Page 119 of Fake It For Love (Faux Love)
“Good plan.” She kissed me again. “I’m so glad I have you. Thank you for letting me explain and being so gracious about all of it. I swear, I’m not a lunatic. Things get all jumbled in my head, and when I try to explain it, the words tumble out in one very hot mess.”
“I love your hot mess,” I said. “It’s adorable and endearing.”
“You say that now, but a few more word vomits and you’re going to be duct taping my mouth shut,” she said.
“Only if you’re saying things like you don’t want to be with me,” I teased.
“Never.” She shook her head. “You won’t hear that from me.”
“Give me ten minutes to change. I need to call and see if my plane is ready. I told my crew to have it on standby just in case I got a wild hair. Help yourself to whatever.”
I jogged upstairs, tossed a few things in a bag, and dressed in good jeans and a dress shirt. I wasn’t trying to impress them anymore. I wasn’t wearing a stuffy suit and making myself miserable. I was who I was, and I didn’t give a shit if they did or didn’t like it. When I got back downstairs, she was outside on the deck that had an amazing view of the ocean.
“I can see why you call this place home,” she said.
“When you come back, I’ll give you the grand tour,” I said. “But we’ve got to get a move on.”
We loaded into the plane and set off for the reunion. She kept looking over at me and smiling. I grabbed her hand and squeezed. “I love you.”
Her face lit up. “I love you.”
After touching down at the airport, we went directly to her room so she could shower and get ready for the night. “You know I’m crashing with you tonight,” I called out while she was in the bathroom.
“Good, because a five-minute quickie on your counter does not make up for the last week.”
I laughed and sat on the bed. The woman was going to keep me on my toes. I couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for us. She stepped out of the bathroom with her hair and makeup done. She had put on a pretty blue sundress and looked absolutely radiant.
I immediately went to her. “Are you sure we have to go?” I pouted. “I would much rather stay here with you.”
“We don’t have to stay long,” she said.
“I’m holding you to that.”
We strolled down the hall with our hands locked together. The convention area was buzzing with faces that looked the same and different. Quite a few people had opted out of the week-long reunion activities and showed up for the night.
“You’re back!” Tony exclaimed and pulled me in for a bro hug. “Dude, what happened? Where’d you go?”
I looked at Claire, who shrugged. Clearly, she had not explained the situation. “I had a work thing,” I lied. Then I remembered our vow. “That’s not true.”
“What’s not true?” Derrick asked.
This was going to be fun. I looked to Claire to make sure she was on board with the truth coming out. She gave a small nod and smiled before pulling my arm against her in a show of support. “Claire and I are not engaged,” I said. “We had not spoken since graduation before we came here. We made it all up.”
Norah was looking at me and Claire with a huge smile on her face. “But you’re together now,” she added.
“That’s true,” I said.
“What do you mean you made it up?” Tony asked.
We weren’t going to discuss the money or the contract. That was more information than they needed to know. “We weren’t together. We aren’t engaged. I only said that because I didn’t want people asking about my personal life.”
“He was trying to protect himself from the vultures circling,” Norah chimed in.
“And I didn’t want to show up alone,” Claire said.
“Why?” Derrick asked.
“Because everyone is very judgmental,” Claire answered.
