The (Not So) Perfect Fiancé

by Dallen, Maggie

  He couldn’t keep speaking for her, he seemed to be telling her. She had to get a grip.

  “I’ll be all right,” she said. “There’s been so much going on, honestly I haven’t had time to get too nervous about it.”

  That set both women off laughing, as if she’d made some great joke.

  “I’d say,” Angela said, looking between the two of them with arched brows. “It looks like you’ve got your hands full.”

  Callie felt heat rushing up her cheeks at the innuendo, her mind still struggling to come to grips with the fact that these women actually seemed to believe that she was in the midst of some whirlwind love affair with a bona fide celebrity.

  For the first time since she’d agreed to this plan, it started to dawn on her that everyone might actually believe the lie. A pit opened in her belly and she wished it would drop to her feet and swallow her whole rather than eating her up from the inside out.

  This is a mistake. A mistake, a mistake, a mistake.

  She was dimly aware of the low rumble coming from Cole as he answered one of her friend’s questions. She’d stopped listening. Her sense of hearing had gone out the window right along with her common sense, apparently.

  What had she been thinking? Panic made it hard to breathe. Her mind raced with all the people who might see the show—who’d believe that she had actually moved on to someone new less than a month after Brent left her.

  Brent. The air whooshed out of her lungs so quickly she felt like a deflated balloon. How had she not considered Brent in all of this?

  “We’ll get out of your hair,” Leah said, dragging a grinning Angela out the door, as she gave Callie a wink. “But you’d better come out with us one night this week so we can hear all your news.”

  Callie tried to return her friends’ smiles but the anxious pit in her stomach made it hard to speak. “Sounds great.”

  The door shut behind them and in the silence that followed, all she could hear was her heart pounding. What have I done? What on earth have I gotten myself into?

  Cole’s voice broke through her panic. “Well,” he said in that low, even voice of his. “I’d say we need a little more practice.” He looked down at her and though that sweet tenderness was gone, she caught a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “Wouldn’t you?”

  Chapter Seven

  As far as acting went, Cole wasn’t sure he’d ever seen worse in his lifetime. And that was saying something considering his day job was to watch couples feign surprise at seeing their home on the fifteenth take.

  He’d thought he knew bad acting.

  He had not.

  Callie had been a deer in headlights. It would have been funny if his entire reputation wasn’t on the line.

  She blinked at him now. Once. Twice. Then he saw her return to normal with a long groan. Her hands came up to cover her face. “Oh, that was horrible.”

  He winced. He would have loved to reassure her that it wasn’t that bad, but…it had been. It was. They had one full day between now and the camera crews arriving. If she was half as bad then as she was now, no one on earth would believe that they were in love, no matter how deft the editing.

  She was still moaning into her hands so he tightened his grip on her shoulders. “We’ll work on it.”

  She peeked up on him. “I can’t lie. I told you I can’t lie.”

  She sank against his side, letting him support her weight in a comfortable side hug. He found it amusing that she had no issue accepting his touch now, when there was no audience, but she’d turned into a stiff board under his arm when her friends were watching.

  “They took you by surprise, that’s all,” he said as he steered her toward the kitchen and helped her into a seat.

  She moaned. “I should never have agreed to this.”

  He crossed his arms and stared at her. Not for the first time since he arrived, he found himself eyeing her from head to toe. She looked adorable in the baseball cap and the faded jeans, and the T-shirt that was way too big for her small frame. There was a youthful element to her—a classic girl-next-door vibe. Except that she wasn’t a girl. She was a woman, and when she lifted her head to meet his gaze head-on, there was no denying that fact.

  Her lips were lush and her body when he’d held her close had been soft, her scent clean and sweet. Beneath the tomboy exterior she was all woman. And right now, she was a woman on the verge of tears.

  Oh no. He couldn’t handle seeing her in distress again. The last time she’d given him that look he’d found himself offering to fake an engagement on the air just to save her hide. He shifted backwards a few steps, as if maybe a little distance might save him from the power of her tears.

  “I don’t know if I can go through with this,” she said.

  He held back a sigh. Stage fright was common enough, but they didn’t have time to ease into the idea. The camera crew was showing up in little more than twenty-four hours and they had a lot of work to do.

  He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow as he stared down at her. The night before he’d been Mr. Nice Guy, but they didn’t have time for this and he needed her to be on board. It was now or never. It seemed he was doomed to perform a one man good-cop-bad-cop routine. “We’ve been through this, Callie.”

  “I know, I know.” Her sigh was pathetic. “It’s just…I hadn’t really considered how hard this would be. Not really.” She pointed toward the door where her friends had just left. “I’m just starting to make some friends around here and I’m already lying to them. This wasn’t how my life in Friar Hollow was supposed to be.”

  He narrowed his eyes as he studied her. She was gnawing on her lower lip in a way that made his blood turn hot. Her lips were always plump and kissable, and watching her worry them like this made him want to do the same.

  He shook off the thought with a shake of his head. This arrangement was bad enough; it would be that much worse if he let himself follow that train of thought. She was just another actor for the show. They’d make the best of a ridiculous situation, and that was it. He’d move on to the next house, the next happy couple, and in a couple months he’d have his publicist spread the word that he and Callie had gone their separate ways.

  That was the same pep talk he’d given himself this morning before heading over here, but it had sounded much more convincing in his head before he’d witnessed her horrible acting.

  And now… He eyed her closely and noted the way her gaze darted to the side, as if unable to meet his.

  “What aren’t you saying?” he said. “What’s the real problem here?”

  She glanced up from beneath the brim of her cap and for a second she looked like a kid who’d got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. But then she licked her lips and her long lashes fluttered against the soft skin of her cheek and he was reminded with a violent jolt just how much of a grown woman she was.

  “I guess I just…” Her gaze darted to his and then away again. “I hadn’t really considered that Brent would find out.”

  Brent. He didn’t even realize he’d made a noise until she wrinkled her nose. “Why are you growling at me?”

  “I’m not growling.” He was. He hadn’t meant to, it was just the way his voice came out when he was annoyed…or ready to punch a stranger he’d never met for making a sweet, beautiful lady like this one look so close to tears.

  Of course, at this particular moment, her lips were twitching up with amusement. “You literally just growled as you told me you weren’t growling.”

  He growled again in annoyance, and…okay, yeah. Maybe he’d wanted to see that smile again. There it was, a little grin, accompanied by soft, tinkling laughter that put wind chimes to shame.

  Her smile faded with a sigh of self-recrimination. “I never even considered his feelings in all of this.”

  He stared at her for what felt like an eternity as he tried to make sense of the gibberish coming out of her mouth. “Why would you?”

  She widened those big brown eyes of hers
like his question had surprised her. “Because he’s my fiancé!” She gave her head a little shake. “I can’t believe I was so focused on my own dilemma that I didn’t even stop to think—”

  “He was your fiancé,” Cole said, his voice unintentionally harsh. “Was. That’s the key word there.”

  He would have found her scowl adorable if she wasn’t currently talking like a crazy person.

  “Yes, was,” she said. “But he will be again. I told you, he’ll be back—”

  “And if he does come back—”

  “When,” she corrected with a fierce glare. “When he comes back.”

  He barely held back a sigh. “Fine. When he comes back, he should understand that you did what you had to do since he’s the one who left you in the lurch.”

  She opened her mouth as if to protest but stopped short, her gaze turning thoughtful. “I guess,” she said slowly. “Maybe you have a point.”

  Irrational anger flared up in him so sudden and so fierce, he clenched his fists as his jaw worked. “And if that weasel comes back, he’d better be on bended knee apologizing for his idiocy rather than putting the blame on you for doing what you had to do to deal with the aftermath.”

  Her jaw worked and he caught a flicker of anger—but he couldn’t tell if that anger was aimed at him or Brent.

  Not that it mattered. He didn’t need her to like him, but he did need her to get over whatever issues were holding her back from seeing this through. He’d gotten himself into this mess, but he’d be darned if he let himself be made to look the fool. He’d erected a stony wall of privacy years ago, and that had been just fine by him. It worked for him. Now he was taking down those well-crafted walls, and he’d do that for her sake, but there was no way he’d let himself be humiliated in the public eye. Not again.

  She crossed her arms, aping his stance as she came to stand in front of him. “Look, I appreciate your help, but you’re in no position to judge Brent or our relationship.”

  “You don’t have a relationship.” He wasn’t trying to be a jerk. It just sort of…slipped out.

  She scowled. “But we will.”

  “But why would you want to?” He should stop talking. He knew he should stop talking. This was none of his business, not really. Once filming was over and their engagement was over, she could do whatever she wanted.

  Just not with Brent.

  This streak of protectiveness caught him off guard. Or maybe it was possessiveness… He shook off the thought, along with this conversation. “Look,” he said with the firm stance and hard stare that made errant crew members tremble in fear.

  But not Callie. She tilted her chin higher in response.

  “Look,” he said again, this time with a sigh of exasperation. “I don’t care what you and Brent do if he comes back to you.”

  She pressed her lips together in irritation, but she didn’t protest his use of the word ‘if.’

  “But,” he continued, “for the time being, my reputation is as much at risk as yours. Maybe even more so.”

  Her brows shot up.

  “Your friends and neighbors might have a keen interest in your new relationship, but I’ll have millions of rabid fans trying to get the scoop on mine,” he said.

  He almost regretted saying that when her face visibly paled.

  “Millions?” She licked her lips. “Millions of women are going to think that I’m…that you…”

  “That I fell in love with you,” he finished. Man, they were in more trouble than he thought if she couldn’t even say the words.

  Her throat moved as she gulped.

  “The network loves this idea,” he continued. And why wouldn’t they? The higher-ups were forever trying to find a new twist to crank up the ratings of an already well-viewed hit. They were always looking for ways to keep it fresh and relevant, and what better way than to give their star construction worker the dream happy ending that he always helped provide for everyone else?

  Those had been Tyler’s words when he’d been on the phone with Langston Reeves.

  “But they’ll only love it as long as it’s believable. If word gets out that we’re faking it, the network won’t have my back, and you’d better believe they won’t have yours.”

  Her eyes widened and he felt like the worst heel. He rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m not trying to threaten you here. I just want you to know what you’re getting into.”

  “If we’re discovered, what will happen to you?”

  Her voice was quiet. Soft. The question so unexpected it had him staring at her blankly for a moment. She was worried about him? He shrugged. “My fans and the viewers would not be happy to find out I’d been lying to them. My best bet…the network would drop me like a hot potato.” He added a little smile to the cheesy turn of phrase, hoping to take away some of the sting.

  It didn’t work.

  Her color drained even more, if that was possible. Her eyes were so big he could drown in them. “You’re risking your job for me?” She gave her head a little shake. “For this?”

  He shifted from one foot to the other, unsure of how to answer. When she put it that way, his decision to intervene sounded insane. But then he remembered the alternative and there was just no way on earth he could sit back and watch her heartbreak be the focus of a very special episode of his TV show…not when there was a way he could stop it.

  “Why?” She sounded so plaintive, so incredibly confused, and he had no idea how to respond.

  So he didn’t.

  “I need to know if you’re in or not,” he said, his voice coming out harsher than intended.

  Her chest rose and fell with her deep breath. Her gaze never wavered from his, though her brows were drawn together in concentration.

  “I don’t want to get you fired,” she said.

  He felt the oddest impulse to laugh. That’s what she was worried about. His resolve to help her had never really wavered, but right now he was more concerned about her and her happiness than his own career.

  Something was very wrong with him. He’d never once cared so much about anyone else over himself, except maybe his little sister. And this woman was practically a stranger. Something was seriously wrong with him.

  So then, why did it feel so right?

  The thought was unbidden and threw him for a loop. He reached out to steady himself against the counter. It was the truth though. He felt like a little part of him had died and he hadn’t even known it. Had it happened gradually or had it been a part of himself that he’d lost when he’d gotten injured and lost his dream career and his fiancée all in one shot?

  He didn’t know and maybe it didn’t matter. What mattered was, that part of himself—the part that remembered what it felt like to be young and alive, to have hopes and dreams, to be thinking of someone other than himself, of things other than his own finances or career moves—that part of him had come alive this week, and there was only one person he could blame.

  She was staring up at him now with worry in her eyes. “I couldn’t live with myself if I got you fired when all you’ve been trying to do is help me.”

  He felt something clench in his chest as he studied her face, her expression so open and guileless. “Is that your only concern about going forward with this?”

  She pursed her lips for a moment before letting out a long exhale. “No. I also really hate having to lie.”

  He crossed his arms and arched a brow. “Are you worried about your friends…or Brent?”

  She flinched a bit at the sound of her ex’s name. Or maybe it was the bitter tone of his voice when he said it.

  “Both,” she said. “But,” she added slowly. “I guess I can tell my close friends after the fact, right?” She looked so hopeful he couldn’t bring himself to deny her.

  “If they can be trusted.”

  She nodded quickly. “Right. I’d only ever tell people I’d trust with my life.”

  He watched her in silence for a moment and she eventually let out a long
breath. “And as for Brent…”

  His gut clenched and a toxic poison seeped into his veins at the mere mention of the other man. “What about him?”

  She lifted her chin to meet his eyes. “When he comes back, he’ll just have to understand that I did what I had to do.”

  He didn’t know whether to laugh at the obstinate set of her jaw, or groan at her determination to believe that this guy was coming back. He still couldn’t believe that she’d be willing to take him back, but that was a topic for another day. “So we’re agreed then,” he said. “You’re all in?”

  “All in.” She spoke with conviction but her eyes were still filled with worry. “That doesn’t change the fact that I’m a terrible actress though.”

  “Maybe you just need practice.” Once again he found his lips twitching with amusement which was at odds with the seriousness of their situation. He couldn’t help it. She was just so cute when she was worried. That thought had his feet moving toward her as if his body had a mind of its own. He wasn’t even entirely sure what he was doing until he was doing it. He reached a hand down to grab hers and tug her up to her feet.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice breathless from surprise.

  His gaze moved down to those lips he’d been dying to kiss. “Practicing.”

  Chapter Eight

  The kiss swept her off her feet.

  Literally.

  His hot, firm lips closed over hers and suddenly she lost the ability to stand. The next thing she knew his strong arms were wrapped around her, supporting her weight as his lips moved over hers in an unhurried kiss that made the world spin.

  Her heart raced and her mind shut off as she fell. She was falling. He was holding her upright—his arms and his chest creating a safe harbor—but inside? She was falling. Her stomach dropped as his lips glided over hers one more time in that slow, firm, tender way that made her feel like he had all the time in the world to learn the taste of her, the feel of her…and he planned to use it.