by Weiss, Sonya
“I kind of told a lie…and it involves you.”
Dismay spread across his face. “And?”
She darted her gaze away, understanding the suspicion in his voice. “I need you to be my boyfriend. My breakup boyfriend, actually.” She swung her eyes back to him.
Lincoln blinked and then frowned. “Your what?”
“Breakup boyfriend,” she repeated slowly. “I might have told my mother that you were my ex-boyfriend and that you were trying to make up with me.”
“I’m your boyfriend,” Lincoln said, sounding stunned.
“Yes.” Josie twisted her fingers together, wishing he wouldn’t look at her like she’d lost her mind.
His eyes searched her face. “Why did you give her my name?”
“Because it made sense at the time.” She squirmed inwardly. With a couple glasses of wine and her mother’s constant disappointment ringing in her ear, she hadn’t meant to blurt out the lie.
“You and I together won’t work.”
“I know.” Josie nodded, then said patiently, “Which is why we broke up. But you wanted me back so we’re working on our issues. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“I don’t believe this.” Lincoln pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath, then fixed her with a hard stare. “We’re not a couple so there’s no need for us to work on our “issues,” whatever that hell that means.”
“But there is.” She put her hand on his bicep and when one of his colleagues let out a whistle, Lincoln took Josie by the arm and walked with her to the side of the building. He was near enough for her to catch a whiff of the shampoo he used. When he stopped walking and faced her, those lips of his were temptingly close. If he was having trouble with her being his ex, he’d really have trouble if she leaned up and planted a kiss on him. Eek, why had that suddenly popped into her head? Mentally erasing that thought.
“Because?”
“Because my mom told Trixie Majors. If it gets out that I lied, she’ll gleefully make sure the gossip rips me to shreds, and no one will hire me again if my reputation is destroyed. Not to mention I wouldn’t ever be able to show my face.” Josie would hate for her newfound venture to die a swift death because she’d told a stupid lie to her mother. “You know how it goes here. A guy can innocently stumble on the sidewalk and the gossip spreads that he’s drunk.”
“But you didn’t innocently stumble. You deliberately threw us to the wolves.”
She looked down. “I know.”
“Our families will be all over us with questions. They won’t believe we were ever together.”
Ouch. This was why she’d been afraid to tell him. Believing they would never work as a couple was different than him confirming it for her. “They will if we tell them that’s why things have been so awkward and strained between us. We can say that we secretly dated and we’ve been having issues.”
“This will end badly. They’ll push us to work things out. They’ll hint at marriage and kids.”
Josie needed Lincoln to overlook those teeny details for now. “Your family loves you, they only want what’s best for you,” she pointed out.
“I know that, but when you give my matchmaking mom and grandmother an inch, they can create miles of chaos.”
Josie wished she could rewind time and take back the lie. “Maybe so, but they’re going to be thrilled to think that you’ve finally moved on from Savannah.”
“I moved on months ago.” His words fell flat and that was definitely a mind-your-own-business look he gave her.
If she had to hazard a guess, despite his denial, she’d say that he wasn’t over his ex. Blond, built, and beautiful, his former girlfriend had always turned heads. Thankfully, she was also stupid and selfish enough to dump Lincoln. Which was yay for the home-team heart because Savannah had never been good enough for Lincoln.
Josie softened her tone. “Even if you and I don’t reconcile and start dating again—”
“Again?” His voice rose, and he paused to clear his throat. “Listen to what you’re saying. We never even started.”
“I know that.” Josie put her hands on her hips.
“I can’t believe you did something like this.”
“Me, either. I thought about confessing what I’d done, and I tried to fix things, but then my parents decided to move back to town and I ran out of time. I didn’t think my mother would spill everything to the biggest gossip in town her first day back.” Josie looked up at him, wishing that they could go back to the days when it had been okay to go to Lincoln and he’d hug her until her fears and hurts subsided. But she hadn’t been able to do that since she was a kid.
“I don’t know how to respond.”
Josie started to panic. “Linc, please be my breakup boyfriend. I need this.”
“You realize it’s not just a matter of agreeing to what you told your mother if anyone asks? We’ll have to act like we’re trying to work things out.”
Josie chewed on her lower lip for a second. “We could let everyone think we’re working on it for a few days, then just say it was too late to save the relationship and then boom it’s over.”
“I don’t know.”
Sensing that he was close to caving, and the image of Trixie’s smug face in her mind’s eye, Josie said, “I’ll help you with the video for the contest. I’ll clean your house. Wash your truck. Bathe your dogs. Whatever you want. And think about it. If you back my story, your mom and grandmother can’t play the Lincoln’s-not-dating card. That means no more setups or matchmaker situations for you.”
“Huh,” Lincoln said, looking impressed and slightly more interested. “That’s not half bad.”
“You’ll do it? Back my story, and then I’ll dump you again?” Josie felt the first stirrings of hopeful relief.
He held his hand up. “Whoa, hold the fort. You’ll dump me again? How do you know I didn’t dump you?”
“Because it’s my lie,” Josie explained patiently. “The person telling the lie gets to control the narrative.”
“You can’t write the whole story if I’m part of it,” he said.
Josie narrowed her eyes. “Fine, then what’s our issue?”
“We broke up because you weren’t good in bed.”
Josie’s mouth dropped open. Then, realizing he was teasing, she poked her finger at his chest and grumbled, “Okay, I deserved a dig, but just one. Now, we should figure out why we broke up, why us getting back together isn’t working, then lay out the breakup rules.”
“Why do we need breakup rules?”
“So we have a deadline.”
He nodded his agreement. “I see.”
Warming up to her plan of how their relationship would end, Josie rubbed her hands together. “We can use the three strikes method. We create a problem twice and we do it in public. Then on the third time, we mutually call it quits for good. That way, the news will spread that we’re over without us saying a word.”
“Good idea. We’ll need to be seen together, so I’ll meet you at your house to pick you up for my grandmother’s party. We can talk about when and where to do the first strike then.”
Excited that he’d agreed to help, Josie beamed. “Thank you for this. You’re the best ex in the world.”
He crossed his arms. “I am. You were lucky to have me, and I’m not gonna let you forget it.”
“Then I’ll be able to tell people we broke up because of your big ego.” Josie laughed.
Lincoln’s laughter mingled with hers.
“You know, we can have a lot of fun with the gossip that’s sure to swirl over this. We can make up stuff and feed it to the rumor mill as we go along.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but let’s do it. Make up wild and crazy stuff about us. Nothing bad, obviously. But I have to warn you, I’m better at spinning stories than you are.”
“Case in point,” Lincoln said. “But if we’re just playing around,
I’ll give you a run for your money.”
“Go for it with my blessing.” She was still laughing as she started to walk off, but then she stopped and turned around as a thought occurred to her. Lincoln stood watching her. “What are we going to do if we get into a situation that calls for us to show affection, like kissing?”
“You fake a faint, or I fake a heart attack.”
Josie rolled her eyes. “Good thinking. Because that would be so much better than us kissing.”
“Right,” he said, but he had an odd expression on his face. Darn it, she’d made it weird again. This was the first time they’d teased each other in ages, and she’d messed it up.
“Okay… See you in the morning.” She started toward Casey’s car again.
“Make sure my breakfast is ready.”
She stopped and turned back around. “What?”
“Before we broke up, you always cooked breakfast for me. As a matter of fact, you washed my clothes and ironed them, too.” He gave her a smug look.
“Excuse me?”
He wagged a finger. “Since we are trying to get back together, I’m sure you want to stick to all those nice things you used to do.”
“Of course,” Josie drawled out, eyes narrowed. “I must have forgotten.”
“That was one of our problems. You took me for granted,” Lincoln said sorrowfully.
She grinned, thankful to see Lincoln’s playful side again. Because he was so quiet, not many people got to see this part of him. With a shake of her head and a wave, Josie walked toward the car where Casey waited. She was glad that Lincoln had agreed, but a tiny seed of doubt sprang up. They used to talk and laugh like this before. And once their “breakup” was made official, Lincoln would push her away again. Remember, Josie, this isn’t real. She couldn’t let herself get comfortable. That was a one-way ticket to unrequited feelings.
Chapter Five
Kent laughed after Lincoln finished explaining what Josie had wanted. “This whole thing has the potential to turn you into a groom.”
Lincoln spared his best friend a look but didn’t say what was on his mind. Which was that “groom” was another word for sucker. “There’s a big difference in what happened to you versus what’s going on with me. You have always loved my sister.”
Kent arched an eyebrow and smiled smugly.
“Don’t go there. I don’t love Josie.”
Kent slapped him on the back as they walked into the station. “I said those exact words about Casey.”
“And I’m happy for the two of you, but I’m not in the market for a relationship.” Love did nothing but set you up for rejection and heartbreak. The chance of actually finding someone who was your “soul mate” was too rare for the risk you were taking.
Lincoln went to get the cleaning schedule checklist. He had to assign the various duties around the station, and he was thankful to have something to do to occupy his mind.
“So I’m the only one who knows that you and Josie never dated, never actually broke up, and aren’t really trying to work on your relationship?”
When Kent put it like that, Lincoln could see all kinds of land mines just waiting to go off, but what was done was done. “That’s about the gist of it.” Lincoln put the clipboard aside. “Josie needed help. What was I supposed to do?”
Kent picked up the clipboard and glanced at the assignments. “You don’t even see it.”
“What? Did I screw up the rotation?”
“Not the duties.” Kent set the clipboard back down on the desk and gave Lincoln a probing look. “You don’t see how every single time Josie’s needed anything, you’ve ridden in for the rescue.”
“I don’t do that.”
“All right. If you say so.” Disbelief coated every word.
Lincoln’s gut twisted. Had he subconsciously played knight in shining armor to Josie? He couldn’t have her thinking that he was her hero in her happily ever after. He would fail her just like he’d failed his other relationships. “I do say so,” he said.
“All right, then.” Kent turned to go farther into the station but as he did, he said, “I’ll be the best man when your time comes.”
Lincoln wasn’t having any of that. The fake relationship between his sister and Kent had led to them getting engaged and they were going to marry soon, but that was not going to be the direction Lincoln’s life took. He followed after Kent, but he couldn’t shake the worry that Josie could potentially get the wrong idea.
He didn’t know if visions of wedding dresses danced in her head because she didn’t act that way around him, but she’d always longed for a family. What if she was looking for a husband? The thought made him feel chilled to the bone. He needed to make sure she knew he was off the groom-to-be menu.
Relationships that were supposed to last forever didn’t. Hearts often got caught in the battle zone of “I don’t love you anymore.” Then you ended up hurt, hungover, with empty hours to fill. He wasn’t doing that to himself ever again. Whipping out his cell phone, he sent Josie a quick text to make sure they were on the same page. Just so we’re clear—I am not going to marry you.
Seconds later, he received a response from her. This is why I dumped you. You can’t commit.
He smiled at her funny emoticon and texted, No, I dumped you because you were a nag about commitment.
She shot back with, You’re not very good at working on our issues. I think we may need couples therapy.
Lincoln laughed and pocketed his phone. He’d missed this with Josie. But as long as she understood that a real romantic relationship between them couldn’t happen, and he kept to his plan, he didn’t foresee hanging out with his supposed ex being a problem.
Two hours later, as he stood on the front of the firetruck washing the windshield, he wasn’t so sure about that. High heels clicked across the pavement and one of the rookies, Kevin, whispered, “Incoming.”
Lincoln’s heart sank as he turned around. His mother, Beverly Bradford, had the look of a woman on a mission. Even from where he stood, he could see the matchmaking gleam. Worse, she wasn’t alone. His grandmother was with her, moving just as determinedly.
In her mid-sixties, his mom still cut an imposing figure. Many nights when his father was on duty at the station, or away handling station-related business, she’d had to be both mother and father to him and his siblings. She was loving, tough when she needed to be, and he admired the hell out of her strength. But this did not look like the kind of impromptu visit he was going to enjoy.
Dropping the rag he held, he hopped down and crossed over the wet driveway to reach her. “You look upset. What’d my boneheaded brothers do this time?”
A huff of air mixed with an exasperated laugh escaped her lips. “This is not about Rafferty or Grayson.”
“Casey?”
“It’s not about your sister, either.”
“All right, I give. What’s up?”
His grandmother, Jean, let out a belly laugh. “You sure can play it close to the vest. Ragging on your brother about his dating life when this entire time you’ve been seeing Josie on the sly.”
“Oh. That.” The news had traveled fast.
His mother’s lower lip trembled. “Son, I love Josie as if she were my own daughter, and it upsets me to think you might have broken her heart.”
Lincoln felt the first stirrings of alarm. He wasn’t the kind of guy who broke hearts. At least not on purpose, and since his relationship with Josie wasn’t real, he didn’t have a clue how to respond other than to ask, “What makes you think I broke her heart?”
“You broke up,” Jean pointed out.
“We did, but we’re back together and working on our relationship.” He figured it was best to stick to Josie’s explanation rather than try to ad lib. When they both beamed, he hastily added, “It might not last.” Now they were looking at him like he was the villain who’d plundered the village.
Deciding Josie was right and they could have fun and make stuff up with
the whole mess, he crossed his arms and adopted his best hurt expression. For good measure, he even managed to swallow and clench his jaw like he couldn’t bear to say the words. “What makes you think hers was the heart that got broken?”
His mother’s eyes instantly oozed sympathy. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”
Jean nudged her daughter. “But they’re working on their relationship.” She eyed Lincoln. “Right?”
Lincoln nodded. “As much as we can. I’ve been giving it my all, but Josie doesn’t like…” He took a deep breath. “Commitment.”
Beverly gasped and put a hand against her throat. “You mean you were ready to commit?”
“Yes,” Lincoln said, doing his best to keep his smile under wraps as his mother looked at him like he was a hero now instead of a villain. He added, “I wanted it all. The kids, the minivan, the whole enchilada.”
This time it was his grandmother who gasped. “Don’t give up. Josie’s crazy about you. Try harder.”
“I don’t think I could face that kind of rejection again.” Lincoln brought his fist up to his mouth and pressed it against his lips. In a soft voice, he whispered, “I’m sorry. I can’t talk about this.”
“Of course,” his mother said, rubbing his back in little circular motions.
Lincoln drew in a deliberately ragged breath. “I’d better get to work. I’m trying to stay busy to keep my mind off things.”
“Sure,” his grandmother said softly. “We’ll see you tomorrow. You hang in there. Josie will come around.”
Lincoln watched them walk away and looked over at Kent with a big grin. “See? That’s how you stay out of a relationship.”
Kent let out a long whistle. “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when Josie finds out you played the commitment card.”
“It was her idea to have fun with this.” Lincoln went back to cleaning the truck.
“I’ll call you on your honeymoon and remind you of that.” Kent dodged the wet rag Lincoln threw at him.
After his friend walked off, Lincoln retrieved the cloth. He wasn’t worried about any of that. Josie wasn’t in love with him, and he wasn’t in love with her. The odds of them ending up as a real couple was as likely as Rafferty joining a convent. He’d made sure of that.