Fake-Dating The Single Dad (Gems 0f Love Book 3)

by Agnes Canestri

  While waiting for her sister, Ginny strolled into Giada’s atelier. The small space was cramped with her sister’s sculptures and tools. Ginny walked to the round worktable and brushed her thumb on the half-ready couple Giada had been carving.

  The woman’s face had already been chiseled to perfection so it looked as though she could stand up and walk any minute, while the man’s features were still undefined.

  Something about this particular piece gripped Ginny’s soul.

  Maybe it was the apparent sorrow in the woman’s glance or that ambiguous expression on the man’s unfinished face. It reminded her of Nick and her. He’d always been unreachable and obscure, while she had given nothing but the truth.

  Giada tapped her shoulder gently. “You like this?”

  “Yes,” Ginny sighed, “somehow it speaks to me in a way the others don’t. I’m not sure why.”

  Giada stepped close to the table and caressed the sculpture. “I did it in a whim of nostalgia.”

  Ginny arched her brows. “Gabriel?”

  Her sister lowered her glance. “I don’t think of him a lot anymore, but there are still moments when…” She shrugged and dropped her hand.

  Ginny’s throat swelled up. She’d forgotten that Giada was probably an expert on hopeless relationships, given that she’d been in love with their brother’s best friend for years without ever revealing it to him.

  Ginny had never understood how deeply Giada must have been hurting, but now she knew.

  She reached out and hugged her sister’s shoulders. “Oh, Gia’, men are so bad for us.”

  Giada chuckled. “They are, aren’t they?” Then she threw a side-glance at Ginny. “Come, coffee is ready. I want to hear what happened to you.”

  Ginny nodded and followed her sister to the kitchen.

  It was easier to unburden herself than she would have thought it possible. Maybe because Giada had gone through the same thing. Her sister wouldn’t belittle her for her idiotic hopes and reckless actions. She would understand her. And even if Giada’s comprehension couldn’t mend Ginny’s broken heart, it could still make the pain more bearable.

  When Ginny finished narrating her tale, her sister shook her head. The scarf she was wearing in her hair as a hairband got loose, so she pulled it out. “So your only proof of Nick getting back with his ex is that kiss?”

  Ginny wrinkled her nose. “Yes, so what? It’s proof enough.”

  Her sister bounced her head from left to right. “How long were they kissing?”

  Ginny opened her arms, pulling her mouth into an annoyed grimace. Why was Giada digging into this? “No idea, maybe a minute, maybe ten. I only saw them for a second, then I hurried back to the stairs and left the building.”

  Her sister’s face lit up with a triumphant grin. “Just what I thought. And tell me, did you notice Nick drooling all over his ex during the hearing? Were his knees and hips turned toward her when he sat? Did he keep ogling her?”

  Ginny hit the table with one hand so that a few drops of her coffee splashed. “Mhmm, sorry. My bad. Why are you asking me these silly and upsetting questions?”

  Her sister leaned forward and exhaled. “Because I want to make you realize that maybe what you saw isn’t what you think.”

  What was Giada getting at? Ginny saw perfectly well how those lips of Heather’s were devouring Nick’s mouth and how his…wait a minute. If her memory was correct, Nick was simply standing there. His arms had been down by his sides, and maybe his brows were even arched. It was Heather… Her arms had engulfed him like an octopus. Could it be…?

  Giada nodded. “You see? Perhaps you interpreted the scene based on your fears. You said that right after the judge announced the likelihood of ruling in Nick’s favor, he kissed you. He kissed you as if he had meant it—your words.”

  Yes, Ginny had said that. But then Nick had gone and kissed Heather, so that magical moment had to mean nothing. “Well, he obviously didn’t, otherwise how could he have—?”

  Giada held up her palm “Maybe he didn’t. Maybe it was his ex who threw herself at him.”

  Ginny shook her head. This didn’t make sense. Why did Nick tell her then she needed to leave? “Giada, in the end, it doesn’t matter who did what. Even without Heather, Nick still wanted me out of their life now that the custody case has been resolved.”

  Giada chewed on her lip, staring at the ceiling. She stopped, and her eyes darted to Ginny. “Of course. Of course…”

  “What?”

  Giada grinned, clapping her hands. “It’s all clear to me. How can it not be clear to you?”

  Ginny’s flesh prickled. Maybe she should’ve gone to a hotel. Her sister was obviously in the wrong mood for playing the part of the silent, compassionate listener. “No, it isn’t clear. But I don’t want to talk about Nick anymore. Not when I’m in love with him, and he has no feelings for me.”

  Her sister giggled. “But I’m quite certain that he does.”

  “Does what?”

  “Have feelings for you.”

  Ginny blinked at Giada. “Why would you even say such a thing? I never played with you like this when you spoke about Gabriel.”

  A quiver of pain shot across Giada’s face, and Ginny immediately regretted bringing him up.

  But before she could excuse herself, her sister smacked her lips. “Don’t bother with Gabriel. That was different. But about Nick, when you came to visit me the other night, I could’ve sworn that he was in love with you. He was staring at you the entire dinner, hanging on every word from your lips. Even when you sat there all cranky on the couch, and he chatted with Ryan and Bi’, he kept throwing worried glances at you.”

  Ginny scratched her head. She didn’t remember any of this. For her, it seemed that Nick was in a good mood, but she’d assumed it was due to the revival of the flames between him and Heather.

  Giada’s pupils dilated. “I’m telling you, sis. I had the gut feeling that this man has fallen for you. But before I could observe any further, you came back from the patio and left in such a hurry.”

  Ginny played with her lower lip, pulling it up and down with her index finger. If any of what Giada said was true, then why did Nick want her gone? If he genuinely had feelings for her, wouldn’t it have been natural that he confess them?

  As if Giada had read Ginny’s mind, she shook her head. “Not if he was afraid that you’d refuse him.”

  Ginny peeked up at her. “Stop doing this, it’s scary.”

  Giada pulled up her shoulders. “Doing what?”

  “Reading my thoughts like you’re some kind of empath. It’s weird enough when you do it with Giordano. But at least he’s your twin, so there is that genetic explanation.”

  Giada huffed. “It wasn’t that hard to guess your line of thought. You had to be wondering why Nick terminated your job instead of telling you he was interested. And my answer is, he chickened out because of something you must have said.”

  Ginny’s mouth turned dry. Something she had said. The image of Nick turning to her and asking if she truly believed him incapable of pure love flashed through her. He said he had been like that, but it was before…Ginny had assumed he meant before he realized he still felt strongly about his ex.

  But could Nick have wanted to say something else? Something about him and Ginny?

  Her stomach roiled, and she hugged herself firmly. No, no, and no. She refused to believe that she’d been so senseless and stupid. She would’ve surely realized if Nick had any intention of telling her something like that.

  Giada took her hand and squeezed it. “Baby, don’t blame yourself. People are often stupid when it comes to love.”

  Seriously, this was annoying. Maybe Giada should exhibit herself in a circus, and stop digging in Ginny’s head.

  But when she peeked at her little sister, instead of some irritating comment, a few warm tears ran down Ginny’s face. Soon the tears turned into sobs, and as Giada bent forward to embrace her, Ginny abandoned herself to the
instinct.

  She cried for a few minutes, without thinking one single thought or feeling a defined emotion. It was as if her soul needed a cleanse to be able to focus again.

  Her sister stroked Ginny’s head with slow motions, whispering into her ear soothing words.

  When Ginny’s outbursts became less violent, Giada reached back and pulled out a pack of tissues from one of the drawers.

  She unfolded one and dabbed Ginny’s eyes. “Here, here, calm down now. Do you feel a bit better?”

  Ginny sniffed. “Yes, a bit. It’s just…” she paused and blew her nose, “…it’s crazy to imagine that I might have self-sabotaged everything. What if Nick truly wanted to give me a chance, and I blew it by telling him that all my actions were fake?”

  Ginny knew Nick quite well by now. His way of dealing with the prospect of rejection wasn’t that of an average man. He would recoil and close himself up into his diamond shell instead of waiting around and seeing what life would bring.

  Giada clicked with her tongue. “In life, nothing is written in stone. It’s a good and bad thing at the same time. For you, however, it means that just because you’ve acted hastily, motivated by your own demons, you can still come back and undo everything.”

  Ginny buried her face into her palms.

  But what if they were wrong? “What if he refuses me, or worse, laughs at me?”

  Giada shook her head. “Nick didn’t seem like a man who would mock anyone for their true feelings. And as for if he doesn’t feel the same way…well, then you can still come back to my house, and we can pick up where we left off.” She winked and patted Ginny’s back.

  Ginny nodded. “Okay, okay. You’re right. I’ll go and speak to him.” She began to straighten up, but Giada pulled her back.

  “You need time to think through what you’ll say. Also, a good night’s sleep might help make those puffy eyes look presentable again.”

  Ginny touched her eyelids. They did feel swollen. “Fine, I’ll wait till tomorrow.”

  Giada rubbed Ginny’s shoulder. “Give yourself and him a couple more days. If he truly feels the way I think he does, not seeing you should help him realize that he’s missing you. To distract you today, if you want, we could have one of those long beauty sessions we used to do when we were teenagers. What do you say?” She held out her hand to Ginny.

  Maybe her sister was right. Allowing some time to pass wasn’t such a bad idea. If Nick liked her, his emotions wouldn’t disappear with time. But a few days would help Ginny formulate what she should tell him and prepare herself for whichever reaction he might have.

  Because there was no guarantee what he would say to her confession.

  She blinked at Giada and sighed. “Okay, I’m in.”

  Giada grinned. “Perfect. I think I have an entire cucumber in my fridge for your eyes.” She stood up and went to the sink. “Let me just wash our cups, and we can start.”

  Ginny’s glance fell on the sculpture of the couple she’d been admiring before.

  Perhaps it was just her imagination or the play of light, but she could swear that man was smiling at the woman now.

  Chapter 26

  “You can’t do this, Nick. You can’t kill the girl at the end. If you do, the readers will bombard us with angry letters. Also, it doesn’t fit with the story arc at all.”

  Phil’s voice was categorical.

  Nick sighed, pressing the phone to his left ear. He knew the ending of his novel wasn’t perfect, but it was the only sensible one he could come up with. He shouldn’t have let that female character take up the dimension it did. Detective Riley didn’t need that sort of distraction in his life.

  Just like Nick didn’t need Ginny to be around. It had been a moment of insanity when he believed that, by confessing his feelings to her, they’d turn into this happy family.

  Life didn’t work that way, and therefore, his book shouldn’t either.

  Didn’t he take pride in being a realist? Killing the girl was thus a necessary strike. “Phil, it’s either this or I need to redo the whole story. I don’t want to end up with an obligatory female sidekick for the next one.”

  His publisher blew out a loud breath. “And why the heck not? I’ve been talking to my boss about this, Nick. We feel that having some profound connection would do good for your hero. Also, it could attract a wider female audience.”

  Phil just didn’t get it. Nick didn’t want new female readers. He was trying to forget about women altogether. Write them off.

  He tried to keep the hostile edge of his tone under control, but it was tough. “I don’t care about how it would contribute to the book’s marketability. You know as well as I do that I have an excellent and established readership. They like Diamond Heart for the same reasons you seem to hate him. So that’s that.”

  There was a pause as if Phil was trying to refill his munition before coming back to attack.

  “I don’t doubt that, Nick. But my boss’s decision is firm. Un-kill that woman and give your detective a happy ending for once. It doesn’t need to be the fluffy, he-kneels-she-melts kinda thing. You can keep it snappy, dark, or whatever. But she must live and in the next book they should be partners. Are we clear on this?”

  Nick’s scalp itched, and his cheeks warmed, but he did what each author in his position should do. He uttered a half-polite, half-angry, “Clear. I'll try it. Bye, Phil.”

  He hung up the phone and slammed it to his table. He lowered his head and bumped his forehead against the oak surface a few times.

  The loud bangs must have attracted Marcia because she stepped inside without knocking. “What’s going on here, Sir? You can’t keep on destroying furniture. The kitchen table has a visible crack from your thud yesterday.”

  Nick looked up. Marcia’s face shone with genuine worry.

  He shrugged. “Fine, I’ll stop. Sorry, I didn’t want to disturb you. I had an argument with my publisher. He just doesn’t get that my protagonist is a true loner and doesn’t need a woman to make his life complete.”

  Marcia’s lips pulled into a smirk. “Ah, really?”

  Nick’s frustration about Phil’s power-show was such that he missed Marcia’s mocking undertone. “Yes, he said I should give Diamond Heart a happy ending for once, can you believe that?”

  Marcia spread her arms wide. “I most certainly can.”

  “You see? Wait, what? Does that mean you agree with Phil?”

  Marcia jutted out her left hip and placed her hand on it. She raised the other one, with her index finger pointing at Nick. “Sir, you need to salvage the situation. You need to bring her back. It can’t end like this.”

  Nick cackled. “I told you already, Diamond Heart is a loner. He doesn’t need a woman.”

  Marcia clapped her hands. “Who cares about Diamond Heart? I’m speaking about Miss Ginny. You need to convince her to return. Her place is here. With you.”

  Nick massaged the back of his neck. Maybe he hadn’t been clear enough to Marcia about not wanting to speak about Ginny or about ever making any reference to the ominous dinner revelation he’d been planning for her.

  “Marcia, Ginny is gone. She ain’t coming back. Deal with it, just like the rest of us.”

  Marcia let out a harsh breath. “Deal with it? Jacob cried himself to sleep and refused to eat his biscuits this morning. You go around smashing furniture. I don’t think any of you are handling Miss Ginny’s departure well.”

  The repeated mention of Ginny’s name was knocking down the weak defenses Nick had spent the entire night building up. His skin crawled, and his stomach heaved. The image of Ginny’s smile was dangerously close to filling his mind again, so he smacked himself with both hands on the temples, hoping the gesture could shake his thoughts away from her.

  He needed to break it down to Marcia once and for all. If he didn’t, his well-meaning housekeeper would keep on shoving him back into the black hole of hopeless love by reviving Ginny’s memory.

  He stood up and jamm
ed his hands into his pockets as he walked closer.

  “Marcia, this is the last time I’m going to repeat this. I know your intentions are good, but I don’t ever want hear about Ginny and my potential…my confused…I don’t—”

  Oh for Pete’s sake, how was he to forbid Marcia from forcing her opinion on him if he couldn’t even put his own thoughts into words?

  Marcia’s eyes flooded with pity. “You don’t want me ever to mention that you fell in love with Miss Ginny.”

  Nick nodded. “Exactly.” He couldn’t bring himself to repeat those simple words.

  Marcia chewed on her lip. “But I think that she would be the perfect match for you and for young Sir, and—”

  “No,” The intensity of his voice even startled Nick. He lowered it slightly but kept his gaze boring into Marcia’s eyes. “She wasn’t the perfect match, because she had no feelings for me. She told me so herself, if you want to know.”

  Marcia waved her hand. “Ah, palavras, palavras. They are but words. You need to see behind those and assess the action. Did or didn’t Miss Ginny accept to play your girlfriend just to save you and your son?”

  “But that was—”

  “No. Now you listen to Marcia, Sir. You might be smart with writing invented stories, but me, I’m smart with real life. I have to be. I have six children and a husband who counts for at least four others.” She giggled, showing off her large teeth. “Anyways, I know what I know. Which is that Miss Ginny has feelings for you. True ones. The kind that make her blush at the mention of your name.”

  Nick listened to Marcia with an open jaw. Could his housekeeper be telling the truth? No, Marcia was probably misinterpreting things. Ginny had said it all was fake.

  But then the way she molded against his lips in the glider flashed through him, and his conviction wavered.

  Marcia kept talking. “You must have done something awful, Sir, to scare her away like that. Think, think. What did you do?”

  Nick shook his head. “I didn’t do anything. We were in the hearing, playing the part of a fake couple. Though some moments, it did feel real.” His eyes drifted to the ceiling, as he recalled the moment he realized he was in love with Ginny.