Her Guy Next Door Fake Fiancé

by Rachelle J. Christensen

  “If you want to move the wedding up, I guess we could make sugar cookies for refreshments.”

  “Quit teasing me.” Liza bumped him with her hip, and Jaime laughed.

  They hurried back to the pickup and laughed when they both hit the buttons to turn on the seat heaters.

  “I’m still kind of bummed that we didn’t win the couples contest,” Jaime said. “Especially since everyone kept saying how good we look together.” Liza had won the most creative Christmas sweater award, but Jaime hadn’t won anything.

  “It’s your fault,” Liza said.

  “Mine? Why?” Jaime pointed at his sweater. “This thing is terrible.”

  “But the person wearing it is so gorgeous that it just doesn’t look as ugly as it should.”

  Jaime chuckled and turned away to hide the warmth he felt in his cheeks. “You only won because it’s such a stark contrast. Beauty to ashes, you know.”

  “Hmm. I like that, Romeo.”

  “Good, but I’m not going to call you Juliet, because our story should have a better ending, don’t you think?”

  Liza leaned back in her seat. “Definitely.”

  Jaime liked the way she’d agreed so readily. He also liked how comfortable he felt with her riding in his pickup. It didn’t feel like they were pretending at all.

  24

  “You can go ahead and open the chips,” Jaime said.

  Liza pulled open the bag and inhaled the smell of salty, cheesy goodness. She pulled out a chip and popped it in her mouth whole, enjoying the delicious crunch. She held the chip bag over the console in the middle so that Jaime could easily reach in for chips as he drove. “So how is our story going to end?” she asked.

  “You mean the breakup?”

  “Yeah, I was thinking this could be really awkward. You’re my friend, and if you’re my ex, how can we still be friends?”

  “Dang. That’s a good point.” Jaime took another chip from the bag and ate it in three careful bites. “Could we say that we decided we’re better friends than lovers?”

  “That sounds so lame.” And it definitely wasn’t the truth. Liza could never say that after having been kissed by Jaime. Even now, when she thought of the way he kissed her in front of Kenworth’s window display, her lips still tingled.

  “We could send Mark to Costa Rica and have my parents take him out on a deep-sea fishing expedition and use him as bait.” Jaime turned to her in all seriousness.

  “Jaime! You’re killing me.”

  “No, I’m killing Mark. We should’ve done that first. It would’ve saved us a lot of trouble.”

  Liza laughed. “Well, I guess we have time to think about it. But since I’m a writer, I keep wondering how the story will end.”

  “Don’t all good stories have a twist near the end?” Jaime arched an eyebrow and gave her a devilish grin.

  Liza put a hand over her stomach as if to hold in the hummingbirds; they definitely weren’t butterflies anymore. “I really like spending time with you. These past couple weeks have made me feel really happy.”

  “And hopefully they’ve given you great ideas for that romance you’re writing. In fact, if you’d like, we could practice a few more kisses so you’ll be able to accurately describe them in your book.”

  Liza reached over and pushed Jaime’s shoulder. “You’d better stop teasing me.”

  Jaime reached his hand in the bag of chips. “Hey, did you eat all of those Doritos already?”

  “No, we ate them. I shared with you. I’ve been holding the bag the whole time.”

  “Shared?” Jaime lifted his eyebrows and shook his head. “I think I ate seven chips.”

  Liza looked into the empty bag. They’d been talking, and she hadn’t been paying attention to how many chips she had eaten. “Oops, sorry. They are a guilty pleasure of mine.”

  Jaime pretended to sulk. “I can usually nurse a bag of Doritos for an hour. The crunch keeps me awake.”

  “Well, I can keep you awake.” Liza waggled her eyebrows and giggled when Jaime widened his eyes.

  “I thought you had to get home so you could be up early in the morning for church.”

  “I do, but I’m feeling good because I just ate more than half of a pint-size bag of chips.”

  “More than half?” Jaime scoffed. “How many servings are in one bag?”

  Liza scanned the label. “Three? These companies have never seen anyone eat Doritos before.”

  Jaime tapped the steering wheel. “So you ate two-thirds of the bag.”

  “Well, next time you should count out the chips, General Dorito.” Liza wadded up the bag and threw it at him.

  Jaime laughed. “You’re fun. I like your sass.”

  “Good,” Liza said, “because it’s not going anywhere.”

  “Unlike my chips.” Jaime leaned toward his window to keep Liza from pulling on his ear.

  “At least one problem is solved because of all of this,” Liza said.

  “What’s that?”

  “I know what to get you for Christmas.” She gave him a smug grin and guzzled some of his Diet Cherry Coke.

  They bantered back and forth, and the time passed much more quickly than it would have alone. Liza almost wished they could keep driving, but she didn’t want to be drowsy during Pastor Louis’s sermon on Sunday.

  The temperature continued to drop as they drove up the mouth of Echo Ridge Canyon. Jaime zipped up his coat and walked Liza up to her doorstep. “Thanks again for another wonderful evening. When will I see you next?”

  “After work on Monday? Unless you have another Christmas function before then.”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t, but let’s go to dinner Monday. Just to keep appearances up.”

  Liza nodded. “Good thinking. It’s a plan.”

  Jaime kissed her cheek. “Good night, Liza.”

  “Good night.” Liza walked into the house and hung her coat in the closet quietly. Her parents must’ve gone to bed early, which was good, because they would definitely razz her about the glow that surely showed in her eyes. She was in love with Jaime. He was everything that Mark had never been. Jaime was better than the guy from her dreams, because she hadn’t even thought to dream of all the qualities that he had. They got along so well, conversed so naturally, and laughed a lot.

  Liza looked at the calendar. It was December thirteenth. There were less than twelve days left until Christmas, and for once she wasn’t looking forward to it, because it signaled the beginning of the end of her relationship with Jaime.

  Sunday afternoon, Kori called and as soon as Jaime saw her name on the ID, he prepared to record the conversation. He said hello and pushed the record feature to gather evidence of Kori’s imminent harassment. She only called when she was upset about something.

  “You are such a piece of scum!” she screeched. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Doing what?”

  “Faking an engagement to put on a good face for the court!”

  “What do you mean?” It was hard to keep his voice even while his mind went on high-alert wondering how Kori had heard the news.

  “Don’t pretend that you don’t know. Your secret’s out. You thought I’d miss the pictures in my feed of her and that huge ring? Why are you doing this to Alex?”

  “I am not doing anything to Alex. I talked to him about dating and helped reassure him since you obviously gave him some false information. Dating is normal after a divorce.”

  “Yeah, dating. Not engaged to be married!”

  “Well, that usually happens after you date someone,” Jamie said.

  “You think you can just throw your family away? You are such a loser!”

  Jaime took a deep breath and remembered to separate himself from Kori’s drama as she continued to call him names, threaten him, and insult him. “Besides calling to insult me, did you need anything?”

  Kori told him where to go and promptly hung up the phone.

  Jaime stepped outside and sucked in a wintry
breath of air, allowing the frigid December breeze to clear his head and suck away the emotions that Kori was so adept at eliciting. He wouldn’t gloat over this latest piece of evidence, but it was another nail in the coffin that Kori was building herself each day.

  Jaime had kept careful record of their correspondence as well as reports of her treatment toward Alex for the past year—mostly things that Alex wasn’t aware of, like why his meds always disappeared when he was around his mother. In addition, Jaime had written the letter to the judge, and Jared was getting ready to submit it along with other evidence purporting that Jaime was a qualified guardian for Alex and Kori should be placed under scrutiny.

  Shivering, he stepped back inside, shrugged off the remnants of his former life, and decided to be proactive. Jaime took a few minutes to send an email to Alex inviting him to come and visit during the Christmas break. Then he looked online to find the perfect gift for a fourteen-year-old, which apparently didn’t exist. He finally settled on a desk lamp with a charging station and a year-long subscription to Spotify. Alex hardly ever took out his earbuds when he’d been at home. For the longest time, Jaime thought it was just because he loved loud music like other teenagers, but now he realized that Alex was probably trying to drown out the fighting.

  Jaime wanted to feel excited about the efforts he had made to reconnect with Alex, but they might as well have been standing on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon for the response he’d received. He made a mental note to think of something meaningful he could do for Alex. Perhaps if he wrote him a letter and recounted some of the good memories he had of his time with Alex, it might comfort his son and help him realize that there was good despite the bad in his life. He wished that he could tell Alex all about Liza to convey the truth that there was good despite the bad.

  Jaime put his head in his hands. After he’d gotten over the initial shock of having to extend the fake engagement, he’d been surprised with the realization that it could be a benefit to him, and he’d pursued it. But now, he wished more than ever that he could tell Liza about Alex. He felt so ashamed in that moment. His own son didn’t even want to see him during Christmas. When he finally told Liza the truth, she would learn just how terrible a father he was—his own son couldn’t stand to be around him. Every time he thought about what the truth would mean, he wondered if it would just be better to let Liza go quietly out of his life. But his heart rebelled at those thoughts because he loved Liza. Loving her was worth figuring out how to show her all his flaws. He just didn’t know how to do it.

  25

  On Monday, when Liza went into work, Rick was waiting for her and ushered her into his office. “Mark Pratt tells me he’s been trying to get a hold of you, but his calls aren’t going through. Do you know why that’s the case?”

  Liza clenched her jaw and forced herself to take a deep breath before answering him. “Rick, I don’t take business calls on my personal cell phone. If Mark wants to reach me, then he needs to call me during office hours. I haven’t received any messages here at work.”

  Rick wrinkled his brow and looked down at her. “Well, why don’t you give him a call today?”

  “I’d rather not work with Mark directly. He indicated that he needs services that are above my pay level.”

  Rick grinned. “What a perfect way to show your qualifications for the promotion you want so badly.”

  “And when will the promotion happen?” Liza was sick and tired of playing this game with Rick every time he wanted her to do something that wasn’t in her job description. He kept dangling the carrot of a promotion in front of her face. It was time for his manipulation to stop.

  Rick leaned back on his desk. “You call Mark, figure out what he needs and what we need to do to get this project going, and then we’ll talk.”

  Liza folded her arms and stood up straight. “I’ll give Mark a call, but I want you to know that I refuse to work with anyone who harasses me, and that’s what I have experienced from Mark in the past.”

  “He assured me that he’d be on his best behavior—business only. Please, Liza?”

  The way Rick asked made Liza swallow her retort. “Fine.”

  “That’s what I like to hear.”

  She shrugged off Rick’s parting words as she went back to her desk.

  She picked up the phone and dialed Mark’s cell phone number, which she still had memorized. Unfortunately, he answered with a cheerful hello.

  “Hi, this is Liza from Stellar Ads. Rick told me that you were trying to reach me about a project for your office.”

  “Liza, it’s so good to hear your voice. How are things going with the wedding plans?” His voice was syrupy sweet, but the nasal quality was still there.

  “Mark, this is a business call only. If you aren’t ready, then I suggest you call the office back at a later time.”

  “A little testy today, are we? Well, I really don’t work well over the phone. I’d like to know if you can come out to my office and meet with me so we can go over designs and do a little editing on what I have started so far.”

  “Absolutely not. I work from my office, and any clients who are serious don’t have a problem here. We have a lovely conference room, and I’m sure that Rick would be happy to sit in if you’d like his input.” Liza struggled to keep her voice low and even.

  “I’ll just run it by Rick. I have the feeling that when I present it to him, he’ll agree it’s best if you came to my office.”

  He was right, and Liza knew it, because a master manipulator like Mark always managed to get people to do things they otherwise wouldn’t. She had to put a stop to this now. “Mark. This is inappropriate behavior and has nothing to do with your business or Stellar Ads. Working with me is not going to change my feelings about you. I am engaged to marry Jaime.”

  “The way I see it, until you are married, you’re still available and could change your mind.”

  Liza hung up the phone. She was seething, and her neck and face were probably the same shade as the holly berries that dotted the wreath in the office. Her fingers shook, and she felt herself going back to that place that Mark had taken her so many times. “Not again.”

  What would Jaime tell her to do? She blew out a breath and inhaled slowly, filling up her lungs. Jaime would tell her that she was stronger than Mark’s manipulation. Jaime would tell her not to let Mark steal any more of her energy. Liza nodded and took three more deep breaths. Her hands weren’t trembling anymore, but she craved the look of comfort she knew she’d find in Jaime’s soft green eyes.

  It was nearly a quarter after five when Liza finally left the office. She waved at Andy Edwards as he helped his dad with boxes going into Pop’s shipping and wondered if she should change careers. Holiday shipping was a nightmare, but maybe not the same kind she worked in every day. Liza flipped the radio station to one with all Christmas songs and hummed as she drove to Jaime’s house. She didn’t really have a reason to go there and they both knew that, yet he’d invited her to come by. He’d even texted her after lunch to see if she was still planning to stop. Liza felt giddy when she remembered the moment the text had come in—the feeling that someone like Jaime wanted to see her.

  His place still looked like the front of a Christmas greeting card with the white fence draped in snow contrasted against the backdrop of so many tall evergreens. Liza hurried up the steps, watching for spots of ice, and knocked on the door. Jaime had added a Christmas wreath and wrapped the railing with red ribbon last week. He had a few sparse decorations in his home and no Christmas tree, but he was trying to invite the Christmas spirit. Jaime opened the door, the wreath swinging as he did so.

  Liza hugged him as she came inside. “Your house looks a little bit more like Christmas every day,” she told him.

  “Thanks.” He hesitated only a fraction of a second before hugging her back.

  “It’s so good to see you,” Liza murmured.

  “I agree.” Jaime stepped back, eyeing her carefully. “Everything okay a
t work today?”

  Liza’s shoulders slumped. “Not quite.”

  Jaime took her coat. “Come have some hot cocoa and tell me all about it.”

  Liza filled him in on Rick’s demands, his proposed promotion, and the ensuing conversation with Mark. “It just keeps getting worse instead of better. I thought having a fiancé would get him off my back, but he’s more determined than ever.”

  “I think you handled it very well. I definitely don’t think you should talk to him or meet with him in person.”

  “I won’t work with him. But for some reason, he’s gotten under Rick’s skin and cast a spell on him. I’m afraid I will lose my job if I refuse to work with Mark.”

  Jaime frowned. “I know that puts you in a bad position, but if Rick won’t honor your request, then he doesn’t deserve to have you work for him.”

  “I looked again for job openings during my lunch break today. There aren’t many available in Echo Ridge that have anything to do with writing.”

  “What about your book? How close are you to finishing it?” Jaime handed her a mug of cocoa.

  “I am getting close, but with edits and cover design and then typesetting, I’m still at least two or three months away from having a final product.”

  Jaime sipped his cocoa and looked out the window. “So, what if you took a part-time job and were able to do some freelancing on the side while you finish your novel?”

  “That’s a great idea.” Liza brightened, but then she leaned back against the chair. “But I’m worried that I couldn’t get my income to the level I’m at now, and that puts my parents in a bind as well. I know they wouldn’t require me to pay rent money if I didn’t have it, but I really wanted to prove to myself that I could be independent.”

  Jaime nodded. “I have a friend who runs an online magazine. She’s always looking for new submissions. I wonder if you might be able to write anything that would suit her tastes.”

  “What kind of a magazine?”