“You can’t be nervous for a fake date,” she says, dabbing my face with a makeup sponge. “There’s nothing to be nervous about.”
“Easy for you to say.” I close my eyes while she covers my eyelids with primer. “I’m worried this is going to be a disaster.”
“Well of course it’ll be a disaster!” Suzy laughs. “This was the plan. You bring home a terrible guy and show your brothers they can’t control you anymore. The perfection is in the disaster.”
I heave a sigh. “I suppose you’re right.”
Suzy is my best friend and I love her to death but I’m not about to tell her the real reasons that I’m anxious about tonight. Well, the main reason. The whole “Kris is actually super-hot and kind and I wish I could like him and date him for real” reason. Nope… not going to tell her about that. It’s not because I don’t trust her. I trust Suzy with my life. It’s just because I’m too embarrassed of it all.
I change the subject to lighter topics to chat about while she finishes my makeup. Then she takes out the curling iron and makes my hair look gorgeous. The lavender shampoo I’ve been using is making my hair a little darker purple, and I love it so much. Especially because my brothers hate it.
My parents leave early so they can be the first to arrive at the gala and welcome all of our guests, which is probably a good thing because I don’t want my dad to see who my date is this evening. He’s just as protective as my brothers are, but I don’t want to scare him. No, this prank is just for my siblings.
As soon as I’m all perfectly dolled up thanks to Suzy’s incredible cosmetology talents, she helps me slip into my dress, and then she puts hers on as well. We take some pictures for social media because we look really, really good.
My twin brothers live next door, and I hear them let themselves into my house about fifteen minutes before six. Right on time. When they heard I had a date tonight, they got extremely annoyed that I wouldn’t tell them who my date was. I just played coy and said it was a guy they didn’t know so they shouldn’t care. That only made them care more. And now they’re here to see this mystery man for themselves.
My bad boy plan is already in motion. My stomach tightens and my hands feel clammy. This is happening. Kris is going to come over and be my fake date and I’ll get to rub it in my brothers’ faces that they can’t boss me around anymore.
“I’m going to head out,” Suzy says after taking one last look at her eye makeup in my vanity mirror.
“What? You can’t go!”
“Yes I can,” she says, giving me a demure grin. “I don’t want to be here when the drama unfolds,” she whispers. “Just tell me about it later. Love you!”
I walk her out to her car, keenly aware of Jack and James sitting on the living room couch watching our every move. After I close the door behind Suzy, I turn to them.
“What are you doing?”
“Just waiting on this mystery date of yours,” James says. He’s wearing the all black tuxedo. Guess he won whatever contest they had to get it. Jack is wearing an equally nice tux that has a dark blue shirt underneath.
I roll my eyes and play my part as if I weren’t about to prank them. “You don’t need to stick around. You’ll see my date at the gala.”
The front door opens, startling me. It’s Julian and his wife Rebecca. I had a pretty good feeling they would also show up to see my new “date” and they’ve just proven me right.
“What are you guys doing here?” I ask, still pretending to be annoyed.
Rebecca gives me a quick hug. I like her, and as far as sisters-in-law goes, she’s one of the good ones. “He’s being an idiot,” Rebecca whispers to me in a voice that’s loud enough for everyone to ear. “I don’t know why they care who you date.”
“I don’t know, either,” I say. “It’s my life, and I can date whoever I want.”
“You can date someone worthy of you,” James says. Jack nods. Ugh, I’m tired of them always being in sync. I know they came out of the womb at the same time but it’s annoying.
“So when is he getting here?” Julian asks. He’s wearing a simple black and white tuxedo that looks like it might be the same one he got married in last year. That’s just like my oldest brother—being frugal and looking good while doing it.
“He’s picking me up at six,” I say, glaring at my brothers. “And I expect all of you to keep your mouths shut.”
“It’s three minutes after six,” Julian says, glancing at his watch. He frowns. “He’s late. That’s not a good sign.”
“Three minutes isn’t late,” I say, flipping my hair over my shoulder. Little do they know, Kris is going to be much later than that.
As the minutes tick on, Jack and James take turns complaining about how impolite my date is being. Julian thinks I should call him. I pretend like I can’t, like Kris doesn’t like it when I call him. This only makes my brothers more annoyed, which makes me more delighted. This is going so well already.
It’s exactly 6:20 when I hear the rumble of a motorcycle in our driveway. Kris is right on time—for being “late”.
“Oh, absolutely not,” James says, standing up. “A motorcycle?”
“Hell no,” Jack says. “You are not riding on a motorcycle.”
“No, I won’t,” I say, hoping they can’t hear the nerves in my voice. “I don’t know why he brought that. I guess we’ll just have to take my car.”
“Your date is that stupid?” Julian says. His nostrils flare. “Why did he think a motorcycle would be a good thing to ride on a date to a formal gala?”
“You guys are so lame,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I don’t mind driving my car. It’s no big deal.”
My brothers go ballistic, each talking over each other, telling me how I can’t date this guy because he’s not “treating me with respect.” It’s going exactly how I thought it would go and it’s hard to hold back my grin.
Jack storms across the living room. “I’ll go tell him to get out of here,” he growls.
“No!” I put my hand on his chest and glare up at him. “You will shut your mouth and you will sit here and let me live my life!”
“Lanie,” Julian says in his calm voice. “Lanie, just hear us out.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “This is my date and I like him and I’m going out with him.”
“Lanie, he’s not even walking up to the front door!” Julian says, glancing out the front window to where Kris is sitting on his motorcycle, wearing a form-fitting tuxedo. The honk of the bike’s horn fills the air. “You need a man who will walk up to the door. That’s the least he can do.”
“The only man I need is the one I want, and I want him, so I don’t need your advice.” I sling my purse over my shoulder and try to act like I’m not faking anything. “If any of you try to follow me outside, I won’t go to the gala and Dad will be so mad he’ll probably fire all three of you.”
That’s a good enough threat. My brothers are still fuming mad, but they stay where they are because they fear my dad. As the only daughter in this family, I get treated like a princess sometimes, which is perfectly fine with me, when it benefits me.
Rebecca gives me a soft smile as I walk outside. My breath releases the moment the door closes behind me. That was dramatic. Holy crap. And it worked! Now, just one final thing to do before we get to the gala and the real show begins.
I walk up to Kris, who climbs off his motorcycle. “Hey there,” he says, grinning at me as he pockets his keys. “You look beautiful.”
“They can’t hear you,” I say. “So you only have to look the part right now, not speak it.”
“I was being serious, but okay,” Kris says, his eyes glancing behind me toward my house. “Your brothers are all pressed against the front window,” he says with a smirk.
I turn around and they don’t even try to hide the fact that they’re spying on me.
“This is working really well,” I say, grinning as I hold out my car keys to him. “They were so mad that you d
idn’t come up to the door.”
“Yeah, it felt weird,” Kris says, reaching for my keys. Then without warning, his hand slides around my waist and pulls me to him. All the air rushes out of my lungs and my heart starts pounding on overdrive.
“Since they are watching us so intently,” he says, giving me the most adorable grin as he presses his forehead to mine, “might as well give them a show.
11
Kris
Wow is this woman gorgeous. I thought she couldn’t get any more beautiful and then I saw her in this dress. I don’t know why she wants to go on a fake date with me when she could have any man on this entire planet with just the snap of her fingers.
I’m not about to disappoint her by not playing the role I agreed to play, so I swoop her into my arms while her family watches from the living room window. I press my forehead to hers and breathe in the sweet, floral scent of her perfume mixed with the soft honey scent of her shampoo. I could live here, wrapped up in her essence right in the middle of this driveway forever.
But eventually, I have to pull away.
I feel like a total loser climbing into her car to take her to a fancy date, but that’s what this role calls for tonight. I’m playing the part of an inconsiderate guy who brings a motorcycle to a date and has to drive his girl’s car. Lame. So lame. I would never, ever do this is real life.
Lanie smooths her dress over her knees as she sits in the passenger seat of her own car. She doesn’t say anything until I’ve pulled out of the driveway and driven down the road a bit.
“That was exhilarating,” she says, beaming at me as I drive. “They were so mad. I could practically feel their rage vibrating the entire house.”
“Yeah, that was fun.” The moment the words are out of my mouth they feel like a lie. Sure, it was fun in a way, but I don’t like thinking of Lanie as some one-time thing. I don’t like it at all.
I sit a little straighter and drive on my best behavior, keeping to the speed limit and not taking the turns too sharply. Don’t want to make her think I’m not respecting her property. “Should we talk about how I need to act once we get there?”
“Just stick to my side,” she says, then she draws in a quick breath like she’s just gotten a great idea. “Actually… maybe flirt with other girls? Like, if my brothers are around, let them see you checking out other girls. They would be so mad.”
“Is there a risk of them trying to start a fight or anything? I don’t want to cause a scene at this event.”
She shakes her head. “No way. My brothers know how to act in public. They’ll just be steaming mad and save it up to scream at me later.”
I frown. “I don’t like that at all.”
“Nah, they’re harmless. Just annoying. But tonight all of that ends because tonight I’m finally sticking up for myself.”
“I hope it works,” I say, glancing over at her. My heart clenches when it sees her. She’s so beautiful it literally hurts. “You don’t deserve to be treated like a child.”
“Thanks,” she says, reaching over and squeezing my hand for a second.
We arrive at the venue about thirty minutes after the event has started and the parking is overflowing. “Wow, this is a good turnout,” I say, choosing the first parking spot I can find.
“This is amazing,” Lanie agrees. “My mom will be so excited.”
I get out of the car and walk over to her side, but Lanie has already gotten out as well. I guess that makes sense—I can’t open the door for a woman I’m pretending to treat like crap. I want to reach out and hold her hand, but I’m not sure if I should, so instead I walk next to her as we approach the venue. There are so many people here that no one in particular pays attention to us. As we slip into the crowd of mingling, formally dressed guests, I let my arm slide around Lanie’s waist just so I don’t lose her. She leads me through the room, taking me straight to a long table filled with desserts.
“I’ve been dying to get my hands on this table,” she says, grinning up at me. “You hungry?”
“Always,” I say. I can’t take my eyes off her. She takes a clear plastic plate and hands it to me, then gets one for herself. While she fills up her plate with various sweets, I watch her. Her excitement over the sugary goods makes me smile.
“You’re not getting anything,” she says, frowning up at me. “Now I feel fat.”
“You’re not even close to fat,” I say. Then I grab some chocolates and pastries from the nearest platter in front of me. It’s not that I don’t want to eat—I do. I’m just so nervous being in her presence that eating feels impossible.
“This is really good,” she says, biting into a pink wafer-like thing. She holds the other half of it up to me. “Try it.”
I lean forward and bite it, taking it from her fingers. My lips don’t touch her skin, but they come close enough to make my whole body tingle in anticipation. Lanie’s eyes meet mine as I curl the wafer into my mouth with my tongue. Her mouth opens just a slight bit.
“Pretty good,” I say with a nod.
She swallows. “Reallllly good.”
After trying all the sweets on our plates, Lanie and I get whisked into various conversations with people who all seem to know her from the family business. I recognize a few of the local fitness shop owners who also work out at my gym. We end up talking to so many people that Lanie and I can’t have a conversation together for about an hour. If this were a real date, I’d be a little sad that I couldn’t talk with her, but since I’m not sure what we’d say on this fake date, I guess it’s fine. I actually enjoy watching her talk to everyone. She has a natural grace about her, and everyone seems just as charmed about being in her presence as I do. I could stand here next to her, watching her charm people for hours.
After an older couple walks off to talk to someone else, Lanie reaches out for my hand. “Let’s go find somewhere quiet so I can avoid people for a few minutes,” she says.
“What? You mean small talking with person after person isn’t your idea of a good time?” I say with a wry grin.
She rolls her eyes. “I hate it.”
“You do a really good job of faking it.”
She smiles up at me. “Thanks.”
Right as we go to leave, Julian Archfield appears in front of us. And then, as if by magic, Jack and James are here too.
“So this is Lanie’s mysterious date,” James says, leveling a glare at me. We’re about the same height and I’m not the least bit scared of him, so his glare is almost comical.
“Hi, I’m Kris.”
Instead of reaching out to shake his hand like a decent person would do, I snake my arm around Lanie’s waist and tug her closer to me. “Nice to meet you.”
“Dude, we know who you are,” Jack says. “We went to school together.”
I pretend to think it over for a second, as if Jack and James are so insignificant that I can’t possibly remember them. Then I nod. “Oh, right. How have you been?”
“Don’t worry about us,” Jack says.
“How have you been?” James says. “Where are you working now?”
“I own a gym. Roca Springs Fitness.”
James narrows his eyes. “I thought Noah Hunter owned that gym?”
“We’re co-owners.”
“Doesn’t even own his own business,” Jack says in a derisive tone. “Lanie, you can do better than this guy.”
“She’s an adult,” I say, turning toward her and running my fingers down her cheek. My other hand is still firmly wrapped around her waist. “She can make her own choices.”
“That’s right,” Lanie says, boldly staring down her brothers. “Kris is my boyfriend and you just have to accept that.”
I don’t see the reaction her brothers have when she says this because I can’t stop looking at her. And my chest is all on fire with the words she just said. She didn’t say the word date. She said boyfriend. I know it’s fake, but whoa. I haven’t been called that in a long time. I didn’t know that hearing a beauti
ful woman say “he’s my boyfriend” was a turn on for me until just this moment.
“Come on,” Lanie says, looking up at me. She leans up on her toes and plants a kiss on my cheek. Then she reaches for my hand. “Let’s go.”
I follow blindly, my body moving in response to hers as she leads me out of the ballroom and down a narrow service hallway at the back of the building. My heart is pounding and my head is spinning from the intoxicating scent of her perfume. Her hand is so soft in mine, her delicate features so beautiful in the dim lighting of his hallway. My cheek still tingles from where she’d kissed me. I am totally caught up in the moment. Then she pushes open a door at the end of the hallway and we step into the cool evening air, her hand falling from mine, and I’m suddenly jolted back to reality.
“Ugh, they’re so annoying,” she says, grabbing the sides of her head with her hands. Then she laughs. “That went really well. I mean, right? They totally bought it.”
“They bought it,” I say, my voice scratchy. Feels like there’s something stuck in my throat. I feel like I’m in a daze. Like I’ve been drugged. That last hour spent standing next to her, playing the role of dutiful boyfriend, my hand around her waist, her beautiful voice talking next to me. That last hour was like a dream.
And now I’m back in the real world. And Lanie is standing way too far away from me. She’s discarded that swoony gaze in her eyes and she’s all back to normal.
She was just playing a game back there. Playing a role. Despite what it looked like, she’s not my girlfriend and she’s not in love with me. I’m not her boyfriend. I don’t get to just reach out and take her hand now that we’re alone in a parking lot behind the venue.
She’s beautiful and charming and one hell of an actress.
And I’m the idiot who almost fell for it.
12
Lanie
It’s well after midnight on what has been the greatest prank I’ve ever pulled off. I’m showered and wearing my softest pajamas and all snuggled up in my bed, and I know I’m exhausted from the day’s events, but I can’t sleep. Nope. I’m wide awake. I feel like a kid unable to sleep before her birthday party or Christmas morning, or something. But really, my excitement should be waning by now, it should be fading away instead of lingering around because the night is over. The fake date went incredibly well and Kris was so amazing at pretending to be my crappy boyfriend. Now there’s nothing left to look forward to. So why am I still so exhilarated?
Flirting with the bad boy: A love at the Gym Novel Page 6