“So while we were commiserating, Luke had the idea that we should be a pretend couple. Since the town gossips have already paired us up, what do we have to lose?” Stella shrugged. “Personally speaking, I have everything to gain. By being Luke’s boo for the summer I won’t have to be thrown into the lion’s den on any more blind dates. Mom and Dad will finally lay off me. Guys like Paul and Tucker will have to suck it up and face the fact that I’m off the market. Likewise, all the women who’ve been stalking him will have to cease and desist.”
“You can’t be serious.” Lucy’s beautiful brown eyes bulged and her mouth went slack. “Stella, have you completely lost your mind?” Stella wanted to laugh at Lucy’s indignation. Judging by her expression, Lucy was suffering from a serious case of outrage.
“That’s usually what I find myself saying to you,” Stella responded. “My how the tables have turned.” Last December Stella had been forced to counsel Lucy as she dove headfirst into a relationship with her high school sweetheart who had left Lucy brokenhearted eight years earlier. More times than not, Lucy had ignored her warnings and followed her heart. In the end, Lucy’s instincts had been spot-on. She’d walked off into the sunset with Dante and soon they would be getting hitched. Stella often thought she should be taking lessons from her sister. Lucy could make a fortune selling her services.How to land a movie star over the holidays in six easy lessons.
Lucy rummaged around on her desk, pausing to look up at Stella. “I’m confused. Why go to all this trouble? Seems a lot easier to just tell everyone in town to leave you alone, including Tucker and Paul.”
“Come on, Lucy. You know how this works. Even if I did manage to convince Tucker and Paul to beat it, there’s still our parents to contend with along with a host of other town matchmakers. Do you have any idea how many blind dates Mom and Dad have tried to set me up on? They are clearly trying to get their spinster daughter off the market.”
“Spinster? You sound like you’re living in a Jane Austen novel.” Lucy wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t know they’ve been pressuring you so much. I’m sorry about that. Do I dare ask who with?”
Stella made a face. “Nobody special.” No one who made her pulse quicken. No one who made her go weak in the knees. No one who she could picture herself sitting on the beach with, watching the stars as they lit up the night sky.
“Stella, you say that about everybody. I know you loved Rafe, but you’re going to have to bend a little in order to give someone else a chance to be in your life.” Lucy squeezed Stella’s hand. “You deserve to be adored.”
Was it such a bad thing to expect someone wonderful? She shouldn’t have to settle for less to find someone decent. Sometimes her heart ached just thinking about all she’d lost. Sure, in the end, Rafe had turned out to be a huge tool, but when things were good between them it had felt like a fairy tale. Growing up in Mistletoe, Stella had always felt invisible, so to be appreciated and valued by a man like Rafe had been amazing. She’d felt like Cinderella at the ball when he’d asked her to marry him. Was it wrong to want to feel that way again?
“This gives me time to breathe,” Stella explained. For so long she’d been treading water simply so she wouldn’t drown. It felt as if Luke had thrown her a life preserver.
“And time to get over Rafe?” Lucy asked bluntly. Lucy knew her more intimately than anyone else in the world. Even though she and Lucy shared an unbreakable bond, Stella was a bit reluctant to dredge up painful memories.
“Come on. Fess up.” Lucy playfully swatted her with a manila folder. “You know I’ll get it out of you one way or another.”
Stella shrugged. “Sometimes it seems that I’m over Rafe, but then I catch a glimpse of him at the market and it feels like I’ve been slapped in the face. I thought I’d be growing old with him. I’d already written my vows when he told me he didn’t want to marry me. And still I lay awake at night and ask myself at what exact moment did he stop loving me? And why didn’t I see it?” Her eyes burned with unshed tears. “I thought I’d turned a corner on all this, but then he had the baby. For some reason it brought up all of these emotions inside of me.”
Stella felt Lucy’s arm around her shoulder. “I think it’s all tied up in loss. You had the rug pulled out from underneath you, so you’re still trying to get your balance. Give yourself a break.”
Loss. What she had been going through was akin to grieving a death. There was no timetable for it, no magical moment when she could wave a wand and be healed. She honestly believed that if she didn’t have the additional pressures and expectations about dating someone placed on her shoulders, she would finally be able to move on with her life. It was impossible to make progress when she felt so many eyes watching her. She kept wondering if they were waiting for her to stumble.
“Thanks for understanding, sis.” Stella ran a hand through her hair. “So far Rafe has been coming out of all this smelling like a rose. He got the wedding to his childhood sweetheart. And my baby name. Not to mention he’s living in the house we talked about buying for ourselves. I have to go out of my way not to drive by that sweet yellow Victorian. I can’t even bear to look at it.”
“He’s really a creep,” Lucy said, slamming her palm down on her desk. “Seriously, it’s not too late for me to hunt him down and do a few Tae Kwon Do moves on him.”
Stella giggled. “You don’t even know martial arts. And even if you did, I can’t let you do that on my behalf. We both have to uphold our professional images.”
“If you say so,” Lucy muttered. Stella had to laugh at her sister. Despite her butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth demeanor, Lucy was part bulldog. Even Dante had found that out the hard way.
“Okay, so it’s all making more sense now.” A wicked grin appeared on Lucy’s face. “The best way to get over your stinkin’ ex is to get involved with a smoldering Navy SEAL.”
Stella emphatically shook her head. “No! It won’t be real, Lucy. It’ll be a fauxmance. It’s just for show.”
Lucy winked at her. “Well, that’s what you say now. Luke Keegan is the type of guy a girl wants to take home to Mama.”
Luke’s handsome face flashed before Stella’s eyes. She couldn’t disagree with Lucy on that point. Who wouldn’t be attracted to a man like Luke? He wasn’t just easy on the eyes. Luke was kind and gentle, with a huge heart that had been on full display with Miles. He was so easy to talk to and they shared a wonderful rapport. To top it off, he had a great sense of humor and a killer smile that Stella found irresistible. She just enjoyed being around him.
The whole Navy SEAL thing was swoon worthy too. She knew all about his Medal of Honor commendation, which told her he was heroic in a crisis. This man had saved lives and thwarted terrorism. Stella didn’t know the details, but there had been a traumatic incident in Afghanistan that had torpedoed Luke. It made her sad to think about Luke suffering in any way. He radiated goodness.
“Oooooh!” Lucy snapped her fingers. “Imagine Rafe’s reaction when he realizes you’re coupled up with an actual hero.” She fanned her face. “And a hot one at that. I’d love to be a fly on that wall.”
Stella scoffed. “Why would he care? His life is pretty near perfect, which is annoying. Even his wife looks like he ordered her out of a catalog.” Ugh. She hated the way she sounded. She didn’t know Tabitha, and she didn’t have any beef with her. To this day Stella had no idea whether Tabitha knew about her and Rafe’s canceled wedding. Rafe was a master manipulator, and she wouldn’t be surprised at all if he’d completely bamboozled her.
“No one’s life is perfect,” Lucy said. “Rafe is a classic narcissist. He loves the idea that you’re single and sitting around on Saturday nights thinking about him.” She gleefully rubbed her hands together. “It’ll make him burn a little to see you out and about with Luke.”
Stella rolled her eyes. “Lucy, that’s not my goal.” She was trying her best not to be petty in her day-to-day life. It would only serve to drag her under. If Rafe had cared for her at all, he wouldn’t have treated her so horribly in the first place. She had no illusions anymore about her ex-fiancé. Stella had wanted to spend her life with Rafe because she’d believed him to be loyal, loving, and honest. She now knew he didn’t possess any of these qualities.
“I know it’s not your focus, but it’s like having gravy on your mashed potatoes. It will be an added benefit of spending time with such a swoon-worthy man.”
“I thought that I was the only man you viewed as swoon worthy.” The low, rich voice came out of nowhere, surprising them both. Stella heard Lucy squeal, then watched as her sister came from behind the desk and hurled herself at the tall, gorgeous man standing there. “Dante!” she cried out as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
