AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mrs. Fran appeared behind the food counter and Dean was happy for an excuse to leave. “Our food’s ready. Good to see you, Finn.”
Finn barely met his gaze. “Same. And Emilie, I’m really glad you’re home.”
5
Emilie
Emilie held Dean’s arm with an iron grip as he whirled her away from Finn and up to the counter to collect their food. The pull of Finn’s attention tugged from behind her, but she resisted. Instead, she leaned on Dean’s shoulder, helping their charade along.
“You two are together?” The takeout bags slipped from Mrs. Fran’s hands.
Dean swiftly caught them in one hand. “It’s kind of a secret, but yes, we’re getting married.” Mrs. Fran looked down at Emilie’s left hand, but Dean solved that problem, too. “It’s being sized.”
Since she couldn’t show her irritation to busybody onlookers, Emilie curled her toes tightly in her sandals. When had lying become so easy for him?
Mrs. Fran beamed. “It does my heart good to see you two together. This is something I’ve hoped for. I can’t think of a cuter couple.” The woman’s words surprised her. No one else had rooted for them in the past, not that Emilie remembered.
“Everything is still new,” Emilie finally said. “We’d like to keep things qui— ”
“Hey, you guys,” Mrs. Fran called to anyone within shouting range. Her voice no longer had a tinkling quality. More like a clang. “Guess who got engaged?”
Emilie turned to see if Finn was still around, but thankfully, he was gone. He hadn’t come to eat after all. Her new fake engagement was more permanent than she wanted to imagine. She held her smile and pretended she was having a rough day on the stage and needed to push through with grace. As soon as she could pull Dean away, she hooked an arm through his and headed toward the private beach behind the little shack.
“What were you thinking?” she hissed in his ear when they were out of earshot.
“What?” He chuckled under his breath. “You were happy to go along with it when Finn was here. Why is telling Mrs. Fran any worse?”
“Because she practically just told the whole town. In hours, everyone will know.” She took a deep breath, trying to swallow the panic. “They’re going to tell their friends, and their friends are going to laugh and then tell even more people.” She moved away from him and sat down on the rocky beach. “I already have enough to live down, and now I’m engaged. A phony engagement! Where did that even come from?”
He sighed and plopped down on the sand a few feet away. “I hope no one sees us sitting so far apart. They might think we’re having our first lover’s quarrel.” The tiny crinkles in the corner of his eyes danced as he laughed again.
Emilie narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you realize how this is going to turn out? More gossip for me to deny.” Dean’s face fell, and Emilie knew she’d said the right thing to get him to realize why she was so upset.
After a minute of reflection, he shrugged and dug into the food bags. “I’d do it all over again. There is no way I’m going to let Finn hurt you again. I heard he was getting married, and I thought he’d pull a stunt like this.”
“What! Why weren’t those the first words out of your mouth?” She yanked her food out of the bag with so much force, the wrapped-up fish fell apart and dropped in the sand.
Dean jumped to his feet. “I’ll go get another one.”
The way the corners of his mouth fell tugged at her heart while guilt threatened to churn in her stomach. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t created the situation to hurt her. She sighed and pulled him back to the sand next to her. “It’s fine. I’m not that hungry now. I shouldn’t have gotten so mad. It’s not like faking a relationship changes anything.”
Dean frowned. “I heard a rumor you’re not staying in Danvers. It’s not true, right?”
She reached for an onion ring and munched it as she chose her words. “Nothing’s settled yet, but it’s true I want to sell the house eventually. Too many bad memories. I couldn’t even walk into my mom’s room. It’s also true I want to dance on the team again, but lately my technique has been lacking. But who knows? I hoped starting up the old dance studio would be a good investment, but I might love running it so much I won’t want to leave.”
His eyes sparkled as the corners of his mouth turned up. “I’m going to make it so you’ll love it here again. We had fun together back in the day, and I’m going to remind you of all the things you’ve missed, including me.”
She touched his shoulder lightly. “Thanks for speaking up when Finn was around. It was nice not standing there like a broken toy. At least someone wants me. For fake or for worse.”
He laughed, sending a spray of chewed-up fish toward her. Laughter bubbled out of her while relief soothed the raw edges of her emotions. For fake or for worse. Gosh, he’d saved her.
“Here, there’s enough fish for both of us.” He shared half of his food with her and rested his hands in his lap. “I can’t believe Finn had the gall to stalk you and invite you to his wedding. And not only that. He wants you to be a part of planning it with your ex-best friend. I may have started a rumor, but I think nothing matches the other rumors that have been said about you for years. Most of which aren’t true.”
Emilie cringed. When he said it like that, it made her life seem pitiful. She groaned inwardly. Dean had come to her rescue without any hesitation. Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing. Didn’t she want to prove to Finn she hadn’t been pining for him all these years? Not true, of course, since most of her relationships since him had ended in disaster, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.
Dean scooted closer, more hesitant than before. “The last thing I want to do is hurt you more, but if being engaged puts some rumors to rest, then I’m willing to be fake engaged to you. And don’t worry about me being hurt. I’ve waited to be fake engaged to you my whole life.”
Her heart swelled at his gesture, his sincerity touching. Only a small part of her doubted how successful they’d be. Could she pretend without getting attached and making a mess of their friendship? “Fake engaged, huh?”
