The Boyfriend Arrangement: A Fake Marriage Romance

by Lara Swann

  We came down in starts and shudders and when I finally managed to release my legs’ death-grip on his hips, he worked his way out of me and lay me down gently on the bed, leaving me feeling thoroughly used and aching. I wondered idly whether I’d be able to walk straight tomorrow, and found part of me hoping I’d feel the reminder of this for a while to come.

  He settled behind me with his arms wrapped around me protectively, his warm chest heating my back and letting me feel his skin while I still breathed heavily, hazy from the pleasure shuddering through my body. We stayed like that for a long time, content to drift in the warmth of what we’d just done, and I found myself falling asleep to soft-spoken words brushing my ear.

  “I’m never going to let you go, Belle…”

  Chapter One

  Bella

  Engaged?!

  I stared, eyes wide as shock plastered my face.

  My father was looking straight back at me, calm and controlled in that unflappable way he had while I struggled to reign in my wild reaction. I knew he was waiting for a response. A sensible, equally calm response. Something about as far out of my reach as the moon right now.

  My eyes flickered around the familiar study, seeking some comfort as I tried to control my reeling emotions. The floor-to-ceiling bookcases and warm leather sofas were as comfortable as I’d always remembered them, adding some color and life to a room that was otherwise too functional.

  My father stood before his dark mahogany desk, perching lightly on the edge of it as he waited for me. His salt-and-pepper hair had a little more salt in it but was otherwise unchanged from a few months ago, when he’d last visited me at university. With the strong face and slightly weathered complexion it framed, he had an appealing mixture of roguish good looks and old wisdom that I imagined made it fairly easy for women to consider him attractive. If, of course, the temptation of his wealth and position at one of the most prominent technology giants wasn’t enough.

  A moment to let my mind run through this set of detached, logical thoughts and I could finally ask the first question in my mind - without the bite that was so tempting to put in there. I cleared my throat and let just a little of my consternation show as I faced the solid, respectable wall my father always presented.

  “Why…how didn’t I know about this sooner?”

  “I wanted to tell you in person, Annabelle.”

  His expression didn’t flicker, no indication that he felt the slightest bit awkward telling his daughter that while she’d been away at university, he’d somehow gotten engaged to a woman she’d never even met. But then, he probably hadn’t even considered that I might have a problem with it - clearly, the decision made sense for him, and therefore it must be immediately obvious to everyone else. At least, anyone who shared his belief in pure, rational thinking.

  And in truth, the idea of him getting married - while potentially a little disturbing and disruptive - wasn’t a problem for me. If he’d found someone to make him happy after all these years, I could support that. But having no chance to get used to the idea, no way to share that journey with him or the opportunity to adjust gradually to the concept, that was hard to deal with.

  I was still trying to process it when he continued, not quite showing his impatience at my lack of calm acceptance of his life-changing news.

  “I think this will be good for us, Annabelle - you should have a maternal influence in your life, and I…well, I’m sure you can understand it’s been lonely for me, all these years.”

  Maternal influence?! Sure, maybe if I was a child…

  My attempt to hold onto a measured response was lost in disbelief, and I was too taken aback to even notice whatever else he’d said.

  I was 21, damn it - just graduated from university and come home to this craziness, not some child looking for a lost mother!

  I yanked my temper back sharply, trying to calm my nerves. Getting angry wouldn’t help - I’d been raised better than that, and if I wanted to make the slightest impression on my father I’d have to take the time to process it and give a sensible, reasoned response.

  In fairness, he’d always been right about that - the one and only time I’d done something reckless and emotional, it had ended in disaster. Maybe it was difficult, but his approach had always worked out best for me. It was just so damn hard to live up to.

  You need to think things through, Annabelle. We can’t have these teenage tantrums; you’re better than that. I don’t know what your mother would have thought…

  I took a few deep breaths and calmed myself again. It was alright. This didn’t have to be a disaster.

  It was unexpected, sure. I would have liked to have been involved before this. And his approach to this conversation sucked balls - but that wasn’t a reason to rule it out already. My father had a point, and he’d raised me alone for the last 21 years - if he’d found something that would make him happy now, then I could hardly blame him for pursuing it.

  He certainly didn’t need my permission. Sure, seeking my opinion would have been nice, but this wasn’t the first time he’d made decisions without consulting me, and it was hardly right for me to object on those grounds. My blood was slowly returning to normal and I managed to get enough breath under me to give him a small nod and listen to the rest of what he was saying.

  “I’d like you to meet them—”

  “Them?”

  My voice came out a little sharper than I’d intended and he frowned briefly at the interruption, but continued with a nod.

  “Yes, Cora and her son - they’ll be coming for dinner tomorrow evening. I’d like you to meet them, make them both feel welcome.”

  Son? A new stepbrother too?!

  This time my instinctive reaction was harder to get over, and an uncomfortable weight settled in the pit of my stomach. I could come around to a new woman in my father’s life, but somehow the idea of a stepbrother sounded far too invasive. I didn’t want some stranger suddenly interfering with my life. Not when I was finally starting to feel ready to give it some direction and make my own decisions for once.

  It was a struggle to squash the sudden flare of resentment at that thought, but I could already tell I was over-reacting.

  The idea of this threatening the independence I’d wanted from this conversation was making me defensive, but it didn’t have to be a bad thing.

  So what if the last thing I wanted to do was invite a couple of strangers into my home? I owed it to my father to try and make this work. And that started with not deciding it was going to be horrific before I’d even met them both.

  What he’d said hit home - he had been alone all these years, and I’d never even considered that he might want something else. He’d always seemed so certain that Mom was the only one for him, so stoic in his lost love. He never talked about her, but the way her loss obviously still hurt him - even after all this time - had almost made me believe in the idea of soul-mates when I was a teenager.

  That thought was enough to take the last remnants of anger out of me. Thinking about Mom - about what had been lost before I’d even had the chance to know her - always did that.

  I looked up to find my father watching me carefully, that strange mixture of curious and baffled spread across his face. The same look I’d seen every time he couldn’t work out what was going through my mind or how I was going to react. It had always made me think that he was mentally preparing for a crazed teenage outburst - not that I’d had one of those for a good long time. My lip curved up at the thought of that, and all the other times I’d seen that expression.

  And then it wasn’t so hard to step forward, rest my hand lightly against his arm and nod, my own wild swirl of emotions settling for a moment as this became more important.

  “Okay, Dad.”

  I gave him a brief hug and felt one arm wrap around to squeeze my shoulder before he stepped back.

  “I’m sure we’ll all get along great - and I’m glad you’ve found someone who makes you happy.”

&
nbsp; He smiled back at me for a moment and nodded, his demeanor as calm as ever while the slight tension that had grown between us slipped away. He stepped back behind his desk before turning to look at me.

  “I knew you’d understand. Now, didn’t you come in here to talk about something else?”

  I took a deep breath at the question, my mind returning momentarily to all the thoughts and plans I’d wanted to discuss with him - the well-rehearsed arguments and mental conversations I’d already had about potential career paths and options, discussions that in reality never quite went how I’d planned. But I wasn’t sure I could face that now - not another potential conflict, even one I was well prepared for, when my emotions were already stirred up and confused. There would be another time to think about all that.

  With a small shake of my head, I just shrugged.

  “It wasn’t important. I think I’m going to get an early night.”

  That was enough for him to murmur a goodnight and return to the stacks of paper I’d originally interrupted. I turned without another word, wanting some time and space to adjust to the landslide I’d just heard.

  I tried to convince myself I meant what I’d told him - that it would all be fine.

  I knew my immediate reaction hadn’t been fair, even if it was perhaps understandable. Having a new step-mother and stepbrother would be…different. But who was to say that wouldn’t be a good thing? My relationship with my father hadn’t changed since before I could remember and while I loved him dearly, shaking things up and having something to distract his intense scrutiny of my life might be good for us.

  I just wished I could squash the butterflies that kept skipping through my stomach at the thought of my new stepbrother.

  Chapter Two

  Seth

  I grunted hard, feeling the bench solid underneath me and my muscles burning as I forced the bar up, chest twinging as I managed to lock my arms straight and complete the rep. My teeth grit together tightly but I started bringing it down again anyway, ignoring the limits of my body as my blood pounded with the intensity of the workout and drowned the rest of the world out.

  My arms started shaking with the tension and my breath exploded out as hands closed around the bar from above, guiding it safely back into the rack. My focus broken, I snapped at the spotter.

  “You didn’t need to do that, Mike.”

  I sat up with a frustrated growl, leaning one arm on the bench and breathing hard while sweat streamed under the hard glare of my eyes.

  “Easy, bro.”

  Mike met my irritation with a calm glance that scraped at my loose control but had me looking away - we both knew he was in the right. I’d been driving past failure and it would have been dangerous to continue. The high of pushing myself to my physical limits was still flooding my body - nothing compared to some of the adrenaline I was itching for, but enough to lift me out of my mixed mood.

  At least for a bit.

  Taking a deep breath, I settled back onto the bench for the next set, prepping my worn muscles and clutching the bar as Mike idly scratched the scar running down his left cheek.

  “Seth—”

  I ignored the warning note in Mike’s voice, pouring my energy into the pure physical activity and letting the supremacy of my military-fit body fill my awareness. I knew I was pushing it, but I could take a few more…just a few…

  “Hey man, aren’t you late? Thought you were on the way to some fancy-ass dinner.”

  The words from the entrance of the room had my lips peeling back in a snarl, only driving me harder into the workout as my mood soured further. For a glorious minute, I could ignore the comment and get lost in the pulse beating hard in my ears, before I finally had to acknowledge the edge of my limits.

  I sat up with a grunt, wiping myself down with a towel as I flicked a glance to where Dale was leaning against another machine, watching me casually with eyes that never stayed in one place for more than a moment. My breath returning, I forced myself to stop snapping at the guys who knew me better than my own flesh and blood and shrugged off the comment with a grimace.

  “Yeah, ‘cos I can hardly wait to see my washed-up mother and whatever asshole she’s shacked up with this time.”

  I managed to keep most of the bite out of my tone and Mike slapped my shoulder while I stretched my aching body.

  “Can’t choose your family, mate.”

  Ain’t that the truth.

  I sighed and shook my head, glancing towards the clock.

  “Shit. I really am late.”

  I stood and shook my muscles out, reluctantly grabbing up my towel and turning for the showers when Dale cocked his head in my direction.

  “Hey, while we’re talking of family - you gonna make the barbecue at Becky’s in a couple of days?”

  The question took me by surprise, but the smile that spread across my face was immediate. It had been a while since I’d been back at base and while I couldn’t help my reaction to whatever extravagant dinner was planned for tonight, I’d always had time for Ryan’s wife.

  “Barbecue huh? You promise Ryan you’d bring a bunch of gullible bastards again?”

  “Ryan? Shit, no. I promised Becky - so you’d better show, or I’ll make sure you’re on the end of that ball busting.”

  My smile turned into an all-out grin at the memory of how easily that warm, hearty woman had taken command of the SEAL squadron that had landed on her doorstep to ‘help’ with a few odds and ends, the promise of a barbecue dangling a day’s worth of hard work away. Of course, anyone who could survive life with Ryan for so long would know how to deal with the rest of us.

  “Who’s going?”

  Our platoon had only landed a couple of days before and I hadn’t had a chance to catch up, but as far as I knew most of the guys from my first squadron were still deployed.

  “Just us this time round, and Ace - saw him last night. Screwed his leg a month ago and been sitting pretty back here waiting on the physio’s word.”

  “Bad?”

  Dale only grinned at my grimace.

  “Nah, just enough to keep him here for a new girl he’s sweet on - lucky bastard to the end. He might be bringing her along, too.”

  “Trying to scare her off already, huh? Well, looks like I’ll have to tag along - can’t leave Becky and a nice new girl alone with your ugly mugs.”

  I turned toward the door, sending a grin back over my shoulder.

  “Be sure to tell Ryan not to worry - we’ll make sure his wife’s fully satisfied while he’s gone.”

  I didn’t wait to hear the reply, aware that every moment I lingered was making me later, but I struggled to care too much as Dale’s subtle attempt to shift my mood worked.

  Sure, it was a casual invitation he would have given me anyway, but the grizzled veteran saw too much and knew me well enough to pick his moment. Being back in this town always got under my skin, threatening everything I’d become with the insidious reminder of my teenage years - but he’d brought back front-and-center the fact that I had a place now, brothers in arms I would kill or die for without a moment’s hesitation. Life and loyalty, with a code that had finally set me on a path that meant something. I could go and deal with whatever this evening held, and the people I actually wanted to be around would be waiting here when I was done.

  The Navy had taken me in, chewed me up and spat me back out - honed the wild edge that had been the bane of everyone I’d grown up with, disciplined it and turned it into a laser-sharp weapon. And even if I couldn’t quite leave my bad boy nature behind, at least they’d given me something worth respecting.

  I turned into the showers, stripped and stepped inside for a 30-second blast of hot water before rubbing myself dry and changing into a fresh set of clothes - civilian, this time. Decorum might dictate a little more preparation for a ‘meeting-your-new-step-father’ dinner, but fuck decorum. He might as well get to know who I actually was. Besides, I was late, so first impressions were already shot.

&n
bsp; Dropping my workout gear in my dorm and pocketing my phone, keys and wallet was all that I needed before heading out to the old pickup truck and swinging myself up and in. It’s familiar gleam always gave me a sweet satisfaction - the thing had been banged up and barely usable when I’d bought it near-scrap, but putting something back together had been a nice antidote to the unexpected darkness I’d struggled with after my first tour. Turns out there was a difference between growing up sure you were a badass motherfucker and actually living with the knowledge that if it came to it, you could be a relentless killing machine.

  I’d seen guys deal with it in different ways - for me, knowing I could fix something up instead of just destroy, that had been enough. And the prize had been an old 2002 model that gave me pride to keep functioning and pretty as a babe.

  I started the engine and felt it hum to life underneath me, punching in the post code my mother had sent and hearing the slight roar as I put my foot on the gas. It was hot even with the sun starting to disappear and the open window was a relief to the heat that was still emanating from my workout.

  Turning out of the complex and heading onto the wide roads leading into the town, I felt the same flicker of guilt my infrequent visits home always brought. My mother deserved better than these half-hearted efforts to see her and the callous way I talked, but it had been hard to come home a different person and see nothing else had changed since I’d left.

  I don’t hate her for that - she can’t help being who she is and I’ve given up wanting and expecting more than she can give. It’s just hard to be around her - that crappy childhood may have made me the guy I am today, but that doesn’t mean I want to be faced with it every time I come back here. Her and her fucked up choices, and the inevitable clashes when I don’t agree with them and can’t keep my mouth shut.

  So these visits had become infrequent and perfunctory, even if she didn’t understand why. Still, I couldn’t exactly say no to meeting the man she was going to marry - but when tonight was done, I’d try to eject myself from the situation again. These things never ended well.