Page 131 of Pretend Girlfriend

Landon’s mother tapped the man next to me on his shoulder. “Excuse me. I need to speak with this young woman. I need your seat.”

The stranger started to say something back at her, then stopped when he saw the dangerous look in her eyes. He mumbled something under his breath, then exited the barstool. Danicka sat down and smoothed out her dress.

“What a fine predicament you’ve gotten yourself into,” she said. Then, to the bartender: “Chardonnay, please. And one for my friend who so desperately needs it.”

The bartender raised his eyebrow at me.

“I actually hate white wine,” I revealed.

“Lies upon lies,” Danicka muttered. “Get her another one of those blue monstrosities, then. Lord knows she needs it.”

The bartender gave me a long look, then went to get the drinks. As soon as his back was turned, Danicka asked me, “Oh God, you’re not sleeping with him too, are you?”

“No!” I replied.

“Good. We have enough damage control to do already.”

“I owe you an apology,” I said. Tears were beginning to blur my vision. “Danicka…”

“It’s okay, dear.”

“No! It’s not okay!” I protested. “You have no idea what I’ve gone through this past week.”

She chuckled. “As a matter of fact, I know exactly what you’ve been going through.”

As the bartender delivered our drinks, I said, “I seriously doubt you do.”

“It’s been quite the spectacle,” she said while sipping her drink, “watching you scramble around, pretending to be my son’s girlfriend.”

I gave a start. Was she suggesting what I thought she was suggesting?

“Stop staring at me with your mouth open. It’s unbecoming,” she snapped at me. “Yes, I know you and Landon have been pretending to date. You’re a fake.”

54

Joanna

I closed my jaw. “How do you know? Did Landon tell you?”

Danicka let out a high-pitched laugh. “God, no. He seems determined to cling to your little lie, even after that show on the beach back there. I’ve known for a while, dear.”

“Since… the wedding?” I asked.

“Since the dinner two weeks ago, when he first paraded you out for us.”

I stared at her. “I don’t understand.”

Danicka rolled her eyes as if my confusion annoyed her. “The woman who lives in the apartment next door to Landon. She’s the daughter of a woman I play Bridge with. I gave her season tickets to the Chicago Opera in exchange for information on my son’s female visitors. Since breaking up with his ex several months ago, he’s had precisely one female guest. And it was not you.”

Against my will, a flare of jealousy flickered inside me like a candle’s flame. He’d had a woman over? It shouldn’t have bothered me, but it did.

“Yet a week before the wedding,” Danicka went on, “Landon showed up to dinner with you on his arm, claiming you’d been dating two months. It was easy to see through. Only an idiot would be fooled by your little charade.”

“Do…” I gave myself a little shake. Was this really happening? “Do the others know? Clark, and Marisa, and Bradyn?”

“Of course not!” she said with a laugh. “They’re all idiots. Aren’t you listening to anything I’m saying?”

“So you’ve known all this time and haven’t said anything?”

---