Page 4 of A Real Man for Christmas

“He’s not real?” My mouth dropped open, and I stared wide-eyed at Faye.

She gave me a look. “He’s a model, dear, and good at keeping perfectly still.” She smiled her secret smile and glanced at her watch. “I can give you ten minutes with him, and then I’ll have to chase you out of here because I’ll need to start setting up the chairs for our planning meeting.”

“Ten minutes?” I gaped at her. What exactly was this woman suggesting Idowith the mannequin for ten minutes?

Faye waved her hand and giggled. “Oh, all right—fifteen. I’m a fool for love!”

I didn’t think my eyes could go any wider. “But…but he’s plastic!”

She paused on her way to the door. “Is he? That sounds a bit judgmental.” Her tone was mild, as if amused at my shortsightedness.

“But hewinkedat me!”

“I’m sure he had his reasons, dear. Ain’t love grand?” Faye turned on her powder-blue heel with a wave and closed the door softly behind her.

I cast my eyes around the room for hidden video cameras. This had to be some sort of reality show. No doubt there were scores of people waiting behind the walls for me to kiss the mannequin. In an hour I’d be a viral sensation, mocked by fifty million viewers.

A worse thought flipped my stomach over. What if Lindsay had set me up? Was she really this mad about her missing coffee? She didn’t need to go this far to mess with me. She’d already won. I was already going to be the sad, single, older sister at her wedding. A wedding where everyone I knew would be in attendance and every single person there would see how pathetic I was.

Including Josh.

I was not going to think about Josh. Or his text. Or what his reaching out to me like that could mean.

No. I was going to think about these hidden cameras and expose them before television producers jumped out at me with waivers to sign.

“Wow. I thought she’d never leave.”

I yelped and spun around. My handsome and very alive model man had crept closer. He put his hands up in surrender, and his mouth curved in a charming smile that lit his eyes. “Whoa. Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.” He ran a hand through his hair, the strands feathering beneath his combing fingers. Real hair! It was definitely not a painted-on-plastic mold.

Backing away, I stuck a hand in my purse and made a grab for the phone. I clutched it tight. I only had to push one button to summon 9-1-1. “How did you do that?” my suddenly shaky voice stammered.

“Do what?”

I nodded to where he’d been standing, frozen and plastic only a moment ago. “Look like a mannequin.”

His eyebrows drew together, and he grasped his ski goggles in front of him with both hands before taking them off and setting them on a nearby box. “I am a mannequin. My name’s Tanner.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m Margot, and I mean arealmannequin.”

His chin rose. “Nice to meet you, Margot. I am a real mannequin. It’s my job.” He straightened his shoulders, and his chest filled out like he was ready to pose for a superhero movie poster.

Oh my gosh. Was I offending this man by saying hewasn’ta mannequin? It was seriously ridiculous. “No, sorry. I meantrealas in fake and plastic and not a live man.” I gestured at him with both hands and felt myself blush when I realized how much of his real body I was including in the gesture. “And you are obviously a live man!”

He frowned, and his full lips turned down into a sexy pout. “Yes, I’m real. I’m always real. Sorry, but just what exactly are you implying?” A vein I swore he didn’t have before in his previously flawless plastic skin pulsed at the side of his forehead.

I struggled to breathe past my mounting attraction. “Not a thing. Only…only that you seem way too good to be true.”

His grin broke wide across his face, and his eyes shone with sudden joy. “That’s sweet.” He stepped closer. “I’m as real as you are.”

I smiled, but a rising sense of doubt immediately attacked me. I reached out and pinched the back of his hand.

“Ow!” He jerked his hand away and rubbed it. “What did you do that for?”

A hot blush rose to my cheeks. “Sorry. Just checking.”

He cocked an eyebrow at me as if wary about future attacks. “It’s painful being your friend.”

I tilted my head and smiled up at him, lowering my lashes. They’ve always been my best feature and much envied by Lindsay. “We’re friends already?”

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