Her Totally Hot Forbidden Fake Fiance
Lucy McConnell
Copyright © 2019 by Lucy McConnell
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Contents
Her Totally Hot Forbidden Fake Fiance
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Dear Reader,
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
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About the Author
Now Available from Bestselling and Award-Winning Author Lucy McConnell
Her Totally Hot Forbidden Fake Fiance
Taking the wrong man home for Christmas never felt so right.
Diana Dalagar can’t stand the idea of her neighbor spending Christmas alone, so she invites Cliff to the family cabin. In the planning, there’s a slight misunderstanding that gives her mother the impression they are engaged. Which is great, because it will keep Diana’s family of her back about why she’s still single. She’ll just have to make sure that Cliff doesn’t find out what she’s done.
Cliff has no desire to get into another relationship that could embarrass him in front of a church full of people. When he finds out Diana set him up as her fake fiancé, he’s understandably upset. But, Diana is the color in his otherwise dreary winter day. He’d do anything for her—even play the dotting fiancé for Christmas.
Pretending to be a couple puts the two of them in close quarters where their lips continually come together to create Christmas magic. When the stakes are raised by a chaotic Christmas Day wedding, Cliff’s hurtful past crashes into his possible future with Diana.
In order to start a life with Cliff, Diana will have to confess how she truly feels. But, saying “I love you” is a dangerous thing. Can Diana make their wishes come true; or, will she be alone under the mistletoe again this Christmas?
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This story is an irresistible contemporary romance about a not-so-humble cop who splits his raffle ticket with an unlucky waitress and the actor who falls in love with her.
(An It Could Happen to You retelling with a twist!)
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Dear Reader,
Recently, on the flight home from a research trip to Virginia, I sat next to the most darling woman, Diana. We quickly found that we shared a love for Hallmark movies.
She’d recently moved to Williamsburg and was off on an adventure to the hot-air balloon festival in New Mexico. As she told me about raising six children on her own after her husband passed, of going to school to become a mortician, and how much she loves to read, I fell in love with her.
Since I was starting this book, literally typing “Chapter One,” I asked if she would mind if I named my main character after her. She was so flattered. I then asked her to pick a name for our hero. After a moment of deep thought, she chose Cliff—naming him after the one who got away.
Her answer stirred something in my heart, reminding me that people come into our lives and leave imprints on our soul, even if they don’t stay. I know Diana touched mine with her kindness and light, and Cliff had touched hers with his love.
So, if you’re reading this book on a holiday flight or in the midst of the hustle and bustle, I hope it touches your heart and fills you with the Spirit of Christmas.
Merry Christmas,
Lucy
Chapter 1
Diana
“Caught ya!” Diana grabbed Fae’s shoulders.
“Ahh!” Fae threw her hands in the air and jumped in her seat.
Diana laughed as her best office friend clutched her heart. “Online holiday shopping at the work?” She slid onto the desk next to the computer and let her feet dangle. “I hope you’re getting me something good.”
Fae grinned like the Grinch who stole all the gifts. “You wish. You’re getting an ‘I Heart NY’ mug just like every year.”
“Yay.” Diana kicked her feet. She already had three mugs in her cupboard—and loved their ongoing gag gifts. She’d purchased a Sears Tower snow globe just that morning for Fae.
They heard footsteps and paused in their chitchat until Benji passed the door. Fae tossed her wildly curly dark hair over her shoulder. What Diana would give to have hair like that. Her auburn trusses were nothing to feel bad about, but the curls—oh, the curls.
“When will you be back from Georgia?” she asked.
“Not until after New Year’s. What about you?” Fae clicked to another site, browsing beard-care products and kits. Her dad had a Sean Connery thing going lately.
“Two days after Christmas. I’m sticking around to help Mom clean the cabin, but then I’m out of there. I can only take so much of my family.” She shuddered dramatically.
“Whaaat? You love your kin.”
“Yeah.” She did. She really did. Their ongoing text thread was a constant source of love and teasing—especially from her older brother. He was so wrapped up in his little family that they hardly saw him anymore, so the texts were extra precious. “But something happens when the extended family comes at Christmas. Remember last year?”
Fae giggled. “Oh my gosh—I totally forgot about the ambush.”
Diana rolled her eyes. “Ambush is putting it mildly.” Her great-aunt had brought two single men to the Christmas Eve celebration, certain that Diana and her cousin would fall desperately in love at first sight. She and Celine had gone out with them—after a huge guilt trip from their mothers—and ended up paying for dinner and taking an Uber home. Apparently, their great-aunt had said the girls were looking for a “good time” while they were in town. Never. Again. “They won’t rest until they see me married off.”
“Why don’t you just take someone home with you?” Her eyes glittered with mischief. “Jared is single.”
“Jared is one step up from dating slime.” Their coworker’s ethics were constantly in question, and he hadn’t been faithful to a girlfriend in three years.
Fae laughed.
Diana warmed to the subject, enjoying a few minutes of holiday cheer before she had to go back to spreadsheets and data. “Besides, if I showed up with a guy on Christmas Eve, my mom would have the wedding planned before Santa’s sleigh landed on the roof.” A series of horrible alternate universes ran through her head.
“So take someone they don’t want you to marry.”
A premonition brushed against Diana’s arm, raising goose bumps. “What did you say?”
“I said take someone they wouldn’t want you to marry.” Fae lifted a shoulder. “Pressure’s off.”
If she arrived on the arm of a Hell’s Angel, a mob boss, or a cult leader, her family would freak out. Totally. Freak. But she was too savvy to put herself in any d
anger. Still … Her parents were firmly upper-middle class, priding themselves on Ivy League educations, the family crest, and Great-Grandpa’s American dream that trickled down several generations; she could bring home a ditch digger and get the same results.
“You’re brilliant.” She beamed. “A plan this crazy might actually work.”
“That’s why I’m the bestest.” Fae leaned on one arm of the chair.
Diana drummed her fingers on the desk. “The trouble is finding someone.” Their IT company didn’t exactly employ a lot of ditch diggers—and her condo was in an upscale part of town, and her neighbors were all office workers who wore suits and ties. Well, except for Cliff. Her next-door neighbor was an electrician. She’d never really asked him much about what he did, but he was the one she called when her power went out, an outlet tripped, or her cupboard door fell off. He just knew things. Some people might think he was scary—he had a long beard and a few tattoos. But under all that, he was the sweetest guy. And he had great eyes. The kind that spoke to her soul.
“I guess you’d better start looking,” said Fae.
“Gives a new meaning to Christmas shopping,” Diana joked. They shared a laugh.
Fae went back to clicking through the online catalogue. “Too bad they don’t rent boyfriends for the holidays.”
“Or any days.” Diana wiggled her eyebrows, earning another laugh. She could already feel the pressure lightening.
Benji’s footsteps sounded in the hall again.
“I’d better get back to my office.” Diana hopped down from the desk. “I’ll see you later.”
“Lates.” Fae waved. She clicked to a screen with next month’s schedule.
Diana shook her head as she headed down the hall. As great as Fae’s idea was, there was no way she could take someone home for Christmas. It just wasn’t possible. She brushed the thought aside and dove into work, resigned to spending another Christmas single and henpecked by her mother and aunts.
Chapter 2
Cliff
Cliff finished clearing Diana’s walk and tapped the compacted snow off the shovel. He still needed to shovel his concrete, but he took a moment to relax. The day was long, with two guys not showing up for work at all. It happened every year. The weather turned and the younger ones, who wanted an easy paycheck, quit without notice, leaving him scrambling to finish jobs on time.
The FedEx truck pulled up and the driver hopped out. “You live here?” He pointed to Diana’s door. If the packages he’d collected over the last two weeks were any indication, she must have done all her Christmas shopping online.
“Yep.” Cliff reached for the package. He signed the electronic tablet. The driver hurried away, in a rush to finish his route. Cliff tucked the box inside his front door, smiling down at it nestled there before catching himself and slamming the door. No sense letting all the cold air in.
Diana was late again, probably finishing up a project so she could take some extra time off for the holidays. Her front door was wrapped in pine boughs and strung with white lights. Sprigs of red berries with sugar crystals on them, red plastic ornaments, and reindeer made from twigs were strategically placed so that the entrance looked like something on a Christmas card. He’d come outside when she was working on it and been hoodwinked into handing her different pieces as she put the whole thing together. He hadn’t minded, not really. She chatted as she worked, and she had the cutest little line between her eyes when she was frustrated.
Cute. That was the word for Diana. She couldn’t be more than five foot four with auburn hair that blazed red in the sunlight. Her skin would be what his mom called peaches and cream, and her eyes were golden brown.
A stiff breeze came up the walkway, reminding him that if he didn’t get his walk cleared, he’d have a path of ice come morning. He got the job done in record time and headed inside to warm up, one ear tuned for the sound of Diana’s car. He’d just settled into eating a cup of soup when the familial crunch of her tires on salt came through the window.
His palms began to sweat, and he suddenly couldn’t eat the soup he’d been ravenous for only moments before. He held his breath in anticipation. It was silly, really, how much he looked forward to these few moments they shared.
It was best not to look too deeply into the why of such things. If anyone asked why he helped his neighbor, the answer was simple: His mama raised him right. If they asked why he’d offered to help her during the power outage last year, it was because she looked so helpless standing on his walk, her phone flashlight quaking against his steps. How could he have turned her away? Even if he was nursing a broken heart and had sworn off dating, marriage, and women, a guy could be a nice guy without a reason.
A light rap sounded, and he bolted from the chair, paused at the door to take a breath and compose his face, and then swung it open.
Diana’s eyes lit up and knocked the breath right out of him. “Hey.” She smiled so easily. He remembered a time when smiles came like that to him—when life wasn’t bleak and the reality of a woman’s cruel nature hadn’t entered his life.
“A package came for you.” He reached down and grabbed the box, thrusting it at her.
“I was hoping it had. Thanks.” She hugged it to her like it held something precious inside. “What are you doing for Christmas?”
He frowned. His brother was completing his residency at the hospital and scheduled to work a double shift to cover for other docs who had families. His parents were in Europe. Mom always wanted to see Germany at Christmas, and they were still living down his big almost-wedding mistake, so being out of the country allowed them the perfect opportunity to miss holiday parties. “Nothing,” he replied. “Which is exactly the way I want it.”
“Nonsense.” Diana shook her head, making her hair bounce against her red coat. “You don’t want to be alone for Christmas.” She adjusted her hold on the box.
He got the feeling she was avoiding eye contact with him. Which was odd for her. She was like an owl with those big eyes of hers, soaking in his very soul and seeing right through his gruff façade. She was the only person on the planet, besides his brother, who could get through his walls. That was probably why he both dreaded and anticipated her short visits or the times he spent in her apartment fixing things. It was nice to be seen.
“You should come home with me. My family has a huge cabin—it’s a party house, really—and we fill it up. It’s quiet up there. You can tromp around in the woods, cross-country ski, sled, build a snowman, whatever you want, and no one will bother you. My mom and dad make the best meals. We’ll have turkey and ham for Christmas dinner.”
He opened his mouth to protest. He would not be going anywhere with a woman, not even one as sweet as Diana. Not today, not ever.
She plowed on before he had a chance to get out a syllable. “It would help me out of a tight spot too.”
His protest died. One of the few redeemable things he’d done in the last year and a half was watch out for his adorable, but slightly clueless neighbor. “How?”
She cocked a hip. He should invite her inside, but he’d sworn to himself that no female would ever set foot in this condo. “Well, my family meddles in my social life—a lot. They’re terrible, really. And they say things about me being single.” She blew a breath that clouded around her head before dissipating. “They mean well, I think, but I’m so tired of hearing them complain about me. If I brought you along, they’d lay off.”
This sounded suspicious. “Brought me along how?”
She wrinkled her nose. “In my car.”
“No.” He waved his hand. “I mean, as a friend …?”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh. Oh! Yes, as a friend. I can’t very well go out with whatever cousin to someone’s lawyer they’ve dug up for me if I have a friend along. It would be rude.”
Well, when she put it that way … The thing with Diana was that she was hard to say no to. She just had this I’m-so-adorable-don’t-you-want-to-make-me-smile thing going for
her that tugged him in every time. And he didn’t like the idea of her going out with strangers. He’d been set up a time or two before the almost-marriage, and the women people thought he’d be interested in turned out to be interested in one thing—his paycheck. They liked knowing he owned his own electrical company. In fact, that was pretty much all any of them learned about him before agreeing to go out with him.
He glanced over his shoulder at the bare walls and Christmas-less living room. He had a few days off for the holiday. If Diana needed him, then … “Okay.”
She squealed and bounced. “Yay! I’ll pick you up at 4 p.m. the day before Christmas Eve, and we’ll make it there just after dinner.” She flipped around, her boots crushing the salt he’d spread earlier that evening. He smiled, thankful she hadn’t had a patch of ice right there—she would have slipped. She waved from her porch, not five feet from his, and went inside.
He shut the door and leaned against it, a heavy sense of foreboding crashing over him. Going away with Diana was a bad idea in general. Their friendship—if he could call it that—was based on a firm arm keeping them from getting too close. They weren’t bosom buddies or besties or anything of the sort. They were neighbors who helped one another out from time to time. She had her life, and he had his. Going to her family holiday celebration was a stupid idea for a hundred reasons.
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