Page 27 of Bumping into You

She stiffens for a moment before rolling her shoulders back. Her captivating beauty may catch the occasional eye, but it’s her spunk that draws me in.

“Okay, I’m just going to say it. This might sound crazy. Actually, I know this is crazy. But it’s the only way. I mean, I don’t want you to feel obligated to say yes. You can say no.”

Her rambling is making me confused. “Just ask, Rose,” I say, knowing my use of the nickname will snap her out of whatever this is.

“Fine,” she looks to the ceiling before rushing out, “I’d like to propose that we pretend to date for the duration of this cruise. Now that I know I’ll be seeing Bradley much, much more than I thought, I can’t let him find out that I lied about being in a relationship. It will make me look like a total loser. I know there really isn’t a reason for you to agree to this proposition, but Ineed your help and I already tangled you in my web of lies. Twice.” She lets out a deep breath.

I can tell it’s not easy for her to ask me this. Shifting on my feet, I think through her proposal. If we date—err, pretend to date—then we’ll be spending even more time together on the cruise, which is what I’ve wanted, isn’t it? I’ve been drawn to her since the first time I saw her in my rental car. And now, I’ll have a reason to be with her as much as possible. We’ll have a better chance of getting to know each other. And she’ll get to know the real me, not the me that is always slipping up and saying the wrong thing.

Fake dating would also be a very convenient way to keep the favor I’d promised Greg. I won’t have to put in much effort to convince Gwen to spend time with me. Not to mention, I’d be helping Gwen out of a stitch.

And most importantly, I’d be putting myself out there, like my mam wanted.

A smile stretches across my face at the memory of my mam.I’m going to keep my promise, mam, just like you wanted me to.

Fake dating Gwen sounds like a good thing all around. Although, I do need her to clarify a few things. “Before I agree to anything,” I say, “I need to know what the deal is with you and Bradley, like what would I be getting myself into per se?”

Gwen sighs, and after moving a hat off the corner, she lowers herself onto my bed. She’s quiet for so long that I don’t think she’s going to tell me anything, but then she looks up at me before finally speaking. The sadness in her eyes is gut-wrenching.

“I guess it’s fair that you know some of it,” she says, “if I’m asking you to fake date me and all that.”

I nod, encouraging her to go on.

“After two years of dating, living together for part of that time, Bradley broke up with me. I was completely blindsided. Oneminute, I thought we were going to get married and that he was going to propose soon, and the next, he broke up with me.”

“Feck,” I swear.

“He said it was because I put my work before him. But it’s not that I chose it over him. It’s that I started my own business from scratch. I had to make it a priority or else it would have failed. Funny thing is, our relationship ended up failing instead.”

She stands up and, with more energy in her voice, continues, “Being blindsided like that crushed me. That’s why I put so much effort into making sure every event I put on is perfect, that I don’t miss any details, because I am determined not to be blindsided again.”

The fiery personality that I am so attracted to is coming out once again. It’s seeing her this way that has me agreeing to her crazy proposal. That and the thought that my mam would love to see me with someone like Gwen. “I’m game,” I say.

“You . . . what? You are?” she asks, her shoulders relaxing slightly.

“Of course. Let’s give it a lash, can’t hurt.”

“Give it a what?” Her nose wrinkling at my words.

“A lash, er, a try. Let’s try. Can’t do worse than we’ve been doing, right?”

“Okay. Right. Then we need to come up with a plan, some rules. I don’t want to be winging this,” she says as she gestures between the two of us, “around Bradley and Tammy.”

Nodding, I sit down on one side of the couch. I move a piece of old toast off a side table and grab the complimentary notepad and pen that were lying beneath it. “Okay, what are the rules?”

Gwen walks over to the couch and looks at it. I glance over and quickly reach to pull the other articles of clothing into a pile and place them on the side table before she sits opposite me.

“Seriously?” she says, motioning to the pile of clothing.

I shrug. “I haven’t really settled in yet.”

Gwen takes a seat on the couch next to me. “Rule one: none of our friends can know we are in a pretend relationship. To them, it will just be like we’ve become good friends.”

“Why don’t you want them to know? You don’t think they’d understand and play along?” I ask, honestly confused at this request.

“I mean . . . I’m sure they would, but it’s . . . it’s just too embarrassing. I just can’t deal with them knowing this. Please, can we just keep it a secret?”

I can understand how Gwen could be embarrassed by this, not that I think she should be. And if I’m not telling Gwen about Greg’s request, it’s only fair that I not tell Greg about Gwen’s request. “We can keep it a secret,” I say.

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