by Holly Jaymes
His head turned slightly, and I opened my eyes to see him looking at me. “Running.” He turned his eyes back on the trail ahead.
I closed my eyes again.
“Tell me about your lie. Are you going to tell your mom the truth?”
“I have to. I don’t have a fiancé.” I sighed. “I thought about hiring an actor. Pretty pathetic, huh?”
“Don’t you have a guy friend to help you out?”
“How many women have you been with?”
His step faltered. “Ah…a gentleman doesn’t keep count.”
“Is it more than fifty. A hundred?”
“Here’s a lookout. I’m going to put you on the bench here and see if I can call for help, okay?”
“’k.”
He lowered me down until my butt hit the bench. Then he turned and squatted in front of me. He looked me over again and did the “watch my finger” test again.
“Did I pass this time?”
His lips twitched. “I’ll feel better when we get you to the hospital.” He started up the hill.
“Don’t leave me.”
“I’m not. I just want to get more of a signal.” He poked his phone. “It’s Josh Dalton. I’ve got an injured hiker about a quarter-mile from the head of Tyson’s trail. Female, about twenty-five—”
“How’d you know my age?”
He glanced at me. “She hit her head. She’s conscious now but was unconscious when I found her. I need paramedics and an ambulance at the first lookout. I don’t want to carry her further in case she has more injuries.”
When he hung up, he came to sit with me. “How do you feel?”
“Tired.”
“Help will be here soon. Here, have some more water.” He handed me a water bottle.
“Are you magic? Where do you carry all that?”
He laughed. “This is your water from your backpack. The phone I always carry. By the way, I think I offered to take you for a hike. If you’d let me tag along, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
“Do you think I’m a bitch?”
He jerked back and looked at me in amusement. “No.”
“You’re lying.” I sat and feeling tired, I rested against him. “This is a pretty view. You were right.” I closed my eyes, willing sleep to come.
“Stay awake, Allie.” He moved until he was squatting in front of me again and holding my hands. “Tell me about Liza’s wedding.”
“Liza is my cousin. She’s marrying Edward James Radcliff esquire the blah blah blah…”
“Old money?”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“Is Maxwell old money?”
“Really old. Do you just like sex? Do you ever love the women you’re with?”
He let out a frustrated grunt. “Have you ever been in love, Allie?”
I shrugged. “I thought so. I don’t know. I think he just wanted to be in my family. My money.”
“He’s a fucker, then.”
I smiled. “He’s a fucker.” In the background, I heard sirens.
“That’s help coming.”
“I don’t want to tell my mom the truth. Is that bad?”
“No. It’s hard to come clean sometimes. Families can be complicated.”
“Do you know someone who’d pretend to be my fiancé?”
He let out another harsh breath that had me opening my eyes to look at him.
“What about Mason? He’s not old money, but he’s rich,” he suggested.
“No. I need him to respect me in business.”
“My brother Wyatt might do it. He’s not rich, but he’ll probably be mayor someday.” He stood and walked a little bit up the hill. I could hear voices coming toward us.
“He’s nice, but I don’t want to give him the wrong impression.”
“Help is coming, Allie. We’ll have you out of here soon.”
“’k.” I sat for a moment, as Josh called up to the people coming to help me. “Josh?”
“Hmm?”
“Can you be my fake fiancé?”
Something to Build On
Josh
I whipped my head to look at Allie. Did she really just ask me to be her fake fiancé?
She looked up at me with earnestness. I didn’t know whether to laugh or groan in frustration again. She was clearly loopy from the head injury. Chances were, she wouldn’t remember all of this. If she did, she’d probably be mortified.
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” she said.
Crap. I couldn’t not answer her, and yet I knew when she was treated and back to normal, she’d regret this.
I walked to her and squatted down in front of her again, taking her hands. “I’ll tell you what. Once you’re all fixed up and back to normal, if you still want me to be your fake fiancé, I’ll do it.” I’d give her what she wanted now, knowing she’d renege once she was treated.
She smiled, and I regretted that she’d revoke her request because she was so beautiful. I was drawn to her, even while she was loopy and had scrapes on her.
“Thank you.”
“What have you got, Dalton?”
I turned to see a couple of firefighters and the paramedics carrying a stretcher. I told them how I found Allie and her current state. They checked her out and then loaded her on the stretcher.
“Do you want me to call your folks?” I asked her as she was carried up the hill.
“No. I’ll be alright, won’t I?” Her worried blue gaze stayed on me. It felt good to be viewed as a hero over a zero for once.
“You should be fine,” I said, although head injuries could be precarious.
“Will you come with me?”
“I’ll meet you at the hospital.” Even as I said it, I wasn’t sure I’d be allowed to see her. I wasn’t her family, fake fiancé notwithstanding.
When she was in the ambulance and heading down the hill, I asked my fellow firefighters if they’d mind driving me up to the next turnout where I’d parked my SUV. They obliged, dropping me off. I tugged my t-shirt on and drove down the mountain to the hospital. I walked in and noticed a familiar face at the check-in.
“Hey, Nan.”
The middle-aged woman was a friend of my mother’s. “Josh, what brings you in?”
“I wanted to check on Allie Sinclair. She took a fall during a hike.”
Nan quirked a brow. “You know I’m not supposed to give you information unless you’re family.”
I wondered what she’d do if I told her I was Allie’s fiancé.
“I found her. I have information I can share.”
I saw her resolve to refuse me waiver, but she shook her head. “The paramedics provided information.”
Instead, I rolled my shoulder. “I had to carry her out. I think I might have strained my shoulder. Is Carter here for a quick check?”
She smirked at me. She was on to my ruse. “You need to wait your turn.”
I leaned over the counter and smiled. “Come on. Please?”
“Is your mother ever able to tell you no?” She shook her head.
“My mother is the only woman to ever say no to me.” I grinned.
“Go ahead. I think Carter is in his office.”
“You’re the best Nan.”
The doors buzzed, and I made my way through the triage area. We both knew I didn’t have a sore shoulder and wouldn’t be looking for Carter. It was against the rules, but Eden Lake was a small town. Everyone knew everyone else. In many ways, we were one big family.
I found Allie in a bed with a nurse taking her vitals.
“Josh.” Allie’s face lit up when she saw me. That meant she still had to be suffering the effects of the fall. Normally she had her wary face on when she saw me.
The nurse turned. It was Lori Trainer, who I knew from school. “Oh, hey, Josh.” Then she frowned as if she realized I shouldn’t be there.
“I found Allie. I can give you the info.”
She looked at Allie and then me. “Sure.”
I told her
how I found Allie unconscious and her position. Then I explained what I did to assess her and how I carried her up the hill until I could call for help.
“I’ll let the doctor know. Now you need to wait out—”
“Let me stay, Lori. Do you want me to, Allie?”
“Yes. Can he stay?” Allie looked at Lori.
“Family only.”
“I’m her fake fiancé.”
Allie bit her lip and turned away, a sign that perhaps the old Allie was returning.
“Fake fiancé?” Lori looked at me, skeptically.
“Come on. Just until the doctor comes. Let me stay.” I smiled, the one that usually got me my way.
“Yeah, sure. Okay. But I never saw you or okayed this.” She turned to Allie. “The doctor will be here shortly. Stay here and rest.”
“I’ll make sure she stays awake.” See, I had a purpose.
Lori rolled her eyes. “You know that’s a wives’ tale, right? It’s okay for people with head injuries to rest. We just wake them up every few hours to make sure their condition hasn’t worsened.”
Okay, I did know that. But there was no way I wasn’t keeping Allie conscious as I carried her back up the mountain. I’d been scared to death, finding her motionless on the ground. No, I needed the reassurance that she was okay. Her consciousness gave me that.
“She wants me here, Lori. You can’t deny her that.”
Lori shook her head. “Someday, Dalton, you won’t get your way. How will you ever survive?”
“I probably won’t. Thanks, Lor.” I made my way over to the side of Allie’s bed.
“Did you sleep with her?” Allie asked right off.
“What’s all this interest in my sex life?” I didn’t like the questions, but I worked to act nonchalant about it.
“Just curious, I guess.”
If we had had this conversation at the pool, I’d have said something cocky like, “I’d be happy to satisfy your curiosity.” But not only did that seem inappropriate under the circumstances, but I also didn’t want to be that guy. I didn’t want to always be angling for the hookup.
“No. Lori and I went to school together, but she and I were never an item. She always had her eyes on Wyatt, as did most girls back then…and now actually.” I cocked my head. “But not you.”
“He’s nice. He let me off a ticket once.”
“That’s Wyatt. Me on the other hand, I just saved your life. Where do I rate now?”
She gave me a small smile. “I’m sorry I’m mean.”
I watched her, trying to decide if she was still under the effect of the concussion or back to herself.
“You’re not mean. Prickly, maybe.”
She nodded. “You’re not a bad person, but you’re not real either.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’re like my parents, playing a part, putting on a show. Inauthentic.”
Her words hit me hard, even though I knew, to a certain extent, she was right. “You want authenticity from me?”
She nodded.
I looked around us to see who might overhear. For some reason, I didn’t want prying eyes, which I supposed was proof that I wanted people only to see a certain side of me.
“When I came across you unconscious on the rocks, all my training left me for a moment. I was scared shitless, Allie. I’ve never done a rescue alone.”
She nodded but didn’t seem convinced that I was being real. “Why do you come to my class?”
I sighed. Part of that answer would confirm her suspicions about me. “Partly because Mason said it would help deal with the stress that goes with the job. But I won’t lie, Allie, I like looking at you. You’re so soft and graceful, beautiful.” I shrugged. “If that makes me a douche—”
“You’re not a douche. I don’t think you’re disrespectful or dismissive of women. You just seem to see them for one thing.”
“That’s not completely true. Have I sowed oats? Yes. But with women who were sowing theirs too. And as far as love, which you asked me about earlier, I have been in relationships. I have cared for women.”
“I’m being nosy.”
I supposed my annoyed tone gave her the impression I didn’t like her third-degree.
I sighed. “I understand why you’d think I was a player. But you might consider that your beliefs are your perception and that they could be wrong. There’s more substance to me than you’ve given me credit for, and if you’d not been so…prickly, you might know that.”
Her expression crumpled, and I was afraid she was going to cry.
“I am a bitch.”
“Jesus, no. That’s not what I’m saying. We all get impressions of people. I thought you were an ice queen.”
“Do you know who you are, Josh? I mean really deep down, not what you let the world see, but you in your soul?”
I studied her, wondering why she was getting so philosophical. “I feel like I do.”
“You don’t feel your life is detached, or you’re playing a part?”
“No. I am what I am.” I took her hand. “Do you feel detached?”
She nodded. “I came here to find myself and pursue my own path, but I still feel like I’m playing a part. Not of a Sinclair like my mother wants, but still not me.”
I had this overwhelming desire to help her find herself. “You’re young. Lots of people take time to figure all that out.”
“Not you, apparently.”
“I don’t have parents who are trying to dictate how I act or who I marry. They supported my goal of being a firefighter, and while they tease me for my reputation, I know they love me as I am.”
She closed her eyes. “As you are. That must be nice.”
“It is. Look at me, Allie,” I said in case she was falling asleep. Old wives’ tale or not, I didn’t want her falling into unconsciousness on my watch.
She opened her eyes.
“I like you as you are.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m mean to you.”
“Prickly, but you’re smart. You're driven, and flexible, physically. You know enough about yourself to know you don’t want to be played by a man.”
“Are you playing me?”
“What do you mean by that? I don’t want to use you if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Are you just trying to get into my pants?”
I sighed again. It seemed like I was doing that a lot around her. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about that, but that’s not all I’m interested in.”
She was quiet for a moment and closed her eyes. “I’ve thought about it too.”
“Open your eyes, Allie. Thought about what?”
“Letting you get into my pants.” Her eyes stayed closed.
This was so fucking frustrating. I liked this conversation. But she was injured, and so everything she was saying would be null and void when she was back to herself.
“Open your eyes, Allie. Come on. You can’t fall asleep.” I shook her hand until her eyes opened.
“Are you still going to be my fake fiancé?”
“I will if you want me to. But why don’t you wait to decide until you’re out of here? You might change your mind about me.”
“Okay.”
It was silly, but her acceptance of my statement that she might not want me to help her after all hurt.
“Ms. Sinclair.” Dr. Carter stepped into her area. “Josh. Hey. What are you doing here?”
“Just checking on her. I found her.” I stepped away from the bed so he could assess her. “Listen, Allie, I’m going to go. You’re in good hands here.”
“You can’t stay?”
“We’re going to be running some tests and chances are good that we’ll keep you overnight,” Dr. Carter said.
“Do you want me to call your family?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “No.” She looked alone and sad.
“I’ll be back later.” I looked at Dr. Carter for confirmation that I could see h
er again.
“We’ll be moving her to a room later. I’ll text you the info if you like,” he said to me. “But you can only come during guest hours since you’re not family.”
“I’m her fake fiancé.”
Carter’s brow quirked up in question. “I see. Well…I don’t know what to say about that.”
I laughed. “You and me both.” I turned to Allie. “I’ll be back later. Stay awake, and do what the doctor tells you, okay?”
“Thank you, Josh.”
I went home, showered, and grabbed a bite to eat, wanting to hurry to get back to the hospital, but Carter’s text hadn’t come in yet. Was everything okay? Had the head injury been worse than expected? Did I hurt her by carrying her out?
I thought about picking up some of her stuff for her, but I didn’t have a key to her apartment. So I went to the store and picked up things I thought a woman would want; toothbrush and toothpaste, dry shampoo, a brush, and just for Allie, a yoga magazine.
When I was exiting the store, my phone finally dinged with a text. Carter sent me her room number and told me she was going to be held for observation, but that the prognosis was good.
I sped to the hospital, somehow avoiding getting a ticket. Jesus, what would I have told Wyatt if he had pulled me over?
When I got to the hospital, she was resting. So, I sat at her bedside and waited until the time the nurse would come to wake her to assess her condition. I hoped Allie would be glad to see me there. A part of me thought she’d forget our conversation, or her prickly side would return and ruin the gains we’d made. It was a little annoying how important to me it was that this tenuous new aspect of our relationship remain. There was something to build on here, and for reasons I couldn’t quite explain, I really wanted to build on it.
To Lie or Not to Lie
Allie
I wasn’t annoyed at myself for asking Josh to be my fake fiancé. After all, I had a head injury. I wasn’t thinking straight.
But now, days later, I couldn’t believe I was still planning to go through with this crazy charade. It has disaster written all over it. At the same time, I found I didn’t really want to get out of it. If I was going to crash and burn at a family event, who better to have around than a smoking hot fireman?