Pretend for Me Read online

  “Wait, a guy proposed to you?”

  “Yes, Dylan was a couple of years older than me. We started dating before prom. He took me to prom. He’s the golden boy in my parents’ eyes and in town. Everyone adored him, and I thought I was in love with him. I’m not, but my family truly believes he’s the right man for me.”

  He didn’t like that. She’d never told him about having a serious relationship. Andy felt jealousy strike him. Another man had been intimate with her.

  “What’s the problem with him?” he asked, trying to stop the jealousy stabbing at him.

  “Everyone thinks he’s the golden boy, but before he proposed I actually caught him kissing another girl. I heard his intentions, and instead of settling for a cheating scumbag that the town adored, I ran.”

  “Oh.” He hated Dylan on principle. “Did you love him?”

  “I thought I did, but on great reflection I now know he was only a passing fancy.”

  “Why the pretend boyfriend?” he asked.

  “Dylan is going to be there. I can’t be sure if he’ll bring a date or not. If he doesn’t then my parents are going to try to push us together. I know my family better than anyone. They want to see me married off, and I can’t handle that. I’m not angry at Dylan, but I don’t want everyone to know what happened between us.”

  “I’ll do it.” Andy took her hand in his. There was no way he was risking Sara leaving him for a guy who went around kissing other girls. Besides, Sara was his.

  “Are you sure?”

  “You need a pretend boyfriend, and I’m the man for you.”

  “Oh, Andy, you’re a lifesaver.” She repeated the words she’d said before.

  She threw her arms around him once again. He could get used to having her pressed against him.

  He held her close as she laughed.

  When she pulled back she cupped his cheek. “Thank you. You’re going to have to convince my three brothers that you’re the right guy for me.”

  Seeing the smile on her face Andy was prepared to face anything.

  “Sara, we’ve known each other for the past five years. I’m sure there isn’t that much between us that we don’t know about each other.”

  “I’m going to go and get my photograph albums. I’ve not shown you them, and I need you to be prepared for next week.”

  She jumped over him and left his apartment door partially open.

  He stared down into Champion’s eyes and knew he was a goner.

  “What the hell have I just done? I’ve agreed to be a pretend boyfriend for a girl I want in my bed.” He ran his fingers through his hair. Champion barked at him. The more time he spent with his dog, the more he was convinced Champion understood the human language.

  ****

  He agreed. He agreed.

  Sara danced into her apartment feeling excited by the prospect of going home. Their friendship was firm, and their relationship would be pretend. They could pull this off together. She opened up one of her boxes and pulled out the three family albums she owned. On the walk back upstairs she paused as the euphoria started to die off.

  What if this was a big mistake?

  Their friendship survived because they never crossed that forbidden line into lovers. Sara was attracted to Andy, but he never seemed interested in her like that. She stared at the albums in her hands and thought about Dylan. Her parents didn’t know why she walked out on him. The kissing hadn’t been all that bad, and if she had not heard him organize a date to meet the woman then she wouldn’t have run. Would she have married him?

  Had she run from Dylan because she’d been hurt?

  A couple passed her on the stairs. She smiled at them and watched as they walked out holding hands. The love she was looking for was similar to the couple who’d passed her. Holding hands and the secret smiles over the table while other people talked around them. The type of love she wrote about. Shaking her head, she walked up the stairs and back into Andy’s apartment. He had moved onto coffee. The aroma of the bitter grains he loved so much filled the air in the apartment.

  Champion lay asleep in his spot in the corner. She sat down on the sofa as Andy brought over the two steaming mugs.

  “There are a lot of photos,” he said.

  “A lot of memories are wrapped up in here. I come from a family of seven. Five children and two parents and believe me when I say there was never a dull moment.”

  She opened the first photo album.

  “Take me on a trip down memory lane.”

  He sat down next to her, and Sara was struck by his masculine scent. It never failed to amaze her how successful and handsome Andy was. When they first met on the stairs the silence between them had lengthened. Sara hadn’t been able to look away from his gaze. She’d been struck by his intense brown stare. Brown eyes had never appealed to her before. Brown eyes had always struck her as dull, but with Andy they took on so much more meaning. Whenever she saw him staring at her, goose-bumps erupted along her arms.

  She could write thousands of words to describe his stare, and not one of them did them justice. There were times she felt she was the whole of his world and at other times like she didn’t even register on his radar. He confused her constantly.

  “Do I have something stuck between my teeth?” he asked.

  “No. Sorry, the writer in me was back at my computer desk.” She felt her cheeks heat at the lies she spun.

  “I don’t know how you can find much inspiration in that room.”

  “I’ve got a great imagination. Besides, I don’t know how you can work the clubs you do from your apartment.”

  He laughed and tapped his head. “It’s all up here.”

  She opened the photograph album and started the journey of her life. “That there is my mother, Harmony Carroll.”

  “Harmony Carroll? You’re got to be joking.”

  Sara glared at him.

  “What? You’ve got to find the humor in the name.”

  “If you mention any jokes with regards to my mother’s name you will be castrated by the end of the weekend. My mother would cut you down. The man she married and the name she claimed as her own is no laughing matter.”

  Andy held his hands up in surrender. “I get it. No laughing at the amusing name.”

  She smiled at him. “Away from my family and all prying ears, I do find her name thoroughly amusing, but I’m warning you, please, keep the name to yourself.”

  Sara laughed as he zipped his mouth up and threw away the invisible key. “This is my father, Martin.” She pointed to the big stocky bloke in the picture. “He doesn’t take kindly to anyone mocking my mother. If you want to get in good with him then I suggest you let the introductions go without laughing. Dylan did, and I think that is one of the reasons my parents actually like him.”

  “I’m sure they would understand if you told them the truth about him.”

  “I’m not the type of person to go telling my family about everything that goes wrong in my life. It’s bad enough moving away from them and having them phone me every week to make sure I’ve paid my rent and the bills.”

  “They still phone even after five years?” he asked.

  “I can’t complain that they worry about me,” she said.

  His hand rested on her thigh as she turned the page. She felt the heat from his touch run through her whole body. There was not a part of her that wasn’t deeply connected to the man beside her.

  She was going to need to rein herself in if she was going to survive a weekend with him posing as her pretend boyfriend.

  “That’s Danny. He’s getting married to Bethany. They were high-school sweethearts, but they have put off marrying each other. They broke up for a few years, but everyone knew they’d get together. It was inevitable for them to be together.”

  “They look lovely together.”

  Sara smiled at his words. He was already saying the right things. “That’s my next brother. I’m showing you in order from oldest to youngest.”


  “I’ve got it, Sara. Stop being nervous. I’ve got your back.”

  Feeling happier, she pointed to the next brother. “This is Jake. He travels to the city and is a defense lawyer for one of the law firms. He’s not seeing anyone, but he’s a bit of player. He pretends he’s not for my family’s sake. Mom and Dad are great believers in the sanctity of marriage.”

  “So when I’m around him I’m to pretend I don’t play the field or anything.”

  She saw he was teasing and thumped him in the arm. “My dad will ask you about your views on marriage. Please, to make this work I need you to make out as if our marriage is on the cards but we’re waiting for mutual reasons or something.”

  “I’ll not let you down. We’re studying your family to pretend to be a couple. Don’t you think we’re a couple anyway?” he asked.

  “We’ve never been out on a date.”

  “Not on an official date. To some people we’ve been out on plenty of dates.”

  “Attending your openings does not class as a date. Let’s save that argument for another time. This is James, and he works in advertising. I’m not completely up to speed on what he does. Oh, here is my sister Tracy.”

  For the next few hours she spent a great deal of time going through her family history and brought him up to speed. He listened and for the most part remained quiet.

  “Are you sure you’re okay with all this?” she asked, yawning.

  “I’m fine with it, Sara. I think you need to get some sleep. It has gone two in the morning, and I need to rest. We can pick this up tomorrow.”

  He walked her down to her apartment door this time. She opened the door and turned to him. Sara wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you so much.”

  Chapter Four

  The following morning Andy woke up with a pounding head and dry mouth. The memories from the night before came to him in one quick jerk. He sat up in bed, rubbed his eyes, and saw the photograph albums he’d brought to his bed. Grabbing the first one closest to him, he opened the page. Sara gazed back at him, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. He saw the laughter in her eyes as she stared at the camera. She had a close family. He witnessed it in the pictures he’d seen.

  Her brothers were all large and protective. They surrounded her like a blanket. He recalled the number of times she’d complained about one of them sending her cash and the other demanding weekly reports.

  Champion padded into the bedroom.

  “What am I going to do with this family?” he asked the dog. He didn’t get an answer from talking with Champion. Andy ran a hand over his face and once again thought about the kind of mess he’d gotten himself into.

  His phone rang. He picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Hey, you’re awake.” Travis was on the line.

  Turning to his alarm clock he saw it was past ten. He wondered why Sara hadn’t given him a wake-up call. “I am now.” Andy rolled over and stood up. He stretched his arms over his head before heading out to his kitchen.

  “Are we on for next weekend? The football and picking up some women later on?” Travis asked. “All of the guys are in.”

  “I can’t,” he said. Andy groaned thinking about the stick he was going to get for agreeing to be Sara’s fake boyfriend.

  “Can’t come? You never miss a match or the chance to pick up a woman for the night.”

  That wasn’t true. He hadn’t slept with a girl in over a year. Not since his attraction for Sara refused to go away. “I’ve sort of promised Sara I’d do something for her that weekend.”

  “What could be more important? Explain to me how you’re going to pass up a chance with your friends for this girl?” Travis sounded shocked. Every one of his friends refused to settle down. They were not the marrying kind of men. Each woman who looked to be getting closer to them, they kicked to the curb. They didn’t do love or commitment. In their own way they were protecting the women from a lifetime of misery.

  “It’s private,” Andy said. He could just see them laughing the moment he told them what he agreed to do for her.

  “No, you’re not getting out of this one. You tell me what is more important than spending time with your male friends.”

  Andy set up the coffee machine and then padded back to his room. “I’m playing Sara’s fake boyfriend that weekend.”

  Silence met his answer.

  “You’ve agreed to be a fake boyfriend? Like on that movie with the escort etcetera?”

  He let out another groan. “Kind of but I’m no escort. We’re two friends going to her parents’ place for a wedding or something. I’m a little vague on the details right now.”

  “I’m sure.” Silence fell down the line, and then it was interrupted by the sound of laughter. He heard Travis laughing and the rest of his friends.

  “You’ve got the rest of the guys there?”

  Wade, Lenny, and Austin were rather vocal in their laughter.

  “You’re totally whipped. There’s no way you’re coming away from this. She’s got you good,” Wade said.

  Andy sat there and took the laughter.

  “I think he’s going to be married by the end of the year.” That statement came from Lenny.

  “Are you quite finished? It’s not like that between Sara and me. We’re friends, and nothing else is going to happen.” He actually hated the thought of nothing happening between them. Sara played a large part in his life. Andy had spent the last few years keeping her a secret from his friends. They had seen her, and now knew why he had to fight every second he was with her.

  “You want her though. I saw it last night. You were like a dog after a bone. She’s going to be dangling in front of you all weekend.”

  She’s dangling in front of me every single day and I still haven’t taken a bite.

  He listened to their mocking laughter for several more minutes before he hung up. They wished him good luck in keeping his bachelor status. His bachelor status was not in question.

  The sound of his door opening let him know Sara had made her way into his apartment. He glanced down at the boxer shorts he wore and wondered how she would react to his semi-naked state. Usually, the time he spent with her he was fully clothed. Throwing caution to the wind he stepped out of his bedroom.

  “I went out shopping and bought a few essentials. I’m going to be forced to attend a bridesmaid fitting. Bethany always promised I’d be one of her bridesmaids when we were younger.”

  Her back was to him, and she hadn’t looked at him.

  “I was expecting a wake-up call from you,” he said. “We usually go out shopping together.”

  She flicked her hand his way. “Don’t worry about it. I figure I’m putting you out next weekend, and I’m making up for it.”

  With her back to him Andy got to admire the full length of her backside. She had a lovely rounded butt, and in the tight jeans she wore, she made him ache. Every glorious inch of her ass was on display for his viewing pleasure.

  Finally, she turned around and stopped. “What are you doing?”

  “You caught me at a bad moment. Besides, being boyfriend and girlfriend you’re supposed to see me in fewer clothes and we’re supposed to be more intimate.”

  He walked around the counter and then wrapped his arms around her. She was tense in his arms. When she didn’t relax, he pulled away to check what she’d bought from her shopping trip. There would come a time when Sara was comfortable in his arms.

  “What are we going to do about Champion?” he asked.

  She glanced at his dog, which was sitting watching cartoons on the television. “There’s an old basket near the kitchen door. We used to have a dog, and Mom got the basket and cushions cleaned but never actually got rid of it. He can stay there, and obviously he’s free to move around.”

  Andy turned away from her when she started to nibble her bottom lip. Every move she made affected him.

  Looking down he saw he was going to make
a complete fool of himself. “I’m going to go and get dressed.” His cock thickened inside his boxer briefs, and he couldn’t stop it with Sara close by.

  ****

  What had she ever done to expect such torture? The man was a babe magnet, and right now he was reeling her in. How could she have gotten him to agree to be her boyfriend? The coming weekend was going to be a nightmare. She had phoned her mother the instant she woke that morning. Apparently her brothers were looking forward to meeting the man who was taking care of her in the big bad city.

  “How did I get myself into this mess?”

  Champion stared at her without saying a word. She heard Andy in the bathroom, and she used the time to quickly check her appearance in the mirror he kept in the hallway. In all the time they’d known each other she’d never worn makeup. Running her fingers through her hair she tried to put some order to her wild red curls.

  No matter how many times she tried to straighten the damn thing, her hair always did what it wanted.

  She quickly moved back to the kitchen to finish putting away the rest of the shopping. While Sara had been out shopping, she’d found the time to reflect on what was going to happen when they visited her family. Andy walked through carrying the photograph albums as she poured them a coffee.

  He sat down on the sofa. Sara took a seat at the other end, and Champion sat between them. She stroked the dog’s ears waiting for Andy to respond.

  “I don’t think we should lie about any part of our life. Lying is where people get caught,” he said.

  “We’re posing as boyfriend and girlfriend, Andy. We’re not robbing a bank.”

  “We’re lying about our relationship to your family. Don’t you think they’ll see through the lies?”

  “Okay.” She nodded her head in agreement. “They only know you as the man who is always conveniently out when they come to call.”

  “Your family has tried to meet me? How could I have been out all that time? We’ve known each other five years, and I’ve never met them.”

  She laughed feeling silly about the answers. “They’ve always come when you’ve been away or out. I sort of made sure you were out before I invited them down.”