“Because I know Suzanne.” She muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like busybody, followed by a long string of foul curses. Then, she shook her head as if shaking the thoughts loose. “Fine. It’s all settled, I guess. Off to a business meeting. Where are we going?”
“The Virgin Islands; I’ll send you some pictures from last year's event so you know what to expect. I’d better go and pack now.” I sprinted down the stairs, needing to get away before she had time to think and back out.
“But—” was the last thing I heard before I let the exterior door close behind me and stood on the landing alcove. I let out a breath and looked up.
There was Suzanne, and three other yoga teachers, pressed up against the glass window. Suzanne lifted her hands and mouthed, “Well?”
I gave them the thumbs up.
The four of them burst into cheers. I felt like I had earned the applause. I’d done it. I’d gotten her to agree to go on a romantic trip with me. As my girlfriend.
It was as my fake girlfriend, but I had plans to make it real by the end of the week. I wouldn’t let her slip away.
Chapter Seven: Mona
My heart was beating madly. I closed the door and locked it. And then, I leaned up against it, waiting for my legs to stop shaking.
“So what did Jackie want?” Lissie said, walking in from the kitchen with a giant bowl of her famous gourmet popcorn flavored with chili powder, lime, and salt. She sat practically on top of Duke, who rolled his eyes and shifted so she could cuddle up under his arm.
A wave of envy rolled through me. I wanted someone to cuddle into and watch a movie with, instead of being the third wheel who took the lonely arm chair. I thought about Jack and how it felt to cuddle up with him and got a flutter in my belly.
“He’s calling in his favor.” I had both their attention now.“He wants me to go with him on a work trip and pose as his girlfriend.”
Duke and Lissie froze, as if moving an inch would break the delicate balance of the universe.
“I agreed.”
I saw Lissie swallow. “That’s . . . interesting.”
“Go ahead and say what you feel needs to be said. You won’t be happy until you say it.”
She gave me her sunniest smile, and it was a lot to face. “I’m glad you don’t hate him anymore.”
“Who says I don’t hate him?”
“You wouldn’t say yes to this trip if you hated him,” Duke put in, and Lissie nodded like it was wisdom.
“I think if you let yourself, you can have a lot of fun. You deserve a vacation.”
“All expenses paid, he said.”
“Oh, definitely. I know Jack. He will spare no expense. Anything you want. And the best quality, too.” She took a handful of popcorn. “You know, he’s grown up a lot since you first hated him. He’s not really the same man as he was then.”
I sighed. “I know. He’s a good man. He helped me when I needed him. And now he needs me to be his fake girlfriend. I can be his beard, no problem. Remember Ben from college?”
Lissie stuffed another handful of popcorn in her mouth and looked away suspiciously.
“What? What is it?”
Lissie shook her head and refused to speak, pressing lips shut.
Duke took the bowl of popcorn from her. “She doesn’t think that Jack wants a fake girlfriend. He doesn’t need a beard. She thinks he wants you to be his girlfriend.”
“No. No way.”
“I think that? Duke, you coward.” Lissie smacked his shoulder. “You think that. You told me so when they went to help that woman with the baby. In fact, you told me so when the whole Maya and Matthew thing was going on. You’ve been trying to matchmake them!”
“What?” I said, my voice barely audible.
They were no longer listening to me. They were wrestling over the popcorn and tickling each other.
I no longer wanted popcorn. Or a movie.
“I have to go pack and go to bed. We’re leaving early in the morning.”
They didn’t hear me, and they didn’t notice when I went to my room. They thought Jack was interested in me for real? I wouldn’t be a beard?
Had Jack told them something? I knew he and Duke were friends, and though he and Lissie were only stepsiblings, they were closer than he and April, his real sister.
I pulled my suitcase out of the closet and threw it on the bed. Was he asking me to be his beard or was he asking me to be his girlfriend? In either case, I needed to dress for the job. I wasn’t the most glamorous woman in the world, but I knew I had some attractions to work with. Sexy hippie it was. I was pulling out my bikinis; clinging, flowing skirts; belly chains, barre tanks; and sandals when I stopped.
Wait. Did I want to attract Jack? My fluttering insides turned into a tornado of butterflies. Oh no, I couldn’t do this. I needed to call him to cancel. He’d have to find another beard.
Or another girlfriend?
A spike of jealousy went through me at the thought of Jack with another girlfriend. In all the time I’d known him, he’d only had one girlfriend. Marissa. And when she’d died, I’d never seen him with another woman. At all. I liked it like that.
It wasn’t like I was celibate. I had girlfriends and boyfriends and casual flings when I felt like it, and I never had a problem bringing them around my friends. Including Jack. It had been a while since I’d been with anyone, but the thought of parading a new love interest in front of Jack felt wrong, very wrong.
Did I want to be Jack’s girlfriend?
That was the billion dollar question.
Yes, my heart said.
No. I immediately decided to cancel this trip. I couldn’t do it. And then my phone chimed.
If I was lucky it was him, and I could cancel now. Rip off the bandaid.
Jack: Hey, I sent you some pictures of the event last year so you can be prepared. Don’t worry about anything. Just be ready to leave bright and early. I’ve got everything else.
I poised myself to break the news to him but thought maybe I should flick through the pictures to see what exotic resort location I would be missing if I didn’t go. Because I was a masochist like that.
I flicked. What a beautiful resort. The hotel was pink with columns and broad paths. The pool was large and luxurious. And the beach! Oh, white sand and brilliant turquoise seas. I’d never been anywhere like it. Then I flicked again and dropped my phone to the bed.
I hastily picked it up again.
There was Jack on the beach in a tiny pair of swim shorts, his shoulders broad and tanned and his abs ridged. What was in the tiny pair of shorts was not tiny. And I felt myself start to heat up.
Worse, if it were only lust, I could go and have a fling with him, and it would be fun. I was sure it would be fun. But it wasn’t.
I wanted to run my fingers through his beach tangled hair and pull him into a kiss and melt into him and stay there.
And stay there. I was in so much trouble.
Me: I’ll be ready at the crack of dawn.
And I was. Both ready and in trouble. He texted me when he drove up to my building, and I ran downstairs. He took my suitcase and put it in the trunk of his tiny convertible BMW.
“You look lovely,” he said and opened the door of the car for me, handing me a hot cup of coffee and a croissant.