Page 3 of Falling for your Fake Boyfriend

“I was hoping to take a quick nap before I started walking dogs. Then I only have a short break before I go to my cleaning job.”

“Are you still working for that horrid lady with the office cleaning service?”

“Until I find something else, yes. It’s one of the few jobs I can do at night.” I was working multiple jobs to save money for my true dream—opening my own bakery. Unfortunately, that dream was still as far out of reach as Prince Charming.

“Please, please, please do this for me, Isla, and I will owe you big time.” She added a few coughs for sympathy. I sighed in resignation.

“Fine. I’ll do it.” In truth, it gave me a chance to hand out some of my new little cakes and see if people liked the flavor combo. I spent my free time, which was mostly in the middle of the night, experimenting with baked goodies. It wasn’t easy, because Nonna’s kitchen was still set in early last century and because there were only twenty-four hours in the day, but I was collecting successful recipes for my future bakery. “I’ll come get the key. And you owe me.”

“I do and of course I’ll pay you and I love you and thank you so much.” Another cough. This one sounded entirely forced.

I put my coffee mug in the dishwashing sink. “I’ve got to go. Amber needs me to run the coffee cart,” I called to Aria.

She popped her head out of the storeroom. “Guess we’ll both be slinging coffee this morning. See you later.”

ChapterTwo

Luke

Ray, my business partner, knocked and plunged into the office before I could invite him in. “Ridgemont Development just signed with us,” he blurted. “They’re planning to go all green for their new neighborhoods.”

“That’s great, Ray.” My gaze was still glued to the office window. I wasn’t easily distracted, but this morning, something in the square below had caught my attention. Kiosks and rolling carts, offering a variety of things from mocha cappuccinos to spinach and mango smoothies, surrounded a large fountain with three lion heads shooting water from their mouths into a pool of sea green tile. People sat around the base of the fountain, enjoying the cooling mist while finishing their morning breaks. A group of pigeons waited anxiously nearby, hoping a muffin or croissant crumb would tumble their way. But it wasn’t the ferocious, water-spitting lions or the people scrolling through their phones and finishing their blueberry muffins that had my attention.

“Hey, Ray, is that the usual woman running the coffee cart this morning?”

Ray huffed in aggravation behind me. “I come in to let you know we just signed a huge contract, and you’re asking about the coffee girl?” He pressed his face to the window and looked down into the square. “The blonde? She’s cute, but I had to stop buying those coffees.” He patted the soft pile of dough hanging over his belt. “They were making me fat.”

I laughed. “And here I thought it was those five-course lunches you were eating down at Luisa’s Italian Bistro.”

“Yeah, yeah, I should probably cut those out, too.” He glanced my way with apparent disgust. “We can’t all have rock-hard abs. I’m going to get the contracts over to the legal office for a once-over before you sign them.”

I nodded absently. My gaze was still riveted to the window. For the past hour, there had been an unusually long line at the coffee cart, and the woman, petite with silky blonde hair piled up in a loose bun at the back of her head, raced around to fill orders. More and more pale gold strands came loose from the bun as she hurried back and forth behind the cart.

“Luke—” Ray’s voice broke through my trance. I finally pulled my eyes from the window.

“Boy, you really don’t have your head in the game this morning. I guess your sister’s wedding and the prospect of hanging out with the whole Greyson clan has gotten to you.”

“Yeah, should be a hoot,” I said, wryly. “Always look forward to being cornered by my mom and grilled about my love life.” I moved some papers around my desk, hoping to give Ray the hint that I needed to get back to work. I was worried about the wedding, but not for the reasons he thought. I picked up a folder as if it was something important and crucial, but it was only last month’s office utility bills. “Like you said—time to get my head back in the game. Great news about Ridgemont Development, Ray.”

Ray could be dense, but he took the hint and walked out, but not before insisting on a fist bump over the new contract. It was a big deal, after all.

No sooner had he walked out than Rosalie, my assistant, popped her head into the office. “Your sister is on line three, and are you ordering anything from the lunch truck?”

“Not today. Thanks, Rosie.” She closed the door, and I picked up the phone. “Hey Rachel, how’s it going?”

There was a long pause.

“Rach?”

“Mom is driving me nuts, but then, what else is new? I can’t wait for you to get here so she can focus all her annoying attention on you. And the wedding is a disaster. The linen colors are all wrong. We wanted seafoam green, and they sent—gosh, I don’t know what you’d even call it—neon chartreuse comes to mind. The caterer couldn’t get enough squab for three hundred guests, so we’re switching to prime rib?—”

“Whoa, whoa there, sis. Now, why don’t you tell me what’s really wrong?”

“You’ve never been married, Luke. These are all calamitous in the world of weddings.”

“The important thing is—are you excited to be marrying David?”

She huffed loudly into the phone. “Here we go again. My weekly Lucas Greyson therapy session. David is fine.”

---