SEAL of Approval

by Lynn Faye

  “No, it wasn’t so bad for me. But I could tell yours was really painful. You did great, though.”

  There was a familiar car in the parking lot as we pulled into the juice bar. I was pretty sure it was Devin’s but didn’t want to say anything in case I was imagining it. There were a lot of black Infinities in Chicago so I couldn’t be sure this was his.

  My eyes darted back and forth throughout the juice bar the second we walked in. I was looking for Devin but didn’t see him. Relief washed over me as we made our way to the ordering area and put in our desired drink orders.

  “Can we have two shots of wheat grass too,” Anna added as we waited for our drinks.

  “Eww, Anna, I’m not drinking that.”

  “You should try it,” I heard Devin’s sexy voice say as he walked up behind me. “It’s invigorating.”

  “Wow, hi hot neighbor dude,” Anna said as she thrust her hand out to shake Devin’s hand.

  “Hi, I’m Devin,” he added.

  There was no avoiding the introductions now. I reluctantly gave in and introduced the two of them properly.

  “Devin, this is my friend Anna. I’m sure you remember her from all the nights she’s screamed from the driveway and woken you up.”

  “Yes, very nice to meet you, young lady,” Devin said as he shook her hand again. “This is my friend Jacob; he loves to be woken up in the middle of the night by young girls causing chaos. Jacob this is Lilli,” he added as he motioned toward me.

  “I do,” Jacob said as he shook hands with Anna. “It’s nice to finally meet you,” Jacob said to me.

  Anna and I both looked at each other as we processed what Jacob had said. The word ‘finally’ stuck out to me. It implied that Devin had talked about me before. Perhaps he had mentioned me, and Jacob was interested in meeting this person that Devin had mentioned many times before. Or I could have been imagining the whole thing.

  “Would you girls like to join us?” Devin asked as he pointed to his table.

  “No, we …” I started to say before Anna interrupted me.

  “Of course, we’d love to.”

  I rolled my eyes at the way she instantly started to fawn over Devin’s friend. She grabbed her drink and followed the two men straight to their table, leaving me to grab the two wheat grass shots and my own drink.

  “We got tattoos today,” Anna offered right away. “Mine’s in a spot that I can’t really show you here,” she teased Jacob.

  I smiled at Devin as we both eyed the two of them and how flirty they already were. There was no stopping Anna once she got started flirting with a guy; I knew better than to try. Instead, I just leaned toward Devin so I could hear him over the busy store.

  “You got one too?” he asked with a little look of surprise in his eyes.

  “Yep, but it’s just on my ankle, not anywhere exotic like Anna.”

  “It’s covered up.”

  “Yeah, it’s supposed to stay covered to heal. I didn’t get anything crazy. Just a rose.”

  “I’ve got a couple tattoos.”

  “Really? I don’t remember seeing them.”

  “I don’t remember showing them to you.” He winked. “They are in exotic locations.”

  I laughed an uncomfortable laugh at the thought of where his tattoos could possibly be. He seemed like he was teasing me, but I wasn’t sure yet. I didn’t know Devin well enough to know if he was teasing or being serious.

  “What are you two lovely ladies up to this weekend?” Jacob asked.

  “Nothing much. Lilli says she’s staying home, but I’m probably going out dancing. How about you guys?”

  “Devin is going to Jacksonville and needs some company. Maybe you’d like to join him, Lilli,” Jacob said.

  The question threw me off, and it seemed to have caught Devin off guard too. I didn’t think Devin would have invited me for a weekend getaway anytime soon. We hardly knew each other, although I was very interested in getting to know him more.

  “Jacksonville?” I asked as I tried to figure out what was going on.

  “No, don’t worry about it. I just got myself into a little bit of a pickle, and big mouth over there was trying to help out.”

  “A pickle?” I laughed. “Explain yourself.”

  “No, don’t worry. It’s nothing,” Devin said, but his friend Jacob quickly butted in and added to the conversation.

  “He needs you to be his wife. Not in the bedroom or anything kinky like that, unless you want to,” he said with a wink. “But could you go with him and just pretend to be his wife so he can visit his daughter without causing a bunch of trouble.”

  Ah, the whole story was definitely not out yet, but at least I got a better picture of what was going on and why Devin needed a date. I looked over at Devin, and he hid his head in his hands, and I couldn’t help laughing, the whole thing seemed pretty outrageous.

  “So why do you need a wife?” I asked genuinely trying to figure out what was going on.

  “I’m sorry. My big mouth friend shouldn’t have said anything. Let’s get going Jacob.”

  Devin grabbed Jacob by the shirt and practically dragged him out of the juice bar. They were nearly at the door when Anna grabbed me so hard that I cried out in pain.

  “Ouch, stop that hurts.”

  “You said you wanted to do something different. Help the poor guy out! Go tell him you’ll do it.”

  “Be his wife?” I laughed. “No thank you.”

  “Oh, come on; it’s pretending, and he must be desperate if it involves his daughter.”

  I sat there for a minute as I watched Devin and his friend get into Devin’s car. The two men were arguing for a minute, and suddenly I decided that I did want to do something different. I got up and ran outside the restaurant and stood in front of his car. Jacob saw me first and shoved Devin to come and talk to me.

  My heart pounded as the cool breeze of the afternoon blew my hair all over the place. Devin slowly got out of his car, and he didn’t seem to have the high level of confidence I’d seen him with the last time we had talked.

  “I’ll be your wife,” I said as a smile pulled my lips up.

  “It’s just for a weekend. You don’t have to do anything naughty. I’ll even pay you for your time.”

  “You don’t have to pay me, and I might want to do something naughty,” I teased in a sudden burst of confidence.

  His eyes widened, and a look of relief crossed his face. He appeared genuinely happy that I’d said yes to his offer, although I still had no idea why he needed to bring a wife in order to visit with his daughter.

  “I’ll pick you up in the morning. We will take a private jet down and be back by Sunday evening. Does that work for you?”

  “Sure,” I said. “Do you want to tell me why you need a wife?”

  “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you all the details on the plane ride, and I am going to pay you. Not because you want me to, but this is a business deal. I can’t have romantic drama this weekend, and I genuinely need someone to come with me. Is that alright?”

  I did need money so I could get my own car and move out of my parents’ house. It was a weird situation, that was for sure, but turning down his money wasn’t going to make it less weird.

  “How much money are we talking?”

  “Is ten thousand dollars enough?”

  “What!” I yelled. “That’s crazy. This isn’t Indecent Proposal. Geesh. How about five thousand?”

  “You’re really bad at negotiating.” Devin laughed.

  “Five or I’m not doing it.”

  “So if I pay you less than what I proposed, only then will you agree to do it?” He seemed to see a lot of humor in my offer.

  “Yes, I need five thousand for a decent car. That’s all I’ll take. I really don’t want any money though it’s kind of weird. I’ll do it as your friend.”

  Devin ran his fingers through his hair and let out a big sign as if I was driving him crazy. He might have a lot of money, but I wasn
’t interested in him because of his money, and I’d do the whole thing for free just to be nice. The money actually made me not want to do it at all.

  “What if I buy you a car, and we don’t have any money involved.”

  “A used car, with dents and lots of miles,” I said firmly as I held my hand out to shake his hand.

  He laughed and looked at Anna as she joined me on the sidewalk. He shook his head in frustration before he finally extended his hand and agreed to my terms.

  “You drive a hard bargain Miss Lilli. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “What’s your last name?” I said as he started to climb back into his car.

  “Graham.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Graham,” I teased.

  “See you tomorrow Mrs. Graham,” he teased me back.

  Anna didn’t wait until Devin was gone before she started jumping up and down and grabbing me. She was clearly excited about the whole ordeal. I was terrified.

  Chapter 8

  Devin

  After loading some luggage into my car, I went over to Lilli’s house and knocked on her door. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting, but when Lilli opened the door, my mouth literally dropped open.

  “That bad?” she asked as she twirled around in her floral floor length dress.

  “Um, not bad. You look beautiful.”

  Her hair was curled into lovely loose curls, and her makeup was done much softer than I was used to seeing her. She didn’t have her bright lipstick on, and instead, just a glossy sheen covered her lips. Suddenly she’d transformed herself from a club hopping wild child into a high-class soccer mom.

  “My mom bought me this dress for Easter a few years ago; I’ve never worn it,” she said with a giggle.

  “You look perfect,” I managed to say as I finally closed my mouth. “Are you ready to go?”

  “As ready as I can get.”

  “Do you have a bag?”

  “Oh, crap. I didn’t pack anything else,” she said as she looked terrified at me. “I’m sorry. I was so busy trying to look more like a wife.”

  “I appreciate the effort. Don’t worry; we can pick you up another outfit in Jacksonville.”

  “I’ll pay you back,” she insisted.

  “Of course you will.”

  I’d already learned that arguing with Lilli took a lot of time and didn’t lead me anywhere. It was nice that she made such a clear point of not wanting to take things from me, which was unusual for the women I typically brought on trips. Paying for trips, clothes and everything else wasn’t a big deal to me, but I did appreciate a woman who wanted to be independent.

  It was a gorgeous day out and nearly eighty degrees as I drove us to the airport for our flight to Florida. Lilli fidgeted in her seat the whole drive and couldn’t seem to get comfortable. Occasionally I caught her gaze, but mostly she kept looking out the window and avoiding interacting with me. There was a distinct awkwardness between us that I knew had to be fixed by the time we landed in Jacksonville; I just didn’t know how I was going to fix it.

  We seemed more like coworkers who hardly knew each other than a couple that was in love. This whole plan was ridiculous, and I was mentally kicking myself for saying something as stupid as I had to Ashley’s parents. I wasn’t the marrying type, and there was a reason her family thought of me as irresponsible, and one of the biggest reasons was that I hadn’t married Ashley while we were together. My news must have been shocking to her mother, especially considering Ashley and I hadn’t gotten married even after we had a child together.

  “Are you nervous?” I asked as we pulled into the private jet area of the airport.

  “I think I might puke.”

  “Ha, I’m sorry. Don’t be nervous. We are just going to be happy and have a nice conversation with my ex’s family. Nothing too exciting.”

  “Should I kiss you?” Lilli asked.

  “Do you want to kiss me?”

  I was teasing but certainly not opposed to the idea of kissing Lilli. She was a beautiful girl and even more beautiful with her little transformation she had made for this trip. I really appreciated the effort she had put in.

  The plane turned on, and the loud noise made it impossible for me to hear what Lilli was saying when she answered my question. Her eyes turned to the ground, and she pulled away from me a little, though, so I thought she had said she did not want to kiss me. We both leaned against the car as we waited for the staff to say it was clear to head over to the jet. Once the jet engines had been tested and everything cleared, it should only be a few more minutes before we could take off.

  I reached out and held onto her hand as it vibrated with nerves. Lilli was clearly uneasy over what was going on with this trip. A little panic washed over me as I hoped I could calm her down over the couple of hours we would be in the air.

  “You can board the plane now,” a man yelled at us as he waved some orange batons in the air.

  Lilli held on tight to my hand as we walked behind a young man carrying our luggage. He stored it in the overhead compartments and then went to talk to the pilot for a moment before getting off the plane. We sat next to each other in two oversized leather chairs and each put our seatbelts on as we sat there quietly waiting for the plane to begin moving toward the runway.

  “Did you say yes, you wanted to kiss me?” I asked as I leaned in and playfully puckered up my lips.

  “No, I said no, we don’t have to do that.”

  “I seem to remember not so long ago you wanted me to kiss you in your bed,” I joked.

  She playfully pushed me away and laughed which was a relief to me. She looked so beautiful in her sweet floral dress and brown sandals. As she laughed, I noticed she still had her tongue ring in, though, and it caught me a little off guard. In fact, it made me hard thinking about what that tongue ring was for and how her tongue would feel on the shaft of my body.

  “You need to forget about that night,” she said through her laughter.

  “I will never forget.”

  “I’m not a very good actress. I’m afraid these people are going to see right through anything I do. Maybe you should tell me a little about yourself so I don’t get caught off guard.”

  “That’s a perfect idea. And you could tell me a little about yourself too?” I said as I leaned in closer to her. “I’d love to know more about that tongue ring.”

  She lightheartedly pressed her tongue out of her mouth at me and wiggled it around.

  “I bet you would like to know more about this,” she joked. “Do you want me to take it out for our trip?”

  “Hmmm, I don’t know. On one side, it makes you a little mysterious and obviously a very sexual creature. On the other side, it doesn’t fit well with this beautiful outfit and your updated hair and makeup.”

  “I’ll take it out,” she said as she stuck her tongue out and used her fingers to unscrew the ball at the end of the piercing. “It doesn’t work with my character.”

  “When did you get it?”

  “About a year ago. It was a surprise for my boyfriend.”

  “One hell of a surprise. I hope he appreciated it,” I said.

  The plane door was closed and soon after our jet was being pushed back so it could turn and make its way to the runway. Lilli smiled playfully at me as she stuck out her tongue and then pulled it back in. Her eyes lit up with the playful movement, and for a brief moment, she didn’t seem nervous to be there with me.

  “He appreciated it.” She giggled. “Have you ever dated a girl with a tongue piercing?”

  “Nope, but it’s one of those things I think every guy fantasizes about.”

  “You fantasize about my tongue?” she joked.

  “Yes.”

  My definitive answer caught her off guard, and her playful flirting quieted as she turned and looked out the window. Her dark red hair shimmered in the sunlight as it radiated through the window. I couldn’t stop looking at her.

  Slowly our plane made its w
ay to the runway and accelerated quickly as we took to the sky. I was so used to flying in the jet that I could hardly remember what flying commercial was like for domestic flights.

  Lilli’s hands gripped the seat, and her head pressed into the back as she closed her eyes while we climbed to the elevation that we needed to be at. She bit her lip and tensed up at the smallest of movements, so I reached out and wrapped my hand over the top of hers.

  “Have you flown on a private jet before? This is all normal. We will be at our elevation soon, and then it will feel normal.”

  “I’ve never flown before.”

  “Oh, wow, okay, then this is probably really exciting.”

  “Terrifying. It’s terrifying.”

  “I’m sorry; I should have warned you that the take off is a little rough in this plane. It’s totally safe, though. It just feels like we are going straight up into the clouds.”

  Her breathing was labored as she took in a deep breath and seemed to hold it for a long time before she finally let the air out. The color had drained out of her face, and she looked like she might actually pass out.

  “Breathe,” I said slowly. “Take a deep breath in and then let it out.”

  I mimicked some slow, long breaths so she would follow me. Her eyes finally opened, and she focused on me as we continued to take deep breaths and let them out. Over and over again we took in breaths as I did my best to help her calm down.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m not normally scared of new things.”

  “It’s okay. This is something a little crazy and out of the ordinary. Take your time. Try to relax.”

  “Do you think your daughter will hate me?” Lilli blurted out as her eyes darted from mine to the clouds outside her window and then back again.

  “No, I think you will get along just fine.”

  “I’m not really a step-mom type. She might not like me. Kids don’t really like me. I’ve never even babysat before.”

  I had to laugh at how nervous she was about meeting my sweet little girl. Izzy was going to get along just fine with Lilli. In fact, I thought the two of them might get along better than Izzy and I got along.