by Taylor Hart
Ocean held up his own glass, and they all clinked and drank. Dax held his gaze. There were several obvious questions he wasn’t asking, and Ocean was grateful for his patience.
Dax spoke about how he and Sky were trying to have a baby, but Sky had been caught up with work a lot lately. She would be joining the family tomorrow.
“I’m so sorry to hear about your struggle,” said Augusta after he finished. “My sister—the one you met, Larissa—and her husband, Dave, are trying too. They’re having the same kind of difficulties.” She shrugged. “She probably wouldn’t want me talking about it, but they just found a really great in vitro doctor that they’ve started seeing.”
Dax nodded and narrowed his eyes at Ocean. “Thank you. And Ocean, please don’t say anything to Mom. I don’t want it to be another thing she worries about.”
Ocean glanced at Augusta, who held her poker face like a champ. “Dude, I know exactly what you mean. I don’t like upsetting Mom, either.”
Dax gave him a pointed look, then averted his eyes to Augusta. “You still should have told us about everything with—” He paused, and Ocean knew he wanted to say Susan. “Can’t say I don’t like you better, though.”
Augusta’s cheeks turned pink.
Ocean kept the night short, partly because he was feeling nervous and partly because he didn’t want to have to answer a million questions a million times.
After they’d eaten and left, Dax asked to be dropped off first, so Ocean let him out before taking Augusta home. When he parked in front of her sister’s home, they were quiet for a moment.
Then she burst out laughing. Ocean chuckled too, more from surprise than humor. Laughter was a good sign when you hired someone to be your fake fiancée, right?
“So that went well,” he said, wanting to know what she thought.
“It did.” She turned, letting out a long breath. “I think it’s going to work.”
“So …” Ocean felt a bit awkward, because he didn’t want to tell her how he really was becoming attracted to her. That was a lot to take in, and she’d already had a full day.
She put her hand on the door handle. “That’s a check on the first meeting with the oldest brother.”
Ocean shot her a relieved grin. “Check.”
She started to open her door.
“Wait!” He jumped out and rushed around the car. She was already stepping onto the pavement, so he took her hand and helped her out the rest of the way.
They were close. Kissably close again.
“You’re a gentleman?” she asked.
Her teasing was putting him off his game, because he didn’t know if she was flirting with him or not. “Yep.” He took her hand.
She stared down at their hands.
“What?”
Carefully, she pulled her hand back. “I just—I think we better be careful how far in we’re getting into this relationship, because it’s kind of messing with me.”
They gazed into each other’s eyes, and he felt the chemistry ratchet up a notch. Dang, had he ever been this attracted to a woman before? The thought was ridiculous, because he’d dated some really amazing models, and Susan was gorgeous too. Although this whole thing with Augusta felt so different, it also felt … right.
He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “That doesn’t count as a kiss, does it?”
A small smile played at her lips. “I don’t know. Maybe like half of a kiss.”
He laughed. “But I don’t think we can count the kisses from earlier, because we’re not officially starting until tomorrow.”
“Uh-uh.” She held up two fingers. “They counted. Two down.”
“How about I just pay for extra?”
“Doesn’t work like that.” She hesitated at the front door. “That bugs you, huh?”
He played it off. “What can I say? It hurts my egomaniac ways.” Taking a chance, he picked up her hand again and kissed it again. “I have to get my full kiss if these only count as halves.”
She tugged her hand away and narrowed her eyes. “Right, three down.”
Closing the gap between them, he leaned in and whispered in her ear, “We’ll see.”
The laughter on her face died, replaced by that vulnerable expression.
His heartbeat kicked up a notch, and he knew he would be taking another beach run tonight to get rid of all this angst. “Good night, Augusta.” He said her name slowly, liking how the syllables rolled off his tongue. He turned and walked away.
“Good night, Ocean.”
He got in the Mustang and pulled away, and as he looked back, he was thrilled to see she was still watching him.
Chapter 7
The next night, Ocean requested to pick up Augusta, even though Larissa and Dave were catering dinner at the Brady house, so they could talk a little bit before she officially met the fam.
Now, as she waited for him to show up, nerves pulsed through her gut. She’d spent the day helping prepare some of the salads and special dishes they would eat tonight, and all the while Larissa had peppered her with questions about how the date had gone. By this point, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to keep any food down.
When the doorbell sounded, she grabbed her light summer sweater and opened the door. Ocean stood in front of her, gorgeous in his simple jeans and red sweater. He grinned at her. “You’re so pretty.”
His sincerity took her aback. “Thank you.” Tonight she’d worn one of her sister’s maxi skirts, along with a red top with ruffles that she’d had to iron. Her hair was down, and she wore a set of matching pearl earrings and a necklace that she’d also borrowed. Larissa sure liked to dress her up. Augusta gave him a once-over. “You’re not so bad yourself, either.”
He put his hand out for her. She took it automatically, and then tried to pull it back when she realized what she’d done. “I don’t think we should hold hands with no one around, do you?” she asked.
“Don’t give me grief about holding your hand, okay? You’ve only been my fiancée for almost a day now, and you’re already so bossy.”
She let out a light laugh and felt herself beginning to relax.
They strolled to the car hand in hand. Before he opened the door for her, he put up a finger. “And just so you know, if you were my real fiancée, I’d kiss you long and proper right now—so long that you’d get weak in the knees.”
“And the egomaniac returns.” Even as she said it, her heart raced and she imagined kissing him like that.
He stared into her eyes, then leaned in and kissed her cheek. His arm slipped around her waist, and he held her close.
She was already getting weak in the knees just being around him. “Hey,” she said, playfully trying to push him back.
He sniffed. “What is your perfume?”
“It’s actually just a mango lotion from Bath and Body Works.”
“I like it.” His eyes darted to her lips.
No. This was just a job, and she had to keep the focus.
He opened the door for her so she could slip in; then he walked around and got in on the driver’s side. When he started the engine, he grinned at her.
“What?”
He shrugged as the car started moving. “Nothing. I just like having you with me.”
The man would kill her. She turned away. “Well, I like—I mean, I’ve always liked Mustangs.”
“Have you now?”
“I always wanted to drive one.” It was the truth, even though she hadn’t planned on talking about his car.
He gunned it around the block and then pulled onto the interstate, easing the pedal to the metal. “We’ll have to make that dream of yours come true sometime.”
The car top was down, allowing the wind to toss at her hair. Unable to stop herself, she put her hands into the air and yelled out, “Wahoo!”
He put up his fist and shouted, “Yeah!”
She laughed and waved her hands around for a bit.
He hopped off the interstate and slow
ed as he approached the corner to his house. “That loosened you up a bit.”
“True, but I’m still nervous to meet your family … even though it’s not real.”
“Hey, don’t worry. I’m telling you you’re a genius, because everything you said worked like magic. Dax already told everyone that Susan and I broke up and I have a different someone. By the time my mother got off the plane, she was ready to accept that Susan was out and you were in.” He laughed. “And she thinks you’re pretty.”
“How would she even know that?”
“Dax pulled up your social media profile.”
She hadn’t thought of that. At least there were no pictures of other guys on it. After everything that happened with Jason, she’d blocked tagging.
They entered his gated driveway, and he put in a code on the keypad. The gates swung open, and the car drove on. They pulled up to the house amidst a bunch of rented Mustangs. She laughed.
He smiled at her. “What can I say? We’re kind of a Mustang family.”
Once they’d pulled into the garage, they went into the house hand in hand. He leaned into her. “You look amazing, by the way.”
She squeezed his hand happily. “You mentioned that.” She perked up a little at the sound of voices somewhere down the hallway.
He paused and then quickly kissed the side of her cheek.
“Hey!” she said, startled but not displeased.
“I just thought I’d warm up my church-kissing girl. And I gave that kiss, so it doesn’t count.”
She laughed at his ridiculousness. “Oh, it counts.” Looking around, she noted that his house had been transformed with Christmas décor.
“The decorator came last night. Do you like it?”
Augusta gazed about the room. The tree was frosted with red, white, silver, and blue, and there were wreathes and little villages scattered around. “I do.”
A tall older woman, wearing a red dress and a black scarf and heels, moved down the hallway and stopped when she saw them. “You must be Augusta. I’m Ellen, Ocean’s mom.” She opened her arms.
Augusta had been prepared to meet his family, had braced herself to suffer some ordeal, but when Ocean’s mother hugged her warmly and she smelled her expensive perfume, an awful fact hit her with full force: she’d never hug her father again. The realization made her tear up.
“She’s gorgeous, Ocean. Just gorgeous.” Ellen pulled back and smiled at her, softly touching Augusta’s cheek. “Oh, sweetie. Your sister has just told us that you all lost your father a couple of months ago. I’m so sorry.”
Now a lump formed in Augusta’s throat. Sincere compassion was always the hardest thing to combat. “Oh.”
Ellen hugged her again. “Shh.”
Augusta’s eyes met Ocean’s. She didn’t understand the intensity of his stare, but it felt important somehow.
“Mama, let me hug her.” A towering lineman approached, and Augusta recognized him as Ziggy Brady, center for the Denver Storm and the second oldest of the Brady brothers. A beautiful woman stood next to him; she must be his wife, Sophia.
Ocean’s mother let go, and Ziggy opened his arms, a huge smile on his face. “Sis.”
They were treating her just like family. She let him hug her, and she laughed with them as she was lifted off the ground.
His wife gently pushed him, making him set Augusta down. “Ziggy, you’re going to scare her off.” She put her hand out. “Sophia.”
Augusta shook her hand, then stiffened in surprise as Sophia pulled her in and hugged her.
“Don’t worry,” Sophia whispered. “You get used to them.”
She smiled and pulled back.
“We gotta capture this.”
The next brother was walking backwards toward them, his phone turned around to take selfies with them all. This would be Boston, running back for the Miami Surf and the third oldest brother.
Augusta wanted to hide, but the woman with Boston winked encouragingly and said, “Sorry, we affectionately call him a media snob. It’s easier to just give in to it.” She put her arm around Augusta. “I’m Addison, by the way.”
“Silly face!” Boston called out, and Augusta found herself sticking out her tongue for the picture.
Ocean sprang up behind them. “Photobomb!”
“Hey!” Boston swiveled and reached through the women to give Ocean a hard shove. “No photobombing my pictures.”
“Oh yeah?” Ocean shoved him back, launching a full-out brawl.
Dax popped up between them, putting both brothers in headlocks. “No fighting at Christmas,” he insisted, leveraging the men with his large biceps.
Both trapped brothers were cackling, their faces bright red.
“Hey! Why is all the fun happening when I am not in the room?” Another guy rushed in—Ty Brady, the youngest brother—and he jumped on Dax, making his brothers crash together. They all groaned.
Ziggy plowed into the pile and the whole group of them started falling over, grunting and laughing and hollering.
“Boys! Stop it!” Ellen turned to Augusta and shook her head, giving her a long-suffering expression that Augusta recognized from her own childhood. “They can’t help themselves, I swear!”
Ty pulled himself up from on top of Ocean, wagging a finger in his brother’s face. “Bro, you’re not supposed to keep things hidden from us. So I’m girl-slapping you to teach you a lesson!” He smacked his brother then dashed off.
Ocean chuckled and stood. “You can run, but you can’t hide, little bro.” As the other brothers snickered, Ocean took Augusta’s hand. His cheeks were flushed. “Stinker.”
Augusta couldn’t help but laugh. The Brady family didn’t disappoint.
Another girl moved into the room, this one had short black hair and a black shirt with a short skirt and boots to her knees. “What did you guys do?” she teased.
“Augusta, this is Luna.” Ocean scoffed and narrowed his eyes at Luna. “Tell your boyfriend he’s gonna die.”
Ty walked back in and pointed at Ocean. “Yes, I am.”
Everyone quieted as awkwardness threatened to settle in.
Ty tapped Ocean’s nose. “But I’m living like I’m dying!” He put “rock on” signs in the air and then pointed at all of them, turning in a circle. “And that’s why we’re doing the No Regrets Christmas Tour, baby!” Ty was roughly six feet tall, but he clearly wasn’t a pro football player like his brothers. He was a country star, almost.
Ocean grunted at him, playing it cool. “Yes, we are.”
Ty took Luna by the hand. “This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”
She laughed. “Yeah, it will.”
Ty kissed her. It was not a church kiss; it turned into a full-on make-out.
Ziggy cleared his throat, rolling his eyes before pushing past them. “Aw, get a room.”
Ellen followed Ziggy into the kitchen. “I agree.”
Ocean blew out a breath and met Augusta’s eyes. “Well, okay, let’s eat.”
Chapter 8
This whole fake fiancée thing was pretty easy, Ocean thought as he sat at the head of the table, casually holding Augusta’s left hand, unseen by the others.
Around them, his brothers and sisters-in-law, Luna, and his mother all laughed and joked. His mother had asked Larissa and Dave to eat with them, but they’d refused. Sure, his whole family grilled Ocean and Augusta a bit, but Larissa and Dave were a godsend. As they moved back and forth between kitchen and dining room, they chatted with everyone about their “story” as if it were gospel truth.
Everything was moving along without a hitch, and the salmon, rice, and salad had been delicious.
“Ocean,” Ziggy called out.
Ocean put down his glass. “Yep?”
“So let me get this straight. You and Augusta have been engaged for two weeks, right?”
“Yep.”
Ziggy looked pointedly at her hand. “Where’s her ring?”
Caught, Ocean looked at her hand in
his. Right, she didn’t have a ring. They hadn’t even talked about that.
Augusta looked at her finger, then laughed. “I keep leaving it on the bathroom counter when I take it off to shower.”
Ocean played along, putting on an annoyed expression to cover up his relief. “You can’t lose it again.” He laughed. “She already lost the first one.”
“What?” his mother gasped.
“What?” Augusta squeezed his hand tight. Had he said something wrong? But she recovered quickly. “Oh, you mean when you pushed me into the ocean on that snorkeling trip.”
Ocean was confused. They couldn’t have gone snorkeling in the last two weeks.
“You went snorkeling?” Ty asked. “And you didn’t ask me?”
Right, that was one thing on his list Ty hadn’t done. Ocean put on a wide grin. “I was waiting for Christmas.”
Dax frowned. “It’s cold, and you want to snorkel?”
Ocean hedged.
Augusta picked up his hand. “Carpe diem, isn’t that what you say?”
“That’s what I say,” Ty said, wagging a finger at her, “but that’s never what Ocean says.”
“Yeah,” Boston grunted. “Most of the time he says ‘cheapskate.’”
They all laughed.
Ocean glared at Boston. “This ring is so good it’s going to make you cry.”
Boston burst out laughing, then snapped a picture of Ocean.
Ocean jumped to his feet, the chair scraping on the floor. “I swear, if you post that—”
Boston pushed his chair back as well. “You’ll what?”
“Sit,” their mother said sternly, her eyes on Augusta.
Boston sat. So did Ocean.
Ellen’s eyes shifted from one to the other. “We’re not fighting this week, and I’ll not have antics. And don’t make me behave like my mother, because I don’t like it.”
Ocean and Boston grinned at each other. It was just like old times. Their mom always used to say this to them.
Boston put his hands up. “Sorry, bro. I won’t post anything.”
“Please don’t. We’re not making our relationship public yet.” Ocean figured Augusta wouldn’t want to be posted as his fiancée ever. Their “engagement” was only scheduled to last the next five days.
