“And you must be Josh, Holly’s fiancé,” Aunt Sarah said to the poor man who’d heard this enough times today to last him more than alifetime.
When I’d come up with the idea of pretending he was my fiancé, did I expect my mother to telleveryone?
Hardly.
And shehadn’t.
It had been Dad who spilled the proverbial beans—much to Mum’schagrin.
Why wasn’t she happy about that? Because she was still hoping for a union between Drew andme.
Ring-a-ding-ding.
What did my father think about all of this? I got the impression he couldn’t care less if I got married or not—as long as I washappy.
And as long as it didn’t interrupt any of his businessmeetings.
“Congratulations to you both. When’s the big day?” Aunt Sarahasked.
“Not until next summer,” I said. “All the good locations were booked until then, plus I’m so busy with work, I couldn’t possibly begin planning the wedding sooner than that. And then Josh will be extremely busy once hockey season begins.” Well, the latter parts weren’t a lie, and I was pretty sure the first part was truetoo.
Or at least that was what a woman at the office had said a few weeks ago when she announced herengagement.
Lia grinned. It wasn’t just a happy grin. It was a grin that warned me I was in big trouble. Like when we were fourteen and she convinced me I would look amazing with green streaks in my hair—and offered to colorit.
Did I lookamazing?
Sure—if you liked the seaweed-stuck-in-your-hairlook.
So it wasn’t a big surprise that I was bracing for somethingworse.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard,” Lia said, “but I started a company that organizes special events, and I specialize in weddings. So I can plan the wedding for you, and I happen to know of a great location available thisAugust.”
Of course shedid.
With a smile plastered on my face, I wrapped my arms around Josh’s arm. “Oh, that’s so nice of you to offer,” I said, tone sweeter than honey but far from real. “But Josh’s eighty-year-old grandmother is looking forward to the wedding. Unfortunately, she’s extremely afraid of flying. She would never survive such a long flight. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?” I glanced atJosh.
He patted my hand, still wrapped around his arm. “That’s right,babe.”
“Excuse us for a few minutes,” I said to the two women, “I have something in my eye and Josh was going to help me removeit.”
Hey, I never claimed to be a goodliar.
Before they could say anything, I tugged him away from the pair. “I need something to get me through this day,” I told him, voice low. “And mind-blowing sex is on theagenda.”
Josh laughed under his breath. Was this the first time we’d had sex in the shower since I agreed to his friends-with-benefits arrangement while we werehere?
There might have been at least one otheroccasion.
But it was totallyjustified.
Sex with Josh was a great stressreliever.
We had barely entered my bathroom before I was unbuttoning Josh’s white shirt, and he had the back of my sleeveless black dress unzipped. His gaze took in my green satin bra and matching thong, and his eyes darkened like I was the feast he’d been starvingfor.
He didn’t kiss me right away. After I stepped out of my dress, he peeled the thong down my legs, then tossed it to the side to join his shirt on thefloor.
Next off? My bra. While I might not have known much about hockey, I did know he was extremely talented at removingbras.
