by Zrinka Jelic
Before she could come up with a feasible excuse, Mom spoke again, “Sandra’s brother will entertain us with his guitar. If you could muster some courage, I’d love it for you to play a song or two.”
Neri shook her head in disbelief. So her choice was to dance to Sandra’s beat in her parade as an unwanted bridesmaid or to entertain people while they ate their roast beef dinner. Which one was lesser of the two evils? She’d never performed solo, but if she closed her eyes, maybe she could picture she was playing in the orchestra shoved somewhere at the back where no one saw her. Sandra’s brother, Vince, could save the day. “I don’t know what I can play as a second violin. All the pieces I do are to be played with other instruments.”
“Maybe you and Vince could do some duet.”
“Wasn’t he in a band?”
“I guess not anymore.” Mom shrugged. “It was just some silly gig he had going on with his high school buddies in his dad’s garage.”
Right, everyone seemed to think so, but Vince had done some great performances. Too bad, the band didn’t last. “I’ll talk to him. He was into stage and sound effects and maybe he can do something to sync my playing with lights.” Like blinding her so she didn’t have to look at the people seated at the tables.
“There, you see if you put your mind to it, everything is possible.” Mom’s thin lips stretched into a tight smile. “I’m glad you came to your senses.”
Neri huffed, more like she got forced to do things to satisfy others. That was her family all right. As long as their wishes got fulfilled, at what price, that was none of their concern. It was no wonder she shunned them all. Mom’s persistence had paid out over a year ago and Neri patched things up with her, but now Mom pushed her buttons just like during the good ole’ days.
“Now, are we going to meet your boyfriend anytime soon?” A spoon clunked as Mom dished out a plate of food.
“Who’s that for?” Neri pointed at the plate, hoping to divert the conversation topic.
“Dad.” Mom popped the dish in the microwave. “You know he won’t come to the kitchen when you’re here.”
“How long will he keep up with not talking to me?” Neri seethed. Okay, so she’d moved out to live with a man in what Dad called ‘wild marriage’ that had resulted in a bitter breakup. So what? Dad and his old European ways, in his mind a girl was to marry and live with her husband straight from her parents’ home, never experiencing freedom.
“He’ll come around.” Mom pulled the cutlery out of the drawer. “Once we see your boyfriend. I’m trying hard not to overstep my boundaries, you’re a high flight risk, but enough is enough. I want to know who my daughter is dating.”
Obviously, you’re not trying hard enough. Neri stifled a groan. Asking Mark to be her wedding date was a stupid idea. That Ashton or Ashley or whatever her name, was right. Neri would get hurt in the process if everyone found out he was her fake date.
CHAPTER SIX
Mark paced in front of the reception desk of Get Fit gym. He halted and glanced at the watch on his phone. Neri was fifteen minutes late. Maybe she’d bailed out on him. No, he must not assume the worst. She wasn’t irresponsible. If something had come up, she would call the gym to cancel today’s session and reschedule.
For the next minute, a hundred what if’s ran through his mind. What if she got into a car crash and couldn’t call him? Unable to stand the wait, he pushed open the double glass door and stepped out onto the driveway. A white hatchback zipped onto the parking lot, and he jumped back as the driver lay on the horn, steering straight for the open spot.
The car’s taillights flashed and the engine cut off. Neri eased out and popped the trunk. She extracted her gym bag and strode toward him. “I’m so sorry I’m late.” Locks of caramel red hair bounced on her shoulders in time with the clicks of her shoes on the pavement.
He released the breath caught in his chest. “Did you take an even later lunch?”
“Huh?”
“You said you take late lunches, so I assumed you ate later than usual.”
“Um…yes, no, actually. Today, I had a late breakfast and big one too, so I skipped lunch.”
He shook his head, but refrained from commenting. Once he got her in his office, he’d explain skipping meals was a big no. “Okay, get changed fast. I’ll wait in training room two.”
“Be there in five,” she called over her shoulder, heading for the women’s locker room.
Several minutes of waiting on her seemed like an eternity. He straightened the equipment in the small space.
The squeak of rubber soles on the polished gym floor broke his concentration, and he turned to the door. Neri stood there, chewing on her lower lip and bouncing on her toes. She wore a cute hot pink tank top with three thin straps criss-crossing on her back and black shorts that showed off her firm legs and butt.
Damn, she looked fine.
“I think I did a week’s worth of cardio changing so fast.” She closed the glass door of the training room.
“You don’t get off that easy.” He chuckled, then waved her closer. “You look worried, please relax.” Hopefully, one of his smiles would ease her rigid posture, but Neri wasn’t the easy kind, from the day he laid his eyes on her, he knew she would be hard to get. She’d make him work. And work he would, anything for her was worth the effort.
She approached. Her forehead wrinkled. “Should I be worried?”
“Not at all, I don’t bite, trust me.” He turned to the digital scale, a state of the art technology, had cost him an arm and a leg, but he wouldn’t settle for anything but the best for his gym. When he cleared the memory from the display, he faced her again. “I want you to step on this, backward.”
Her eyebrows drew closer and her chin creased with her frown. “Backward? Why?”
“I don’t want you to see the number. People fixate on it and it becomes an obsession.”
“Makes sense.” Her stare strained on the metal plate of the scale. “Why do you need to weigh me?”
He dropped his arms by his sides. “I’m not doing it to judge you. You’ll start seeing the results in a few days, and you’ll be glad we took your weight today.”
“Fine,” she said, not moving from her spot.
“You’re not afraid of a scale, are you?”
“Yes, I am, and with good reason.” She turned her back to the wall and slowly raised one foot, placing it onto the scale, then the other. “I’ll indulge you, this time.”
He jotted down the specifications from the digital display. “You can step down. Normally, I don’t let clients know their weight, unless they insist. Would you like to know?”
She wobbled her head. “Okay, I guess.”
“One eighty seven pounds, not bad, not at all.”
“Really? I mean, oh, wow!” A smile lightened her face. “I didn’t expect that. I weighted myself two days ago and the scale showed a higher number.”
“Little bathroom scales are often inaccurate.” He pulled the arm cuff off the wall rack. “I need your left arm.”
This time, she complied without hesitating. The blood pressure machine rumbled and the band around her arm blew up tightening her bicep. The noise stopped and the air released. The displayed read a hundred-twenty-five over eighty-four. “Hmm, blood pressure is on a high end, though still within norms. You rushed getting here, so that is what could cause it.”
“Or it could be you.” She clamped her hand over her lips. “Shit! I didn’t say that out loud, did I?”
He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. A tiny smile lingered on his lips. “No need to feel embarrassed. Let’s take some other measurements, then we’ll start with fitness test.”
Her shoulders relaxed for a split second, but then her jaw dropped. “There’ll be a test at the end?”
“Yes, so pay attention,” he teased, but when she gave him whose-leg-are you-pulling kind of look, he burst out laughing. “Gothca! No worries, it’s not for grading.” Goodness, she made him chuckle today.
“But you’ll take the results from it.”
“Why, yes, that’s why it’s called the test. The results will give me a direction on the best training regime for you.” He grabbed the measuring tape. “Arms up to your shoulder level.”
Before she could protest, he wrapped the tape around her waist, noted the number and released her from the hold. “Maybe we should skip measuring your hips, bust and inseam, to prevent your blood pressure from sky rocketing.”
“Not sure why would you need those measurements, you’re not a seamstress. I feel like I’m being fitted for a suit.”
“Let’s move on. Hop on.” He tapped the seat of the stationary bike.
She climbed on, while buttons on the console beeped under his finger. “How’s the seat height? Good? Okay, I’ll have you do fifteen minutes test, and five minutes cool down. Begin pedalling now.”
Two minutes into the test, she peeled her gaze away from the console to him. “Is this the hardest setting? I can do better than this.”
“The tension will increase with every level. Try to keep up the same pace.” Normally, he’d watch his trainee from behind, but the way her buttocks moved perched on the narrow bike seat caused him a tightness in his groin. Standing in front of her wasn’t any better as two sweat stains spread under her boobs. He leaned against the cool glass wall.
She nodded and returned her gaze at the console.
“Keep your head up to open up your windpipes. That will make breathing easier.”
“Ugh…it’s boring to stare at the plain wall in front of me.”
“Use your imagination.” Darn it, she was right, he needed to put something there, a poster or workout poses, like proper squats or yoga stretches, those are always interesting to look at.
Maybe small talk would help them both to break the awkwardness. If she were able to keep up with the exertion level and continue to talk, it would give him a good indication of her cardio endurance. “So, you have a big day in a month’s time?”
“Yeah,” she puffed, keeping the pace on the pedals. “I’m forced to attend my cousin’s wedding.”
“That reminds me, I have a wedding invitation I need to RSVP. on, but don’t know how to decline.” The truth was he planned on his mother to do it for him. Though, if her persistent phone messages were any indication, she hinted that getting out of this obligation would be out of question. Why put any effort in contacting a relative who couldn’t have bothered to attend any of his celebrations? Finding the invite in the mail had come as a total surprise, he hadn’t expected to even make it onto a maybe list of attendees. Still, it would be nice to see the family. The only time they gathered in the past few years was for funerals. Dreadful things, so he’d stopped showing up at such occasions and sent his condolences.
“I hear ya, I wasn’t gonna attend, but my mom RSVP’d for me, so I have no choice.” She swiped her hand over her forehead, pushing loose strands away from her mesmerizing olive green eyes. “I don’t feel like going solo though. I’m afraid they’ll sit me at the weirdo’s’ table and try to fix me up with some loser who’d rather jab a screwdriver in his ear than go out on a date.”
Her remark hit close to home, and if he didn’t laugh he would have to cry. “It’s as if you’ve just described my family.” He tried to mimic his father’s voice. “Why can’t you be like your brother? Oh, he’s the perfect son. I’m a screw up.”
“What do they say about this nice gym? I doubt they’d call you screw up now.”
“My dad does, he wouldn’t lend me the money because he didn’t think I could ever repay him.” Mark shrugged. “So I took out a bank loan and the interest rate was way better than what my dad wanted to charge me.”
“Your dad would charge you an interest rate? Goodness, and here I thought my family was too much to handle. Nevertheless, I stopped trying to please them long ago, and I’d never been happier.” Her last few words came out broken up by her labored breathing. The tension on the bike was getting to her.
“Good for you. You took what was dealt to you and it made you a better person. If only I could break away from mine.”
“No, I just walked away from their drama and their insecurities. That doesn’t mean I don’t love them, but I don’t connect with them. As if I’m an alien.” The bike console beeped and the red letters flashed cool down. “Saved by the bell.”
“Keep pedaling, but lightly.” He took her hand and pressed two fingers on the inside of her wrist, while he kept his eyes on his wristwatch. Sweat stains under her boobs grew larger. Though technically, he caused her to break into sweat, he’d much prefer he’d done that between the sheets. The time would come. He would have her all sweaty and hot, while moaning his name.
With reluctance, he released her hand, and she grabbed the handle. The last ten seconds of the cool down couldn’t pass fast enough, but he didn’t want to blurt out his question before she was done. “You did great,” he said, as she climbed down from the bike. “I have an idea.”
She snapped her mesmerizing eyes toward his face. “About what?”
“The weddings we have to attend. I’m assuming you don’t want to go to yours for the same reason I don’t want to go to mine.”
“Perhaps.”
“Why don’t we pretend to be each other dates, so that our families don’t try to fix us up with someone we can’t stand?”
Her eyes rounded and her jaw dropped, leaving her mouth gaping. “Are—are you serious?”
“I’m quite serious. But if you don’t think this would work for you, I’ll understand.” He hoped the disappointment didn’t reflect in his voice.
“No, this is—um— a fabulous idea. I’d love to be your pretend date.”
Her tone indicated a bit of reluctance, but he dismissed it to her nervousness. Well, it didn’t take too much to convince her. “Great. Which day is the wedding you must attend?”
“July twenty-first, if I’m not mistaken. At the FantainBlu.”
He slumped. “Oh no, I think they’re on the same day.”
“Oh well, I guess cousin Sandi will just have to marry Geoff with a G without me then.”
“What did you just say?” He stared at Neri in disbelief. If he’d heard her correctly, they were talking about the same wedding. This had fun written all over it, and he wouldn’t miss it for the world.
“I said, my cousin, Sandi will have to marry her fiancé Geoff without me. My mom’s gonna kill me, but she’d get over it, eventually—”
“It’s a deal.” He extended his hand to Neri for a handshake. “We’ll be there and show them all, nobody messes up with us.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Neri stared at Mark’s extended hand. She dragged her gaze up to his face. A tiny smile lingered on his lips. His eyes sparkled with expectation of her acceptance to pretend to be his date at the same wedding he dreaded attending as much as her. His proposal should’ve eased her anxiety about popping the question to him, but it only seemed to twist her insides tighter. She’d lied to her family and had told them the two of them were a couple for almost a year. Once everyone saw how uneasy she was around Mark, it wouldn’t take her mom, sister and aunts long to figure out her deception. Worse yet, someone would spread some crap about Mark accompanying her out of pity, or that he lost a bet, or even worse that he was a date for hire. Still, it would be a travesty to pass up this opportunity.
“What makes you think this Geoff with a g is your cousin?” An unsecured laughter shook her voice. “I mean, there are many guys with that name.”
“But how many are marrying a Sandi with an I, on the same date and at The FantainBlu, Toronto’s premium event venue?” He shook his hand as if it was getting stiff waiting on hers to join for a handshake. “Nothing but the best for that spoiled brat of my cousin.”
“Okay, you got the point.” Neri raised her hand to his, but halted. “Wait…have you met her?”
“Not yet. I hardly get to see Geoff at all. In fact, I can’t remember
last time I saw him.” Mark looked up at the ceiling as if trying to recall. “I don’t go out of my way for family get-togethers. Anyhow, the rumor has it your cousin has a spending problem.”
“Not what I hear, she has no problem spending her dad’s money on her dear self. I hope your cousin’s got deep pockets.” If only Cousin Geoff could sit with her for an hour, so she could fill him in on things she knew about his bride, the wedding would be off. Then again, she hadn’t seen Sandi in years, maybe her cousin had tamed her wild ways. The cat may change its spots, but not its nature.
Mark snorted. “That prick deserves everything that’s coming to him.”
Neri joined in Mark’s laughter. She hated to be put under pressure, but being indecisive made her more edgy. What the heck, roads were paved with flat squirrels who couldn’t make the decision. She slid her hand in his and squeezed. “What could possibly go wrong? You’ve got a date.”
“That’s the attitude.” Mark shook their joined hands. “It’ll be fun, you’ll see. We’ll make a perfect couple.”
She raised her index finer over their joined hands. “About that—”
The shrill ring of the phone on the desk had them both turning towards the sound.
“Damn, this place would fall apart without me.” He picked up the receiver. “Hey, Jen, wazzup? Um-hum, tell my mom I’ll call her back in a few.” Mark hung up and turned to her. “At least, they let me do most of your examination. Let’s step into the gym and I’ll show you an exercise, then I have to call mom. I’ve dodged five of her phone calls.”
Neri followed him to the back wall lined with dumbbells on racks, admiring his taut backside under the black bike shorts. There was no sign of Ashley, but that didn’t mean the princess wasn’t lurking in the gym. If not her, then her spy that would report Mark’s every move to her. Workout benches faced the mirrored wall.
He tapped the empty seat and handed her a set of ten pounds weights. “To feel the burn, you’ll move through the set slowly.” He demonstrated by lifting his arms above his head. “Hold at the top for a sec, squeeze, and release.” Then he lowered the weights to his shoulder level. “Your turn.”
