Page 37 of Good Girl's Guide to Love
“And then there’s this.” She holds up her phone and shows me text messages from Dr. Dipshit. Just the sight of him in her phone sends my blood simmering. “When you were talking to Katie, Jonathan texted me, demanding I talk to him before work on Monday. He still doesn’t believe we’re together. That he’d like to go into work with us patched up and already a couple again. And I don’t want that, so believe me, Linc, this helps me just as much as it’ll help you.”
“Okay, but?—”
She sticks a finger to my mouth, giving me a playful wink to go along with it. “Aren’t you the one last night telling me to get out of my head and do something scary?”
I give a small laugh as I feel a smile creeping in. “Using my own words against me?”
“I use whatever weapons I have,” she says. “So what do you say, Kincaid? Let’s do something scary and fake date.”
guide to love rule #37
Fake it till you make it. Just don’t fall in love.
11
ainsley
Did I just say that?Did those words really come out of my mouth?
I think they did. I heard them.
Linc was right, I must still be drunk.
I’ve never asked a guy out—fake or real. Well, I did once in third grade when I asked Tommy Hatcher to be my boyfriend. He told me he’d let me know after recess.
I’m still waiting.
But even though he never gave me my answer, that one time was enough for me to realize that putting yourself out there is scary and that I never wanted to do it again. And I haven’t. Until now.
“You sure about this?” Linc asks, his green eyes giving away how conflicted he feels right now.
“I am,” I say, trying to be as confident as I can be. “I mean, we probably need to come up with some logistics. A backstory. And maybe I should know your middle name. Things like that. But yeah. I’m sure about this.”
He laughs. “My middle name?”
“I don’t know? It feels like something people in a relationship would know about each other. Mine is Mae.”
“Ainsley Mae? How Southern are you?”
“Very,” I say, leaning into my faint drawl a little harder. “We moved to Rolling Hills when I was at toddler. But before that my family lived in Georgia. Every member of my family for generations has gone to the University of Tennessee. I only went to Vanderbilt because of the nursing program. But just wait until you meet my mother. The only thing stronger than her drawl is her sweet tea.”
Linc lets out a huff of a laugh as he shakes his head. “At this time yesterday I was planning for a day of never leaving my house. Twenty-four hours later I’m in a conversation about meeting the mother of my fake girlfriend.”
I can’t keep the smile off my face. “So we’re doing this?”
Again, who am I? Why am I the one insisting on this? Am I that starved for a relationship that I’ll take even a fake one? Do I need a buffer that much from Jonathan that I’m willing to become a part-time actress to make it happen? I must be. That’s the only explanation I can think of.
Or at least, the only one I’m willing to admit to myself.
Linc looks at me, his eyes softer than they’ve been since Katie barged in here. “I’m not going to lie; this would help me. A lot. This is a really big season for me, and anything I can get to help me both on and off the field, I’d be a fool to send away.”
“I’m happy to help.”
He shakes his head, taking his hands in mine and pinning me with his stare. I barely known this man, but I’ve already learned so much about him through his eyes. They’re so expressive, and I don’t even know if he realizes they possess that power.
“I know you are, because you’re a good person. I barely know you, and I know that much,” he says. “But this is going to be a lot for you, Ainsley. I’m not the biggest star on the team, but I’ve starred in a lot of negative headlines over the years, so the gossip rags know I’m an easy target. And all of them were myfault. I’m not known for the best choices, and trouble seems to find me, even if I try and distance myself from it. But I’m trying to become a better person. A better man. And if you did this…I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”
The sincerity in his tone right now is hitting me straight in my heart. How can I not help him? “Linc, I don’t know if this is too much, too soon, but I’m going to be honest with you. I was in a weird place mentally before last night. I was lonely. Depressed. So much so that I actually considered calling Jonathan.”
