Page 5 of Holiday Situationship

“That’s it?” I breathe my own sigh of relief. Annie’s not dating anyone, and I get to spend a week with her for the holidays. “All I have to do is pose as your boyfriend for an all-expense paid retreat with your boss?”

“Well, when you say it like that, it doesn’t sound like a big deal at all.” Annie rolls her eyes. “I’m going to hell for this. I know it.”

“You’re not going to hell.” I chuckle as I pull her into my arms. “But you might take Best Dramatic Actress at the Oscars this next year.”

“You’re the best, Sam.” Annie giggles and her body jostles against my chest, sending a ripple of heat radiating through me. Her infectious laughter fills me with a sense of wistful hope.

A week pretending to be her boyfriend is my chance to show her what’s been right in front of her all along. It’s time to pull out all the stops and risk everything for the possibility of something more with Annie.

CHAPTER 3

***

Annie

Julia and her husband, Ryan, pull up to the curb in a sleek SUV. The afternoon sun and snow glints off its polished surface, causing me to squint. The butterflies in my stomach do somersaults as the weight of my little white lie seems more daunting than ever. Sam stands by my side, his presence steady and reassuring, though I sense he’s a wee bit nervous, too.

As the SUV rolls to a stop, Sam flashes me a quick, confident smile and grabs my hand. My heart skips a beat as I stare down at our linked fingers. We’ve never held hands like this before, not under the pretense of being a couple anyway. Usually, our clasped hands mean Sam’s dragging me through a crowd or hurrying me along to something we’re running late for. Never just for the heck of it. Though I love the reassuring squeeze of his fingers wrapped around mine, though I remind myself that it’s all for show. None of this weekend is real, not for us anyway.

“Ready,” he whispers.

“As I’ll ever be,” I reply, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice.

Julia and Ryan emerge from the car with welcoming smiles. My nerves buzz beneath my skin, rattling my bones. Or maybe that’s just the chill in the air.

“It’s great to finally meet you, Sam,” Julia says warmly, extending her hand. “This is Ryan, my husband.” Ryan and Sam shake hands and move to the back of the vehicle to stow our bags.

“He’s more handsome in person than in the photograph.” Julia’s eyes sparkle as she nudges my shoulder like we’re teenagers. “We can’t wait to hear all about how you two met and fell in love.” She titters and my insides turn to ice.

I force a smile, dread creeping through my cold veins. Sam and I didn’t prepare for the third degree about our relationship. What if we screw everything up? Admitting the truth now would be disastrous. I’d likely lose my job or miss out on whatever opportunity Julia hinted at.

Sam meets me at the back passenger side door and opens it for me, a gesture that speaks volumes in the moment. He really is a gentleman. I glance up at him, meeting his eyes, and a silent understanding passes between us—we’re in this together. There’s no turning back now.

My confidence is shattered less than fifteen minutes into the two hour drive when Julia twists in her seat to chat, or what feels like the start to a game of twenty questions.

“Annie’s kept mum about you around the office, Sam.” Julia’s eyes twinkle with curiosity.

“We’re kind of private that way,” Sam says, giving me a playful look. He’s having fun while I’m having an inward crisis of epic proportions. “Keeps things feeling fresh and new, right, babe?”

I stifle a mortified gasp. Babe? We’re using pet names, now? Fine. I’ll roll with it, since I owe him big time for this.

“That’s right,” I pause and playfully punch Sam’s arm while giving him a wide-eyed what-the-hell look. “Babe.”

“Aww, don’t be shy,” Julia smiles. “We’re all friends here, and this is a couples’ retreat where we talk about our relationships and work on keeping the fire alive.”

What? Therapy is not what I thought Julia meant by couples’ retreat. I give Sam a heartfelt apologetic look, sorry I dragged him into this mess.

“So, how did you two meet? Who made the first move?” Julia asks, her curiosity clearly piqued and on a roll.

I draw a blank, and freeze, exchanging a panicked glance with Sam. We should have prepared so our stories would match. Sam doesn’t ruffle easily and quickly recovers, taking Julia’s rapid fire questions in stride.

“We didn’t have a typical meet cute like you see in the movies.” He grins, saving me from telling another lie that I’ll have to remember later. I should have brought a notepad. “It was more of an intervention, really. Annie was the new kid in school, and she had a knack for attracting nefarious characters. I saved her from a gang of disreputable hoodlums and have been dragging her butt out of trouble since.”

Julia laughs, clearly charmed by Sam’s rendition of how we met many moons ago. He seems quite pleased with himself. Honestly, I’m quite impressed. It’s exactly how we met, though he may have embellished a tad.

Ryan glances at the rearview mirror, his eyes widen slightly and his brows lift. “So, what about your first date? Standard dinner and a movie, or something else?”

My mind flies back to all the firsts Sam and I have shared. Our first kiss in the treehouse in my parents’ backyard when I told him I’d never kissed a boy before. Junior year when he took me to prom when no one else asked me. The night of my twenty-first birthday when he insisted we hit every bar in our college town, and we ended up shit-faced spewing no, I love you more to the tune of tequila shots until our clothes fell off and—

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