“Good morning,” Tyler said, a bright smile on his face.
Was he a morning person? Or was he just excited about the trip?
“Good morning,” she said in reply. It was easy to be in a good mood with him standing there, all handsome and cheery.
“Ready to go?”
The moment he’d left the night before she’d gone into overdrive getting ready, not that she wanted to admit that. “Yep. Got my suitcase right here.” She lifted the small suitcase from the floor. “I packed as light as I could.”
He took the suitcase from her hand, obviously impressed with her efficient packing. “Nice.” Then his smile grew. “Let’s do this.”
Following him out the door, she told herself this was her last chance to change her mind. But she didn’t want to change her mind. She’d been living for this vacation ever since that handshake.
When they reached his car—a late model Range Rover in a silvery blue—Brielle could see, under the street lamp, that the rear was packed full with all kinds of camping gear.
“Is there room for my suitcase?”
He chuckled. “Of course.” Then he opened the rear passenger door and shoehorned her suitcase inside. Next, he opened the passenger door and swept his arm toward the interior.
Pleased that he was being so gentlemanly, Brielle hoisted herself inside. He closed her door, and as he came around to the driver’s side, she perused the space. Luxurious. And the new car smell only added to that impression.
Tyler climbed behind the wheel, and moments later they pulled away from the curb and onto the road.
“I hope it wasn’t too hard to get up so early,” he said with a glance in her direction.
Deciding to be honest, she grinned. “To tell you the truth, I was excited to go, so it wasn’t hard at all.”
“Really? You’re excited? Why?”
Because you’ll be there. “Uh, I’ve never been to Yellowstone.”
With one hand casually resting on the steering wheel, he smiled at her, sending her heart flipping and flopping. “My family goes every year. It’s kind of a tradition.”
“How long have you guys been going there?”
He looked thoughtful. “Eleven years.”
“Eleven times? Wow.”
“Yeah. And I’ve never missed.”
“Which is why you didn’t want to skip this year.”
“That, plus it’s my favorite place to camp.” He turned to her with a questioning look. “I never asked if you’ve been camping.”
“Not since I was a kid.”
“Oh.”
Why did he seem disappointed by that? “What?”
“I kind of told my family that my girlfriend had never been before.”
Shaking her head, she softly laughed. “Okay. So, I’ll pretend it’s all new to me. Plus, I only went a few times with my friend’s family.”
He tilted his head in her direction. “Well, you’ve never been to Yellowstone, so that is new to you.”
“True.” She paused. “What’s so great about Yellowstone, anyway? Why do you love it?”
He put both hands on the steering wheel as he drove. “Where to start?” Then, after a brief pause, he said, “The geysers, the mud pots, the steam vents.” He glanced at her. “Not to mention the wildlife.”
“What kind of wildlife?” When she’d gone camping with Kate she’d only ever seen deer and squirrels. Lots and lots of squirrels.
“The bears and wolves are my favorite.”
Brielle’s eyebrows shot up. “Wolves?”
“Yeah. Whole packs of ‘em. But don’t worry, if we see any we’ll be considered lucky.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted that kind of luck. Then again, maybe Tyler had a magical touch with wolves. Weren’t they the same species as dogs?
“What about the bears?” she asked. “How likely is it we’ll see them?”
“Pretty likely. We know where and when to look for them, and I think we’ve seen at least one every year we’ve come.”
“We’re talking black bears, right?”
“There are plenty of grizzlies in Yellowstone.”
She didn’t know much about grizzly bears, but the thought of them scared her. “Wait. Aren’t we going to be camping in a tent?”
He tossed her a smile. “Yeah.”
“So, just a thin piece of fabric between us and death?”
He chuckled. “Basically.”
Maybe this wasn’t worth five grand. But she’d already spent a good chunk of the half he’d given her on rent and other bills.
“Don’t worry, Brielle. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
As comforting as that was, she didn’t think he could actually fight off a grizzly bear.
“Besides,” he added, “we put the food in bear-proof containers.”
That only made her more worried. Clearly, if food needed to be put in bear-proof containers, that meant bears were rampaging through the campground. Not good. Not good at all.
Maybe Tyler shouldn’t have told her about the bears. When he glanced her way, she seemed to be hugging the door as if she might jump out at the next stoplight. He couldn’t let that happen.
“If it makes you feel any better,” he said. “I’ve never actually seen a bear in the campground.”
She smiled, but he could tell it was forced. “Maybe that’s because all the food’s locked up.”
“It’s not like the bears want to interact with humans.”
“Oh.”
“Look. If you want, you can sleep in the car.”
Her body seemed fractionally less tense. “Really?”
“Yeah. I want you to have fun on this trip.”
“Okay.” She settled back into her seat. “I might take you up on that.”
That was fine. It would only reinforce what he’d told his family—that his girlfriend had never been camping before. And from the way Brielle had reacted to the discussion of wildlife, it didn’t seem like it would be difficult for her to pull off the part of a non-camper.
“There’s lots of other wildlife that’s much less scary,” he said.
“Oh yeah? Like what?”
“Deer, elk. Oh, and bison. Lots and lots of bison. And if we’re lucky, we might see a moose.”
“That would be cool.”
“There’s even a hike we’ve been on a few times where we always see marmots.”
She laughed. “I don’t even know what a marmot is.”
“It’s basically a giant, furry rodent although much fatter and larger.”
“I can see why you like seeing the wildlife.”
“In all the years we’ve gone, we’ve also seen big horn sheep and river otters. We even saw a beaver once.”
“Okay. Now I’m getting excited.”
Glad to hear that, he said, “It’s not like the zoo though. I mean, it’s not like you constantly see wildlife, but that’s what makes it fun. You never know what you’ll come across.” He smiled. “That’s one reason we love to hike. The touristy spots have lots of people, but get off on the trails and you’ll hardly see anyone. And that’s when you have a chance to see some wildlife. Although we see plenty just driving around.”
“Have you ever come across a bear on your hikes?”
“No. But we carry bear spray, just in case.”
“Oh.”
Before she got scared again, he wanted to turn the conversation in another direction. “So, Brielle. Let’s talk about how we met.”
Chapter Nine
Such a strange thing to have to discuss. Even so, Brielle knew it was necessary. “Did you know that it’s called a meet cute?”
“What is?”
She laughed. “The story behind how a couple meets.”
“It is?”
Laughing harder, she said, “Yes.” After a moment her laughter died down. “That’s what they call it in movies and television.”
“How do you know that?”
“I heard it somewhere. Don
’t remember where.” She paused. “And, luckily for you, I have an idea for how we met that’s even true.”
“Okay.” He glanced her way, his hazel eyes dancing. “What’s our meet cute?”
So attracted to him, for half a second she forgot what she was going to say. “Uh…” Then it came back to her. “We can say exactly what actually happened. We met in the park when Luna got away from me and ran up to you.”
“Oh. Yeah. I guess that makes sense.” He paused a beat. “We just have to leave off the part where it only happened yesterday.”
Smiling, she said, “Right. So, when did it happen? In our imaginary relationship?”
“At least two months ago.”
“So, in June.”
“Uh-huh.”
Brielle was suddenly worried that she’d mess this up, that she’d forget an important detail—a detail they hadn’t even come up with yet. That she’d mess things up with his family. “We need to keep this as simple as possible.”
“Good idea.” Tyler was quiet for several moments. “So, after we met, we went out a bunch of times, and now we’re exclusive.” He turned to her with a grin. “Is that simple enough?”
“Yeah.” Then she thought of something else. “What if your family asks questions we haven’t discussed? Like, what did we do on our first date? Or what’s our favorite song?”
He shook his head. “They won’t.”
She hoped he was right, but worried nonetheless. Then another, more pressing thought occurred to her. “You need to tell me about your family.” She would be spending the week with these people, and if she and Tyler were really an item, he would have told her stuff about them. She couldn’t go in blind.
“Not much to tell,” he said. “My dad’s name is Jeff and he’s an electrical engineer. Mom’s Ann. She teaches high school math.”
Brielle scrambled to take out her phone. “Hold on. I think I’d better take notes.”
Tyler chuckled. “I’ll quiz you later.”
Trying not to roll her eyes, Brielle pulled up a notepad app and jotted down what he’d told her, then she turned to him. “Brothers and sisters?”
“One of each. Mia is twenty-two and finishing college. Rob is twenty-four and a software developer.”
Brielle frantically typed in the info. Then she thought of something she should know. “How old are you?”
Laughing, Tyler said, “Yeah. I guess that’s an important bit of info. Twenty-six. What about you?”
“Twenty-four.”
He was quiet for a moment, then, “I should know something about your background.”
Brielle nodded. “All right.” She paused. “My mom is Susan. She works in a doctor’s office. My dad died before I was born.”
Tyler frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I don’t remember him, obviously. I just know my mom worked really hard to make up for it.” She paused. “I have two older brothers, Mitch and Wyatt. Do you need to know more about them?”
Tyler shrugged. “It’s not like we would have spent a lot of time talking about our families.”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” This whole thing was weird. “Do you like your family?”
“What?” Tyler looked at her sharply. “Of course.”
“Then doesn’t it bother you to lie to them?”
When she put it that way, Tyler had to admit he wasn’t super thrilled. But this was the hole he’d dug for himself. He had to see it through. Then again, why did they have to pretend? Why couldn’t Brielle be his girlfriend? So far he liked everything about her. He glanced her way and saw that she was waiting for an answer.
“Let’s not look at it as lying,” he said.
Her eyebrows slid together. “Then how should we look at it?”
“Just…I don’t know. Just be my girlfriend.”
“You mean your pretend girlfriend.”
“No. I mean, my real girlfriend.”
Her eyes narrowed. “But we just met. And you’re paying me to do this.” Then her eyebrows rose. “You’re not trying to get out of paying me the rest, are you? Because I’ll get out right now and go home.”
He laughed. “No. That’s not it.” Shaking his head, he glanced her way before focusing back on the road.
“Then what?”
Sighing, he tried to figure out what the heck he meant. Because he wasn’t quite sure himself. “Just, for the next week, you’re my girlfriend. Simple as that. Then…” His voice trailed off. Then what? Then he’d go back to his busy, but solitary life?
“Yeah? Then?”
“Then that’s it.”
Brielle wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel. Disappointed? Relieved? But what had she expected him to say? That after this week they’d get engaged? That was ridiculous. This was a job. Nothing more. In fact, knowing that this was simply a job removed all the pressure she normally felt when she started to date someone. There was no need to impress Tyler—they were already exclusive. At least for this week. Although she had to admit that she did want to impress him.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“About what?” As she’d debated over whether or not she wanted to impress him, she’d kind of lost track of the conversation.
“About just being my girlfriend. Not pretending. Then no one will be lying about anything.”
She liked the not lying part. And the being his girlfriend held a lot of appeal too. At least, from what she’d gotten to know of him it did. “But you’re still going to pay me the balance, right?”
His mouth tightened, but he nodded. “That was the agreement.”
She could tell something was bothering him, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Wanting to lighten the mood, she said, “Right. We even shook on it, so that makes it about as official as it can get.”
That earned her a smile.
“I hate to be the one to point this out,” she added, “but you still, you know, lied to your family.”
Heavily sighing, he looked her way before facing the road, which was relatively clear of traffic so early on a Saturday morning. “That’s my burden to bear, and who knows, maybe one day I’ll ‘fess up.”
Now that things seemed to be on the right track, Brielle turned to a lighter topic. “Since we’re going to be traveling all day together, tell me what kind of music you like.”
Tyler laughed as he tapped the screen on the dashboard. “Rock ’n roll, baby.”
The sound of the latest tunes filled the Range Rover, and Brielle smiled.
Moments later the music went silent as the sound of a phone ringing took its place. On the screen it said Mom.
Chapter Ten
Brielle’s heart began to pound. His mother was calling! She wasn’t ready to interact with his family. Not yet.
Tyler tapped the screen to answer the Bluetooth. “Hello?”
“Hi, Tyler,” a female voice said. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
He laughed. “No, Mom. I’m already on the road.”
“You’re not alone, are you?” Her voice was filled with cautious optimism.
Chuckling, he said. “No. And you’re on speaker.” Tyler looked at Brielle and winked. “Mom, meet Brielle.”
Brielle’s eyes went wide.
A soft gasp came across the line. “Well, hello, Brielle!”
Desperately trying to fix her dry mouth, Brielle squeaked out, “Hi.”
Tyler’s mother went on as if this was all perfectly normal, as if she really was Tyler’s girlfriend. “I’m Ann, and I’m so excited that you’re coming to Yellowstone with us.”
“I’m…” She swallowed hard. “I’m excited too.” Brielle’s eyes shifted to Tyler to see if he was unhappy with her performance, but he was grinning as they sped east on I-80.
“I know you’ve never been camping before,” Ann said, “but I promise you’ll love it. Yellowstone is so beautiful, and we always have such a good time.”
This woman—Ann—sound
ed so nice. How could Tyler have lied to her? Then again, maybe she was so nice that he didn’t want to disappoint her with the truth. Wasn’t her problem. Her job was to convince Tyler’s family that she and Tyler were an item, and as she looked at his profile, she didn’t think it would be all that hard.
“Tyler told me all about Yellowstone,” Brielle said, getting more comfortable with her role. “I’m kind of stoked to see everything.” Which was totally true.
“Wonderful! We’re already at the Bridge Bay campground and we’ve checked everyone in, so you just need to show up.”
“Sound good, Mom,” Tyler said with a smile at Brielle.
The happiness that shone from his eyes did funny things to her insides.
“See you tonight, Tyler,” Ann said. “And you, Brielle.”
“Bye, Mom.”
“Bye, Ann,” Brielle added.
Tyler tapped a button on the screen on the dash and the call disconnected and the music came back on. “That went well.”
Brielle’s heart began settling into its normal rate. “Yeah.”
She thought about Tyler’s idea that they just be boyfriend and girlfriend. In a strange sort of way, it made sense. Why not go with it? It would make everything more convincing, not to mention less stressful.
Yeah, she could do that. And for some reason, hearing his mother’s genuine excitement to meet her calmed Brielle about this whole adventure. This would be fine. It all would be fine.
As they drove along in companionable silence, Brielle became sleepy, and shortly after leaning the seat back, she fell asleep. She woke abruptly when the car stopped.
Blinking, she looked at Tyler, who was smiling at her.
“I was wondering if you’d wake up.”
“What’s going on?”
“Just stopping for snacks.” One of his eyebrows quirked up. “Or maybe breakfast?”
Brielle put the seat into an upright position, then looked out the window. They were parked at a gas station/mini mart. “Where are we?”
“Reno.” He paused. “Are you hungry?”
She hadn’t eaten that morning, so she was kind of hungry. Normally, with a man she’d just met, she wouldn’t want to broadcast how much she could put away. But hey, Tyler was her “boyfriend”, so what the heck? “Yeah. I could eat.”
Game On (Fair Catch Series, Book Six) Page 4
