Page 33 of Faking It with the Off-Limits Doctor

When I open the car door, Dara elegantly slides inside. A second or two later, I’m folding my far larger frame in beside her. I pull on my belt, and then reach across and take hold of her hand.

Dara, clearly not expecting it, jumps a little.

“I swear, I’m not contagious,” I quip with a smile.

“Sorry, I just wasn’t ready.”

I’m a little bit concerned. To pull this off, we actually have to look like we’re together. If Dara flinches every time I go near her, people are going to talk, and I can see me getting chased out of this town with pitchforks.

“Listen,” I say, looking at her kindly, “I know this is weird. It’s weird for me too. But we have to convince everyone we meet that we’re together.”

“I know,” she nods. “I’ll do better. I promise.”

When we arrive at Joe’s Diner, I can feel every eye on us as we walk to our table. Beth is there and throws her arms around Dara like they haven't seen each other in months. She then turns to me and greets me with that authentic, bubbly smile.

“Hello, Doctor Bennett.”

“Hello, Beth. Nice to see you again.”

She disappears while we peruse the menu. I could go for the steak, but I have this knowing feeling that it’ll be pretty subpar, given the fact that I stole the chef who made such a great one last time I was here.

A few minutes later, Beth returns with her notepad and pen poised for action. “Have you decided?” she says, beaming a smile.

“What are you having, darling?” I say, looking across the table at Dara.

Beth’s eyes widen and move from me to Dara and back again.

“Darling?” she says, looking completely astonished

Dara looks a bit nervous when she gazes up at Beth. “Yes, I haven’t had a chance to tell you yet. Alex proposed.” She waves her left hand, showing Beth the ring.

I didn’t know that the friendly waitress’s eyes could get any wider, but apparently they can, and as her whole body quakes, I fear that Beth is on the verge of internally combusting with excited delight.

“Oh, Dara,” she squeals. “This is so amazing. I can’t believe it.”

I can’t help the smile that lines my face. Partly because I don’t think I’ve seen someone over the age of twenty express their excitement quite so openly, and partly because I just sense that Beth is as genuine a person as they come.

Dara is smiling broadly now and looking up at her friend. “Thanks, Beth.”

But as the excitement wanes and Beth comes down from her euphoria, she looks at the two of us. “Well, you certainly didn’t waste any time.”

And there it is. The doubt and suspicion we’re likely to get from just about everybody. I sit back and let Dara do the talking. She knows these people far better than I do.

“I have known Alex for years. It’s not like we just met. And over the last few weeks of getting to know each other,” she reaches over, takes my hand, and looks at me with such tender affection my stomach flips, “we realized that we both want the same thing.”

While I’m struggling to separate real from pretense, Dara’s words seem to satisfy Beth. Then again, with the performance she’s giving, I can’t imagine anyone would not believe her. Even me.

Eventually, Beth takes our order and then disappears leaving us alone once more. Dara still has hold of my hand and I don’t want her to let go, but once Beth is out of sight, she pulls her hand back across the table.

“Good job,” I say, still a little unnerved from what just happened.

“My stomach was in my throat,” Dara replies. “This is harder than I thought it was going to be.”

“Well, you convinced me,” I say jokingly.

She holds my gaze across the table for the longest moment. There’s an intensity in her eyes that makes me feel like we’re the only two people in the room. It’s intense but not unpleasant.

She then drops her gaze and straightens her cutlery.

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