Friends to Lovers_A Fake Fiance Romance

by Mia Ford

  “So, erm…” I want to be the man to start this conversation, but I don’t know where to begin. “I guess we need to talk about how we feel after… well after the event.” I sigh deeply. “Do you want to begin?”

  She stares at me and the intensity of her gaze bores into my soul. “I want to know how you feel about Liz.”

  “Liz?” That’s almost laughable, she’s completely gone from my brain now. “What do you mean?”

  When Melissa crosses her arm over her chest, it’s defensive. She’s protecting herself and I guess that means she really is worried about me and Liz which is crazy because she’s done now, out of my mind for good.

  “Well, I mean…” She shrugs at me. “You wanted to make her jealous and things got… out of hand, I suppose.”

  “Out of hand? Is that really how you want to describe what happened because that isn’t how I remember it.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know how to describe it really, and that’s because I don’t know how you feel about Liz. There has to be something still there if you wanted to wind her up in the first place, doesn’t there?”

  I shake my head vigorously. “No, there isn’t,” I tell her firmly. “The reason I wanted you there is different. Yes, I wanted to hurt her and Pete, but mostly because they destroyed me with their cheating. I didn’t want them to think that I was still in pain over what they did, I wanted them to think that I had moved on and that I was happy again.” I chew on the inside of my mouth. “It was more about the perception of me than anything else.”

  I don’t know if that makes much sense to be honest, but Melissa drinks it in as if it does which is the main thing. “Okay, so you wanted to look like you were doing well. I see. But that doesn’t explain how we’re here.”

  I cock my head towards her and wonder why she doesn’t see it. “Melissa, we’re here because that night you captivated me, I started to see you in a completely different, truly wonderful light.” I smile, mostly to myself as I remember that lightning bolt moment. “You’ve always been different, I’ve always felt something for you, but I couldn’t work out what. I didn’t realize what it meant, but it’s everything. You are everything.” I say this gravely, I need her to know just how much I mean this. “I’ve always known you’re beautiful, but I didn’t realize how deeply that beauty touched me, I’ve always known that you’re a wonderful person, but I didn’t know how much I needed you.” I reach out to grab her hand. The silky feeling of her hand against mine is intense. It makes everything that I’m saying so much more powerful. “You’ve been amazing with Toby, he loves you. If you wanted to be in his life then he would love it, honestly. Not that I’m trying to pressure you or anything.”

  I let out a little sound that’s supposed to be a laugh but it doesn’t quite work out as I want it to. It’s too strangled. I’m giving the depth of my feelings away without even meaning to.

  “But it really happened just before I kissed you. Everything hit me all at once. It was shocking, it nearly knocked me off my feet. All I knew in that moment was how much I wanted to kiss you. It was a feeling so powerful that I had to cave to it. I didn’t have any other choice but to hold onto you right then.”

  I feel like maybe I’ve let too much out. The blown away expression on Melissa’s face says as much, so I clamp my mouth closed and I wait for her to speak. The funny thing is I’ve always been closed off with my feelings before, it took me ages to confess how I felt to Liz, but with Melissa it feels so easy.

  “Wow, I… I wasn’t expecting you to say any of that. That’s intense.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” I shake my head, trying to calm down. “I guess I just want you to know how I feel.” There’s no point in denying it, not now. “But if you don’t feel the same way…”

  “Oh no, I do,” she jumps in quickly. “I know I do, I have done for a long time I just…” She pauses and visibly bites down on her bottom lip, making me wish that it was me doing the chewing. “I just didn’t ever expect you to feel the same way. It’s crazy to me to hear you saying all of this. I’m a bit… confused.”

  Hearing that she feels the same, that she isn’t confused about how much she likes me, gives me the green light that I need. We can talk about this forever more, hash it out, circle over every single detail of how we can make this work, or I can just place my hands on either sides of her cheeks and I can kiss her. I know which option I prefer the most, the one that lands me a kiss. So, that’s the one I go with.

  Melissa doesn’t resist, not even for a moment. She presses her lips into mine and the softness of her mouth sends me flying. My heart soars, my body roars, I feel like I’m absolutely flaming with fire. She’s unleashed something thrilling inside of me, and I’m so glad I don’t need to cage up the animal again.

  “So, where do we go from here?” Melissa asks as she pulls back with a blissful look on her face. “What do we do? I know it’s more fun not to think about it and to go with the flow, but you do have a son.”

  I move over to the cupboards to grab out plates. When I ordered this Chinese food, I hoped these would be the conditions in which we were eating it but now that it’s really happened I feel so awesome. We are actually going to give this thing a go, and I don’t want to get too carried away with the idea that we’ll make it work, but I think we will. I have this real gut sensation that me and Melissa can truly go the distance.

  “I’ll tell Toby in the morning that you’re going to be around a lot more. Shall I say that you’re my girlfriend?”

  “Maybe not at first,” Melissa replies. “But we shouldn’t wait too long to let him know.”

  I know his face is going to light up the moment he learns, and I can’t wait for that moment, but I suppose for a while it’ll be better for it just to be me and Melissa. I might be confident, but we should test it for a bit.

  “Alright, sounds good to me. So, can I call you my girlfriend? Even if it’s just between us for the minute?”

  Melissa giggles and nods. “Sure, if you want to speed along the tracks too quickly then you do that, sounds good to me.” The blush in her cheeks suggests that actually, she really likes that idea. “I don’t mind.”

  The idea of having her as a girlfriend really bolsters me up, it makes me feel positive about the future. For the first time since Liz left, I think I can have it all. Yes, there will be bumps in the road, I’m not naïve, and I still have other areas of my life that I need to work on such as my career, but my God this is as good a place as any. I feel like the luckiest son of a bitch alive. I have finally found a woman that I can trust and love. I can give myself over to Melissa completely which is something that I never thought would happen again.

  I hand Melissa her food and sit back in my seat, my heart warming up as I soak in every inch of her appearance. This beautiful, sexy woman who’s my complete opposite but who has always been my best friend is now mine, all mine, and I am not going to do anything to screw it up. Never, ever.

  Chapter Ten – Melissa

  One year later…

  “Wow, this is amazing!” I declare with glee as I wander around Nick’s new office. “You’re really on the up now, aren’t you? I can’t believe how much of a success you’ve made of things.”

  “I know.” He chuckles while tossing his arms proudly in the air. “I’m so happy.”

  Spending a week in his friend, Dan’s, office had done him the world of good. It sparked a real love for advertising inside of him and persuaded him to begin his own ad agency. It wasn’t anything that I’d ever thought of before, nor him, but surprisingly it worked. It brought out a creative side to his personality before which he hadn’t ever nurtured before. I helped him with that, bringing him up when things got tough. Using my art.

  It started small, just him in his home office trying to muddle through every single day, but his business acumen won out and eventually allowed him to expand. In just a few short months he now has an office and two employees working for him. I co
uldn’t be happier for him. It’s good for him to have a purpose outside of his home life, and since he refuses to dedicate everything to his work, giving him plenty of time for Toby, it works well for his son too. Toby likes to see his father on top of the world, it makes his life better, well, all of ours.

  I didn’t move in with them for a while, I wanted to be smart to see how things went first, but after a while we all got a new place together. We needed more room for Nick’s home office and my studio which I frequent with Yas when we’re trying to make plans for our ever expanding company, which gave Toby more space too. He seems to be more than happy with every new development with our family which makes me happy. That poor boy has lost so much already, he doesn’t deserve anything but happiness these days.

  I glance at my watch. “Oh, we better pick Toby up from school soon. He’ll want to see this…”

  “You don’t have to worry about that. Mom is getting him and bringing him to us.”

  “Oh, right…” Nick’s mom is a very involved grandma but this still feels a bit strange. My internal sensors are buzzing wildly, I have a funny feeling that my instincts are right, but about what? “I see.”

  “Come with me.” Nick grabs onto my hand and drags me into another room just outside of his new office. I fall into step with him more than willingly. “I just want to show you something out here.”

  “Where are we going?” I chuckle. “If your mom is meeting us here, shouldn’t we…”

  My words trail off as I spot a really unexpected sight in front of me. A little table and chairs has been set up as if it belongs there, even if it is totally out of place. A small candle sits on one of the tables, flickering it’s little light while two plates of Chinese food glow underneath it, mimicking the food we ate on the night that we decided to be together. The sight is so thoughtfully, so romantic that I don’t know what to say.

  “What is this?” I eventually rasp out while I try my hardest to catch my breath. “What’s all of this?”

  As I turn to see Nick again, he isn’t there. Or at least, he isn’t standing where I left him. He has fallen to one knee on the ground and he’s holding out a small box with a ring inside of it to me. I clap my hand to my mouth loudly, shock reverberating through my body. I cannot believe that this is happening now.

  “Melissa, I have a question to ask you.” Nick chuckles as he says this. “And it might already be obvious what I’m going to ask but I want you to hear me out anyway.” I nod silently, too stunned to speak anyway. “Okay good, well as you know this isn’t a question that I take lightly. It’s one that I didn’t think I would ever ask again, but then I didn’t think I would fall in love with you.” Oh God, every single time he tells me that he loves me, my heart flaps about like crazy. I don’t think it’s a sensation that I’ll ever get used to, no matter how many times I hear it. It’s because I’ve been waiting for this moment for my whole life. Or at least since middle school. “But loving you is the best thing in the word. You make me happier than anyone else ever could.”

  “You make me happy too…” I start, before I remember that I’m not supposed to be speaking. “Oh sorry.”

  “You are wild,” he continues as if I’ve said nothing. “Free spirited, fun, you bring out a very different side to me, and also Toby. He’s come out of his shell a lot since you’ve been in our life. Or more in our life anyway. He loves you just as much as I do, and we both want you around forever.” He grabs my hand and he starts to slide the ring onto my ring ringer on my left hand, confident in my yes before I even give it. “I want to love you with every fiber of my being for the rest of my life, I want to always wake up with you by my side, I want to spend all my breaths making you happy…” He gets choked up. The emotion gets to him just as much as it encases me too. I can feel a single tear falling down my cheek. “I want you to be my wife. Will you do me that honor?” His wet eyes stare up at me, making me melt like crazy. I’m practically a puddle on the ground. “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” I rasp back. “Yes, I will marry you, of course I will.”

  My young adolescent dream comes true at the exact same time as my adult one. I cannot believe that it’s finally happened. Nick now trusts me and loves me so much that he wants me to be his wife, how incredible is that? I never would have admitted it aloud, especially since his last marriage when up in flames so epically, but this is something that I’ve always wanted. It’s the last step in our already incredible relationship.

  Actually, it’s been much better than I thought it would be. I expected us to hit some road bumps along the way, but we haven’t really. There have been the natural rows that come with being a couple, especially ones who are as different, yet similar, as me and Nick, but nothing dramatic. We truly are meant to be.

  Once the ring is finally pushed to the back of my finger, solidifying everything completely, he jumps up and wraps his arms tightly around me, embracing me in a hug and kiss. It feels so wonderful, I actually find myself hungry for something other than that food on the table, even if it does smell delicious…

  “Oh, yay! Did you say yes, Melissa?” Toby’s voice suddenly breaks us apart. I turn to see him standing next to Nick’s mom smiling wildly. “Are you going to be my new mommy properly?”

  I bend down to my knees and open up my arms for him to jump into them which he does willingly. “I am, sweetheart. Well, I’m going to marry your daddy at any rate, so that makes me whatever you want…”

  “You haven’t discussed the adoption yet?” Nick’s mom interjects. “Why not?”

  “Oh, you two.” Nick shakes his head and laughs. “You ruin everything. It’s a good job you didn’t get here before the proposal or that would be ruined too. You would have done the asking for me.”

  “What are you lot on about?” I flick my eyes between them all. “What adoption?”

  Toby looks up at me through his eyelashes, giving me the most adorable smile. “I want you to be my mommy.”

  “We thought that you might want to adopt Toby if we’re going to get married.”

  I know that Liz signed away her parental rights in the divorce, that’s common knowledge these days after that dinner, but I never expected this. Of course, it’s what I want, I need this family to be as solid as possible. I want to expand it as well, to have children of my own, but to have them make the suggestion is too much.

  “You really want this?” I look at Nick then Toby. “Seriously?”

  Nick’s mom laughs loudly and just like she always does, she gives us a bit of a straight talk. “Oh, come on, Melissa, of course they want this. How could they ask for anyone better than you? You’ve been an incredible addition to this family. I don’t know what any of us would do without you.”

  Her words cause tears to ball up in the corners of my eyes, the emotion gets to me. This is so incredible, I must be so lucky. To me, it tells me that being patient and waiting for Nick was the right decision. To be here right now makes me regret nothing, I would make all the same choices all over again.

  “Yes,” I burst out. “Yes, I will. I would love to be your mommy, Toby.”

  “You would? Oh yay, that’s the best news ever.”

  His whole face lights up, it’s like all his Christmas’s have come at once. I can’t stop smiling as he jumps around and skips gleefully, so happy to have me in his life. When I woke up this morning, I thought it would just be another normal day, I certainly didn’t expect to see Nick’s new office, to become a fiancée, to start the steps to becoming Toby’s mother for real this time. It’s gone from ordinary to the best day of my life.

  “I love you, Tobes, you know that.”

  “I love you too,” he whispers directly into my ear. “Mommy.”

  As if that word isn’t enough to send me over the edge into the abyss of emotion, I catch Nick looking at me as if I’m his world. My entire universe has shrunk down into this little room and I love it. Every bit of it.

  “I love you too,” Nick says. “And I cannot wa
it to make you my wife.”

  “Yes, yes, we all love each other,” Nick’s mom interjects, making me laugh loudly. “Now, when are we going to get to eat this food because it smells delicious.”

  And just like that, we all sit together and eat, almost back to normal, and that’s something I like just as much. The wild, crazy, romantic gestures are awesome, but so is the every day. With Nick and Toby, it all feels amazing. It’s everything to me, and as I look at them both, and Nick’s mom too, I feel like I’ve finally found the happy ever after that I never thought I would get, with the man who I never thought would be mine. My best friend has finally become the most incredible lover in the world.

  I’m lucky. I don’t know how I ended up so lucky but I am, and I’m going to savor that every single day for the rest of my life.

  More Steamy Romance by Mia Ford

  Mia is a contemporary romance writer who loves to write about strong, gorgeous, Greek God like alpha men who love protecting their sassy and sexy women.

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