Lucky This Isn't Real: MacBride Brothers Series St. Patrick's Day Fake Fiance Romance

by Jamie Knight

  “Feel better?” Sean asked after my third plateful.

  “Much,” I said, leaning back and stifling a belch.

  “That’s my girl,” he said and grinned.

  Most people I knew would have criticized me for shoving down the food, seeing it as a flaw or something to be fixed. Many of them had in the past. It was often out of genuine care for me, but it didn’t hurt any less. It was like they thought I needed to be fixed. I was far from a mind reader, even with my inherited intuition, but Sean seemed to accept it as part of who I was. I didn’t think my feelings for him could get any stronger, but they did.

  I felt gloriously relaxed, despite the surroundings, all the pomp and bullshit seeming to fall away whenever I looked into Sean’s eyes as we ate and drank freely.

  “Jesus, Darcy, stop making such a spectacle of yourself,” Harry hissed, appearing next to me, seemingly out of nowhere.

  “Bit too close, mate,” Sean said, standing.

  “Get lost, asshole. This doesn’t concern you.”

  “It does actually, yank.”

  “Don’t call me yank, you paddy piece of shit.”

  “Fair enough. Call me ‘paddy’ again, and I’ll break your nose. That’d be a real spectacle.”

  Harry took a small step back, his eyes going wide, despite him also trying to glare, the result looking pretty funny.

  “Mind your own business, Harry,” I said, stepping between them before things could get ugly. I turned to Sean. “Ready to go?”

  “Aye.”

  We were heading out when the familiar and annoying sound of a fork striking a wine glass filled the garden. I froze, having a pretty good idea about what would be coming next.

  “Hello everyone,” dad started, turning on the fake friendliness, “and thank you for coming. As you’ve probably heard through the grapevine, I have a bit of an announcement to make. A big one, actually.”

  “Fuck, he’s doing it,” I whispered. “I can’t believe it. I thought after our little talk earlier, he’d let it go. More fool me.”

  “I’ve got this, sweetheart.” Giving my hand a squeeze, Sean made for the head table, grabbing a champagne glass from a passing waiter on the way.

  My dad continued. “This is an announcement I’ve wanted to make for a long time.”

  I could see Harry from the corner of my eye. Sitting back and smirking in a way that made me want to slug him. I looked at Nicole, hoping it might be a joke, but she looked as surprised as everyone else.

  My dad couldn’t stoop any lower. Trying to pressure me into a loveless marriage with a public announcement was a shitty move even for him. He was certain that I’d been raised well enough not to make a scene or call him out as a psychopath who thought he could barter his daughter to secure a business arrangement. He was right, of course, which made me even angrier. I wanted to leave before I had to make a scene.

  He turned in my direction. “Darcy, I can’t express how happy and proud I am of you.”

  I almost felt sorry for him, not really, but almost. The poor bastard never saw it coming.

  Sean cleared his throat. “Thanks, Garrison. I’d just like to say I’m thrilled to be marrying Darcy.”

  Murmurs spread around those gathered. Dad looked like he was going to choke, and mom, who clearly had no idea what he’d been planning, stared daggers at him.

  “Why didn’t you let me meet him sooner?” she demanded of me.

  “Please, don’t be cross with your daughter. It was something of a whirlwind courtship. Not something that was kept from you, Mrs. Matthews. Despite the swiftness of everything, I know in my heart, Darcy is my soulmate.”

  He said the last part while looking right at me. Speaking with so much honesty and intensity, his eyes felt like they could look into my soul. For a second, I almost believed they could. He hadn’t exactly been lying. The engagement was a fabrication, but what about the rest of it? From Maggie’s wedding to the garden party, everything that had happened could be defined as a whirlwind romance. We also hadn’t had time to tell our families, at least not formally. Maggie and Gavin knew, but it seemed like they had mostly guessed. Nicole looked as shocked as anyone at Sean’s pronouncement.

  In a way, I was glad it wasn’t Maggie because I really wouldn’t know how I would explain not telling her. Nicole was my boss, or at least above me on the ladder, as well as my friend, but she was perhaps not the first person I would tell. Particularly if I hadn’t actually told my parents.

  Like an award-winning salesman, Sean had convinced everyone gathered that we were really engaged. Perhaps he was so convincing because he had the advantage of truth behind him. In his eyes and in his heart, we were soulmates. Maybe he would, in fact, like to marry me one day. I wanted so much to believe he did, but it was the context of his declaration that made me wonder.

  Did Sean really mean it, or had he said what he’d said to throw my dad off? There was really no way to know. I still trusted him on an intuitive level but needed to be careful.

  “That was quite the speech,” I said when we got a moment alone.

  “Really had them going, didn’t I? It was a gamble, but at least you shouldn’t have to worry about your dad for a while or the Ashtons. As far as anyone knows, it’s us that are engaged.”

  “Yeah, but we’re not, though, are we?”

  “Not strictly no.”

  “Not at all. We haven’t even talked about our future.”

  He shrugged. “I was just trying to help.”

  “I know, and I appreciate it.” I glared at him. “It’s just become clear to me now that Gavin isn’t the only MacBride with a talent for acting and selling lies and half-truths with intensity. He’s really good. So are you. I thought Harry was good too, for a while.”

  He blanched. “You really aren’t seriously comparing me to Harry, are you?”

  “No, not directly anyway. I’m just not sure what’s true anymore, and that’s a problem, particularly if I’m going to trust you.”

  I’d gone too far. I could tell just by his expression that I’d really hurt him, even though that hadn’t been my intent. It was unlikely he would be hurt by my words were he not telling the truth. The only other option was that he was an emotionless manipulator playing me for his own benefit. I honestly couldn’t be sure anymore, but I sincerely hoped it was the first one.

  He was going to say something. I saw his mouth open, but before any words could come out, we were swamped. Friends, family, and bystanders all coming to congratulate us on our happy news. Even if it had come as something of a surprise.

  “I don’t blame you,” Nicole said, candidly, “I’m a bit shocked but also really happy for you. I really do need to get myself an Irishman.”

  She seemed so happy for me that I wasn’t about to dispel her notions, though I didn’t like having to go along with what was, at most, a half-truth.

  “We thought you were lying,” Mr. Ashton said, speaking for the whole family for once. “Sorry.”

  I never thought I could feel sorry for the Ashtons, but just a bit of sympathy crawled its way up. Sure, they could be awful sometimes, expecting the world to be handed to them on a platter. That didn’t mean I took any joy in seeing them miserable.

  “Honey!”

  Damn. The last thing I needed was to face my mom. I couldn’t lie to her, never could. Technically, Sean had lied for me. The whole thing could come down with the wrong line of questioning.

  “I’m so happy for you. I wish I’d met him sooner, but I’m so glad you’ve found someone who makes you happy.”

  She reached over and smacked my dad, who looked to be almost catatonic. All his plans falling apart before his eyes.

  “Um, yes, er, well done.”

  He didn’t really mean a word of it. I knew him well enough to know that much. He was just too shocked and sad to argue. That and he didn’t want to cause a scene. I didn’t like it when he argued, but his behavior now was even worse.

  I’d gotten out of marrying
Harry but wasn’t sure the cost of having to hold up a beautiful lie was much better than an awful truth. I couldn’t really bring myself to be angry with Sean. He was trying to save me and was acting fast to avoid disaster. We were just going to have to deal with the fallout.

  Chapter Fourteen - Sean

  The truth could be flexible. A lesson I’d learned early on from my father, who I would never call a liar, but seemed to have a very loose grasp on reality, including and especially in terms of his own actions. Every pronouncement of getting clean was absolutely truthful at the time of utterance. A year and five months clean was his standing record. Then something would happen, a switch would flip, and he would tumble off the wagon.

  Gavin certainly seemed to have picked up this talent for momentary sincerity and channeled it to his acting career. I’d never really thought I had, right up until I walked towards Darcy’s dad with a glass in my hand. No idea of what I was going to say, just that I had to say something.

  It was both true and not. Calling Mr. Matthews ‘Garrison’ was a tactic to throw him off balance and strengthen the impression of familiarity. I wasn’t sure from where my speech had sprung. The words flew out of my mouth nearly as fast as I could think. They were so natural and sincere. And they were. I wanted to be with Darcy. I wanted us to be man and wife. There was no doubt in my mind she was the one for me.

  Everything I said was true, the only real inaccuracy being that we were currently engaged. That was a fib. Though what I’d told her mother wasn’t. It had been a whirlwind romance, and we hadn’t told anyone.

  Darcy wasn’t happy. Despite my best efforts to do good, she’d reprimanded me for my perceived dishonesty, which it technically was even if it didn’t feel like it at the time. Unfortunately, this was exactly why she’d thought I’d been lying. If I could say something she knew not to be true so convincingly, how could she trust anything I said? It seemed a bit harsh, but I could see where she was coming from.

  The only thing that kept me sane was that I was positive she hadn’t meant to hurt me. More than likely, what she’d said was an unguarded expression which, in a way, was a good thing. She must have trusted me on some level to be able to do that. I was now on the receiving end of the silent treatment.

  I was used to the silence, at least on my part. One of the few advantages to being the middle child. You get used to your own company, particularly while adulation is showered on the older siblings, and the youngest are smothered with love and attention.

  Silence reigned as we left the garden party—nightfall still a few hours away. I wanted to comfort Darcy, hold her, and tell her everything would be okay. But I resisted the impulse. She was so upset, so she decided to leave her car and call a taxi.

  “Come on,” she said as the cab pulled up.

  With only a beat of hesitation, I got into the back seat with her, minding my distance as I sat down. I didn’t want to touch her, even by accident, if she didn’t want me to. A gap she bridged herself by taking my hand.

  “Want to come up?” she asked as we stopped outside her apartment building. “We have to talk.”

  My hesitance was brief but meaningful. I didn’t want to take advantage of her, but she seemed to know what she was doing. Besides which, I didn’t want to waste a second of the brief time we had left together.

  I still wasn’t sure of her intentions. Options ran riot through my head on the elevator ride. She might have wanted to have a drink, talk, and nothing more, which was fine with me. At least she would be talking to me again, even if the subject was somewhat unpleasant at first.

  Our time was too precious to waste to throw away by being mad. It was best to clear the air.

  No sooner were we through the door to her apartment than Darcy was on her way to the bed, stripping off her clothes as she went. I followed suit, completely naked by the time I reached her. She took me in her warm embrace, and we kissed as if we were both starved.

  Darcy took the lead, and there was slight anger in her actions. Angry sex was often the best sex. Reaching down between us, she took a firm hold of my rock-hard cock. Her hand moving fluidly along the shaft as she slipped her tongue into my mouth. Slow and soft, we came back together, our spirits as entwined as our bodies. Pushing me onto my back, Darcy kissed her way down my body from my lips to my cock, planting a trail of soft, wet kisses along my neck, chest, and belly. She didn’t start sucking right away. Instead, she ran her tongue up the front of my shaft over the head and back down the other side before retracing the steps back down to my balls, giving each a brief session of sucking before repeating the process. It seemed to go on for hours, though it could have only been one. It seemed torturing me was a type of payback for my earlier behavior.

  Eventually, on one of the trips back down to my balls, Darcy dropped her entire mouth over the head of my aching cock and sucked for all she was worth, dragging me to the tipping edge of a massive orgasm before abruptly stopping. She did this a few more times, licking from my balls to my pelvis and then back again before bringing me to the edge. Just when I thought I might go mad with frustration, she settled her lips about halfway down my full length and gave me a slow, sensual blowjob, taking my cum into her mouth.

  I’d never been so exhausted after a blowjob, which I’d always considered to be a passive experience. Not the way Darcy did it, though.

  She wasn’t done with me yet, though. In a position that closely mimicked when she rode my cock, she straddled my head, her delicious little pussy mere inches from my mouth. I wasn’t going to refuse that, no matter how exhausted I was. I dug into her sweet tenderness, holding her by the hips as she braced a hand against the wall. Her moans filled my head as they echoed through the small apartment. My tongue and lips were relentless in their pursuit of her pleasure.

  She came hard, collapsing against the wall and panting heavily. My tongue glided lightly across her pussy, cleaning her up as she recovered. Darcy slid back down beside me, and I held her as we kissed, basking in the afterglow.

  It wasn’t long before she rallied. She was a real dynamo in all ways. She didn’t have far to go. It was mostly a matter of Darcy getting her leg over my hips, like riding a bike, or indeed a horse. Stroking my still hard cock as she held it in position, she lowered herself, her hips sinking lower as I eased into her wet and ready pussy.

  My cock glided in with no trouble at all, Darcy nearly getting down my full length. Leaning herself forward, she put her hands on my chest for leverage and started to move. Rather than the fast, short pumps she’d started with before, she started out with a new maneuver, rotating her hips, moving her pussy all around my cock, letting me feel it from every angle. I moaned deep and true, putting my hands on her sides as she pleasured me from the waist down. I raised my head to suck her nipples as she writhed back and forth.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her hands buried in my hair.

  I released her nipple. “For what?”

  “For everything I said,” she replied, wiping away a tear. “I shouldn’t have said that at least not that way. Of course, I can trust you. I mean, I do. I do trust you. I was just a bit in shock at how easily you could lie.”

  “I didn’t really lie,” I said. “Okay, I implied that we were already engaged, and your dad and I were planning an announcement, but everything else was true.”

  “It was?” Her eyes widened.

  “Absolutely. Every single word. You’re the one for me, Darcy.”

  “And you me.” She leaned down and kissed me with so much sincerity, my heart increased in size.

  Getting back into position, she started to pump in earnest, bouncing on my cock until I exploded deep inside her.

  She fell against me, kissing me all over. I took her into my embrace and redirected her kisses to my mouth, our tongues coming together in sweet unison. I would never tire of kissing her.

  Easing herself off me, she slithered down my body and took my dick back into her mouth, sucking me clean. Before I could guess what she was pl
anning, Darcy got onto her back and spread her legs, pulling them up with her hands so her knees were near her tits.

  Able to take a hint, I dove right in, getting her ready first with lots of licking. I slid my finger deep inside the soft folds as I worked her clit with my tongue. She moaned beautifully, letting me know how much she liked it.

  When she was ready, I stroked the head of my cock against her tender pussy lips, making her hum with pleasure as she became reaccustomed to the contact. Gently, I eased my cock deep inside, almost going balls deep. A quick, sharp gasp was my signal to stop.

  Easing back a little, feeling her relax under me, I started to move, pumping my cock deep inside her, relishing every sound of pleasure she made. My sweet lover moving with me as I tenderly fucked her. It was true. Make-up sex really was amazing.

  She shuddered softly as we came together, her pussy tightening as I filled her up with my load. Basking in the warmth of her flushed skin, I kissed her all over from her forehead to her chest. Darcy put up no resistance and accepting my affections with the willingness of grace. It was as wonderful as the very first time we had been intimate with one another. I could hardly believe it had only been a week ago. It was amazing the clarity only seven days could bring.

  Darcy snuggled up against me as I held her, pressing her cheek up against my chest. Not the best time for a moment of clarity to occur, but there it was anyway. What had hurt most about what she’d originally said wasn’t that she wasn’t sure she could trust me. A perfectly understandable sentiment, particularly when she had just seen me successfully lie. No, what really stung was what underlay that statement. Her apparent skepticism in what I had said, as opposed to the applied sincerity with which I had said it. That she didn’t really believe I could be so serious so soon. I admit it was odd. The fact was, I had been serious, even if I couldn’t figure out yet when our engagement would happen, but the sooner, the better as far as I was concerned.