Fake Zoned: A Fake Date Anthology

by Malone, M.

  This was the kind of problem that required an in-person girl power bitch session. But over the years as she’d worked single-mindedly toward her goal of financial independence, everything else in her life had taken a backseat, including friendships. The people she saw the most these days were her partners, her employees and… King.

  As Olivia sipped her drink, she watched the people gyrating on the dance floor and felt how truly alone she really was.

  Chapter Fifteen

  King had learned long ago that the best time to attack wasn’t when your opponent was expecting it. So he waited a few days before he went to see Georgie.

  It wasn’t like he didn’t have plenty to keep him busy. Reviewing the financials for the last quarter, handling a crisis with one of their top-tier investors and basically catching up on all the work he’d been ignoring the last few weeks while he’d been so mentally absent.

  At the thought of Olivia, his hands tensed on the steering wheel. He parked in the drive in front of Kingsley Manor and got out. He’d called ahead so Jenner opened the door before he even hit the steps.

  “Your father’s waiting for you in his office, sir.”

  He nodded to the older man and watched as he ambled back toward the kitchen. The elderly woman who’d been in residence while he was growing up had retired not long after he entered college and moved to live closer to her grandchildren. Jenner had been hired after he was already an adult so they had a more distant relationship.

  It had never bothered him until recently that he knew so little about someone who lived on his parents’ property. But now, it seemed wrong that he’d never thought about it. He didn’t know any of the maids’ names either. Olivia would have said he was being a typical elitist. His lips twitched at the thought.

  Then his heart clenched as it hit him anew that it didn’t matter what Olivia thought now.

  His father’s office was on the main level in the East wing of the house. Thane looked up when he entered the room.

  “King. I was surprised when you called.”

  He stood and came from behind the desk, motioning to the leather club chairs in the middle of the room.

  “Have a seat. Tell me what’s going on. Does this have anything to do with how Georgie’s been moping around these past few days?”

  They sat and King waved his hand to decline when his father asked if he wanted a drink.

  “I’m here to check on her. I think she might have just partied a little too hard or something.”

  He’d debated how much to tell his parents. If he was a father he wouldn’t appreciate being kept in the dark about what was going on but these types of situations were best if contained. The less people who knew the better.

  Plus, there were some things a man didn’t need to know about his daughter. As her older brother he was already permanently traumatized by the idea of her having sex. He didn’t need to share that pain with his father.

  His father sighed. The lines around his face were more pronounced and he looked tired. King realized he was looking at his own face in thirty years.

  “That much was evident. She was brought home by James and appeared to have been drinking heavily. I’m not sure what’s going on with that girl. I’m starting to think that encouraging her to marry Alex was the wrong move. Things were different back in our day. You got married to someone your parents approved of and you had kids of your own. You tried not to fuck them up too badly. But the more time passes, the less confidence I have in the job your mother and I did. You kids don’t seem to be adjusting to life on your own too well.”

  Shocked, King leaned back in his chair. “Dad, you don’t mean that.”

  “I do. Colin barely has the motivation to get out of bed each day. Your sister seems to have no backbone and just wants to please everyone. Then there’s you. I worry about you most.”

  “Why would you worry about me more than the others? I’m the only one who has a job! I’ve worked every day of my life to prove myself to you and it’s never enough.”

  “Exactly. You work every day of your life and seem to live for that and nothing else. Colin is unmotivated but that can be fixed when he finds something that excites him. Your sister is a pleaser but eventually she’ll find herself and decide what she wants to stand for. But you, I don’t know how to help someone who doesn’t want to care about anything.”

  The anger that had risen so quickly drained out of King just as fast. Everything his father had said reflected what he’d come to feel as well. He worked hard every day but it no longer brought him any joy. His joy had been the time he’d spent with Olivia learning how not to take himself so seriously.

  “Maybe you’re right.”

  His father looked surprised by the admission but he put a steadying hand on King’s shoulder. “If you need to talk, I hope you know I’m here.”

  “I do. Thanks, Dad. I’m going to go check on Georgie.”

  His father didn’t press him. “Good. I’ve always been glad you two are so close. So you can tell her that vase she knocked over when she stumbled in was a Ming. Your mother was pissed.”

  As King left the office his dad was still chuckling.

  His sister had moved to a different room after she returned from college, one of the guest suites in the opposite wing from where his parents were. He knocked lightly on her door and as soon as it opened, stuck his foot in the crack so she couldn’t slam it once she realized it was him.

  Growing up with her gave him an advantage. He already knew all her defensive maneuvers.

  “Go away, King. I really don’t want to talk to you.”

  “When has that ever worked with me?”

  Georgie rolled her eyes and then stepped aside. She closed the door behind him and then walked back to the couch in the middle of the sitting room. A cup of coffee and a magazine were on the table before her. He could hear the blare of the television coming from the direction of her bedroom.

  “Are you okay?”

  She sat back down and took a leisurely sip of her coffee.

  “Oh no, I’m not okay. Just the idea of sex was too much for my feeble brain to handle. Surely I need a fainting couch to recover from the shock!”

  King ignored her caustic tone. “This is serious, Georgie. What if someone had seen you? That isn’t the kind of place for someone like you, kid. People are doing things that–”

  “People are doing things that are completely consensual and having a great time while doing it. Maybe I wanted to find out what that was about before I get married. Or maybe I was scouting locations for my bachelorette party. It doesn’t really matter why I was there, King. Because either way it’s no one’s damned business!”

  King sat on the couch next to her and regarded his sister with new eyes. Completely uncowed by the situation, she seemed more upset about the invasion of her privacy than by anything she’d seen at Club VIP.

  “I’m not sure what to say. You’re right. Maybe it’s time I realize my baby sister isn’t a baby anymore. But that doesn’t mean I like the way this went down. And I really don’t like James seeing you like that.”

  “You’re not the only one. God that guy needs to remove the stick from his ass. Or maybe that’s why he was at Club VIP. Maybe he likes having something in his ass. I’m not judging.”

  King choked back a laugh, completely taken off guard by this side of his sister. “Christ, Georgie.”

  She shrugged. “What? He dragged me out of there like he had some right. He isn’t my daddy or my boyfriend so who the hell does he think he is?”

  “Well, whatever the case I’m glad he did. I still can’t believe Olivia took you there without telling me.”

  Georgie slowly lowered her cup. “Oh no. Tell me you didn’t screw things up with Olivia.”

  “Screw things up? She brought you to a sex club, Georgie! That is so far out of bounds I don’t even know where the lines are anymore. Girls have tried to buddy up to you before to get on my good side. You know I hate that. It’s so
manipulative.”

  Georgie smacked her forehead with her hand.

  “I can’t even believe you sometimes, King. Olivia didn’t buddy up to me. I went to her. I asked her to help me with a very sensitive thing and she did it, even though she really didn’t want to.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She suddenly couldn’t look at him and her cheeks turned bright red. “Something personal.”

  “This is going to make me want to throw up, isn’t it?”

  “Real mature. Look, you don’t need to know the details but I wanted to go to Club VIP and if Olivia hadn’t helped me, I would have just gone somewhere else. I think she wanted me where she could make sure I was safe.”

  He stood, his mind awash with the memories of his last moments with Olivia. She had looked so hurt, and suddenly he felt her pain as if it was his own. The things he’d said… How the hell could he ever make up for the things he’d said?

  After hearing her story and observing how hard she’d worked to stand on her own two feet he’d blasted her as being “just a stripper” and called her club “trashy”.

  She’d never said a word in her own defense even though she could have easily thrown Georgie under the bus. Instead she’d kept his sister’s secret, even when it would have been to her benefit to tell him the whole story.

  In short, she’d been the same big-hearted, loving Olivia and he’d been the same arrogant, bad-tempered King.

  “How do I fix this?” he asked without preamble.

  Georgie didn’t look too hopeful. “You might not be able to fix this. Women are like glass. Strong on the surface but easily shattered.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel better.”

  “It wasn’t meant to. If you want her, then you’d better be prepared to do the work. She’s worth it, King. She could have easily tattled on me to get on your good side but she didn’t. Olivia is the real deal.” She stood and kissed him on the cheek. “Good luck, big brother. You’re a jerk sometimes but your heart is in the right place.”

  “Thanks, I think.”

  “Oh and by the way. Tell James I owe him a nut punch.”

  King was laughing by the time he left but his mind was already formulating a plan. He’d hurt Olivia and he could only hope she would give him a chance to show her how sorry he was.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Olivia watched as her best friend stammered through a greeting with the head of the Mentor Science program. As promised, she’d been by his side all night and helped to carry conversations when Bennett got awkward. Surprisingly, it hadn’t happened as often as she’d expected.

  Her best friend was a changed man.

  She observed him with new eyes. He was handsome in a perfectly fitted taupe suit that brought out the green in his hazel eyes. Bennett came from a multi-racial family just like she did and tanned heavily in the summers. His pale skin was burnished a darker golden tone than she was used to and his usually unruly curly hair was tamed with… was that gel? Bennett was using hair product now?

  Her best friend was pretty hot.

  It was so weird to see him like this and under different circumstances it would have made Olivia happy. For years she’d thought that she and Bennett would make a good match except for their lack of sexual chemistry so it should have been a pleasant shock that her bestie had a different side to him. There was just one problem.

  She was miserable.

  You don’t owe him anything. She repeated it over and over inside her head, hoping it would eventually sink in. It felt like she was betraying King. Her heart hadn’t accepted that he wasn’t hers anymore and truthfully, never had been.

  Clearly she’d been fooling herself the entire time.

  “Are you okay, Boo?”

  Olivia glanced at Bennett who watched her with perceptive eyes. Even though she’d been smiling and laughing all night, he’d picked up on her subdued mood. She shook her head. This was their night. They hadn’t had as much time to visit each other over the past year and she’d missed him. She wasn’t going to let thoughts of King ruin her chance to catch up with the one man who’d never let her down.

  “I’m going to be fine. Tell me about what’s new with your family. I haven’t seen everyone since Nick’s wedding.”

  Over the next hour, he showed her pictures of his adorable nephews and his newest niece, who Olivia still hadn’t met. She even managed to get Bennett on the dance floor. His oldest brother was a well-known music producer so he’d shown her the new dances that he’d learned from watching one of Jackson’s music videos.

  Olivia had never laughed so hard in her life watching her brainy best friend attempt to do something he called “The Dot”.

  She was quite sure he’d gotten the name wrong but it didn’t even matter. He was willing to humiliate himself to make her smile and by the time she caught her breath, she made a decision. There was never going to be another man who loved her more than Bennett Alexander.

  It was time to stop thinking about the man who’d hurt her and focus on the man who’d done nothing but love her.

  “Let’s take a walk. It’s nice outside this evening.”

  Bennett looked confused but accepted the hand she held out. “Sure. The Director mentioned that the gardens in this hotel are exceptional. I’d love to see what kind of plants they used.”

  They crossed the ballroom and emerged through a set of double doors onto a stone walkway. Olivia gasped. The gardens had been styled into a maze, the hedges trimmed to form short walls. Lights sparkled in the bushes giving it a magical feeling.

  “This is beautiful.”

  Bennett walked up to the bush and peered at the leaves. “Interesting. I was expecting Boxwoods but it appears they’ve gone with American Arborvitae.”

  Olivia grasped his hand. If she didn’t rein him in he might end up on the ground to see what the soil felt like or something.

  “Bennett. I wanted to say thank you for bringing me with you tonight. This has been a lot of fun. I’ve missed just hanging out with you.”

  “I’ve missed hanging out with you, too.” He pushed his glasses up absently. That had always been one of his nervous tells.

  He was such a sweetheart, that he’d be nervous around her after everything they’d been through. He’d seen her at her very worst, after all. But that was Bennett.

  At that moment, she decided to just go for it. She’d never know for sure if they could have worked out unless she made a move. He wasn’t going to do it. It wasn’t Bennett’s style to be aggressive. So just like when they were young, she would do it for him.

  She grabbed him by the lapels and kissed him.

  Olivia closed her eyes and stood on her toes since he was so much taller. His lips were soft and his shoulders were broader than she’d thought as she stretched her arms around his neck. But even though he was tall and handsome and loved her, it wasn’t enough. He wasn’t the one she imagined when she closed her eyes.

  He wasn’t King.

  Finally Olivia realized that Bennett was as rigid as a statue. Not only was he not kissing her back but he might not have even been breathing.

  “Bennett? Take a breath.”

  He gasped audibly and his arms came up to hold hers.

  She bit her lip. “You didn’t feel anything either, did you?”

  He suddenly looked relieved. Olivia would have laughed if he hadn’t looked so genuinely distressed.

  “No, I didn’t. I’m sorry. I would never want to hurt your feelings, Boo.”

  “You didn’t. I’m in love with someone else. But I wanted it to be you. Stupid, huh?”

  “No, it’s not stupid. You’re one of the smartest people I know.”

  “There’s no way that’s true. You’re surrounded by literal geniuses all the time.”

  “Understanding science isn’t the only way to be intelligent. For years, you’ve been the one person I could count on to accept me as I am. You’re that person for a lot of people, Livvy. Somehow you k
now how to be a great friend to everyone in your life. Which seems pretty smart to me.”

  Suddenly she was overcome with affection for him. Over the years, through thick and thin, he’d been there. Despite having issues with her father, Olivia had never thought all men were bad. How could she when she had one of the best men out there in her corner?

  “God, I love you so much, you know that?”

  “I love you, too. I always will.” Bennett squeezed her arms again and then kissed her on the forehead.

  They stayed just like that for a little while and Olivia tried not to cry when she understood what he was really saying. Suddenly his relief made total sense. Bennett was in love with someone else, too. No matter how much he loved her, someone else was his top priority now.

  Which was as it should be.

  “Go. I can take a cab home.”

  She could see that he was reluctant to leave her but just because she’d had the bad taste to fall for the wrong guy, didn’t mean she wanted Bennett to ruin a good thing. If he’d found someone who understood him, she wanted that for him. He deserved love.

  “I’ll be fine. And someday soon, I want to meet her.”

  He blushed. “I just hope she hasn’t changed her mind about me.”

  She watched him leave and then took a seat on one of the benches, watching the lights twinkle on the hedges.

  “Goodbye my friend,” she whispered.

  * * *

  King had officially hit stalker status.

  It had taken him a few days to get up his nerve to talk to Olivia and once he’d finally decided on the appropriate level of groveling, he’d parked outside of her place only to see her come outside and greet that guy.

  He scowled as he glanced across the room to where Olivia was dancing with him. He was a nerdy-looking guy who danced like he had no concept of rhythm. It hadn’t even been a week and she’d already replaced him? Not that he could really blame her. Of course after dealing with him she’d probably wanted a guy who was actually nice.