The Fine Art of Faking It: A Small Town Love Story (Blue Moon Book 6)

by Lucy Score

“Ladies and gentleman,” a voice shouted over the music. “If I could have your attention for one moment.” Bruce Oakleigh blew into the microphone on the blue and silver swagged stage. He was wearing a blue sweater vest with a chubby snowman on it. The music cut off abruptly.

  “Thank you. Gather ‘round. Gather ‘round.” He waved the crowd toward the stage. “As you know, we like to present the Blue Moon Business of the Year Award during our annual HeHa celebration.”

  Davis felt Eden tense next to him.

  “Every year, the city council strives to recognize a business that exemplifies Blue Moon’s mission of inclusivity, community service, and all-around excellent karma. Or, depending on our town budget, it is awarded to the business that makes the largest donation.”

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Eden hissed.

  “I’m just kidding, folks,” Bruce chuckled, holding up his hands.

  Davis squeezed Eden’s hand and held his breath.

  “As always, the committee had its work cut out for it in determining the business that best exemplifies our mission. But this year, we had a clear winner. This year’s recipient not only made it a point to be involved in the community, to give back in creative ways, and to show a vast growth that goes beyond mere economics and success but was also willing to embrace their neighbors in a very literal sense.”

  “Pick me. Pick me. Pick me,” Eden muttered under her breath.

  “This year’s recipient was brave enough to put their happiness in the hands of his or her community, which is a level of vulnerability and openness that we should all strive for.”

  “Moveitalong,” Ellery coughed into her hand at Eden’s elbow.

  “This year’s recipient, if I may wax poetic for a several minutes—”

  “Bruce, we’ve only got about ten seconds before people start sitting down and falling asleep,” Beckett pointed out, taking the stage and doing his mayoral best to move things along.

  Bruce looked disappointed. “I suppose it’s too much to request a fanfare or a drumroll when we announce Eden Moody’s name?”

  Shrill whistles cut through the crowd. Sammy and Layla reacted with raucous hoots and squeals.

  “What did he say?” Eden asked, squeezing Davis’s bicep. “Was that my name?”

  “Get up there, gorgeous,” he said, giving her a gentle shove toward the stage.

  The DJ played a riff as she walked across the stage, and Davis looked on with satisfaction. Yes, few things were more rewarding than seeing the one you loved get something they so desperately wanted. She was radiant. And she was his. He’d fought for her and earned her.

  Bruce shook Eden’s hand and leaned into the microphone. “Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, we couldn’t afford a trophy this year, but you will have the satisfaction of knowing that had there been a trophy, you would have received it.”

  Eden made eye contact with Davis, and they both shared a private grin. Of course there was no trophy this year. He’d give her one of his… or better yet, he’d have one made for her, Davis decided.

  “Eden Moody,” Bruce said grandly. “You are a shining example of everything we hope our citizens will embrace in Blue Moon. You’re a hard worker who isn’t above volunteering her time and opening her doors to the less fortunate.”

  Davis wasn’t sure how he felt about being labeled “less fortunate.”

  “You have worked tirelessly to build a business, and we’re all proud of the adult and entrepreneur and wonderful human being you’ve become.”

  It looked to Davis that Eden’s eyes were extra bright under the stage spotlight.

  She graciously accepted the invisible trophy, posing mid-hearty handshake with Bruce for Anthony Berkowicz and The Monthly Moon’s camera.

  Still gripping Eden’s hand, Bruce leaned into the microphone again. “The Beautification Committee would like to take this time to invite Davis Gates to join us on stage,” he announced.

  If Bruce was intending to have Eden and Davis share the Business of the Year award, he was about to be incredibly disappointed.

  “Come on up here, Davis,” Bruce said again.

  Eyes on Eden’s face, Davis climbed the risers onto the makeshift stage.

  Bruce dropped Eden’s hand, abandoning the invisible trophy, and gestured to someone in the crowd.

  “While we’re doling out the good news here,” Bruce said. “We’ll keep the ball rolling with another happy announcement.”

  He positioned Davis next to Eden before turning back to the crowd.

  “Davis, this is truly fortuitous timing. All of Blue Moon is aware of the tragedy you suffered due to that unfortunate and completely accidental fire. Which is why it’s my great pleasure to announce that you’re the winner of our special Helping Hands Raffle!”

  Amethyst Oakleigh took the stage wielding a large glass jar. The crowd, hopped up on good deeds and sketchy adult punch, cheered as if a multimillion dollar lottery winner had just been introduced.

  Davis had never heard of the Helping Hands Raffle before, and judging by Eden’s expression, neither had she.

  “You may not recall entering this completely above-board raffle, but I can assure you did!” Bruce laughed like a nervous Santa Claus. “Here are your winnings! Two hundred and thirty-six dollars!” He handed it over to Davis in a large pickle jar crammed with wadded-up dollar bills.

  That explained where the $8 muffin money went.

  Bruce shoved the microphone into his face.

  “Um. I don’t know what to say,” Davis told the crowd. They looked at him expectantly as if the pressure of their attention would turn him into an eloquent public speaker. Eden slipped an arm through his. “Thank you for this win?” he said into the microphone. The crowd applauded enthusiastically.

  “Wonderful. Wonderful,” Bruce crowed. “Eden, do you have a few words you’d like to share about your Business of the Year Award?”

  Eden stepped up to the microphone elbowing both Davis and Bruce out of the way. “As a matter of fact, I do. I have a lot to say about this town.”

  Davis held his breath. He knew exactly what old Eden would say and it would involve a middle finger or two.

  “The first thing that needs to be said is thank you.”

  Davis let his breath out in a soft sigh.

  Eden glanced over her shoulder at him and gave him a slow wink. “It’s an honor to be part of a town that is so invested in the health and happiness of its residents. And while we may not always agree on methods, good intentions are at the root of every act… no matter how hair-brained or ridiculous or destructive they may seem.” She gave Bruce a long look that had his neck turning pink.

  She admired her pretend, invisible trophy. “It’s no secret that I set out to beat out the winery for this award. And now that I have it in my hands—so to speak—I understand that we’re all in this together. This invisible award is for each and every one of us who make the lives of our friends and neighbors better. Every one of you deserves a piece of this trophy because together, we are more than just people and businesses and private agendas. We’re a community.”

  Fitz lit a lighter and held it aloft. Other flames flickered to life around the gym. Those without lighters turned on their cell phone flashlights.

  “Community! Woo!” hooted Rupert Shermanski from the back of the crowd.

  “Um, thank you. Oh, and I’m sorry for doubting the B.C. and messing up your plans. That’s all I—thanks,” Eden said, backing away from the microphone.

  Bruce chuckled. “Oh, this was our plan all along. We knew all we had to do was get you two under the same roof.”

  “But I broke up with him,” Eden reminded Bruce.

  He waved away her words. “All part of the plan, my dear. You wouldn’t have realized how wrong you were until you got exactly what you thought you wanted.”

  Her jaw dropped and Bruce gave her a wink.

  “Diabolical,” Davis whispered.

  Bruce resumed his unofficial master of
ceremonies role, leaving Eden blinking in shock. “If you’ll notice, there’s a collection jar at the back of the room. The Beautification Committee performs its essential community services at no charge…”

  “Come on,” Eden whispered, tugging Davis off stage.

  The change in his pickle jar rattled as he hurried down the steps after her. Rather than rejoining the crowd, Eden jerked her head toward the hallway.

  They pushed through the door, leaving the winter wonderland behind them for the energy-efficient LED-lit hallway.

  “What are we doing?” Davis asked as Eden linked her fingers with his and pulled him further into the belly of the school.

  Fifteen years later, and these halls still smelled like desperation and homemade deodorant.

  “Living out our high school fantasies.”

  “I don’t know what your fantasies were, but I’m fairly sure we could be arrested for mine,” Davis pointed out.

  She towed him down the hallway, change jingling.

  The first classroom they passed was lit up and Eden came to a screeching halt outside the door. “Are those—?”

  “Our parents,” Davis observed. His mother and father and Bryson were seated in the front row of the classroom. Lily Ann and Ned were sprawled out in the back row. The front of the room was occupied by most of the Beautification Committee. Ellery was lecturing about something on a whiteboard under the title Feuds Are Bad. She didn’t seem happy with the answers she was getting from her pupils.

  “Are they re-educating our parents?” Eden asked.

  Just then Lily Ann spotted them in the hallway. She fluttered up to the door, abandoning her desk. “Get us out of here, Eden!” she shouted through the glass window. She tried the doorknob, and it rattled but didn’t turn.

  “Are they locked in there?” Eden asked, trying the knob on her side.

  Ellery pushed her way to the door, hip-checking Lily Ann out of the way. “Everything is fine! All under control. Go away!” she yelled over Lily Ann and now Tilly’s screeches. Ellery yanked the window shade down.

  “I don’t even care if that’s considered abduction. They’ve already committed arson. Might as well work their way through the felony As,” Davis admitted.

  They continued their stroll down the hallway they’d last walked together as teenagers. The lockers, then a dingy school bus yellow, were now partially hidden under a colorful mural of flowers, doves, rainbows, and peace signs.

  She tried every door they passed. One opened in her hand, and she stuck her head into the room. “Whoops! Sorry Phoebe. Franklin. Didn’t know this room was occupied,” Eden said shutting the door with a decisive click. “Looks like our favorite town grandparents are enjoying some private time,” Eden said sheepishly.

  Davis smothered a laugh with a cough.

  “A ha!” Eden said, triumphantly turning the door knob on the Household Management and Partnership classroom.

  “Have a couples roll-playing script you want to work on?” Davis asked, stepping into the room. It was much the same as it had been fifteen years ago with lab tables.

  She turned to face him, ran her hands down his shirt, and let her fingers linger on his belt buckle. “I was thinking maybe we could practice the fine art of make-up sex.”

  Davis felt his blood empty from his head. He dumped his pickle jar on a nearby lab table and grabbed her hands. “Eden, I…” He had no words. Hadn’t he fantasized about a moment like this for most of his senior high career?

  53

  She locked the door and pulled the shade, enjoying the tangible nerves that Davis was firing off behind her. “I have twenty minutes before my volunteer shift in the inclusivity room,” she told him.

  Eden turned on the salt lamps at the front of the room before returning to him.

  “Don’t you want to spend that time basking in the congratulations of your friends?” he asked, his voice raspy as she turned and loosened his tie and worked the buttons of his shirt.

  “I want to spend that time closing our circle. It all began here,” she said, conversationally as she reached under the skirt of her dress and shimmied out of her underwear. “And I’d like our new beginning to get off to the right start.”

  His erection was already straining impressively at the confines of his black trousers.

  “I feel like I should point out that this is reckless and irresponsible,” he said, swallowing when she tugged his shirt free of his waist band.

  “That’s what I’m going for.”

  “Just so long as we’re on the same page,” Davis breathed a second before his mouth crushed down on hers.

  In one swift move, he backed her against the wall, her shoulders erasing yesterday’s class assignment from the whiteboard. His hands were everywhere, turning her skin to fire, her core to lava.

  “Oh, fuck,” was his strangled response when he found her thigh-high stockings under her dress. “You’re my fantasy come to life, you know that?”

  She shook her head, letting the words wash over her. She’d set out to rewrite her past and had narrowly avoided reliving it instead. But nothing—not even her own stubbornness—would take this future away from her.

  “Twenty minutes?” Davis whispered, moving his lips over the throat she bared for him.

  “Closer to eighteen now,” she laughed huskily.

  “I can work with that,” he promised.

  When he kissed her, she sighed out his name. There would be no more denying what she felt for Davis Gates.

  With a swift move, he lifted her up locking her legs around his hips. Her skirt rode higher than what could be considered publicly decent. He held her there, one-handed, against the wall while he worked his fly down and then stalled.

  “You’re sure this is okay?” he asked. He was already panting with the need.

  Eden loved him like this. Disheveled, dangerous, delicious.

  With one thrust, he was filling her.

  “Oh God. Oh God,” she chanted.

  He laughed softly against her neck.

  She squeezed him with her legs until he forgot about laughing and started to move inside her. Pinned between his hard body and the wall, Eden could do nothing but take the pleasure Davis delivered.

  His thrusts were quick, frantic.

  The sound of flesh moving over flesh echoed in the silence of the room. Sweeter than words, the sound of their bodies and breath twining together was a kind of music.

  He slammed into her, sure and hard, again and again. His hips hammering her against the wall as she clung to his shoulders.

  “Eden,” he growled out her name.

  “I love you,” she sighed the words on one long breath as she felt the tightening, the quaking, of her muscles as her body prepared to let go. “I love you, Davis.”

  He groaned low. “I’ve waited so long for those words.”

  “I know the feeling,” she gasped on a particularly masterful thrust.

  “Hang on to me, gorgeous,” he ordered.

  She obliged as her body surrendered to the wave of pleasure he brought down on her. He captured the scream with his own mouth. Kissing her as he pounded into her, her orgasm instantly forcing his. Her world went technicolor, bright and bold and oh-so-beautiful. She felt him, loved him, craved him. They shuddered together, whimpering against open lips desperate for breath. For life.

  “You are incredibly efficient with your time,” Eden said, huffing out a breath. She reached up to shove her hair out of her face.

  “Wait ’til you see what I can do with only five minutes,” he teased, slowly lowering her back to the floor.

  “I’m not sure I could survive it. I think I’m going to like for real dating you.”

  With a cocky grin, Davis handed over her underwear. “I’m a catch. Everyone’s been telling you for years.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  The knock at the door had Eden losing her balance and falling back into the wall.

  “Miss Moody?”

  “Claudia?
<
br />   “Yeah. Listen, are you coming into the inclusivity room soon? I want to tell you about the prize packages on Guess Again. I brought pictures in case you’re not an auditory learner.”

  Eden looked at Davis and patted a hand over her heart.

  “That sounds great, Claudia. I’ll be there in three minutes,” she promised, scrambling to straighten her dress. “How’s my hair?” she whispered to Davis.

  “It’s a disaster. I love you, Eden.”

  The swift joy that those words brought was humbling and exhilarating.

  “Want to join me in the inclusivity room?” she asked. “Rubin’s there, too.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  They started down the hall. “Hey, I know this is moving fast. But what would you say to hosting both our families at the inn for Christmas?” Davis said.

  They stared at each other for ten seconds before they collapsed in laughter.

  Epilogue

  “We’re insane.”

  “We need to have our brains scanned,” Eden agreed.

  “Why did we think we could do this?” Davis asked peering through the small round window of the swinging kitchen door. “Did you take all the knives off the table?”

  “These people could kill each other with dinner rolls. What are they doing now?” Eden whispered.

  “They’re sitting there in total silence staring at their plates. Except for Atlantis’s kids. They just crawled under the table with the dogs. I think Bryson’s already under there with them.”

  Eden blew out a breath and swiped her damp palms over her ruby red sweater. “At least someone’s having fun.”

  It was Christmas Day.

  And while the rest of Blue Moon was bellied up to tables laughing with family and singing carols, the Moodys and the Gateses were suffering through their very first dual family function.

  The table was set with silver chargers and antique lace. Davis had personally selected the skinny Douglas fir that stood proudly in the corner of the Lunar Inn’s dining room. The food included something guaranteed to please every single family member. A fire crackled cheerfully in the hearth, and classic Christmas carols played on low in the background. The alcohol had been limited to an appropriate amount of wine.