Stop it.
Was Lola feeling this shift in the atmosphere? Was she thinking about having sex on the balcony? Lola wasn’t looking at him. Her gaze seemed to be cloudy as she ran a hand down the column of her neck. She was sitting next to him, her long legs crossed over each other and her ample chest rising and falling with every breath she took.
Then there were those lips. Those enticing, succulent lips. If he closed his eyes he could remember how they felt against his. Hell, he didn’t even need to close his eyes. He could recall their kiss perfectly. Every nip, every tease.
And he wanted to do it again. And again and again.
Get it together.
He pointed to her nearly empty beer bottle. “Do you want another kiss?”
Lola coughed. “What?”
“Beer,” he shouted. “Do you want another beer?”
“We kissed yesterday,” she blurted out.
He froze. “We did.” This was it. The moment he really didn’t want to have. A conversation about their kiss. He’d much rather go back to his daydreaming and forget all about reality, because once they talked about what happened between them, it would be out there. Real.
His daydreams could stay firmly in his mind.
Luke cleared his throat. “The thing is…”
“You didn’t like it.” She bit her lip.
“What? No. I mean, yes. I mean, yes, I liked it. A lot. A whole lot.”
“Really?”
“Really.” His gaze clamped down on those lips now. Honing in on them served as a potent reminder.
Her lips twitched before blossoming into a sweet smile. That smile served as a reminder that Lola was a good girl. She was kind and charming. Totally not the kind of girl he usually went out with a couple of times before breaking things off. The truth of the matter was that she was only acting as his pretend girlfriend. After his family reunion this weekend, it would be over.
He didn’t want to hurt her, but he knew he was going to. Flicking a finger between them, he said, “What we’re doing here is pretend. It’s not real.”
“I know that.”
“It’s just that I don’t want to lead you on.”
Instantly, her smile faded. “Then why did you kiss me yesterday?”
“Because you were sad.”
Her brows drew together. “No, I wasn’t.”
“You were telling me about your parents.”
She shook her head. “My parents died. It’s sad, but I’m used to it. It’s my life. I wasn’t feeling particular down that afternoon.”
He remembered her face. If that wasn’t sadness, he didn’t know what was. How could she not be sad every time she talked about her parents?
She pushed her chair back. It made a scraping sound against the concrete floor of the balcony. The abrupt sound had his head snapping up.
“I don’t want you to feel bad for me,” she said. “And I definitely don’t want you, or anyone else, to pity kiss me.”
“I didn’t—”
“And another thing. I can find my own people to kiss. There are tons of guys…”
“I thought you just went through a breakup.”
She harrumphed. “I did.” She blew a breath and made her bangs flutter. “It’s not like I’m some sad Sally who sits around pining all day to be kissed.”
He stood as well. “Of course you’re not. You’re beautiful and smart and—”
“Oh please. Do me a favor and don’t finish that sentence. I know exactly who I am.” She crossed to the balcony door. Her hand hovered over the handle, shaking slightly. “You shouldn’t have kissed me.”
He definitely shouldn’t have kissed her. But he had. Now he had to fix the situation. “Lola, I told you I don’t do relationships. At least, not real ones. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her face fell. All the air left his lungs, and the same sadness he saw there yesterday returned. It had never been his intention to make her feel bad.
“Let me make it easy on you then. I’ll leave so you don’t have another opportunity to hurt me.”
With that, she opened the door, slid through it, closed it quickly, and fled his condo. Stunned, Luke remained outside.
He’d broken up with dozens of girls over the years, but somehow breaking up with his pretend girlfriend left him with some very real pain.
Chapter Six
“I could vomit just looking at you.”
-Dorothy Zbornak
“He said what?”
Lola sighed at Frankie’s question. She really didn’t want to talk about Luke Erickson anymore. But since Frankie had been asleep when she’d returned the night before, this was their first opportunity to dish in person. Naturally, they’d been texting about the situation all day long.
“No way did he say he kissed you because you were sad,” Frankie continued before Lola could answer her first question. “I mean, were you sad?”
“No. I don’t know. Maybe a little bit. I was telling him about my parents.” She shrugged. “But if Luke went around kissing every woman who looked sad then he’d, well, he’d…”
“Have some really chapped lips,” Frankie finished for her. “Besides the horrible ending, how was the rest of the night?”
Lola flopped down onto the couch, a large sigh following in her wake. “It was great. Really fun actually.”
“That’s a shame.” Frankie joined her. “So what’s going to happen with his family reunion this weekend?”
Lola repressed a groan that wanted to escape. She really, really didn’t want to think about his family reunion. On the one hand, she’d made him a promise, and she didn’t like reneging on promises. But on the other, well, there was no way in hell she was going now.
To answer Frankie’s question she threw her hands over her face, leaned back on the couch, and finally let out that groan. “I’m doing what I always do.”
“What would that be?”
Lola removed her hands from her face and sat up straight. She pointed an accusatory finger at Frankie. “You know.”
Frankie stuck her nose in the air. “I know nothing.”
“Yes, you do. You’re my best friend, and sometimes you know me better than I know myself. Therefore, you are perfectly aware that I always do this. I don’t say what I mean in the moment. I say something, but it doesn’t make me feel better. Then, here I am, almost an entire day later and I’m beating myself up for not having stood up for myself.” Exhausted, she collapsed against the cushions of the couch.
“Sadly, it’s true. You don’t stick up for yourself. Why? I’m not sure. You have everything in the world going for you.”
“I wish I could see what you see when you look at me.”
Frankie’s face softened. “So do I. And anyway, there’s a simple solution to this problem. You need to find your voice.” Frankie paused, her face deep in thought. “Find your voice and then use it.”
Her best friend’s words warmed her heart. “Aw, thanks, Frankie.”
“Well, I mean it. I wish you would have stuck up for yourself with Mark when he broke up with you.”
Lola hugged a pillow close to her chest. “Oh God, me too. See, that’s another time. I stood there and let him tell me that he was leaving me to date someone younger.”
“Don’t forget prettier, too.”
“Thanks, Frankie.”
“Shut up. I don’t think she was prettier than you. I’m simply repeating what douchey-doucherson said. You know what you should have said back to him?”
This time, Lola didn’t need to think about it. She’d already been doing that for the last couple weeks. “I should have told him that he was a classless jerkwad for saying something so hurtful to someone else. I should have pointed out that he’s not God’s gift. He has flaws. Like his nose hair.”
“His nose hair? Ew.” Frankie laughed, even as she cringed.
“When you got up close to him, it was sooo obvious. Boy needed to go in for a trim. Like yesterday. And he belched under hi
s breath all the time. As if I couldn’t hear it. Covering your mouth with your hand when you burp does not render the other person deaf all of a sudden.”
Frankie started bouncing on the couch. “What else? What else?”
“He wasn’t that good of a kisser. I mean, was that his tongue or a plunger?”
“Yuck! Anything else?”
Lola straightened her shoulders. “Yes. I should have told him that I was too good for him. That he was lucky to have dated me. And that he could…well, he could…”
“Come on, Lo. You can say it,” Frankie said.
“He could go fuck himself.”
Frankie punched her arm into the air. “Yes! That’s my girl. How do you feel?”
She took a deep breath and counted to five. Lola waited for the onslaught of guilt to filter through her. She didn’t normally say negative things about people. Of course, that was probably why people usually walked all over her.
At the moment, she actually felt kind of good. Alive. “I feel both exhausted and empowered.”
“Great. Now let’s tell Luke Erickson to fuck off, too.”
Just like that her mood plummeted at the mention of Luke. She wanted to say something to him, but it wasn’t that.
“Oh, Lola, what’s with the sad face?” Frankie moved closer and draped an arm around her shoulders.
“I don’t know. I guess I…I don’t know.”
“Hm, maybe you really liked that kiss with Luke and wanted it to be real. When he told you he only kissed you because he thought you were sad, it hurt you.”
Bingo. Even though Luke had already told her that he didn’t do relationships, she’d still believed that he’d meant that kiss. How could something that had felt so amazing not been real?
“Do you like him, Lo?”
“Does it matter? He doesn’t believe in relationships.”
Frankie watched her for a long moment. “That’s not an answer.” She glanced out the window behind the couch. “Let me ask you this. What would you do if you saw him right here, right now?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“Because he’s headed up the front steps.” She pointed toward the window.
Lola jumped up and looked outside, but she didn’t see anything. Which meant Luke was already in the building.
“Ohmigod, ohmigod. What am I gonna do? I don’t want to see him right now.”
“Calm down,” Frankie said at the same time a knock sounded at the door. “I’ll deal with this. You stay here.”
“Thanks, Frankie.”
Lola watched as Frankie crossed to the door. She cracked it open and spoke in hushed tones, except for when she uttered, “You’ve gotta be kidding me. You’re good.” Shaking her head, she closed the door gently, turned, and walked back to the living room.
“Is he gone?”
“Um, no.”
“What do you mean no? You were supposed to get rid of him.”
Frankie threw her hands up. “He really wants to talk to you.”
“Well, I don’t want to talk to him.”
“He wants to apologize and trust me when I say this, he’s come armed and dangerous.”
“What does that mean?”
“Go see for yourself.”
Frustrated, but also curious, Lola slowly and begrudgingly shuffled to the door. She glanced back at Frankie, who simply smiled and nodded. She took a deep breath, which did nothing to calm her, and yanked open the door.
She was about to channel her inner confidence when a definitive bark sounded. Startled, she stepped back and looked down.
“A dog? You have a dog?”
Luke shot her a devastatingly hot grin. He managed to be both boyish and sexy in one gesture. Her pulse picked up.
“Hey,” he said.
“Arf.”
“Um, hi?” She couldn’t help but ruffle the fur on the dog’s head. He was an adorable black and white mix. He looked like a baby panda. Lola crouched down so they were eye level. “Aren’t you cute.”
“Why thank you. Oh, you meant the dog.” Luke joined her. “This is Ralphie. He’s a friend’s dog. I’m watching him for the night while my friend is out of town at a business meeting.”
Lola continued to pet Ralphie, who was eating up the attention. His tongue hung out of his mouth, and his tail was wagging a hundred miles a minute. Unable to resist, Lola began lavishing even more attention on him and using her best doggie-baby-voice.
“Aren’t you sweet? You’re just the cutest little boy ever. Yes, you are. You’re so handsome. The handsomest boy ever.”
When she’d gotten her fill, she sat back on her heels and glanced up at Luke. “So why’d you bring Ralphie here?”
“I wanted to talk to you, but I assumed you might not want to talk to me.”
“You assumed correctly.”
Ralphie flipped onto his back, and Luke obediently crouched and rubbed his tummy. The dog’s excited legs went wild.
“I’d like to apologize to you.” His gaze flicked up to meet hers. “And to explain.”
“You could have texted.”
“You could have ignored that.”
He had her there. Seemed Luke Erickson thought of everything.
“I figured there was no way you could say no to this adorable dog. I mean, look at his big brown eyes and hopeful expression.”
She was too busy looking at Luke’s big brown eyes and hopeful expression. She felt her willpower dissipating, not to mention, she was curious.
“I don’t know…”
“Just come for a walk with me. With Ralphie. He’s dying to get outside.”
Ralphie was currently busy licking his privates. Lola didn’t claim to be a pet whisperer, but if she had to guess, Ralphie was probably quite content.
Frankie coughed in the background. Lola peeked over her shoulder, and Frankie made a shooing gesture with her hands.
“Fine,” she finally said to Luke. “Let’s go for a walk.”
At the word walk Ralphie leaped up, his tail showing his excitement. He practically bounced down the hallway.
Lola grabbed her flip-flops, and they exited the building into the warm evening air. The sun hadn’t quite set yet, and plenty of people were milling about the street. Even when the light was completely gone, the Shirlington neighborhood would remain active. Tables were placed outside every restaurant and bar. Twinkly lights were strung on the trees that lined the street with the cobblestone sidewalks.
They walked in silence for a while. Lola was enjoying Ralphie. She’d even taken over leash duty. Not shy in the slightest, Ralphie pranced down the sidewalk, greeting giggling children and going up to people dining outdoors.
For a special treat, they took him into the neighborhood dog store where he filled up on free treats from the doggy bakery. He met a French Bulldog and seemed to have fun playing.
They continued their stroll around the neighborhood, Ralphie leading the way. He’d stop to lap up water from the bowls that the local establishments provided for all the dogs.
It all felt so normal. Like they were a real couple who did this every night after dinner. Only they weren’t a real couple. And she hadn’t even eaten dinner that night.
Lola dreamed of a time when she would have someone to come home to. They would talk about their days as they ate a healthy and well-rounded meal that she somehow miraculously learned to cook. They would go on romantic weekend getaways. Maybe they would get a dog.
Lola let out a long sigh at that thought.
“What is it?” Luke asked.
“Nothing.”
“Want to talk about last night?”
“Not really,” she said.
While she really didn’t want to talk about their fight, Lola was impressed that Luke had come over at all. In the grand scheme of things, he didn’t need to. She wasn’t anything to him. He could have ghosted, as if she’d never entered his life.
“I’d like to,” he said. “I want to apologize, Lola.”
&
nbsp; She bit her lip. It took a lot to admit you were wrong. She had to hand that to Luke. “So you didn’t mean what you said? You didn’t kiss me because you thought I was sad?”
Luke stopped at a bench. He sat down, and Ralphie made himself comfortable under the bench, content to rest and people watch. Lola joined him.
“I did think you were sad the other day when we had lunch, and that’s why I kissed you.”
“Oh.”
“But it wasn’t the only reason,” he added.
Lola felt her eyebrow rise in surprise. “It wasn’t?”
He shook his head. “I’m attracted to you. I know you probably hear this all the time, but you’re kinda gorgeous.”
Her mouth fell open. “Huh?”
“Don’t act like you’ve never heard that before,” he said with a laugh.
“My last boyfriend broke up with me because I wasn’t pretty enough. He found someone younger and more beautiful than me.”
“Sounds like a real prince.”
“He was special.”
Luke swiveled toward her, stretching his arm over the back of the bench. “That guy sucks, but I don’t. At least, I don’t want you to think I do.”
“I still don’t get why you kissed me.”
“It’s simple. I like you, Lola.”
…
Admitting he liked her wasn’t as hard as he thought. The truth was Luke did like Lola, a lot.
He snuck a glance at her now and saw the confusion on her face. Understandable.
A crease formed on her forehead. “But you don’t like relationships,” she said.
“I don’t believe in them.”
“What does that mean exactly?” She twisted her long hair into a knot and then let it fall around her face again. “Have you never been in a romantic relationship? Will you go your entire life without being in one? What about when you’re sixty? Will you be content to live all alone? And then what happens if you get sick, and who will be your beneficiary for your 401k and—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up a few decades.” Luke laughed and held his hands up.
She relented with a half smile. “Sorry.”
Luke took a deep breath. He didn’t particularly enjoy talking about what he was about to reveal. In fact, it was rare that he would bring it up at all. But Lola was different. It was so much more than her physical appearance. When they had a conversation, he felt like he was the only person in the city. She listened to him, really listened. Because of that, he felt like he could be himself with her.
Her Super-Secret Rebound Boyfriend Page 7