by Amanda Ashby
“What?” Will blinked, unsure what his brother was talking about.
“Date night.” Tucker grinned like a fool as he pressed the envelope into Will’s hand. “Here’s an all-expenses-paid night out at Terra. And before you say no, listen to me. You and Riley are such good friends that it would be easy to forget that she’s now your girlfriend. You need to treat her like the woman you love, not the girl downstairs you like to split a pizza with.”
That would be because we’re not in love, Will wanted to retort. But of course he couldn’t. Not just because he didn’t want to be the one who ruined his brother’s wedding, but because judging by the fact that if even Riley was starting to doubt he was over Lisa, everyone else on Saturday would think the same thing. And if they discovered he and Riley weren’t a real couple it would just add fuel to the fire.
He rubbed his brow and tried not to groan.
“Great, eh?” Tucker continued to grin. “Oh, and I forgot to mention that I’ve even included a violin player in there for you. What do you think?”
That you’re crazy. That love has taken away your brain. That spending an entire night with Riley in a romantic restaurant could very well be my undoing.
“Sounds amazing.” Will plastered a smile on his face as he glanced out the window, just in time to see Riley’s mom climb out of an ancient Mini, her layers of silk skirts fluttering around her. It matched her warm but slightly erratic personality. “Okay, that’s weird.”
“What’s weird?”
“Riley’s mom’s here, but Riley’s working until five and then has to go to some kind of team meeting, which doesn’t finish until seven,” he said—then understanding kicked in. It meant that Jude hadn’t called in advance to tell her daughter she was coming.
That made more sense.
He knew Riley loved her mother, but he also knew that from time to time she screened her calls, and he was guessing that after the India fiasco, that’s what Riley must’ve been doing. His theory was confirmed when he saw Jude lift what looked like one of her homemade carrot cakes out of the trunk. It was Riley’s favorite, and this wouldn’t have been the first time Jude had used it as a peace offering.
He turned back to Tucker. “Can you give me five minutes? I’d better go and tell her that Riley’s not here.”
“Of course. Trust me, I know all about sweetening up the in-laws.”
Hardly, Will silently thought as he hurried down the stairs to let her in.
“Will, so lovely to see you again.” Jude put the carrot cake down on the small table in the shared hallway and wrapped him up in a warm embrace. It had taken Will a while to get used to how touchy-feely Riley’s parents were, especially compared to his own family. Even when his mother had been alive there hadn’t been much hugging, and after her death there had been none. He still wasn’t quite comfortable with it, but he accepted that it was just part of who they were. “When did you get back?”
“Monday,” Will said as he untangled himself from Jude’s numerous scarves. Her hair, which had once been the same color as Riley’s, had now faded to a dull amber, but nothing could dull the twinkle in her eyes. “But Riley’s not here.”
“Oh.” Disappointment spread across her face before she gave a small shrug, which caused the numerous bracelets and necklaces she was wearing to clink together. “I had to come up to Seattle for art supplies so I thought I’d pop in on the off chance she was home. She hasn’t been returning my calls.”
“I’m sure it’s not intentional. You know how busy she is. And that boss of hers at the library has her doing all kinds of things,” Will added as he thought of Bingley the guinea pig and the dumb date she’d been roped into going on. He tried not to remind himself that helping him was probably on the list of dumb things she had to do too.
“Dear William. You’re a sweetheart, but you aren’t so great when it comes to covering for my daughter,” Jude said, but there was no malice in her voice. “Besides, I don’t blame her. Poor Riley; I’m not sure what she did to get stuck with me and Tom for parents. The pair of us seem to go from one disaster to another.”
“You know she doesn’t think that,” Will said. Besides, even though he knew Riley did get frustrated with some of the things her hapless parents did, she loved them deeply. More important, she knew that they loved her. Something that Will had often envied. “I swear that she really has been busy.”
“I do worry that she pushes herself too hard. Still, while you’re home at least I know she’ll relax a bit more.”
“I try my best,” Will said, before remembering the feel of her mouth on his, her skin soft against his fingers. Heat flooded his cheeks and he coughed. “Er, so would you like to come upstairs? Or you could go over to the library and see her.”
Jude shook her head. “The last thing she’d want was me turning up at work, but would you mind if I left the carrot cake with you? Also, could you give her an invitation?” Jude fumbled around in the giant patchwork bag that was hanging off her shoulder before producing a black-and-white postcard. “Turns out that there’s a lovely art gallery not far from where I’m staying and the owner has asked me to exhibit some of my work— the ‘Life’ series. He thinks we might sell some.”
“That’s great news,” Will said truthfully. Jude might be terrible when it came to love and money, but she was an incredibly talented photographer. Unfortunately, up until now she’d never liked the idea of selling her work. Hell, Will had once seen her donate ten percent of her Monopoly income when she was playing the board game. Riley’s father, Tom, was the same. And while he knew that Riley had problems with her parents erratic lifestyles, he’d always found it refreshing compared to his own father. “She’ll be so pleased.”
“I hope so.” Jude’s lower lip began to tremble, her cheerful mask falling for a moment as she passed the postcard to him. It was a picture of a woman with long dark hair tenderly cradling a small child. It was stunning; he could understand why the gallery owner thought they might sell.
“It’s amazing. It reminds me of all those photographs you took of Riley as a kid,” he said. The series of black-and-white photographs hung in her bathroom.
“She still has them?” Jude seemed surprised. “Riley was eight and we’d been staying at a friend’s commune. Anyway, she spent the entire time sitting in a tree reading her book while all the other kids played a crazy game of tag below her. Bless her, she was oblivious to it all until she finished the story.”
“Now, that I could imagine.” Will grinned at the idea of Riley sitting in a tree, all long legs and red braids, engrossed in a book while chaos surrounded her. “And I’m sure she’ll be thrilled about the exhibition.”
“Actually, I was hoping she might be able to come down for the opening on Saturday night. I know it’s short notice, but I’d really love if she could be there. You too, of course,” Jude said in a hopeful voice.
“Saturday? I’m so sorry, but she’s actually going out with me that day,” Will said. He winced at the disappointed look on Jude’s face, and hurried to explain. “My brother’s getting married. I think you met him once.”
“Of course I remember Tucker. He’s almost as handsome as you,” Jude said, her frown disappearing.
“Hey, what’s this about almost as handsome?” Tucker suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs with a mock look of outrage plastered across his face. “Sure, Will has got the six pack from all that exercise, but I like to think I’ve got a bit more going for me in the way of male grooming.”
“Point taken.” Jude beamed as she wrapped her arms around Tucker, despite the fact that they’d only met the once. “And congratulations. Will was just telling me the wonderful news. I hope you’re both very happy.”
“Thank you.” Tucker released Jude and gave her a thoughtful look. “I don’t suppose you have any last-minute tips to cure the nerves? I know you’ve done this more than onc
e.”
“Ha, well my first piece of advice is that you make this one last,” Jude said in a saucy voice before letting out a wistful sigh. “And my other advice is to remember that it’s not just the day that’s important. Make sure that you treat every day like it’s your wedding day.”
“God, no.” Will tried to imagine a world that involved talking about chest waxing and the perils of missing out on your preferred wedding florist, and shuddered. It wasn’t a pretty sight. “You have no idea how obsessed he’s been over this whole thing.”
“I just want to make sure that everything is perfect for Danni,” Tucker retorted as he gave Will a playful punch on the arm before he turned to Jude. “And thank you for that advice. I’m still pinching myself that I’m going to spend the rest of my life with her, so I’ll make sure I never forget.”
Will, who was now getting familiar with his brother’s new sappiness, managed to keep a straight face. Not that he didn’t hope Tucker and Danni would be blissfully happy for the rest of their lives, it was just the odds were stacked against them. Will wondered if that’s what their mom thought when she first got married to their father. Was she idealistic? Enthusiastic and hopeful about the future?
More to the point, when did it change?
When did her passion get bypassed for the role of society wife? Her dreams forgotten? No. He clenched his fists and pushed his memories back. Thinking of his mother and the life she endured with their father was never a good idea. Not when it was riddled with his own guilt for the part he played in it. Or the fact that he never got to tell her how sorry he was before the accident that took her life.
“You’re welcome. And thank you so much for inviting Riley. I’m sure she’ll have a wonderful time.” Jude beamed. Tucker gave a jovial shrug. “Of course. I mean those two always came as a pair anyway, but now that they’re dating it’s even better.”
What? Will was jolted out of his thoughts by Jude’s squeal of delight, realizing too late what his brother had just said. Talk about wicked webs. He rubbed his brow and tried to muster up a smile.
“Oh, my dear boy, you have no idea how happy I am to hear that you and Riley are dating.” Jude enveloped him in another hug before she pulled away and frowned. “Though why didn’t you tell us? Is this because Riley’s still annoyed with me?”
Will rubbed his chin at the forlorn note in Jude’s voice. Now he understood why Riley screened her calls.
“Of course not,” he assured her, dredging his mind for a solution. Nothing appeared, and he was just about to wish for a large hole to appear in the floor when Tucker gave him a friendly slap on the back and turned to Jude.
“Don’t take it personally. The pair of them hid it from everyone. They tried to tell me that it was because they didn’t want to ruin my wedding news. Isn’t that right, Will?”
No. Not even a little bit. But short of telling them the truth there wasn’t much he else he could do but nod his head and force a fake smile onto his face.
“Yes, that’s the only reason we were keeping it private. But now that you know, I’m sure Riley will want to tell you all about it,” Will lied, trying to imagine just how many ways his fake girlfriend was going to kill him when she found out. He was going to have to come up with something pretty incredible to get her to forgive him.
Chapter Seven
“I can’t believe that you told my mother that we were dating,” Riley wailed on Thursday morning. She was attempting to brush her hair while using her foot to encourage Bingley to stop trying to eat the pile of library books that were stacked in the corner, and she failed on both counts. While Will scooped Bingley up and put him back in his hut, she looked in the mirror and realized that she was fighting a lost cause. She tied it into a ponytail and turned her attention back to Will, concentrating on staring at his ears.
Not because there was anything wrong with them, but because after spending an entire day at work thinking about his mouth and the second kiss that they’d shared, she’d come to the conclusion that the only way to save her sanity when she was around him was to look at his ears.
Hopefully it would stop her from being so hyperaware of everything that Will did. It was like a disease that seemed to be growing in her mind, because the more she told herself not to think about him, the more she wondered what it would take for him to kiss her again. No. Think ears.
“Tucker told her,” Will corrected. “And since I couldn’t exactly deny it, I had to go along with it. Why, what’s been happening? I hope she hasn’t being giving you a hard time.”
“I’ll tell you what’s been happening,” Riley said as she reached for her cell phone and held it up for him to exam the screen. “So far I’ve had a text message from Jude’s friend who suggests we get married this year because Mars is in retrograde. My father’s arranged for our auras to be cleansed by his prayer circle and his girlfriend, Angel, is making us matching bonding bracelets. And before you ask, no, I don’t know what a bonding bracelet is, but I’m pretty sure that I don’t want one.”
“Why would she think that we’re getting married? We’ve only been fake dating for three days.”
“Because you told my mother. She puts two and two together and gets wedding bells.”
“I had no idea. I’m so sorry. I should never have answered the door when I knew you weren’t home. And then there was the carrot cake. I sold you down the river for cake.” He twisted his mouth into a grimace, which caused his ears to move ever so slightly. Why had she never noticed what nice ears he had? They were just the right size, and she loved the way the tips of his hair curled around them. She groaned. Enough.
Besides, as much as she’d wished her mother (and now her father) hadn’t found out about their fake dating status, she always felt bad complaining to Will about her erratic parents. Despite how frustrating she sometimes found them, she loved them and they loved her, unlike Will, with his dead mom and his father who was . . . well, the kind of man who would marry his son’s ex-fiancée. Plus, Will really did love Jude’s carrot cake, which would explain why by the time he delivered it to her, half of it was missing.
“It’s fine,” she said.
“So, what have you said to her?” The worry around his eyes disappeared as he seemed to realize that she was no longer mad at him.
“Nothing about us yet.” Riley sat down on her favorite reading chair and tucked her feet underneath her legs. “I called after you left to say congratulations about the exhibition and I promised I’d go and see her next weekend. So, I guess I’ll tell her that we broke up then.”
“What?” Will sat up straight like he’d just been prodded, which in turn caused Bingley to stick his nose out of his hiding hut to see what all the commotion was. “We’re breaking up?”
“Um, well, yeah. I mean we’re only pretending to date for Tucker’s wedding, so at some stage we’ll have to break up.”
“Oh. I guess you’re right.” He ran a hand over his smooth chin. Riley watched in fascination, almost feeling like it was her own hand that was touching his face. Then she let out a soft groan. First ears and now chin? This was getting ridiculous.
“Don’t worry. I won’t throw you under the bus. I’ll just say that we realized that the long-distance thing wouldn’t work.”
“Come on, they’ll never believe that.” Will shook his head as he stood up and began to pace the room. Not that Riley was surprised, since as long as she’d known Will he’d had a restless spirit that always got agitated if he was stuck in a confined space for too long. Which was probably why he enjoyed his nomadic life so much. Not to mention why his body was in great shape, thanks to his habit of jogging whenever he needed to let off steam.
“What do you mean?” Riley tried and failed not to look at his butt as he moved. “You use that excuse all the time. In fact, the reason I thought of it was because it was straight from the Will Henderson Playbook.”
&nbs
p; He came to a halt, his mouth set in a straight line. “You’re my closest friend. I’m hardly going to break up with you with an excuse like that. Actually, if you did tell them that, I wouldn’t be surprised if your father came over to Indonesia to call me out. Closely followed by my brother. More to the point, I’d judge them if they didn’t.”
“O-kay.” Riley took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. Who knew that having a fake boyfriend could be so complicated? “Oh, I know. You’ve decided that my habit of eating cookies in bed while I read a book is annoying.”
“Why would that be annoying? You love cookies and you love reading. Doing the two things together makes sense.”
Riley frowned. “It’s the crumbs. Not everyone likes crumbs, and while I love that you obviously don’t have a problem with them, you’re not making this any easier.”
“Yes, but we can’t break up over something so petty.”
“So we can make a list of non-petty things and figure something out. Would that be better?”
“I guess,” Will said, then let out a soft groan. “Sorry, I don’t suppose it even matters how we break up. It just surprised me because I hadn’t thought about it before. After the wedding we’ll make a list of potential scenarios. But right now there’s something very important that we have to discuss.”
“There is?” Will was now dangerously close to her. Riley’s breath caught in her throat and her pulse fluttered. She watched as a smile tugged at his mouth and in turn released his roguish dimples. She licked her lips. Her mouth was suddenly dry.
“There is.” He held out his hand to help her stand up. “We have to go and buy a dress, and I believe that I promised it would be fun.”
“You’re using the words shopping and fun in the same sentence?” Riley forced herself to keep her voice light so that he wouldn’t realize she’d thought he was going to kiss her. She was also hoping it would stop her from deciding whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. “Have you even met me before?”
