Page 49 of The Great Dating Fake Off
Panic claws up the back of my neck. “That’s not happening with me and Nora. I’m just watching out for her.”
“Between the girlfriend menu and you jumping to her defense at the table against Sergio, I’m wondering just how closely you’re watching.”
My blood and skin turn cold. “The girl’s got to eat. That’s all this is. And she doesn’t know anyone here except Benji. She could use another buffer in the lion’s den when he’s busy doing…whatever it is he does. She’s not used to big families like this.”
“You’re protective of her. I know what that means, Sebastian,” Alessia says. “I’m afraid my favor is coinciding with you actually liking someone for a change, and it’s giving me that hives-y feeling I get when I feel like I’m asking someone for too much—”
“Please don’t get hives over this. Whatever you think is going on, you’re wrong.”
She lowers her voice a notch, leveling me with a knowing stare. “Am I?”
In a vivid burst, I feel the slide of Nora’s hands on my chest in the lake, how close she let herself get. She looks at me with this intoxicating mix of guarded but curious.
Maybe I’m attracted to her.
All right, I’m massively attracted to her. Her pretty eyes and her legs and her bikini are in my head in an irrepressible way.
But that’s all it is.
Nora is the wrong girl to get ideas about. And not just because of this week. She’s obsessed with our sleepy suburb. Never mind that she’s twenty-seven and the median age of Great River is fifty-five. Her routine includes swim aerobics with my grandmother and going to her highly specific places. If there’s one thing I’m learning about Nora, it’s that she loves her routine and her job and her life—exactly as it is.
And I’m not staying there. I was never supposed to be back there in the first place.
Alessia’s gaze is searching as it holds mine. My heart pounds at an unnaturally fast pace.
“Okay.” She drops my gaze and exhales. “If that changes, you’ll tell me, right? Because I’d rather just fake-breakup now than look like a schmuck if you and Nora get caught canoodling or something.”
“You and I are not breaking—”
The door from the hall swings open.
I clear my throat and turn around.
Nora timidly steps forward, her red plaid skirt at odds with all the gray in here. It’s like a coil burner being flipped on. “Hi. Am I interrupting?”
“Not at all!” Alessia says cheerfully. “We have spaghetti for you. The normal kind, without clams or anything.” She gestures to her right. “Nora, this is my girlfriend Eloise. She’s catering this week. Eloise, this is Nora, a fellow fake dater like Sebastian.”
“Hi there!” Nora steps forward and offers Eloise a hand but pauses to examine her own palm. “Is it weird that I’m going for the handshake? Do people shake hands outside of an office? I’m more of a hugger, but you never know who truly wants one.”
I rub the space above my brow. Once this girl gets going, she is a talking tornado.
And why the hell is that so endearing?
Eloise takes Nora in her arms. “Hugs are my favorite.”
They move on to complimenting each other’s outfits in earnest. Nora lavishes praise on Eloise’s work overalls and hair scarf, Eloise compliments Nora’s hair and shoes, I think maybe they form a friendship blood pact—the whole thing goes on for a full minute.
This girl, I’m learning, can fit in anywhere. And where I come from, that skill is worth its weight in gold.
Alessia stifles a yawn. “I’m ready to pass out. Sebastian, come by our room at 8:30 tomorrow. We’ll order room service breakfast and get ready for the day. And talk.”
Talk sounds like a threat, somehow.
Before I can say a word, she and Eloise slip out the back door.
Nora walks toward the island. She’s wearing her black frames tonight with her hair in two French braids, and as pretty as she is, I can’t take my eyes off her legs—
“Something wrong?” She looks down and smooths her hands over the front of her skirt.
