Page 62 of The Guy Who Fake Dated Me

Victoria rolled her eyes. “Hannah and I caught some of the east coast cousins making fun of another woman, so we decided they needed to be punished.”

“Making fun?” I frowned. Sure, there had been good-natured ribbing by some of the guys, but in general, everyone had been supportive. Even William.

“These women are like high school mean girls. I think it gets worse when they’re together.”

I held my breath, wondering if I was about to get an earful of complaints and anger. Not that I would blame her, and plenty of women would dive right into naming names and dissing the perpetrators, but Victoria hadn’t ever been like that. Sure, we muttered funny things to each other, but they were mostly harmless.

Victoria shrugged her shoulder. “So Keith, Hannah, and I kept them too busy to flap their lips.”

I let the air out of my lungs, happy that I’d been right about her. She’d stood up for another woman by solving the problem in a productive manner.

Then the thought hit me. What if that other woman was her? It was something my sister Crystal would do, and I wouldn’t put it past Courtney. A sudden swell of anger moved up my throat and I said, “Were they making fun of you?”

“Does it matter?”

“Kind of,” I growled.

She patted me on the cheek. “Would you ride to my rescue if they had been?”

“Maybe.”

“That’s sweet, but I took care of it.”

Rachel, my good friend from Alaska, had been the target of my sister’s bullying for twenty years. A part of Rachel had always cowered, and another part of her had always been ready to lash out. Victoria didn’t seem to have either of those responses.

Was she that confident in herself? I thought she was, which ratcheted her attractiveness up to an eleven. “You’re amazing, you know that?” I asked.

“What for?”

“Just for being you.” I trailed my fingers along her exposed shoulder. We might have to make a rule that she didn’t wear that shirt again, because her skin was calling to me like a siren. I desperately needed a distraction. “You and Keith, huh?”

Victoria gave me a flat stare. “I told you; he only had eyes for Greta.”

“That can’t be true. Unless he was blind.”

A crimson blush rushed up Victoria’s neck and onto her cheeks. My lips pulled into a huge grin, and she scowled. “Cut that out.”

“Cut what out?” I asked in an innocent voice.

“Flirting with me.”

“I can’t, we’re supposed to be dating.” I silently thanked Courtney for being related to Natalie. Without her, Victoria and I wouldn’t have ended up in the same room having to pretend we were dating somewhat seriously. “We’ve been doing it since we sat down.”

Victoria’s eyes flashed. “I suppose that’s true.”

I almost jumped out of my skin when she put a hand on my bare knee. She leaned toward me, and my heartbeat took off like I’d just sprinted across a football field. Every inch of her body got closer and closer, and every molecule between us sizzled like the surface of a grill.

I’d kissed her when I’d first gotten here, but this felt like it was leading to something bigger. Something better. Something real. I swallowed as she reached across me.

Was she going to hug me? Jump in my lap?

Where had all the oxygen gone?

To my dismay, Victoria grabbed the bread and sprang back into her seat as if nothing had happened.

I heaved a sigh of what I was going to call relief but was really disappointment.

“I’m hungry, fake boyfriend. Time for food.” Victoria cut off a piece of bread, buttered it, and took a bite. “Mmmm…”

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