Page 5 of Misadventures With My Fake Fiancé

I wasn't a total dud in the men department, but Mike Ostranski had meant something to me. Once. The punch to the gut sensation I felt at his words made me realize he just might still. Which was just plain stupid. He might have moved backhome and settled into his own practice, but he may as well have been in...Alaska, for all I'd seen of him.

“You know just what I mean, Vi.” Mike's voice went all deep and husky on me. Maybe he remembered that night, too. “Unlike you, this woman scares the crap out of me.”

I cleared my throat. “Wow. You're serious.” At least now I knew I didn't scare the crap out of him. Not much to go by. I fiddled with some scissors that were on the counter.

“As a heart attack. Which I might have if I don't get some help up here.”

“Help? What kind of help?” I put the scissors back and started folding little scraps of lacy lingerie as a way to keep my hands occupied. Even after ten years, the guy made me distracted. On edge. Flustered. He brought up feelings I'd locked away long ago.

“I need a temporary girlfriend. If Susan—that's crazy woman's name—is willing to climb in my bed, I don't want to think about what she might do next. I was hoping Veronica would come to Alaska and pretend to date me, so Susan will get the idea I'm not interested and sink her claws into someone else.”

“Veronica's dating Jack now. I'd say they're serious. More than serious, in fact, so I doubt she'd want to pretend anything with you. I doubt Jack would be too keen on it, either.”

Mike sighed again. “Right. I knew that. Christ, I'm losing my mind.” He and Jack had grown up together and he was well aware of his friend's relationship status. I had no doubt Jack would be a little possessive of Veronica if his good friend even pretended to date her. Like a punch to the face kind of possessive. Mike paused. The static on the line was loud in my ear. “You come, Vi. You be my girlfriend.”

I darted a glance at Jane, who was surreptitiously watching me. I pivoted away. Goldie had one of those old-fashionedphones with a cord, so I couldn't escape the counter area. “Me?” I squeaked. “Be your pretend girlfriend? In Alaska?”

Be my girlfriend.Those were the words I'd longed to hear from Mike for almost half my life. But not this way; not in a pretend, very fake, sort of way. I wanted him to say those words and mean them because he felt for me, even because he had the hots for me, not because some crazy woman was naked in his bed.

“God, yes. Please, Vi, I'm desperate.”

“Thanks,” I said sarcastically. “What every girl wants to hear. That a guy is desperate enough pretend to date you, and you're at the bottom of the list.” I ran my hand over my face. “In fact, I wasn't even on the list!”

He was being a total jerk! He’d put me in my place. Obviously, last place.

“Vi, I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you feel bad. Honest. We had something once. Something really good. It shouldn't be too hard to fake it now. You're on summer break, right? What else have you got to do?”

It was a toss-up if I should be insulted by his insinuation of lack of a social life, or the fact that he thought I had to fake feelings for him. “I do have a life, you know,” I grumbled. Not a very exotic one, but it was all mine. “Maybe I have a boyfriend. Ever consider that?”

It wasn't as if I'd been waiting over ten years for him. Alone. I could have a boyfriend if I wanted. I wasn't hideous or anything. I was just...selective. That didn't mean Mike had to know that.

“Shit, Vi, I haven't been able to consider anything. This trip is a disaster. It's a family reunion so my mom's here, as well as the rest of my family.”

“Your mom's there?” I inwardly cringed. “I don't know, Oz. She doesn't like me very much.” That was an understatement of epic proportions. She'd run a karate school up until five yearsago when she retired and sold the business. By run, I meant was the karate instructor, not office manager. Mom had enrolled me in her martial arts class when I was a kid. Not much of it had stuck, and I’d dreaded every class because I wasn't very coordinated.

Mrs. Ostranski was no-nonsense and one of the only people who could tell the difference between me and Veronica. On top of that, she could kick the shit out of someone. Without breaking a nail. Not that you'd know it by looking at her. She was older now, but I wouldn't put it past her to do the Vulcan Death Grip on me if she ever found out what I did with her only son on graduation night.

“Your mom's going to know we're not dating. She knows everything.” What mom didn't?

“I haven't seen her much in the past few months. I've been on call a lot and she's been traveling. Vi, my mother's the one who lets Susan into the house. She wants grandchildren, but I didn't realize how much until this trip. At lunch today, Susan was standing there when I closed the fridge door. Scared the shit out of me. Do you know how creepy that is?”

“It sounds pretty creepy,” I repeated. Mike wasn't a guy to sound so desperate, so out of control. He was a man who took charge and could handle any situation. Any woman. Except a crazy one...or his mother.

“Well, do you?”

“What?”

“Have a boyfriend.”

I sighed and placed the lingerie back on the counter. “No.”

“So, be my girlfriend.”

I swirled the phone cord with my finger as if I were back in high school. “I'm filling in for Veronica to make some extra money for grad school. I can't just drop everything and fly toAlaska.”And deal with your mother.If she discovered the little ruse, she'd kill me with her bare hands.

“I'll pay you.” I knew he was desperate now. “Whatever. Just come. The woman's bat shit crazy. I can't handle bat shit crazy.”

This Susan woman, or Mike's mother, both fit that description, so I couldn't be sure whom he was talking about. I'd never heard him talk this way before. He fit the typical alpha male stereotype: strong, assertive, protective and commanding. Adding all those caveman qualities with rock hard abs and a drop-dead smile, he was every woman's dream. On top of that, I'd heard Goldie and Veronica both hint that Mike was a man who liked to be in charge in a relationship. Dominant. And didn't that just burn my butter?

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