by Kensie King
We’d become friends instantly—maybe because she reminded me of my sister and I’d been a little homesick at the time. Law school was more work than I’d expected. But following in my father’s footsteps always was.
“Oooh, look at you,” Elise said as I stood from the table and wrapped my arms around her. “Let me guess. Dulce and Gabana? Brioni?” She fingered the lapel of my jacket. “Gucci?”
I laughed. “Is that why you wanted to meet for lunch? To discuss fashion?”
“Just saying. You clean up well.”
“I’m pretty sure you’ve seen me in a suit before,” I said as we both sat.
Her lips curved. “I’ve seen you out of a suit before, too.”
I pulled the cuffs of my jacket down in a casual gesture. She was never going to let me live that down. “Best day of your life,” I said. “You can’t seem to forget it.”
Her grin split her cheeks. “Funny. You’re not my type, though.”
No. We’d discovered that immediately. She’d pegged me as gay before she’d even introduced herself, but Elise was one of the least judgmental people I knew. Maybe that was why she’d decided not to become a lawyer. She just wasn’t cut out for that kind of lifestyle.
But before she’d discovered that, we’d spent several months as good friends and even roommates for a few of those. Until she’d come home and found me naked on the bed waiting for my boyfriend.
That was the last time we’d lived together, though we could laugh about it even back then. That was the last time I’d had a true boyfriend, too. Back when I subscribed to the theory that the world really was a bright, hopeful place.
Before my dad had died and love had seemed possible.
“So what’s this question you have for me?” I asked.
She lifted her menu and scanned the appetizers. “My lease. I looked it over and I’m pretty sure we’re being screwed. But I wanted a professional opinion.”
“I’m way too expensive for you.” I returned her smile. “Of course I’ll take a look. You’re probably right, but I’ll take a look.”
She gestured to her purse. “I brought it with me, but let’s order first. Catch up.”
Catching up with Elise was like trying to keep up with a toddler. She moved fast—spoke fast, gestured fast, thought fast on her feet. It made me wonder why we’d lost touch for a while. She was one of the few people I could open up with and feel like we were on the same plane.
Except that her life had changed completely since we’d last seen each other. She wasn’t interested in the professional world anymore. She worked at a coffee shop. She had a boyfriend she seemed madly in love with.
She had the personal life I was looking for, and I had the job we’d both wanted several years back. But, sad to say, it felt like her life was far more balanced than mine.
Even if I had a Gucci suit in my closet back at home.
When I finally got a chance to look over the contract, it only took a moment to see that her landlord was definitely trying to screw her over. “Did he do this before, too?” I asked.
She nodded. “About a year ago. But then I had Roe move in and he helped with rent so…” She shrugged. “I should’ve paid more attention.”
“Roe?”
“My roommate.”
“Ah.” I handed her back the lease. “Well. You and Roe are getting screwed.”
“More like Roe.” She shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable. “I wanted to move out with Jason.”
“Then why doesn’t it matter if your landlord is an asshat?” I asked, lifting my water. “Move out. Or does Roe know this is the situation?”
She put her face to her palm with a groan. “No. Because I feel bad. I love Roe—he’s the best. But I want to live with Jason.”
“Can’t Roe afford the place himself?”
She snorted and gave me a look that said I should know better. “Really, Luke? We’re not all lawyers.”
I let the comment go. I wasn’t exactly rolling in money, but I never worried about my bills either. I never worried about rent, and that was for a decent penthouse apartment. An apartment I hardly ever even stayed at because I was always busy at work.
“Not sure what to tell you,” I said, reaching for the check immediately when the waitress came back over. “But Roe definitely doesn’t have to pay more in rent if he finishes out the lease. He has a couple of months to find a new place. Then the landlord might have more ground to stand on. But we could fight it.”
Elise eyed the bill but didn’t say a word. She knew I’d argue for it—and I’d win. “Even if the rent stays the same, Roe’s still fucked. He’s saving every penny he has already.”
I nodded, handing the check back to the waitress and murmuring, “Keep the change.”
“It sucks being grown-up,” Elise said, standing.
I joined her. “No doubt. But if your landlord causes a scene about that lease, let me know. I can take care of that, at least.”
Elise smiled at me, her dimples appearing. “I appreciate it. Anything I can do for you?”
I lifted my eyebrows with a smirk, blurting the words before I really thought them through. “Find me a fake boyfriend?”
She blinked and returned to her seat. “Whoa. Hold on. Why didn’t you say this earlier? I need to sit for this.”
I shook my head. “It was just a joke. It’s…” I pocketed my hands, staring out the window as people walked by. Families, couples, men and women holding hands. “It’s a long story.”
“You can take a long lunch today, right?”
Long lunch? Why would I want to do that? Oh yeah, because the partners wanted proof I had a life, and this was part of it. Friends. Family. A man.
I wasn’t exactly dying to tell Elise the backstory, but if anyone could understand—more, if anyone could help—it was her. She’d set me up on plenty of dates in college, and more often than not, they worked. I’d had a few good, short relationships and some fun one-night stands.
I couldn’t complain.
Besides, Elise was the only one I knew who’d do this without breathing a word to anyone else. She’d help me and then keep my secret as long as I needed her to.
“Please tell me I get to set you up,” Elise said, waving me back down. “Sit. Talk.”
I rubbed my fingers against my temples but returned to my seat. “It’s kind of a long story.”
“We should get a drink.”
I gave a choked laugh. “Not that long. I lied to my partners and told them I had a boyfriend.”
She blinked. “Why would you do that?”
I didn’t answer her, trying to figure out why the hell I had done it. The truth would have been easier. But I was in the business of trying to please the client and trying to make things sound better than they were. I wanted my life to look better than it was—no, to be better than it was.
Sure, I was trying to become partner. But maybe, just maybe, a small part of me had been embarrassed to be single and alone in a room full of men who loved their wives and had families. Children.
I had a chia plant my sister gave me for Christmas last year and that wasn’t faring well on the counter in my kitchen. I needed to throw it away, but every time I thought about doing it, I got busy with something else and forgot.
That showed just how much I was at home. I didn’t have time to throw a plant away and even less time to keep it alive.
Elise waved her hand. “Never mind. I don’t need to know your motives.” She smirked. “Just tell me how to help.”
With a soft sigh, I reclined in my seat and put one ankle over the opposite knee. I could trust Elise, I knew that without a doubt. So I told her the truth.
That I needed a fake boyfriend, and I needed one yesterday.
4
____________________
ROE
The boss was in today, which meant no music other than Bach or Mozart—he wouldn’t even let us do something instrumental. Maybe a little Yanni or something. No, it
had to be classical. I was all for classics, but variety went a long way.
That also meant no big bucket and no chatting with the customers—which was the real reason why I kept this job.
Well, that and the money. I needed the money and working at the coffee shop gave me the opportunity to get hours in the morning before I spent afternoons and evenings at the community center or Kelly Theatre.
To make it worse, our corporate office had decided to raise the prices by a quarter on every item, which meant I was spending downtime changing the board and having to explain to customers as they came in that their regular order was now more expensive.
And I still hadn’t talked with Elise. Something was going on, I just couldn’t figure out what it was. She’d asked to meet me at the end of my shift today and said she was bringing a friend she thought I might like.
I had a feeling this wasn’t what she’d wanted to talk to me about a few days ago, but I’d indulge her until she felt comfortable enough to talk to me.
As for the set-up…I peeled another number off the board and cursed when it dropped to the floor. I didn’t know how to feel. All of the men Elise seemed to want to set me up with were high-powered businessmen. Ones in suits.
Fucking sexy but only good for a one-night stand. I’d done that the first week I’d arrived in the city and it had been the biggest mistake of my life.
But I’d needed someone to talk to and someone to take my mind off of real life, and there he was. Lucas Stone. He’d walked right into the party Elise had brought me to and our eyes locked. A total magical movie moment—like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
He had a strong jaw with the shadow of stubble, dark hair that naturally waved to the side but would slip over his forehead every time he threw his head back and laughed. It had taken everything I had not to brush my fingers through it each and every time. Until he’d taken my elbow. Until he’d said, “Let’s talk,” in the lowest, sexiest voice I’d ever heard, and we’d left the party and walked through the city with our hands linked.
We’d spent the weekend together, heading out of the city on a whim, and finding a cute B&B on the coast that gave us an excuse to be romantic. To explore each other in ways I never knew existed.
It was the distraction I’d needed at the time, but it had turned into something more. Until he’d vanished on me and broken my heart.
I’d made a horrible mistake and tended to steer clear of men in business suits from that time on.
Regrets like that made it hard for me to want to date again. And with Cary Grant and Gene Kelly playing through my brain day after day, how was the real world really supposed to live up to my own version of romance?
I didn’t want business suits and ties, I wanted walks in the park and weekends spent in each other’s arms. I wanted musicals and dancing, and the world wanted to give me penthouses and stock options.
When the front door opened and Mrs. Lewis came in, I climbed down from the ladder I was using to reach the pricing board.
“Oh, honey—I can’t look.” She shielded her eyes. “Be careful, please. I have something to show you and I can’t do that if you’re splattered on the floor.”
I chuckled as I finished my descent. “Don’t worry, I’m always extra careful. No one has time for a broken leg.”
Or the time to work another job to pay for decent healthcare.
“Or a broken hip,” Mrs. Lewis said seriously.
“For sure.” I glanced to the back of the coffee shop where Mr. Steiner’s office was. “What did you have to show me?”
“Oh.” Her voice lowered. “Is he here? That douche boss of yours?”
I choked on a laugh. “Shirley!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll use code,” she said grinning and making her voice louder. “I just love coffee! I had to get some to celebrate my newest purchase.”
Mrs. Lewis backed up and leaned heavily on her cane to lift one foot.
“The tap shoes!” I watched her with a grin as she did a small spin. Not only had she gotten her tap shoes but she’d opted for a bright red that looked amazing on her. “Oooh la la.”
Her cheeks flushed. Then she glanced behind the counter and her smile straightened out. “I’ll have my usual.”
Dammit. Mr. Steiner peered out of his office and I focused on the register. “Right. That’ll be $4.75.”
Mrs. Lewis’s eyes came up to meet mine. “$4.75? I thought…”
I cursed under my breath and then gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry—they just rose the prices.”
She held out her hand, palm full of dollar bills and change. “But I only have $4.50.” Of course she did. Mrs. Lewis always had exact change because her weekly coffee was in her budget—as long as she stuck to her budget.
I dug in my pocket. “It’s fine. I’ve got it.”
I brandished a quarter and dropped it in the cash register along with Mrs. Lewis’s money.
“Roe,” she chided.
“Don’t say a word. You’d do the same for me. Let’s get your coffee.”
I finished her drink and watched her walk back outside with it, smiling up at the sunny sky. One thing I’d learned from Mrs. Lewis was to appreciate every single day because you never knew when it would be your last.
Her husband had had a stroke last year and passed away. I’d only known her for a few months then, but our Saturday night classic movies helped her through the worst of it and bonded us more than I expected.
She was old enough to be my grandmother and then some, but in many ways, she felt almost like a mother. The one I’d lost just before I’d moved to the city.
Before I could ascend the ladder again, Mr. Steiner was there with his permanent frown. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”
“Uh—sure.” I glanced back to make sure there weren’t any customers before following him to the small office.
He didn’t even wait for me to enter the small room fully. “What was that?”
I blinked, my mind drawing a blank. “What?”
“That lady out there. The one you just helped?”
“Mrs. Lewis? She’s one of our regulars.” Which he would know if he ever left his office for longer than a few minutes—time in which he used to nag employees who could run this shop without him. “She just wanted to show off her new shoes. She likes to talk—”
“I don’t mean how long you were talking to her, though you need to keep your comments to a minimum. We’re running a business here. Move the customers.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I mean what you did at the end. Reached into your pocket with the register open.”
My stomach churned with frustration. “No, no. I wasn’t taking anything. I was putting money in.” I winced at his expression and hurried on to reassure him. “She was short a quarter because of the price change. She hasn’t been in since the prices went up and she always brings the exact amount to cover her coffee. I told her I’d take care of it this time.”
He frowned, his eyebrows pinching together tightly.
“You can check my register,” I said. Asshole. “I promise it won’t be short.”
There wasn’t any reason for it to be. And I knew one thing for sure, I was not a thief. I’d never steal from my employer no matter how desperate I was to save money. Mr. Steiner should know that by now. His regulars were regular because of me. They liked talking, joking, seeing a familiar face every time they came in.
“I’ll do that,” Mr. Steiner said. “You’re already on thin ice. You never put money into or take money out of the register unless it’s the customer’s. I don’t care how well you know them and how much they want to tell you about their new shoes. Follow the rules.”
I nodded, anger coursing through me. “Of course. I will.”
Thin ice? I turned and went back to my post, glaring at the ladder as I passed it. How was I on thin ice? Mr. Steiner had called me in early this morning to change the boards. He’d asked me to work extra shifts the last few days because anoth
er employee quit.
I was doing exactly what he wanted even though I was fairly certain I could run this place better than him and I was on thin ice?
“Roe!”
Elise appeared with a wide grin. She leaned across the counter, looking for Mr. Steiner before lowering her voice. “I know your shift is almost over, but can you make me a vanilla latte first? And deliver it to the table in the corner.” She pointed over her shoulder, eyes wide. “He’s here!”
My gaze flashed to the man in the corner. A business suit. Of course. He was staring at something on his phone, head tilted down enough I couldn’t make out most of his features.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” she whispered. “And then I’ll play matchmaker!”
Her laughter trailed behind her as she walked away. I ducked behind the espresso machine. Fuck. I didn’t want to meet anyone right now. Not after Mr. Steiner’s blatant attack on me.
I squirted vanilla into a paper cup, my heart rate picking up. He did look cute, though. A dark shock of hair that waved over his forehead. Slender, and fairly muscular under that fancy suit.
Dammit. There was no way I was going to get out of this. Elise was too persistent.
And maybe I needed this. A distraction.
I removed my apron and set it aside before grabbing the latte and heading around the counter. I put on my charming smile, the one with the dimples, the one that had landed me a few dates in the past.
God, he really did have a body under that suit. I could see it in the bulk of his shoulders, the strength in his forearms as he rested them on the table to type something into his phone.
Then he looked up.
I slowed down, my feet feeling like they were wading through molasses. The world came to a stop when he met my eyes.
Recognition hit us both at the same time.
It was Lucas.
As in, Lucas who I’d had a brief fling with right after I moved to town and been too embarrassed to tell anyone about. As in, Lucas who’d stomped on my heart and made me hate business suits.
