Fake relationship. Real feelings. Big problems.
Brody O’Donnel doesn’t believe in happily-ever-afters—at least, not for himself. But he wants the best for his vivacious, beautiful friend Gwen Danes, and he’s tired of watching her pine for a clueless man. Figuring a little bit of jealousy will motivate the guy, Brody proposes a fake relationship. It’s an outrageous plan, but Gwen figures there’s no harm in it—until they share a passionate kiss she never saw coming.
Suddenly, Gwen’s fighting a growing attraction to a man she knows she can’t have. After all, he’s just faking it…isn’t he?
“If you want anyone to believe you're
considering Team Brody, you can't look too surprised when you hear someone say
something good about me. Tell me about my finer qualities. And keeping in mind
the holiday weekend and your preexisting plans tomorrow, let's keep the list
limited to five. Pretend a friend wants to know what you like about me. What
are you going to tell them—so they
believe you’re interested?" Brody asked, resting his forearms on the small circular table,
taking up most of it, and making the breadth of his shoulders stand out even
more.
This was going to be cake.
Gwen reached for her drink and took a long
dawdling sip. Then after an even breath, she straightened in her seat. Holding
up one finger, she began.
"First, you're very nice." She
closed her eyes and nodded for emphasis. "And second, incredibly
funny."
She paused. Brody's chin had pulled back,
his smile slipping from his lips.
"Nice and funny?" he asked,
sounding like she just issued him two insults, instead of the complements
they'd meant to be.
"Yes, those are good things.”
Important things. Things that matter to her.
"When you're shopping for a new best
girlfriend, maybe." Bringing his pint of Guinness to his mouth, he took a
deep swallow. Shook his head and set it back on the table. "Gwen, you have
to do better than this. No one, least of all Ted, is going to believe for one
second that I'm getting under your skin if all they've got to work with is nice and funny."
Fair enough. But she had other points as
well. "Well obviously, there's the whole body business."
And there was the overconfident smile and
gleam in his eyes she'd come to expect from this man. He sat forward, the
corner of his mouth pulling up. "Now we’re talking. This whole body business... Explain."
"Explain?" she asked on a laugh.
He was priceless. "Are you that desperate to feed your ego? Because I
can't believe you don't know exactly what I mean."
"I'm going to take it on faith, that
pretty blush means you don't think I'm hideous. But remember what we're doing
here. We're selling a growing interest. Which means that you need to be able to
tell someone what you like about me. And that whole body business, doesn't really do it. Especially on the heels
of nice and funny. But this one is important, because this whole body business is so different from Ted’s business. He's lean,
naturally skinny but not super athletic. Where as I'm built more like a—"
"Lumberjack." She supplied
waving her hand in his direction. "You know, with how big you are all
over."
One red-brown brow rose in question as his
jaw shifted to the side giving him a crooked smile to match the gleam in his
eyes.
"Some places even more than others, but
Gwen, I'm surprised you noticed."
And now she was fairly certain that pretty
pink blush he'd mentioned, was more like a blazing red burning across her face.
"You know what I mean," she
chided once she was able to meet his eye again. "You're so tall and broad
and muscley.” Especially the way he was sitting, leaning forward on his
forearms like that, his shoulders and arms were massive. “And it’s not just for
show. I mean, I know first hand how strong you are, and I’ve to got to say it’s
pretty hot how easily you could carry a woman with as many curves as I’ve got.
We should move that to number one."
If her eyes weren't deceiving her, it was
Brody with the pretty blush. And now she understood the appeal. Because that
was something she could see herself working for again.
Brody shook his head, before looking up at
her. "Glad to hear you think so. Because you're the one who needs to sound
impressed. In fact, if it'll help, I'd be happy to offer a repeat
demonstration."
For an instant, she let her eyes roam over
his shoulders and arms, remembering the ease with which he’d handled her.
She shook her head to clear the thoughts.
"Very generous, but I’m good."
Then it was back to business. "Okay, four, your cocktails are
unparalleled. And five, you're very handsome. There. Five selling points for
Brody O'Donnel. Satisfied?"
His expression was lukewarm at best.
Crossing her arms, she sat back in her
seat. "Seriously? What's wrong with my list?"
She’d thought it was pretty good.
"Let me show you how it's done."
She couldn’t wait.
"One, that laugh." He closed his eyes, giving his head a slow shake
as he rubbed a hand over the center of his chest, the motion drawing her
attention to both. "There's nothing like the sound of it. And damn, it
gets me right here, every time."
His eyes opened, one brow raised in what
she could only assume was some kind of I-told-you-so fashion. And yeah, that
was definitely different from what she'd given him.
"Two," He leaned in even closer.
"Her mouth. When she smiles, man,
it's like the whole room lights up or something. And her lips... she wears this
light berry gloss that keeps me up nights wondering if she'd taste as sweet as
she looks."
The lips in question parted on a breath,
and she blinked.
"Three, her eyes are like whiskey.
This warm brown... And I swear, when I look in them too long, I get a little
drunk. Four, she's a teacher. A kindergarten teacher. And every time she talks
about the kids in her class, you can just hear how much she cares about them.
How much she loves her job. You know those are the luckiest little kids in the
world. Except for maybe the boys, which brings me to number five. Because the
curves on this girl.” He raised his hand to his mouth and bit his knuckle
before letting out a short laugh. “I'd
bet Belfast that fifty percent of that class is already in love with her and will
be through time eternal."
For a moment Gwen just sat there, staring
at the man across from her. Too stunned by his list to move. But when she did,
she had to concede, "That was amazing. Quality lines and very
convincing." She took another swallow sip of her drink and then licked her
lips, tasting the lingering berry sweet of her gloss mingling with her
cocktail.
Maybe a little too convincing.
Her eyes narrowed. "Are you some kind
of player?"
Brody slid off his stool, straightening to
his full height and stretching out his shoulders for a moment before stepping
over to her chair and helping her up.
"No. I'm just observant. And for the
record, I noticed all that before."
Gwen stumbled, her eyes cutting quick to
his. "When?"
Throwing his big arm around her shoulders,
he drew her in, ducking his head so he was speaking just above her ear.
"Before I figured out you were hung up on that pencil neck Ted."
USA Today bestselling author Mira Lyn Kelly grew up in the Chicago area and earned her degree in fine arts from Loyola University. She met the love of her life while studying abroad in Rome, Italy, only to discover he’d been living right around the corner from her. They live in rural Minnesota.
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