Pretend To Be Mine

by C. Morgan

  They’d danced to “You Are My Sunshine” at mine and Mona’s wedding. Now they danced to Elton John. Halfway through the song, Logan and his mother joined them for their dance. As the song wound down, other couples took to the floor. Mona and Logan paired back up and invited their bridal party to dance. The lights stayed down low as one slow song faded into the next until they worked their way up to something with a beat.

  Alphie hit the dance floor. Children sprang up from their chairs and joined in and the official party began.

  Natalie rose from her chair, tipped her head back, and drained the rest of the champagne from her glass. I wasn’t sure how many either of us had drunk, but apparently, we’d had enough for me to agree to a dance when she offered me her hand. We wove between tables and made our way to the dance floor, where I spun her toward me, caught her in my arms, and kissed her like we were the only two people in the room.

  In a way, it felt like we were.

  I didn’t give a damn about the people all around us. What they thought of me no longer mattered. This wedding, despite how hard the afternoon portion had been, enabled me to finally close the door on the past two years of my life.

  Now I was looking at my future. I was twirling it on the dance floor and holding it in my hands and wondering how the hell I’d gotten this lucky.

  Through Grady of all people.

  Natalie’s laughter was carefree and vivacious as I dipped her low and brought her back up. She lost her balance and stumbled into my chest, where she braced herself with both hands. I caught her left one and looked down at the ring.

  I liked how it looked on her maybe a little more than I should have.

  “Is it bad that I don’t want to take it off?” she said over the music.

  I shook my head as my heart thumped in my chest. “Not at all. Maybe you shouldn’t.”

  Her lips parted in a silent question. I smiled. She was about to speak when Cora appeared between our legs.

  She tugged on my jacket and begged to dance with us. Natalie giggled and stepped back so Cora could stand on top of my feet. I held her little hands in mine and we danced like we did in my living room back at the house. Natalie egged us on as I picked Cora up, spun her around, and tossed her in the air. Her gleeful laugh drew smiles from people all around us.

  When I caught her, I nuzzled my cheek against hers and showered her in kisses. She squealed in delight and begged me to do it again before I set her back down and twirled her in circles. Her dress fanned out all around her and I caught Natalie watching us with her hands clasped together under her chin.

  She was looking at me like she never had before.

  Natalie caught my eye and blushed a deep shade of red. I longed to take her up to our hotel room and steal an hour alone with her. We could come back down to the party afterward. Nobody would even notice we were missing.

  Would they?

  Cora announced that she was thirsty before rushing away through the crowded dance floor. I reached out for Natalie. She put her hand in mine.

  “Should we get out of here?” I asked.

  “I thought we were watching Cora tonight.”

  “We only need an hour. Not even. I just need you. Alone. Out of that dress. Now.”

  Natalie pinched her bottom lip between her teeth. “Maybe now is a good time to tell you I have a little surprise for you.”

  “A surprise?”

  She leaned in close and used my shoulder to keep herself steady as she stretched to the tips of her toes. “I’m not wearing any panties.”

  I grabbed her hips, spun her around, and marched her off the dance floor. “Hotel room it is.”

  Her laughter flowed freely as we made for the doors, where, seemingly out of thin air, Mona materialized. Natalie and I drew up short and her laughter died on her lips as Mona’s eyes narrowed to pinpoints.

  “Rylen, can I speak with you?”

  Natalie and I exchanged a look.

  “Sure, Natalie, do you mind?”

  Natalie shook her head. “I’ll see if Cora will indulge me in another dance.”

  Mona didn’t wait a beat before taking my hand and dragging me out into the foyer. We took a sharp turn around a corner, where she backed me up against the wall and pointed an accusing finger up at my face. “Are you trying to make a fool out of me, Ry?”

  “Sorry?”

  “Is it true? What people are saying?”

  “What are they saying?” I asked, playing dumb.

  “Don’t fuck with me right now, Ry. I’m being serious.”

  “You need to give me more information.”

  Her hands balled into fists at her sides. “Did you bring a hooker to my fucking wedding?”

  Chapter 35

  Natalie

  Cora hadn’t been all that interested in another dance but she indulged me anyway before the friend she’d been playing with at the rehearsal dinner last night came and stole her away. I smiled and watched the two girls disappear between the legs of dancers on the dance floor.

  Cora was certainly enjoying herself. There was no telling how many pieces of cake she’d manage to pack away, but judging by the icing stain on her dress and her blue-tinted tongue, I’d have placed a hefty bet that she was at least three slices deep. Maybe four. Add some soda in the mix and we had a recipe for a wired child on our hands tonight when we returned to our room.

  Speaking of returning to our room, I straightened up and peered over at the ballroom doors.

  Rylen and Mona had been talking for over fifteen minutes now. I could be patient. There were probably important things for them to discuss. However, as I gazed at the ring on my hand and leaned back in my chair, I wondered if they were talking about me.

  Most likely, I thought.

  Or perhaps they were making peace.

  Rylen seemed to have accepted the wedding as soon as we left the chapel. The chip he’d been carrying on his shoulder for the past few days had slipped away and he was back to his charismatic self. I was sure all the champagne we’d been sipping on played a role in his high spirits this evening but it wasn’t just that. He was lighter on his feet.

  He had closure.

  I turned the Swarovski ring around my finger a couple of times. It truly did feel like it had been on my hand for far longer than a couple of days. It felt like Rylen had put it there ages ago. It also felt like he’d proposed, even though that never actually happened.

  I gave my head a shake and sat on my hand so I wasn’t distracted by the shiny jewel. You’re not engaged, I told myself. He hired you. This is a job.

  I almost laughed at my own willful ignorance.

  Rylen was so much more than a job. He had been since the start. What we had was real. These feelings? They weren’t in my head and I was almost positive Rylen wasn’t putting on an act with me. He cared for me too.

  All love stories had to start somewhere. So what if ours started with him hiring me to pretend to be his fiancée?

  Alphie passed by where I was sitting at an empty table and shot me an amused look before averting his gaze and snickering to himself.

  I narrowed my eyes and watched him slip away to the bar, where he beckoned a few women over to him and spoke hurriedly to them. In unison, they all looked up and in my direction. Realizing I was staring right at them, they burst into a fit of giggles and turned their backs on me.

  What the hell was going on?

  I scanned the rest of the ballroom. More than just that one group had taken special interest in me. Sure, I’d been the center of attention a great deal since we arrived at the hotel but not like this. This felt different. Their stares were sharp and accusing. Several people had their phones out and were showing each other their screens.

  I tried to ignore the laughter. My ring provided a temporary distraction once more, but it didn’t last long. Soon enough, the laughter became impossible to turn away from. My cheeks started to burn and I didn’t even know why I was embarrassed.

  After being left on my
own for almost twenty-five minutes, I abandoned my cause and marched out of the ballroom to find Rylen.

  I didn’t appreciate being hung out to dry like that with all those people.

  I came around the corner of the ballroom and drew up short when I saw Mona standing at the far end of the hall near the corner. She was talking to someone, or rather talking at them, but I couldn’t see who it was around the corner of the wall.

  I didn’t need to see them, though. I knew it would be Rylen taking her tongue lashing.

  Thinking I could spare him from her wrath, I made my way across the marble floors to intervene, but I drew up short when I heard the words being exchanged.

  “This is my wedding, Rylen,” Mona hissed. “Did you not consider how this might make me look? How it would make you look?”

  Rylen laughed bitterly. “I don’t give a shit about how you look, Mona.”

  So I could rule out the thought that they were making peace. This was definitely not peace. This was anger. I ducked behind a pillar upon which a bouquet of roses sat. The pillar and flowers were wide enough to hide me completely from view but still let me hear what they were saying. I wasn’t sure why I hid. I could have just gone up to them and broken up the argument.

  But I didn’t. I tucked myself away and listened.

  “Apparently, you don’t,” Mona growled. “You never cared about anyone else. All you ever cared about was your fucking job. And now that I’ve finally moved on—”

  “Finally moved on?” he asked sharply. “You moved on two years into our marriage when you fucked Logan in our bed! Don’t pretend you’re the one who was hard done by here. I accept accountability for checking out of our marriage but I never betrayed you. I never tried to hurt you.”

  “I never tried to hurt you either.”

  “Who are you trying to convince that you’re not a bad person, Mona? Me or you?”

  A moment of silence stretched between them before Mona spoke again. “You have to think of Cora and the example you’re setting for her. Do you seriously think your little slut is the right woman to bring around her?”

  “Careful,” Rylen growled.

  “Don’t give me that shit. You know I’m right. That whore has no place being at my wedding, and she certainly doesn’t have a place being around my daughter!”

  Rylen’s voice dropped an octave and wavered with anger. “She’s an escort, Mona. A high end, well paid, successful businesswoman. I bought her and her time so that I could get through this miserable evening without all these shallow, heartless, cruel people thinking I was a loser still groveling over you.”

  “You hired a hooker to be your bodyguard?” Mona laughed. “Really respectable, Rylen. Truly. Just because you couldn’t take a little bit of heat?”

  “I’m not the adulterer. I shouldn’t be taking any heat.”

  “I get it, okay? I get it! I fucked up. I cheated. But I didn’t feel like I had any other options. You were always coming home late, always checking out early, always leaving everything to me to handle, and I was exhausted. Logan made me feel like—like—”

  “Like what?”

  “Wanted!” Mona cried desperately. “He made me feel wanted. And I gave in because I needed a man to look at me like he wanted me. I needed a man to notice me and Logan did when you didn’t. You got lazy, Rylen. And I stopped trying. And I’m sorry.”

  Rylen didn’t say a word.

  I held my breath as the silence stretched. A server approached with a platter balanced on one hand full of champagne flutes with bubbles creeping up the glass. He offered one to me but I shook my head and shooed him away. My stomach rolled and I didn’t dare peek around the roses to see if Mona had seen me. I held my breath and waited.

  Finally, Mona broke the silence. “We fell apart long before I cheated,” she said slowly. “I should have handled things better. I know that. And I’m sorry my family hasn’t been kind to you. But do you honestly think my wedding was the time to make a stand and try to make a fool out of me?”

  “I wasn’t trying to.”

  “Yes, you were,” Mona said firmly. “I know you. I was married to you. You brought your little side piece to piss me off. Well guess what? It worked. Because I’m out here talking to your selfish ass while my new husband, who I love very much for the record, waits for me inside knowing I had to come out and handle this. You should be ashamed for humiliating me.”

  “I’m the one being humiliated! I’m the one who flew halfway around the world to watch you marry another man. I’m the one who felt too damn insecure to stand on my own in front of you that I had to buy a woman in order for you to think I wasn’t falling apart.”

  Buy a woman? Is that all he thinks of me? As a product?

  Mona sighed. “You should have just told me you weren’t coming instead of bringing her here.”

  Rylen was quiet until, to my horror, he agreed. “You’re right.”

  “So you admit this whole thing was a farce?”

  “Yes.”

  “And the ring?”

  “Fake.”

  “You are such a jackass.”

  Rylen sighed now. “I didn’t want you to look at me the way you’re looking at me now.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t be if you hadn’t brought a lady of the night to my dream wedding.”

  “I know.”

  A lady of the night? A whore? A slut?

  Why hadn’t he defended me? Why hadn’t he explained that he had real feelings? Why hadn’t he stood his ground and told her she was out of line?

  Because he doesn’t feel the way about you that you feel about him.

  My heart thudded wildly against my ribs until all at once it fell to pieces. I tried to catch them with my will but failed. A sob escaped me and I clamped a hand over my mouth.

  It was too late. Mona had seen me.

  She said Rylen’s name, and as I rushed out from behind the pillar and flowers, he stepped into the hallway.

  “Natalie,” he breathed. “Wait.”

  I took the ring off my finger and threw it at him. He flinched.

  “I don’t want your money,” I managed through my tears. “If I’d known this was all you thought of me, I never would have done you this favor. Screw you and screw Grady for letting me believe you were anything but the arrogant bastard you are!”

  He stepped toward me with an outstretched hand. “Please, Natalie. I—”

  But I was already fleeing. I rushed for the elevators and got on with two drunken wedding guests who were making out. They shot dirty looks my way before laughing hysterically the entire ride up to my floor. I got off the elevator, cheeks burning, tears flowing, and locked myself up in our suite. I locked the deadbolt so that when Rylen tried to get in two minutes later, he failed.

  He called my name through the door as I frantically packed my suitcases.

  I had to get the hell out of there. I had to put as much space between me and him as soon as possible.

  I had to run.

  Chapter 36

  Rylen

  Cora rubbed at her eyes as we inched forward in the airport line toward customs. We’d already landed back in San Francisco after a long flight and an even longer past couple of days.

  I’d wanted to run after Natalie when she’d left the hotel the night of the wedding. I could still see her face every time I closed my eyes when she wrenched open the hotel room door and lugged her suitcases out into the hall where I’d been begging her to let me in for fifteen minutes. Her cheeks were streaked with mascara stains from her tears. She was red in the face and she’d changed out of the blue dress she wore to the wedding and into a pair of jeans, boots, and her winter parka.

  I’d begged her to hear me out. She wasn’t having any of it. I couldn’t blame her for that. I’d embarrassed her. I’d said things I couldn’t take back regardless of whether she’d heard them out of context. I’d still said them.

  Guilt gnawed away at my insides as I handed over the customs information I’d filled o
ut on the flight to the agent when we reached the front of the line. She was a middle-aged woman who smiled and waved at Cora, who yawned but managed a wave back.

  “Long flight, sweetheart?” the agent asked.

  Cora nodded.

  The agent turned her attention to me. “Do you have a long drive ahead of you?”

  “An hour or so.”

  She wished us a good evening and sent us on our way to pick up our luggage. That required standing around for another half hour, which Cora positively could not handle. Her emotions started tugging at her and she began to get teary eyed, so I crouched down, scooped her up, and rubbed her back as she fell asleep on my shoulder much like she had on the wedding night.

  The carousel spat our luggage out and I balanced Cora’s smaller suitcase on top of mine so I could pull them behind me in one hand and still hold her in the other arm as I went out to find a ride home. That in itself wasn’t an easy task but I needed a car that had a car seat in it. I had to call and order one, which meant we were standing around outside for yet another half hour.

  Just what I need, I thought as I shifted my weight from foot to foot, rocking Cora gently, more time to be alone with my thoughts.

  I’d broken Natalie’s heart in one fell swoop and I watched it happen in the foyer outside the ballroom. The way she crumpled right before my eyes haunted me all through the night and following day yesterday, when I’d been forced to go back downstairs with Cora and endure the after-wedding brunch in the smaller ballroom with family and close friends, and the bride and groom.

  It was the last thing I’d wanted to do, and the only reason I went was for Cora.

  I might have been the guy who showed up to his ex-wife’s wedding “fake engaged” to an escort, but I wasn’t going to be the guy who ruined the fun for my little girl. Yes, that meant I’d been the punchline of many tasteless jokes over crepes and coffee, but I took it in stride and considered it part of the consequences for what I’d done to Natalie the night before.