, and they waited until she was gone to continue.

  Grayson picked up his soda and took a sip. “Okay. You flirted and he ignored you. Was that it?”

  Sidney shifted in her chair, the seat suddenly uncomfortable. “Unfortunately, no.” Did she have to say the next part? Heat crept up her neck, and she blurted it out. “I kissed him.”

  Grayson choked on his soda. “You what?”

  “I know! I can’t believe I did it, but as Blake walked by my bedroom, I yanked him inside and planted one on him.”

  He cringed. “Oh, I bet that didn’t go well. What was he, like twenty? You can’t blame him for not kissing you back.”

  “I wish that was all it was.” Why was it so hot? It was like a hundred degrees. She picked up a desert menu and fanned her face.

  Grayson took a bite of his cheese frenchee. “So, what happened?” He was really getting into the story now.

  “He kissed me. Like, really kissed me.”

  Grayson about choked again. “He did?”

  The next part she couldn’t say out loud, so she whispered. “He thought I was Natalie.”

  “Oh no,” he said, his face showing his empathy.

  “When he found out it was me, he freaked out and left.”

  “I’m sorry.” He put his hand over hers. “I’m sure that was embarrassing.”

  She nodded. “Yes, but that wasn’t the worst part.” She blinked more tears away, and her stomach clenched. “He was so disgusted, he never came back.”

  Grayson shook his head. “No, that’s not what happened.”

  She massaged her forehead. “Yes. That was the last time I saw him, until he came into Blissfully Matched.”

  “
Okay, but he was in college. He was trying to get into medical school.” A look of pity filled his face. “He wasn’t staying away from you.”

  She could barely speak over the lump in her throat. “Yes, he was. I know, because he’d come back to Bishop Falls and visit his mother, but he stayed away from me.”

  “Sidney,” Grayson said, his voice low. “He was older than you. He couldn’t have dated you.”

  She looked down at her fingernails. “I know that.”

  “You can’t think he was staying away because of that kiss.”

  That was exactly what she thought, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she stared at the jukebox sitting in the corner and tried to hold it together.

  “Okay. I understand,” Grayson said.

  She looked at him.

  He blew out a breath and leaned back in his chair. “I can see why you lied. You were hurt.”

  “I was over it.”

  Grayson looked at her with skepticism. “But you hadn’t forgotten.”

  “True. And I didn’t want to get all caught up in my Blake crush again.” She stared at her cheeseburger, unable to take a bite. “So I told him I was engaged.”

  “And when are you going to tell him the truth?”

  She froze. “Never.”

  He plopped the last of his cheese frenchee in his mouth. “That’s real mature.”

  She sulked. “I know. But if I tell him I made up the engagement, I’m going to have to tell him why. And I can’t put myself on the line like that. Not again.”

  “Then you’re going to lose him.”

  “I think I already have,” she whispered.

  Chapter 21

  Sidney stared down at the untouched food on her plate. Grayson nudged her. “You gonna eat that?”

  She shook her head and shoved the plate toward him. “No.”

  He shrugged and picked up the burger. “You really should talk to Mom.”

  That was the last thing she wanted to do. “Why?”

  “Because she’s upset that you told her you and Ted were engaged.”