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She doubted Isobel meant her words to be harsh, but Gennessey felt a sting.
“It’s not like I hate the guy. It’s just…well, he never takes anything seriously unless it’s a mission or something. My family is going to be able to see right through his games and know he’s not really my boyfriend. I can’t be sure he’s going to have my back the way I need him to. This weekend is going to be stressful enough without him adding to it.”
Isobel held up her hands as if admitting defeat before pushing up to her feet. “He was just a suggestion. I’m sure you’ll figure out an alternative. Anyway, Jay’s called a staff meeting in fifteen. He wants to bring everyone up to speed on Delta’s mission in case any of us have to provide back-up.”
Isobel didn’t wait for Gennessey’s acknowledgement before she left the office. Gennessey wadded up her food into the wrapper and tossed it in the trash. She doubted any of her friends could fully understand why passing off a fake boyfriend to her family was important to her — necessary even. She’d always had Cohen in her corner when their family became too much to take, but with his attention rightfully focused on his bride, Gennessey would be vulnerable to her family’s meddling.
Why didn’t she get married? Why didn’t she get a suitable job, one more conducive to being a wife and mother? Why didn’t she settle down and stop being an adrenaline junkie? Why wasn’t she more like her brothers and her cousins?
In the past, she and Cohen had been considered the black sheep of the family, but with his wedding to a woman the family adored, he had moved one step outside that category, leaving Gennessey to be the lone misfit.
If she only had to deal with the disapproval of one or two people, she could handle it without a problem. But the judgment of a family too large to describe was more than she wanted to face by herself.
Chapter Four
Gennessey stared out her apartment door’s peephole, indecision driving her crazy. Isobel’s suggestion had bothered her all day until she could focus on little else. By the time she left KSI for the day, she’d concluded her friend was right — she had no other option but to ask BB to be her plus-one for the weekend.
The problem was finding the courage to approach him. Her imagination played several scenarios of how the moment would play out. All of them ended with him humiliating her in some way. Either he told her no and laughed in her face, or he said no and then made fun of her to their co-workers. Or he said yes but failed to pull off the ruse in front of her family and even took their side in judging her for her life choices.
She’d tried picturing a scenario where it all worked out, and she made it through the weekend without incident, but she couldn’t imagine it.
She just needed to ask him and get it over with. She’d tried before she left the office, but he’d already gone for the day. No one knew if he had a date or plans to hang out with anyone, so she figured he had caught a ride to his apartment. His truck wasn’t parked in its usual spot, which could mean it was still being worked on or it had been fixed and he had gone for a ride.
She saw no sign of him as she checked her mail in the secure box just inside the building’s front door and walked to her apartment. The security guard had been on the phone, so she couldn’t ask him if he had seen BB. After making a simple dinner and taking a shower to wash away the stresses of her day, she’d position herself in front of her apartment door, looking for some indication he was home, but she’d gotten nothing.
She stepped back from the door. “Stop it, Gen,” she scolded herself aloud. “Just go over there. If he’s home, you ask. If he’s not, then you forget about it, suck it up, and face you family on your own.”
Satisfied that she had a plan, she flung open her door, allowing it to close behind her with a definite thud, and marched down the hall. Her fist pounded against his door, and she tried to ignore the thumping of her heart against her chest. She didn’t hear any footsteps coming from inside, and she released a sigh of relief. Turning on her heel, she was heading back to her apartment, resigned to the choice fate made for her. BB wasn’t home, so she was on her own for Cohen’s wedding.
The door creaked open behind her, and BB’s voice had her pause midstep.
“Gen? Everything okay?”
She took a deep breath and slowly turned back around. All the moisture in her mouth suddenly evaporated. BB watched her with curious brown eyes, but she was too busy with her appraisal of him to answer him. He stood bare chested wearing a loose-fitting pair of nylon basketball shorts and gray running shoes. A sheen of sweat glistened on his skin, and his dark hair was damp and clung to his forehead and neck.
“Sorry,” he replied when she failed to speak. “I was running on the treadmill. Come on in, and I’ll get my shirt.”
He turned to head back inside, his open door an invitation for her to follow. She hesitated, her clammy hands rising to press against her flushed cheeks. How was she supposed to concentrate on what she needed to ask BB when she was this affected by his sweaty, half-naked body? She was screwed.
Stop being a wuss, Gen. She squared her shoulders and propelled her feet forward. Time to get this over with.
By the time she stepped into his living room, he had donned a ratty T-shirt and used a gym towel to wipe away the sweat from his face and neck. She only wished it had been enough to make him look less sexy, but she wasn’t so lucky.
“You didn’t answer my question. Everything okay?”
“I need you to be my pretend date at my cousin’s wedding this weekend. Well, it’s the wedding and all the pre-wedding stuff that starts on Friday. The wedding is on Sunday. I’m the best man, but I can bring a plus-one. Will you do it?”
Her words tumbled out of her mouth in a jumbled rush. She had planned to ask him with more finesse, but she was just glad to have it out in the open. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he asked her to repeat what she said, and she would. But if he teased her in any way, she would walk out his door without waiting for his answer.
“I was wondering when you would get around to asking.”
She furrowed her brow. “You were expecting me to ask?”
He shrugged, motioning for her to take a seat on his sagging couch while he sat in his recliner that was leaning to one side. “You’ve asked everyone else at work. I figured when Lex had to leave out, I was the last option you had.”
Still standing, she threw up her hands as if giving up. “Fine, I admit it. You were my last choice, so I get it if you want to turn me down. Just don’t give me a hard time about it, okay? If you want to say no, then say it, and we can both get back to our evening.”
“I’ll do it, but why do we need to play pretend?”
