“You’re lying.” Brooke patted his forearm then shrugged. “I get it. I’ve lied to myself too. Sometimes it’s easier than seeing the truth.”
“I am not— there’s nothing there.”
“There is,” she firmly said. “I’ll be your fake girlfriend. I’ll help make your queen jealous. And who knows, maybe you and the queen will find a way back to each other.”
He ran a hand down the length of his face. “No way, it would never work. It isn’t like that for me.”
“We’ll see.” Brooke picked up the knife to cut off another piece of cheese. “We’ll see.”
CHAPTER 6
Brooke smoothed out the front of her blouse and studied her appearance in the mirror. Her black slacks were freshly pressed from the dry cleaner. She wondered if her outfit was appropriate to meet her fake boyfriend’s parents. Logan had reassured her anything she wore would be fine because they were a casual family. Big problem, she didn’t know the first thing about casual gatherings. Family gatherings of her own were nonexistent and she had no point of reference. And Justin’s family were an uptight and formal bunch, think two forks and two spoons dinner.
Her stomach twisted, reconfirming her nerves. She reminded herself she didn’t need to be anxious. This didn’t mean a thing. To Logan’s family she’d simply become a random woman they meant once.
An Amazon delivery made her phone buzz. Brooke checked the time and confirmed she had enough time to hustle on down to the lobby to pick it up from George before Logan arrived.
When she entered the lobby, George whistled. “It looks like someone is headed somewhere special.”
Her cheeks warmed. “I know I need to step it up, I normally wear sweats if I’m not working.” She arrived in front of the lobby desk.
“Hey,” George held his hands up. “You said it, not me.”
“Amazon let me know I have a package waiting.” She leaned her hip against the desk.
“Oh,” George scuttled out of his chair. “Let me check what is here, but you didn’t answer my question. Where are you off to?” He walked to the table which held the packages delivered for the residents.
“I’m meeting Logan’s parents today.” Brooke watched George still.
He furrowed his brow. “Already? This is more serious than I thought.”
“It’s not serious. We’re friends, nothing more.”
“Hmm.” George found the package and placed it on top of the desk. “Are you sure about that? In my day and age, meeting someone’s parents— well you didn’t do that unless you really cared about the woman.”
“Times have changed.” Brooke scrutinized her nice fresh coat of nude nail polish. “It isn’t like that with him.” Brooke plunged her hand into her pocket and retrieved her phone. Then located the list of rules they had agreed upon for their fake dating relationship in her notes. “See?” She whipped the screen around to let him see it. “It’s right here in black and white. We have an agreement. The entire thing is fake.”
George tipped up his hat a bit then took her phone from her. “Geez, I’m getting old.” He patted the desk and located his readers. Once on, he scanned the list. “These are the rules?” He looked up at her over the top of his glasses. “Seems like a lot of nonsense for two people who are fighting real feelings.”
“We’re friends who need to make other people jealous.”
He cleared his throat then peered back down at the phone. “Rule one, hand holding will only be done in the presence of Justin and/or Shelby. Huh?” George scratched his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“We had to establish the rules. I didn’t want to really fall in love with Logan.”
“And why,” George scrolled through the list, “would that be such a bad idea?”
“Because I’m not over Justin,” she countered.
“Wrong.” He scrolled more. “Try again.”
“Because,” she thought for a minute then added, “I need time to be single.”
“Stop spewing a bunch of malarkey.” George finished reading and handed the phone back to her. He removed his glasses and tossed them onto the desk. “I really like the addendums about kissing. Tongue can only be used if and when Justin or Shelby are staring.” He laughed and shook his head. “Nice try. It’s not going to work, because you’re playing with fire.”
“I don’t think we’ll ever get to kissing.” She slipped the phone back into her pocket. “It probably wasn’t necessary to include it.”
“Maybe.”
