The (Not So) Perfect Fiancé

by Dallen, Maggie

  But Cole did.

  Of course Cole did.

  She fought the urge to roll her eyes at her own idiocy. It was one thing to be star-struck, but this was so not the time to be losing her senses.

  These men wanted into her house…into her life. A life which was currently in shambles. She could safely say the state of her love life was even worse than the state of her house.

  “Look,” she said. “I wanted the work that you guys could provide, but—”

  “And that’s exactly what we’ll do for you, isn’t that right, Cole?”

  Cole ignored Tyler, who she now realized was a producer or something. The cameraman seemed to have lost interest in the conversation as well because he was taking a few steps away, studying the property with a critical eye as well.

  For the second time in as many minutes, Callie wanted to hide the house away from them. From all of them. She couldn’t let them near the house because this wasn’t what the show was about. The show was only partially about the house, the rest was all about the couple. Everyone knew that. Her cheeks were burning as she forced herself to state the obvious. “There will be no wedding. No newlyweds. No big romantic grand finale at the end of the show.”

  She thought she heard a snort coming from Cole’s general direction. She ignored that. “I don’t know what you were led to believe, but I’m afraid I can’t take part in your show now that…” She stupidly faltered over the words. Four weeks had gone by and she still didn’t quite believe it. “Now that my fiancé left me.”

  Whoosh. Cole’s gaze shot back to her so quickly and with such fierce intensity it felt like a punch in the gut. A jolt shot through her of something so hot, so heavy, so…real, it had her rocking on her heels.

  Callie wasn’t sure anyone had ever looked at her so closely before, or seen so much. She got the ridiculous notion in her head that he could see right through her. She resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest as she studiously avoided looking at Cole, turning her attention to Tyler instead. “Please,” she started. Then she reconsidered and started over again. “I’m sorry for the miscommunication, but as you can see—” She threw her hands out to the side. “I just can’t be on your show.”

  They were all staring at her so she added one more “I’m sorry” for good measure.

  She wasn’t sure what she’d expected—that they’d fade away, perhaps? That all three men would file back into that van and she could go back to her life like nothing had ever happened?

  That…wasn’t the case.

  Tyler’s smile finally faded, and instead he offered her a wince. A rueful grimace that seemed to apologize even as his words smacked her across her face. “I’m afraid you don’t have much choice.”

  “I’m sorry?” It came out as a high-pitched squeak, and some part of her mind dimly noted that this was the third time she’d apologized.

  For being dumped.

  Somehow that didn’t seem altogether fair. But then again, right now that was the least of her problems. She gave her head a little shake, saying a prayer for patience. “What do you mean?”

  Tyler cleared his throat and she felt Cole shift closer beside her. She resisted the urge to back away. Why did she suddenly get the impression that they were ganging up on her?

  “I mean you signed a contract.” Tyler’s voice wasn’t unkind but the words still stung.

  She drew in a sharp breath as the reality of what he’d said fully registered. She had signed a ton of papers—it had all been part of the process to be considered. They asked that the applicant be ready and willing to share his or her life if chosen, and—

  She’d signed.

  In her defense, at that point in time she’d been so sure that the show was what she wanted. Not because she was so eager to invite strangers into her personal life but because she’d so desperately wanted her house done right. Brent had never shown much interest in renovations—the guy hadn’t even painted his own apartment when they’d been dating back in Seattle. She’d done it for him as an early Valentine’s Day present. He’d thought it was cute that she liked to wear ratty old T-shirts and get her hands dirty. He’d told her he wanted to buy a fixer upper with her—but of course all of his money was going toward paying off his student debt. Becoming a lawyer was expensive, everyone knew that. So they’d agreed that they’d use her nest egg to buy a home—because, after all, soon enough it was all going to be shared anyway, right? What was hers was his and vice versa.

  And then they’d moved, and she’d dumped all of her money into this house, and only then had he started to gripe about how much work would be involved.

  She buried her face in her hands for a moment, trying to clear her mind of the past. She’d had four weeks to kick herself for not seeing that things had changed between them. That he hadn’t seemed as happy after they’d moved, and that they’d avoided some weighty topics that really ought to have been addressed.

  She’d had four weeks to wallow, and four weeks to tell herself that maybe today was the day he’d come back to her.

  Four weeks, and where was she now?

  Facing her worst nightmare.

  She dropped her hands and took a deep breath, squelching the rising panic. “Surely there must be some way out of—”

  Tyler was shaking his head and she clamped her mouth shut.

  “But—” She took another deep breath, hoping that this time when she spoke the desperation wouldn’t be quite so obvious.

  “There’s no way.” It was Cole talking this time, and she forced herself to look in his direction even though the force of his gaze was starting to rattle her. She was feeling vulnerable enough without his scrutiny.

  In fact, if she didn’t clamp down on her emotions now, there was a very real chance that she would burst into tears.

  Wonderful. That was exactly what she needed—maybe the cameraman could capture her epic descent into the pathetic while she was at it.

  “Please.” She stopped and swallowed down a hiccuppy sob. The only thing worse than hysterical laughter? Unbridled weeping. “Please,” she said again, her voice slightly calmer than she felt. “There has to be another way.”

  She found herself facing three silent men. Their expressions were unreadable—even the cameraman had lost his easy smile and was staring at her blankly.

  Well, honestly, what had they expected? That she would be happy to have her private nightmare turned into a public spectacle?

  “Look at it this way,” Tyler said. “Your house will be fixed up at no cost to you.”

  She blinked. That had been what she’d wanted—not just the free repairs, but for it to be done right. But now? Now that seemed like such a petty desire in the grand scheme of things. She blinked rapidly to keep tears at bay as her imagination raced with possibilities of how this would go. “Is this going to be like…” She swallowed thickly. “Like some special break-up episode?”

  She didn’t miss the look that Cole and Tyler exchanged.

  Oh no. It was.

  “Please don’t do this to me.” She was openly pleading now. Begging. Tyler’s expression never altered—he still looked regretful but unshakeable. Understanding, but still resolute.

  Her breathing was coming too quickly now and she forced herself to address Cole. “Please,” she said. “I’m a teacher, and I’m starting a new job. I’m new to this town. Please don’t make me a laughingstock.”

  She saw a muscle in his jaw clench but he didn’t speak. His dark eyes stayed fixed on hers and in that moment she would have given anything to know what he was thinking.

  After a lengthy silence, Tyler spoke. “I’m sorry, Ms.—”

  She whipped her head to face him. “Oh for the love of—It’s Callie.”

  It came out too harsh, and in any other circumstances she might have laughed at herself for overreacting. But right now, she was pretty sure her life was falling apart around her. She’d thought it had fallen apart four weeks ago, but it turned out that was only the start of
this nightmare.

  She closed her eyes. And the worst part was—it was her own fault.

  Oh, Brent might have been the one to leave, but she was the one who’d bought the house and who’d submitted the audition tape to the TV show…

  She was the one who’d signed those stupid papers.

  She groaned, one hand covering her face but it was too late. A tear had slipped out as the utter uselessness of her protests hit her anew. There was nothing she could do but grin and bear it. Try to find the upside. It was all meant to be, right? This was all part of some plan?

  A sob slipped out and she used her other hand to smother it. She must have looked insane, trying to hide from these men while in plain view, but she was past caring.

  She was tired. Exhausted, really. She was so stinking tired of looking for the silver lining. She wasn’t asking for miracles here—she knew that her relationship with Brent wouldn’t magically heal overnight, even if he did come back to her. She was willing to work on their issues. She was willing to work on this house. But was it too much to ask that she not be forced to live out her heartbreak on national TV? This was too much. Anger surged inside of her for the first time since the breakup. She’d been clinging to hope, hanging on to patience and faith. But right now?

  Right now, she needed a stinkin’ break!

  “Callie?” Cole’s voice cut through her inner rant and she found herself holding her breath.

  Something about that low voice—so familiar and yet totally new—that voice saying her name, like they knew each other.

  Like she wasn’t alone…

  She dropped her hands and opened her eyes. Of course she wasn’t alone. She never had been. But that didn’t mean she didn’t feel lonelier than she’d ever felt in all her life.

  Three near strangers were watching her warily. She saw flickers of pity in the cameraman and Tyler’s expressions so she forced her gaze toward Cole. His was stoic—stony, even. But she’d take stern and unreadable over pity any day.

  She forced a small smile and rueful laugh for the sake of this crowd. “And here I thought having my heart broken was the worst thing that would happen to me this month.”

  Cole’s gaze met hers and held.

  “There is another way,” he said slowly.

  Her eyes widened in surprise. Hope flared up so suddenly it shocked her. Of course there was a way. There was always a way.

  “What are you thinking, Cole?” Tyler asked, his tone wary.

  She arched her brows slightly, breathless with anticipation.

  He lifted one shoulder, his eyes never leaving hers. “We can give Callie a new fiancé.”

  Chapter Four

  Callie was certain she’d misheard.

  But then the cameraman finally spoke up. “A new fiancé?”

  That just confirmed that her ears were not in fact playing tricks on her. But there was a very good chance that this man—the man she’d formally thought of as something of a hero—was mocking her and her pain.

  Crossing her arms, she narrowed her eyes into a glare. “Very funny.”

  He didn’t so much as blink. “I’m serious.”

  He was, that much was clear. That was the truly frightening part. Callie shook her head. “What, do you think serious boyfriends just come along every day of the week? Maybe it’s that easy in your world, but I’m just a little bit choosy when it comes to who I spend the rest of my life with.”

  Sarcasm had never been her thing, but she embraced it now, taking an odd satisfaction in his narrowed eyes and the glare that would have been terrifying if she hadn’t been glaring right back.

  “I didn’t mean you needed to run out and get a new boyfriend,” he said.

  She wasn’t sure how he did it. His expression barely changed, and his voice was the same low growl—and yet, he managed to convey complete and total derision.

  She shifted. “Then what exactly are you suggesting?”

  Tyler stepped between them, and that was when Callie noticed that she’d been inching toward Cole, and he’d been doing the same. There was just enough room between them for Tyler to intercede, placing a hand on each of their shoulders like some sort of wrestling ref. “Cole,” he said, “maybe you should explain.”

  When Callie glanced over she saw honest curiosity in Tyler’s expression. Clearly whatever Cole was suggesting had not been run by this guy. Despite herself, her own curiosity was piqued.

  Cole’s jaw worked and rather than continue to glare at her, he turned to face his coworker. “A new fiancé. A fake fiancé. That would work, right?”

  She blinked at his profile. “You want me to pretend to have a fiancé? How would I even do that? I’m a horrible liar.”

  He flicked his gaze in her direction, his eyes scanning her face. “Then you should never have gotten into reality TV.”

  She drew her brows together. “What does that mean?”

  “It’s all fake, sweetheart.” That was the cameraman. When she turned to face him and inform him that she was so not his sweetheart, she saw that his earlier easy grin was back in place and he was watching the three of them like they were his own personal form of entertainment.

  “Well, reality TV might be fake but I’m not,” she said, turning back to the men who were so casually discussing her life. “I couldn’t lie to everyone like that.” Just the thought of it made her stomach turn. She couldn’t even tell a little white lie to her brothers, how on earth could she lie about a new fiancé to her friends, her family, her new coworkers…the whole world?

  She drew in a long deep breath before she could start to hyperventilate.

  “It wouldn’t work,” Tyler said with a shake of his head. “I like the idea, Cole, but you know as well as I do that Lance wants something new, something…fresh.”

  “Something fresh,” she repeated.

  They both looked over at her and Tyler’s expression turned sheepish. Cole just looked annoyed that she’d interrupted.

  “That’s what I am to you guys?” she demanded. “That’s what my heartbreak is? Something fresh?”

  Tyler opened his mouth, presumably to reply, but Cole cut him off—addressing Tyler instead of her. “What if it was me?”

  Tyler’s jaw dropped, but it took Callie a moment longer to catch up. “What if it was you…what?” An idea formed but she dismissed it. Too crazy. This guy didn’t know her—he didn’t even seem to particularly like her—why on earth would he be suggesting himself as the fake fiancé?

  “Think about it,” Cole continued. “Would Langston really say no to an episode in which the star of the show gets the whole happily ever after treatment?”

  Callie instinctively wrinkled her nose at the cynicism in his voice. “The happily ever after treatment?”

  They ignored her again and she shoved that question to the side for another time. Right now there were far more pressing issues at stake.

  Like her life, for example.

  “I’m not pretending to be engaged to anyone,” she said.

  Cole shot her a look. “Then your only option is to have your breakup be the focus of the next highly anticipated episode of One Step at a Time.”

  She held her breath to squelch the wave of nausea. Oh no. She would not throw up all over Cole Harding’s work boots. This day was way too humiliating as it was, thank you very much.

  Cole seemed to take her silence as acquiescence and he turned back to Tyler with a questioning look. “Well, do you think he’d go for it?”

  Tyler’s eyes widened. “Are you sure about this? I mean, really sure?”

  Callie watched Cole, her lips parted in anticipation and…what? Terror, maybe? It was a rarity, this feeling—the sensation that whatever came out of this man’s mouth next could potentially shape her future forever.

  She licked her lips. Right. No pressure.

  Just don’t vomit on his boots.

  Words to live by, right there. Thanks, brain. The simple task of not throwing up kept her busy as Cole took a lifetim
e to answer.

  “I’m sure.”

  Tyler’s eyes widened even further, which she hadn’t thought possible. The cameraman seemed to have started choking…or maybe he was laughing.

  “Wait a second,” she said. “No one asked me if this was what I wanted.”

  All three men turned to face her but it was Cole’s gaze that seared into her, making her cheeks burn. This wave of embarrassment was ridiculous but it wasn’t every day that she faced one of America’s most eligible bachelors—he’d been voted onto that magazine’s list for five years in a row, not that she was counting. Not only that, but the hot, sought after bachelor was talking about marrying her.

  But not really.

  Obviously, he wouldn’t really marry her. But he was offering himself up as a pretend fiancé.

  “Why?” It was the only coherent word she could think of as her brain scrambled to keep up with the bombshells going off all around her.

  He just looked at her. But sadly, that was enough. It wasn’t overwhelming or anything, but if she looked closely she could see it in the gray depths of his eyes. Pity.

  She sucked in air as a fresh wave of humiliation swept over her. “No,” she said quickly, not even allowing herself to stop and think. “Nope. I am not going along with this.”

  They just stared at her, almost like they hadn’t heard her.

  Tyler turned to Cole. “You’d have to really sell it, you know that, right?”

  Cole nodded, but he was still watching her.

  “Sell it?” she echoed. “Sell what? I just said I want no part of this kind of lie.”

  “Why not?” Cole asked. He sounded so calm, his voice so level, like they were discussing the weather or something.

  “Why not?” She horrified herself with the screechiness of her voice. “Why not?”

  “Yeah. Why not?” he repeated in a frustratingly even voice.

  She blinked rapidly as she tried to come up with an answer. There were a million reasons why not, she just couldn’t seem to come up with one. Where to start?