“Well, I have to ask: if Costa Rica is so wonderful, what does keep you in the States?”
“Aw, she’s perceptive. I could run my business from Costa Rica; that’s for sure. But I got divorced last year, and it’s been tough readjusting to the single life and trying to decide what I want to do with my life.”
“So we both have scars on our hearts. Recent ones,” Liza said.
Jaime parked the pickup in front of Jack’s Pizza Shack and turned to her. “Yeah, I’m really glad most of the hurt is behind me. I hope you feel the same way.”
Liza nodded. “I do for the most part. Once in a while I struggle, but I feel lucky, you know? I can’t imagine my life if I would’ve married a lowlife like Mark.”
“Unfortunately, I can imagine it pretty accurately, because I did marry a lowlife. Now let’s go eat some pizza.”
He hopped out of the pickup, and Liza took that as a definite subject change. So maybe Jaime would be sparse on those details. It would take patience and a little encouragement to get him to open up. Liza was intrigued by the little that he had shared, and she wanted to know more.
Jack’s pizza didn’t disappoint. Liza and Jaime talked about the weather, work, and their parents until the pizza arrived. Then they focused on the oozing cheese hanging down the sides of each piece as they scooped it onto their plates. Liza popped a hot piece of pineapple in her mouth and closed her eyes. “The perfect combination of sweet and tangy barbecue sauce. Man, this is the best.”
Jaime took a huge bite of pizza and mimicked her, closing his eyes and chewing. “Mmm.”
They both started laughing.
Jaime wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I know you like pizza. What else do you like?”
“I like hiking. I like skiing up at Ruby Mountain, but it’s hard to make time to get there.” Liza considered whether she should share her secret goals. Jaime watched her attentively, and there was something about the look in his eyes that made her feel safe to talk to him. “I love writing. I’m working on a novel. I hope one day to be published.”
“That’s a perfect segue from a copywriter to novelist. I bet you’ll get there.” He nodded and took another giant bite of pizza.
Liza swallowed. He hadn’t scoffed at her dream; he’d encouraged her and placed full faith in her that quickly. Liza’s heart felt like the melted cheese oozing off the plate. Business meeting! “What about you? Are you living the dream?”
“Almost. There are some things that I want to do.” Jaime looked down at his plate and cleared his throat. “Relationships I want to mend. And I want to expand my business.”
Liza was just about to delve into that topic further, but she was interrupted by their teenage waiter. “You guys done yet? We’re getting pretty busy in here, and we could use the table.” He slapped a receipt down on the table.
Jaime turned his head, lifted an eyebrow, and motioned toward the pizza sitting in front of them. “We barely got our food five minutes ago. We’ll need a little longer.”
“How much longer?” The teenager flipped his shaggy red hair back as he spoke.
Jaime sat up straight. “This is a restaurant, and we are paying guests. It’s bad form to hurry along your guests, especially when they haven’t paid yet or included a tip.”
The teenager’s eyes widened. “Sorry, dude.” He stalked off without another word.
Liza shook her head. “Wow, it’s a good thing parents get their kids as babies first, because if they came as teenagers, no one would want kids. I can’t believe how rude he was.”
Jaime grimaced. “Yeah, teenagers are lacking in a lot of areas, but as long as he learns from the experience, he’ll turn out okay.”
“If you say so, but my hopes aren’t that high.” Liza picked up a piece of pizza and took another bite. Jaime seemed quiet, a little more pensive as he ate his second piece of pizza. She wondered if it was something she’d said.
8
Jaime finished off his third slice of pizza, still ruminating over Liza’s comment about teenagers. He’d been trying to decide how to tell her about his son, but now he didn’t think that would be a good idea. His fourteen-year-old son pretty much fit the bill she’d described for teenagers. Alex hated him, and Jaime couldn’t do much to change his opinion, especially since he’d been the one to send him to boarding school. If only Alex could see that Jaime was trying to save him from Kori. His school counselor reported that Alex was a remarkable young man with a drive and focus that would bring him success. That was nearly opposite of what teachers had said when Alex lived with Kori.
“Either that pizza has blown your mind, or something has you occupied,” Liza said.
He looked up and met her quizzical expression; there was a hint of a smile hiding behind her eyes. “How about both?” he asked.
“You can say that as long as you ’fess up to what has your wheels turning.” Her full smile returned.
“I’m not sure I can ’fess up to anything that’s going on in my mind right now. It might not be appropriate,” Jaime hedged. He was rewarded with a blush creeping across Liza’s cheeks. She looked down, and he reached his fingers out to brush over her hand. “I’m teasing, but I’d do it again to see you blush.”
Liza laughed. “Stop it. And don’t think I can’t see what you’re doing—changing the subject.”
“Well, I was wondering if you remembered to get me a hotel room or if you’re planning to share.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Yes, separate but adjoining rooms.” Liza’s blush turned a deep red, and she grabbed her water glass and took a drink.
Jaime chuckled. “Should we box up the rest of this pizza?”
Liza set her glass down and leaned forward, arching one eyebrow. “I think the question you should be asking is, who gets to take this pizza home?”
Jaime took out his debit card, grabbed the receipt, and waved it at the teenager. “We’re ready.”
The teenager hurried over and was surprisingly affable compared to their earlier interaction. He brought a box and helped clear the table. “Thanks for coming to Jack’s. We’d love to have you come again.”
Jaime nodded at the boy, his heart squeezing a bit at thoughts of Alex and what he might be doing tonight if they were still together.
Liza picked up the box of pizza and grinned. “Thanks for buying me dinner, but you don’t think that just because you’re a bachelor who paid for the pizza that I’m going to give up this box, do you?”
“You keep surprising me, Liza,” Jaime replied. He stood and helped her out of the booth. When she set the box down to put on her coat, Jaime grabbed it. “And yes, I think the bachelor should always get the pizza.”
Liza tilted her head and moved closer to him as they exited the restaurant. “Well, what about the bachelorette?”
Jaime snapped his fingers. “No fair. You play hardball.” He held the box closer as he opened the door of the pickup for her. “How about you let me take this pizza home because I’m your fake fiancé?”
Liza climbed into his pickup and lowered her voice. “Who’s faking?”
Jaime furrowed his brow and tried to think of a comeback.
She took advantage of his distraction and grabbed the pizza box. “Gotcha.” She closed the door, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
He shook his head as he walked around the pickup, and his own laughter bubbled up inside. Liza was fun, and it had been too long since he’d laughed. He climbed inside and was surprised to see the pizza box sitting on the console between them. “What’s this?”
Liza shrugged. “You win. I’m taking pity on the bachelor, ’cause I bet you don’t cook much.”
“I cook all kinds of things,” Jaime replied.
“Wait. Really? You cook?”
Jaime tilted his hand back and forth. “Enough that I don’t have all the takeout places on speed dial.”
“I figured.” Liza let out a happy sigh. “Well, at least we have our story down for how we met.”
&nb
sp; “How’s that?”
“The accident, silly. You pulled out in front of me, remember?”
Jaime made a point of keeping his eyes on the road as they drove up Main Street. “I remember that you ran into me.”
Liza folded her arms. “I know the truth.”
“So do I, and that’s what is going to give me the most satisfaction—when I see the look on Mark’s face.”
“You know, I really think that despite the whole fake engagement thing going on, we’re going to be good friends.”
Jaime looked over and smiled at her. “Me too.”
After he dropped Liza off and was headed home, he couldn’t stop thinking about her friend comment. She had carefully placed him in the friend zone, but if it weren’t for the fake fiancé bit, would he have had the guts to pursue her?
9
Liza worked late on Monday and Tuesday finishing projects and prepping for the conference. She thought of Jaime a few times, but besides sending him the conference details and her itinerary, she hadn’t spoken with him since their pseudo date. As the time grew nearer to fly to Orlando, Liza doubted the validity of her plan. But every time she thought about chickening out and letting Jaime off the hook, she would remember Mark. He was tenacious and mentally unstable—not in a serial killer way, but he could probably be a serial killer’s apprentice. Those thoughts kept Liza on track with her fake engagement plans.
Tuesday night, Liza worked on packing her bags and made notes of what else needed to be completed before her flight on Thursday. She had just finished polishing her brown leather boots when her phone chimed with an incoming text.
Liza picked up the phone and smiled when she saw Jaime’s name on the screen.
Jaime: Hey, where did I propose? Or did you ask? ☺
Liza: Since I ran into you, I think it’s only fair that you proposed. And hey, you really should send me your picture so I can add it to my contacts. You are my fiancé, you know.
Jaime: I can do one better. How about we take a selfie of us together?
Liza: Hmm, you’re good. Have you done this before?
Jaime: LOL
Liza: So where did you propose?
Jaime: December 1st. Your front porch.
A thrill passed through Liza’s middle. It was like a page out of a Christmas novel: her true love proposing on the first of December on her snow-covered front porch. She sighed and sent Jaime a very non-romantic thumbs-up emoji.
Liza wondered what would’ve happened if she hadn’t asked Jaime to be her fake fiancé. Would he have asked her out on a date? She probably would never know the answer to that one, but a wistful part of her wished she could go back and undo the arrangement.
Her phone dinged, and she sucked in a breath when she saw a gorgeous photo of Jaime in their text messages.
Jaime: For now. Send me one of you.
Liza admired his light green eyes and the way his dark hair curled around his ear for a full minute before realizing that she needed to find a suitable picture of herself to send. She scrolled through her photos and found one that her sister had snapped last month when they’d visited the park near Chickadee Lake. The leaves had been perfect for raking into huge piles for her nephew to jump in and scatter everywhere. Lori had taken the photo of Liza grinning as Nate threw leaves in her hair. That was a happy day, and she’d had many happy days since. Liza sent the photo to Jaime.
He replied a moment later with one word. Beautiful.
Liza covered her mouth to hide her smile. Jaime thought she was beautiful. She shouldn’t be smiling about it; he was her fake fiancé. She flopped back on her bed and looked up at the textured ceiling. She liked Jaime. There, she admitted it. If she liked him, then what better way to get to know him than by pretending to be engaged and spending time with him? It was a good thing no one else could witness her logic.
There was one thought that kept chipping away at her level of attraction to Jaime: she’d forgotten to ask him about the rumored DUI. Most likely, her subconscious had saved her from making a fool of herself. Jaime hadn’t had anything to drink that night at Jack’s Pizza Shack, but that didn’t clear him. He didn’t seem like the drinking type. Maybe she didn’t need to worry about asking that tough question.
On Wednesday, Liza hurried into Stellar Ads and rounded the corner to edge into her cubicle before Rick noticed that she was ten minutes late. Nita was sitting in her office chair, moving slowly from side to side. Liza yelped. “You—you scared me to death!”
Nita smiled and leaned back in the chair. “Good. You deserve it for not giving me any details on your date.”
Liza hesitated. She intentionally hadn’t told Nita about her date with Jaime. “What date?” Better to play dumb.
“Oh no, you don’t. Britta saw you go into Jack’s Pizza Shack with a tall, dark, and handsome guy. Who is it?”
“Oh, that. It was just a business meeting. But he does live in Echo Ridge, so I convinced him to meet at Jack’s.” Liza kept her face neutral and prayed that the warmth she felt on her ears wouldn’t spread to her cheeks.
Nita narrowed her eyes. “I think you’re hiding something.”
“And I think you’re sitting in my chair, so get out or I won’t tell you about how hot this guy is.”
Nita clapped her hands and jumped up. “Oh goodie! I knew there was more. Spill.”
“Well, it was a business meeting, and he’s a really nice guy. I wouldn’t mind going out with him again. I just don’t know if it’ll happen, so I don’t want to get your hopes up.”
Nita shook her head. “My hopes or your hopes? Because you should definitely get your hopes up, Liza. It’s time for you to date someone. Do you have a picture?”
“Nita, do we have to do this now? You know Rick’s going to be breathing down my neck any minute about the prep for this convention.”
“All right. All right. But when you get back, we need to get together and chat.”
Liza held out her pinky finger, and Nita curled her pinky finger around it. “Promise,” they said together.
“Oh, and when you’re in Florida, you have to go out for Cuban food. Take pictures so I can live vicariously through you.”
“Cuban food? I don’t know what to order,” Liza protested.
“I’ll take care of that,” Nita responded. “Check your email by end of day, and all the deets will be there.”
Liza laughed. “Okay, boss.”
Nita nodded and exited the cubicle.
That had been a close one. Liza had stuck close to the truth, only leaving out a few details—the major detail being that Jaime was her fake fiancé. Or at least he would be her fake fiancé starting tomorrow and going through the weekend. She had been honest when she’d said she hoped for a chance to go out with him again. But she couldn’t think about that right now. Too much work to do. Liza cleared all thoughts of Jaime’s green eyes and strong physique from her mind and switched on her computer to pull up boring spreadsheets and notes for all of the contacts she hoped to make at the conference.
10
The flight to Orlando went by faster than Jaime could’ve imagined. Talking to Liza was easy, and when she fell asleep and rested her head on his shoulder, he leaned back in his seat ever so slightly and let his head lean against the top of hers. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so comfortable with a woman. Liza had found her way inside his heart in just a few days, and he was happy to spend time with her. That said, he was extremely nervous about his next move in their fake engagement.
The airline stewardess disturbed Liza’s slumber with her noisy cart, and she awoke enough to receive a cranberry juice and some Biscoff cookies.
“I wish they had Doritos,” Jaime murmured as he opened up his package of cookies.
“Right? We should lobby for that,” Liza replied.
Jaime chuckled and sipped his Diet Coke. “I was thinking about your ring, and we don’t want to give Mark any reason to believe this isn’t real.” Jaime tapped the simple
gold band on Liza’s ring finger.
“I know he’ll ask to see the ring, but I hadn’t thought about needing to impress him.” Liza spread her fingers out and tilted her hand to the side, but the band didn’t catch much light and it definitely didn’t sparkle.
“Not necessarily impress him. More to cement the validity of this engagement.” Jaime pulled out a small velvet bag from his pocket and passed it to Liza. “This was my mother’s. I thought you could see if it fits.”
“What? Really?”
Jaime nodded. “For the weekend.”
Liza gasped when she pulled out the beautiful sapphire ring. The blue stone winked in the light, surrounded by diamonds. “But your mother is still alive. Why do you have this?”
“Her hands are too arthritic for rings anymore. She gave it to me on my last visit to Costa Rica. She told me to save it for someone special. I think she knew then that my marriage was failing.”
“I’m sorry,” Liza whispered.
“Don’t be. I’m much happier now than I have been in years.” Jaime was surprised by the sincerity of his own words.
Liza turned the ring around slowly, gazing at it from different angles. “Jaime, this is gorgeous. I—”
“Just try it on,” he said softly.
Liza nodded, and Jaime watched as the sapphire ring slid neatly onto her finger. He felt an unexpected thrill when he saw the dark gem against her pale skin. When his mother had given it to him, he’d known it wasn’t for Kori. Now, he saw that it fit perfectly on Liza. Everything about her easily fit into his life. This fake rapid romance was chipping away at the stone lining his heart. How could he tell Liza that he truly enjoyed her company without making things more complicated?
“Perfect,” Jaime said.
“I promise I’ll be so careful with it,” Liza said. “It kind of makes me nervous to wear it, but thank you.”
Jaime watched Liza tipping her left hand back and forth so that the light could catch the gem and make the diamonds sparkle. He rolled his shoulders back. Now wasn’t the time to fall for Liza. He’d take this opportunity to get to know her, and maybe their friendship could develop after the fake engagement was over.
Her Guy Next Door Fake Fiancé Page 5