A Fake Marriage Romance Collection
Page 56
“She and I are very different.” Sidney opened a cupboard, pulled out two plates and set them on the table.
“Thanks, Miss Obvious.” He made a face.
“Don’t you mean Captain Obvious?”
“I don’t think I do. I think you might get a little bit of a seniority complex if I started attaching titles to you.”
She huffed. “Well, at any rate,” she said, setting down two forks. “Natalie’s just too concerned about Natalie to notice anything else.”
He sobered. “I could tell. She’s very insecure.”
Sidney squinted at him. Bold and brazen Natalie? The girl willing to flirt with any breathing male within a sixty-mile radius? “You’re kidding, right?”
He stared at her. “You don’t see it?”
She sat down in the chair next to him. “I don’t. She’ll talk to any guy. She’s been on more dates than anyone I know. She’d do anything to get a man’s attention.”
“But she doesn’t get real with anyone, does she?”
Sidney laughed. “That’s because there is no real with Natalie. She’s surface. Fluff. She cares more about a broken nail than the economy or who the next president will be.”
“Sad, isn’t it?” Blake shifted in his chair.
“Pathetic.”
“No, I mean, it’s sad she doesn’t have enough self-esteem to feel like she can offer up her opinion on things like the economy or the next president.”
“She just doesn’t care about that stuff.” The smell coming from the oven made her mouth water.
“She cares. She’s just too insecure to think anyone would want to know her opinion.”
Sidney thought about Natalie. Was he right? Was she insecure? She hadn’t always been so flighty and shallow. It had come upon her over time. “I don’t know.”
“Look at her. She wears tight clothes because she thinks her body is all she has to offer men. And I bet she hasn’t had a significant relationship since high school.”
Sidney hesitated. “You’re right.”
“She doesn’t let anyone get close to her. The real her. She puts on a front, but inside she’s hurting.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I’ve taken some psych classes.”
She grinned. “Like Shawn and Gus?”
His laughter filled the kitchen. “That’s my favorite show on Netflix.”
The timer buzzed and she hopped up to get the rolls. “I guess it’s possible there’s more to Natalie than meets the eye.”
“There’s more to most people.”
Sidney eyed Blake as she set the rolls on the table. Why was he saying all this? He’d repeatedly told her he and Natalie wouldn’t make a good match. What was his point? She didn’t want to think about it, so she fiddled with the chicken, checking to see if the meat was done.
He came up behind her. “How does it look?”
The heat from the oven—and the heat coming from him standing so close behind her—made her uncomfortable. “Not done yet.” She took a step, forcing him to move back.
He picked up the newspaper lying on her counter. “Do you have a pencil?”
She opened a drawer and handed him one. “You still do crossword puzzles?”
“You bet.”
They worked on the puzzle for a while, until the timer for the chicken buzzed. She stood and crossed the room, grabbing the oven mitts, very aware that Blake was right behind her. She lifted the chicken out of the oven and Blake shut the door for her. Why did he have to smell so good? She set it on the hot plate, got out a serving spoon, and dished up the food.
Blake waited for her to sit. She picked up her fork and tentatively took a bite of the chicken. “This is good,” she said.
“Thanks.” He smiled, and she noticed how the laugh lines around his eyes were a nice feature on him. Made him look distinguished. Not old, really. Just gave him a more handsome look. Her cheeks burned when she realized she was staring at him, and she looked down to her lap.
“I’ve scheduled your first skydive for next weekend.”
She coughed and almost choked on the food in her mouth. “You what?”
He pointed his fork at her. “No backing out.”
“But…” She swallowed. “I don’t know what I’m doing. Don’t I need classes or something?”
Blake stabbed a green bean and grinned at her. “I’ve been an instructor for the last three years. It’s no big deal.”
Her face must have reflected her panic because he set his fork down and put his hand over hers. “They’ll give you thirty minutes of instruction before we make the jump. And your first jump will be tandem, so there won’t be any need to worry.”
“What’s tandem?”
“It’s where we jump together. We wear harnesses, yours attached to mine. You’ll be stuck to my chest. Don’t worry, I’ve done it a hundred times.”
Was she seriously going to jump out of an airplane with Blake? The thought of it both terrified and thrilled her. The terrified part wanted to back out of it, but the other part of her took over, and she nodded. “Okay.”
He smiled. “You’ll love it. I just know it.”
After dinner they cleaned up the plates and then turned awkwardly to each other. Sidney motioned to the living room. “Well, I guess you’d better be going.”
“You have Netflix, right? Do you want to watch Psych with me?”
The thought of him cozying up with her on the couch to watch TV jumped into her head and in a panic she blurted, “No! I’ve got to…” All thought left her head and she had no idea what excuse she could give him. She glanced down and saw her ring. “Call Ted. I’ve got to call him right now. He’s expecting me.”
She practically shoved Blake into the other room and toward the door. “So, see ya!”
He planted his feet on the floor and crossed his arms in a silent challenge. “Just a minute.”
The only thing she could think of was getting him out of her apartment. “I’m really sorry. I need to call Ted right now. I kind of forgot about it and he’ll be upset if I’m too late.”
She sent him her most pleading expression, hoping he’d just go.
Blake observed Sidney’s face and wondered what went wrong. He’d thought if he spent more time with her, got her to open up a little, she’d come clean about Ted. They’d had a good day together. He thought they’d made progress, but here she was, using Ted as an excuse to shove him out the door.
What had he done?
It wasn’t the skydiving. He’d seen the curiosity in her eyes. She really did want to try it, even though it made her nervous. It wasn’t that. She’d freaked out about the TV show. Why? It made no sense.
“Please, just go,” she said, wringing her hands.
She really was distraught. He should leave. She must have been quite hurt in her past, to make her so afraid to let him get close to her. His heart ached for her, but what could he do about it? He turned and crossed the room toward the door. When he reached for the knob, he hesitated, and turned back to her. “Sidney…”
She looked up at him and he suddenly wanted to kiss her. He wasn’t sure where that came from, but the thought of kissing her tempted him so much he almost leaned down to do it. Only, he couldn’t.
She was still holding onto the lie. And kissing her would be forcing the issue. He would be telling her he knew, and he couldn’t do that.
“What?” she said, searching his face.
If he couldn’t kiss her, he’d at least leave her with the desire for it. He hooked her chin with his finger and tilted her head up, and leaned down until their lips were a breath apart. “Have a good night,” he whispered.
And then he left.
Chapter 10
Sidney’s heart thundered in her chest as she stared at the space Blake had occupied a moment before. Had he been about to kiss her? What was he doing flirting with her now? Of all the rotten things he could do, now he was shamelessly flirting with an almost married woman? She must look like an e
asy fling to him.
She gripped the back of the chair in an attempt to calm her shaking hands. Blake was completely wrong if he thought she would kiss him. She was an engaged woman. Well…sort of engaged. At least he thought she was, anyway. Who cared if it wasn’t real? To Blake, she was taken. And now, he was playing games with her as well as Natalie?
But that wasn’t the worst part.
She liked it. How could her body betray her like that? How could he make her pulse race? He was playing around with her heart, and it was going to end up broken. Again.
No, she couldn’t let that happen. She had to stay away from him. Him and his flirty ways that didn’t mean anything.
She had to kick him out of her life.
After a calming breath, she went into her bedroom and put on her pajamas. It wasn’t late, but she didn’t want to do anything but crawl in bed and read. She arranged the pillows and sat back against them, book in hand. Just as she opened it, her phone made a pinging noise. Text message.
Phyllis: Someone says you’re engaged. I’m sure they’re mistaken, as you would have told your mother if you were seriously dating anyone. Please call.
Alarm shot through her. Who had told her mother? And what should she do about it? She had just swiped over to the phone app to call her mother when another text came in.
Chloe: Sorry, I didn’t know your mother wasn’t aware of your engagement. Is it a secret? I think I spilled the beans. So sorry!
How did Chloe find out? Must have been Blake. She hadn’t thought about other people finding out when Mia suggested the idea. She dialed her mother.
“Sidney? Is it true?” Her mother’s voice was strained.
For a split second, she thought about telling her mom the truth. How she was using the fake ring to get more clients, and how it was working. Business was actually picking up. Maybe her mom would be happy for her.
However, the image of her mother’s disapproving frown popped into her head. She would look at her like she was disappointed. Like she should know better. She’d try to guilt her into telling the truth. And then Blake would find out she’d been lying.
“Sorry, we were waiting to tell everyone until we had a date set.” The words came out before she fully processed them.
Her mother sucked in a breath. “She’s getting married!” she yelled at someone in the room. A clamor of noise followed, and Sidney’s heart sank.
“Mom, who’s there?”
“Oh, I just called a few people over before texting you.”
Panic gripped her. “Who?”
“Just a few of the neighbors. They’re excited for you. Oh, and Natalie stopped by. She really wants to talk to you.”
A muffled noise came through the line, before Natalie’s voice hissed, “You’re engaged to Blake? Why didn’t you say anything? No wonder he moved back here. You could have told me, you made me look like an idiot!”
Oh no. How had this spiraled out of control? “I’m not engaged to Blake. I’m engaged to Ted.”
“Wait!” her sister called out to the room. “It’s not Blake she’s engaged to, it’s Ted!”
The voice changed back to her mother. “Who’s Ted? And why did Blake move back here to be with you if you’re marrying Ted?”
“No, Mom. You’ve got it all wrong. Blake has nothing to do with this.”
“Well, when’s the wedding? When can we meet him?”
Her father’s voice came through from the background. “Phyllis, let me talk to her.”
“Just a second, your father wants to say something.”
More shuffling noises. “Pumpkin? Congratulations. We didn’t even know you were dating anyone.”
Sidney leaned back against the pillows and sighed. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Your mother is dying to meet this young man. Can you invite him over for dinner tomorrow night?”
Sunday dinner? At her parents’ house? Her throat tightened. “I don’t know if he’s free.”
“Well, ask him. Call us back. I’ll be in the doghouse if you don’t.”
Sidney believed him. Her mother wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted. Her stomach sank and she curled her legs under her. “Okay, Dad. Bye.”
She hung up and tried to decide what would be better: making up more lies about how Ted was out of town, or just calling and begging him to come to dinner.
Knowing her mother, the excuses would only hold her off for so long. She took in a deep breath and dialed up Ted.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Sidney, your fake fiancée.” She nervously giggled and then felt ridiculous and clamped her mouth shut.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Listen, I’ve got a problem, and I was hoping you’d be able to help me out.”
“Your computer acting up? I can come take a look at it Monday.”
“No, that’s not it.” She stared down at her flannel pajamas. How was she supposed to ask him?
“What is it?” The concern in his voice made her feel twice as bad. Ted really was a nice guy.
“My parents found out about the fake engagement. They want to meet you.”
“They what?” His voice cracked.
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but business is going so well right now, I really don’t want to give up the charade just yet. I promise I’ll tell them we broke up in a few weeks. Would it be horrible for me to ask you to come to dinner tomorrow night and pretend we’re engaged?”
She held her breath while he considered her request. “I guess I could do that.”
Relief flooded over her. “Thank you! I promise this will be the only time.”
She hung up then called her parents to tell them Ted would be joining them for Sunday dinner. After the conversation, she stretched out on the bed and stared up at her ceiling. She had either made a good decision, or a really, really bad one.
Ted came to pick her up at five o’clock. When she opened the door, he stood there in a white shirt and a tie, which she hadn’t expected, but it looked good on his thin frame. Her mother would be pleased. It also went well with the cute top and white skirt she had chosen. “Hey,” she said.
He nodded a greeting and held out his arm for her to take. “Who’s all going to be at this dinner?”
Sidney walked with him to his car. “Just my parents. I think. Maybe Natalie.”
He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Okay.”
She turned to him. “I really appreciate you doing this. I know you didn’t have to.”
A grin formed on his face. “No problem. I’ve never been engaged before. Thought I’d try it out a little.”
She giggled, then realized she sounded like she was flirting and stopped. “Thanks.” She climbed into his car and he shut the door.
After he pulled out of the parking lot, he tapped the steering wheel and glanced at her. “I should probably ask how long your parents think we’ve been dating.”
Sidney hadn’t thought about it. “I don’t know. Let’s say, almost a year. Does that sound about right?”
He laughed and shrugged. “I have no clue. But it works for me.” He pushed his glasses up his nose with his index finger. “When’s the wedding?”
“We haven’t picked a date yet. I think we’ll keep saying that until we break it off.”
“Okay.”
Sidney fiddled with the strap on her purse. If they played it cool, everything would go well tonight. Just go in, eat the food, talk a little, and then leave. That’s it. Easy, right? Her mother would be satisfied, and the world would keep on turning.
Sounded like a good plan to her.
“How did we meet?” Ted asked, tugging on his shirt collar.
“We met through Mia.”
“Oh, right.” Ted flipped on his turn signal.
“No need to be nervous. My parents are nice. Unless you count the time I snuck out in the middle of the night to T.P. a friend’s tree. They weren’t so nice then.” She thought of how her parents had looked standin
g in the living room when she snuck back inside. She’d gotten a good lecture, and a weekend grounding.
Ted chuckled. “I can imagine.”
“But, seriously, it should be easy.”
He pulled up to her parents’ home and cut the engine. He hopped out and walked around the car to open her door for her. She took his hand, in case anyone was watching.
Before they got to the door, her mother flew outside and assaulted her with a hug. She wore her purple Mumu, which she brought out for ‘special’ occasions. “So, this is Ted?” She turned and wrapped her arms around him. “Nice to meet you. Come on inside. I can’t believe my daughter didn’t even tell us she was dating anyone.” She clicked her tongue in disapproval.
“Mom. Please. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you to embarrass me, like you’re doing right now.”
Her mother shook her head. “Nonsense. I’m Phyllis. Now come inside and meet everyone.”
Everyone? Sidney’s palms began to sweat and she inhaled, trying to remain calm. “Who?”
They stepped inside and her dad crushed poor Ted in a bear hug.
“This is Doug,” her mother said, then pointed to the other side of the room. “And this is our oldest daughter, Natalie, and our good family friend…”
She kept talking but the words sounded like mush as Sidney’s gaze landed on the one person she hadn’t expected to see.
Blake.
Chapter 11
The air whooshed out of Sidney’s lungs and she felt lightheaded. What was Blake doing here? She blinked and looked around her childhood home, certain that he was a figment of her imagination. A ghost of a memory from growing up. Surely he’d be gone once she looked back.
Not so.
He shook hands with Ted, although the grimace on Blake’s face was puzzling. Natalie looked like she’d won the blue ribbon at the county fair. “Blake was free tonight, so I invited him to come. Just like old times, right?” She looped her arm through his.
Sidney didn’t want to be reminded about the last time they’d all shared a meal at her mother’s table. In fact, she’d rather go lick the gutters clean than relive that evening.