The Bad Boy's Forever Girl

by Jessie Gussman

  Mr. Brannon’s look had been thoughtful. And now he spoke. “You’re right. I don’t remember the exact specifics of the case, but I do remember there was no evidence. However, there was a large outcry that the woman needed to be believed.”

  Mr. Brannon’s face still projected thoughtfulness. Libby could only hope that he was thinking that it could happen to anyone. Any woman could lie about a man—at any time, they could lie about Mr. Brannon—and that man could be convicted with no evidence. Just like Blade had been.

  Of course, this could all backfire on her, and she could lose her reputation, and the Richmond Rebels might not get the contract after all.

  The thought almost made Libby smile. Not the thought that they might not get the contract.

  But the thought that it was her good reputation versus Blade’s bad reputation.

  That was the battle going on in Mr. Brannon’s mind. And she wondered which one would win.

  Maybe it would be a sort of draw. Where his reputation got a little lighter, and hers got a little darker.

  It was a sacrifice she was willing to make. She felt Blade deserved it.

  Mr. Brannon looked at the fancy watch on his arm, tapping it. “It’s time to get started.” He looked at Libby. “I would like to start with the paperwork, see that it’s in order, and see what I can learn from it. Then I’ll go to the shop and see what the guys are doing and check out the parts room. I like to see that things are well stocked and kept orderly. That’s not something easy to do in an operation like this, and it shows a well-run shop.”

  Libby wasn’t exactly expecting to have to spend a lot of time with him, but for the next hour, he was behind the counter with her, looking at the paperwork. She felt like she was probably more of a liability than an asset, because there were a lot of things she didn’t know, and she had to admit that. She couldn’t lie and be believable. And she didn’t want to.

  Maybe in the back of her head, she was a little worried about what Blade was going to say when Mr. Brannon left.

  She wasn’t exactly his type. And she kind of trapped him into if not a real relationship, at least pretending to have a relationship with her. She didn’t know how long they would have to keep up the pretense to make it believable. Maybe Blade would have an idea. Maybe he’d want it to be over today.

  Probably, they didn’t have to do anything. It wasn’t like Mr. Brannon would be back in the shop after today to see if they were making googly eyes at each other.

  Mr. Brannon did a very thorough inspection, and he wasn’t finished until just before twelve.

  At that time, there were no customers in the shop, and Blade and Thad had joined Foster in front of the counter with Mr. Brannon as he made his final notes and had some comments for them.

  Libby stood and listened as well, with the counter between them. She felt like she had a stake in this too. A bigger stake than what she was expecting to have when she walked in this morning.

  Mr. Brannon explained to them how the process was going to go, and he also explained that he couldn’t tell them how the inspection went or whether or not they could expect to get the contract. He gave the date by which the decision would be made and the contract winner would be notified.

  Then he looked at Libby. “I’ll see you in church on Sunday.” His head swiveled to Blade. “I suppose you’ll be with her.” He held his hand out, and to Blade’s credit, he didn’t hesitate to grab it and shake it, even though his head had to be reeling. “I look forward to seeing you. If you had protested your innocence to me, I do think I probably would have rolled my eyes. But Libby’s right. There was no evidence. And a man should be innocent until the evidence proves him guilty.”

  Libby didn’t do much jumping and dancing around in her life. The problems with her leg precluded activities of that kind. But there weren’t too many times in her life where she wanted to quite as much as she did just then.

  Mr. Brannon left not long after, and it was quiet in the shop for about thirty seconds as the guys gave him time to walk away before they shouted and slapped each other on their backs.

  Blade smacked both of his brothers before he broke away and came over to the counter, leaning on the other side, facing her.

  “Thank you. I wish you hadn’t had to do that. I wish you hadn’t done it. I wish you hadn’t felt like you needed to. But thank you. I appreciate it.”

  “I’m sorry I needed to.” She wanted to apologize for her family, but they weren’t her responsibility, and she couldn’t apologize for what she had no control over. Unfortunately, he would probably never get an apology from them.

  And he deserved it.

  “So how long do you need to be involved in this fake relationship? You think it would be too obvious if you guys broke up as soon as we get the contract? If we get the contract?” Foster grinned as he came over and smacked Blade before he leaned on the counter too.

  Libby’s stomach tried to hide behind her backbone. For some reason, her immediate fear was that Blade would think that she had done this on purpose, that she had somehow angled this situation for...what? Would he think she was so desperate for a boyfriend she would pull something like this?

  There were people that would look at her leg, and her general personality which was not a “let’s attract a man” kind of personality, and her lack of a figure because of her misshapen hip, and say this was the only way she could get a date.

  She looked down at the counter. Suddenly, her fingers were very interesting.

  Thad came up on Blade’s other side. “Well, you’ll definitely have to stay together until they announce the contract winner. He said that would be four weeks. Said they had three other places to inspect, and then they were going to compile the data. So, guess you guys are stuck with each other for a month.”

  How could she let him off the hook? How could she word it so that he understood that she wasn’t against doing it, she just didn’t want him thinking that she was trying to trap him. That she was desperate. That something like this was the only way she could get someone likely to look at her twice.

  Libby hadn’t figured anything out when Blade spoke. “Give me a minute with her, guys.”

  Maybe Blade was looking at them and exchanging glances over her head. She didn’t know. And she didn’t really care. She should figure out a way to talk to him. Maybe she should apologize too.

  His brothers moved away, and Blade stood directly on the other side of the counter from her.

  “I already thanked you for what you did. It was more than I ever expected anyone to do for me. We don’t have to have any kind of relationship, I certainly don’t expect you to do more than you’ve already done.”

  Knowing she couldn’t keep her head down staring at her hands forever, Libby lifted her face. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to trap you into this.”

  His eyes widened. “I didn’t think you had.”

  She believed he was sincere, and she lifted her chin. “I’m willing to do whatever we need to, for as long as we need to do it. If it will help you and your brothers, the Richmond Rebels’ shop, get the contract. Because your past, and what my sister accused you of, shouldn’t keep you from it.”

  “You don’t have to be the sacrificial lamb for your family.” His voice was low, and he said the words fast. Almost growling them out.

  “That’s not how I see it.”

  “That’s what it sounded like.”

  “You heard it wrong.”

  “You said it wrong.”

  They stared at each other. They weren’t exactly fighting; Libby wasn’t sure exactly what they were doing. So she smiled.

  He huffed and smiled back. “We’re being stupid with each other, aren’t we?”

  “I guess so.”

  He tapped his finger on the counter. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was nervous.

  She waited.

  “Do you want to have a fake relationship with me until we find out who gets the contract?” His voice was pitched low, bu
t he didn’t stumble. His eyes stared into hers. If she guessed right, she was pretty sure it was what he wanted.

  But she found, even as her answer formed on her tongue, that it wasn’t what she wanted.

  She didn’t want to be his temporary girl.

  “Yes.”

  It was a simple answer and didn’t come near to speaking everything that was in her heart. But Blade didn’t want to hear that stuff.

  His smile grew larger, and she figured that was relief coming out. And she found it funny that he would have been worried about her answer.

  “I’m not sure what that looks like. Never had a fake relationship before.”

  She smiled. Maybe her failed first marriage, that lasted less than a year, could qualify as a fake relationship. She wondered if Blade even knew about it. It happened while he was imprisoned. She didn’t know how much of the local gossip his brothers had relayed to him.

  Seemed like that wasn’t something men would talk about while visiting their brother in prison.

  “I never have either. I suppose it looks like a real relationship, only you and I know it’s not.”

  His smile got a little wicked. “Does this mean that you’ve now given yourself unparalleled permission to run into me, shove me to the ground, and ravish me?”

  “You can say that, but no one is going to believe it. Look at you.” She paused and lifted her hand, pointing in his direction. “Look at me. You are the only person in this town that is going to believe that.”

  His smile didn’t even dim. And that made her happy. Because he wasn’t thinking about his past and his jail sentence and his reputation. And he knew she wasn’t either. It was their own private joke.

  The door opened, and neither of them probably would have paid any attention at all, except Clarice called across the garage, “Hey, Blade, I packed lunch. Are you ready?”

  There was a part of Libby, right in the middle of her chest, that cramped as soon as Clarice started talking. There was also a part of her that found it funny enough that she was able to smirk at Blade.

  Since they were both still leaning on the countertop and their heads were only a few inches apart, she whispered, “Now what are you gonna do?”

  He choked on a laugh. “You read my mind, didn’t you?”

  “I suppose we could start our fake relationship some other time. Sometime it’s more convenient for you.” She wasn’t sure how she was joking about it, other than she was pretty sure that Blade didn’t have strong feelings for Clarice. Maybe she was wrong. And he’d probably kissed her. That thought right there wiped the smile off her face.

  “What?” Blade asked. “What took your smile?”

  Libby shook her head, annoyed with herself.

  She was such a girl.

  But Blade was looking at her like he expected an answer, and so she said, “I think I just had a jealous moment over my fake boyfriend. Because I thought about you kissing her, and I couldn’t smile about that.”

  Blade stared at her. It felt like a long time. Like he was wondering what to say. Finally, his shoulder lifted just a little, and he said, “I can’t say I haven’t.”

  “And I can’t smile about it.”

  Clarice was almost to them, and Libby whispered, “Maybe, as long as you’re my fake boyfriend, you can refrain from doing it again.”

  Blade leaned closer, his voice low and soft. “You can bet on it.”

  “You two are having a real serious discussion there. Actually, it looks like you’re whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears. Maybe I should take my picnic lunch and go find someone else to share it with.” Clarice’s green eyes narrowed as she glared at Blade first and then Libby.

  Blade straightened. “Maybe you should.”

  Libby liked what he said, but there was a part of her that felt bad for Clarice. Because Blade might not have been serious about her, but Libby was pretty sure that Clarice wanted to be serious about him. And that would be hard for any girl to have happen to them.

  But Clarice wasn’t going to want to hear that from her. Not especially if she felt like Libby was the reason that Blade wasn’t interested in her anymore. So Libby kept quiet. This was Blade’s issue to handle.

  Clarice huffed, and her face showed irritation. But then, she looked between Blade and Libby, then back to Blade, and dawning realization made her jaw drop. “You’re serious. You’re actually serious. You’re...interested in that...”

  Libby could fill in the silence. Clarice wanted to say “cripple.” But she couldn’t quite be that mean. Libby supposed that was points for Clarice. Although she wanted to speak up and say, go ahead and say it. Because she’d been called worse. It was true. It wasn’t a nice way to put it, but it was true. She couldn’t say that it didn’t bother her. Sometimes, the truth hurt.

  “Yeah,” Blade said. “I’m serious.”

  Libby was pretty happy that Clarice was staring at Blade, because if she looked at Libby’s face at that point in time, she probably would have had second thoughts about leaving. Because Libby was looking at Blade the same way Clarice was. Her mouth open and her eyes wide. That man was a good liar. If she didn’t know the truth, she would definitely have believed every word.

  She’d have to remember that. When push came to shove, Blade had acting skills that he should take to the theater.

  Later, she’d ask him why he was a welder instead of an actor.

  Chapter 11

  Blade shut the welding rod off with a pop and shoved his face mask up as he pushed with his legs and slid out from underneath the big truck he was working on.

  He’d seen boots standing next to the truck, and they looked like Foster’s. Figured Foster had something to say to him.

  Things had been quiet the last few days since the inspector had left. The weekend had come and gone, and he hadn’t said anything to Libby about doing anything.

  Clarice had left without a fuss. And she hadn’t been back.

  Blade hadn’t quite figured out what exactly he and Libby were supposed to be.

  Mr. Brannon wanted to see him in church.

  He wasn’t completely against going. He didn’t really want to see Libby’s father, and he knew Mr. Hopkins went to the same church.

  Still, it surprised him, but he’d go for Libby. Not for himself, which was the right reason to go to church - even he knew that.

  But he hadn’t quite been able to bring himself to say, hey, Libby, want to go to church together?

  He laughed at the thought. Even he thought he would sound stupid saying that.

  He really wanted to take her somewhere where he wanted to be. But that almost seemed like a real date, and he didn’t think that they were at that point.

  Rick Brannon had complicated everything when he’d come and Libby had declared the relationship. And they had decided that it needed to stay a fake relationship.

  It was that word, fake, that threw him. He’d never done anything like that before. He’d done a lot of things in his life. Stupid stuff. A few smart things.

  Being with Libby qualified as smart. But again, what did the fake part of it mean?

  Was she expecting him to ask her to do things with him?

  He sure wanted to.

  He supposed her expectations shouldn’t play such a big factor in his decisions. But somehow, someway, in the last couple weeks, what Libby wanted was more important to him than even what he wanted.

  This was new territory for him.

  He’d been eating lunch with her. Of course, his brothers were usually there as well. It was normal for people to look forward to their lunch break; he’d done it all his life.

  But this was new. He didn’t just look forward to the break from work and eating. He looked forward to talking with Libby.

  And looked forward to walking her home.

  He was glad he had set a precedent that first day when he teased her about holding her hand to keep her from being taken.

  Because now it felt natural, and right as rain,
to hold her hand on the way home. They hadn’t had any more trouble with the folks at the bar.

  His head popped out from under the truck, and he sat up on the creeper. Foster stood there, holding a cold water.

  Blade took his welding helmet off and set it down carefully beside him, and Foster held the water down.

  “Thanks,” he said. “How’d you know I needed this?”

  “I’d like to take credit for it, but I can’t. I was walking by the counter when Libby pulled it out of the little refrigerator under the printer.” Foster grinned a little. “I think she was planning on bringing it over to you herself, but when I asked her what it was for and she said you, I asked if I could take it, and she didn’t want to tell me no.” Foster looked over his shoulder. “She was mad. I think she wanted to see you.”

  Normally, Blade might have told him to shut up. But he didn’t really want to. He liked the idea that Libby might want to see him. That she was thinking of him and the heat and had thought that he might be thirsty. The idea warmed him.

  Still, no matter who brought the water, he was thirsty. He unscrewed the lid and drank half a bottle.

  “So, did you hear what’s going on with the old man?” Foster said, propping a foot on the bottom step casually.

  Blade wasn’t fooled. He could see the tension in the set of his shoulders and a tightness around his mouth.

  “Yeah. I heard she’s back.”

  Blade didn’t say anything more. He really didn’t need to. None of his brothers had gotten along very well with their ex-stepmother. Her daughters hadn’t been too bad, and they brushed along okay. All except Foster. He couldn’t stand the oldest stepdaughter. Blade couldn’t even remember her name. It’d been five or six years, actually more. She’d been gone before Blade went down. Must be close to ten years.

  “You know we’ve all changed in the last decade. Got older. The girls might not even come with their mom.”

  Foster had some kind of unreasonable hatred for the oldest. Blade always assumed that she’d done something or maybe a lot of somethings. They’d been in the same class in school. It hadn’t been easy.