Page 49 of Falling for your Fake Boyfriend

Her cheeks turned pink as she turned away from me. She walked back to the bikes. “Ditto,” she said quietly.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“What you said just now.” Her cheeks were still pink. “Ditto.”

ChapterTwenty-Three

Isla

The morning bike ride had gone far better than expected. Possibly too good. Spending time like that with Luke and knowing that we’d be parting ways after this weekend only made the ache in my chest grow stronger.

Bryan had talked him into a swim, and since his baby brother was feeling a little lost and sad after the choking ordeal, Luke felt obliged to say yes.

I could have easily stepped back into a bubble bath, but I decided to save it for later, before the formal party. This morning I’d convinced myself not to bother with the dance, but now I was determined to finish this whole darn weekend with my head held high. I took a quick cool shower and pulled on shorts and a T-shirt. I was hoping to carry a sandwich to the pool area. I didn’t want to get stuck in the dining room or out on the veranda with Margaret and her guests. At least, that was my plan.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t avoid running into Duchess Greyson, as I was now calling her in my head. She seemed like the kind of person who would move heaven and earth to have a title bestowed upon her. We both came around opposite sides of a corner on the corridor leading to the dining room. She was wearing a slim-cut white dress with beautiful, beaded flowers on the bodice to draw attention to her amazing figure. Her overstretched lips seemed to flatten, in distaste, when she saw me.

“Oh, hello, dear, there’s some food still out, though you’re late for the lunch hour.”

Hearing her call medearset my teeth on edge. My whole face tightened with a forced grin, then I nodded and continued past her, thrilled that this would be the extent of our interaction. Until it wasn’t.

“Oh, and about the incident with Bryan,” she said primly. “In instances like that, it’s always best to leave it to the professionals. I assure you there were at least two doctors out on the veranda last night. You might have hurt him or broken a rib.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “Where were they, then?” I asked.

“Pardon?”

“The doctors? Guess they forgot their Hippocratic oath, because no one came to help Bryan. No one.” I pointed to the bruise on my cheek. “Only me.” I hurried past before she could spew out any more of her vileness. I reached the dining room and felt breathless and dizzy from the encounter. My appetite had shrunk, too. I grabbed a cookie from a tray and hurried out of the house to get the stench of the last few seconds off me.

I nibbled half-heartedly on the delicious cookie as I walked with heavy steps toward the pool area. Laughter, voices, intermittent splashing and music rose in a noisy clatter above the walled area. I stopped short of entering the space, taking the time instead to glance through one of the gaps in the wall surrounding the pool. The pool was massive with a beach front entry and a wet bar at the far end. A massive stone slide poured down from a waterfall and into a shady grotto. Lounge chairs were lined up around the pool’s edge. Luke’s incredible physique, muscular and tanned, pulled my attention to the diving board. He dove into the deep end. I scanned the area, and while there were at least ten other people at the pool, Alexandria wasn’t amongst them.

I took a deep breath and walked around the edge of the garden wall and entered the pool area at the exact moment that Alex left the pool house. She had a silky wrap tied loosely around her slim hips. Her pink bikini sparkled in the midday sun. She didn’t spot me, and since I’d timed my entrance in unison with a woman who looked breathtaking in a bikini, no one in the pool area saw the mousy little woman nibbling a cookie. I backed out quickly and decided to head back to the house and to the security of my room.

Alexandria’s distinctive laugh pulled my attention back to one of my spying portals. I peered through to the pool area. Alex waded in gracefully on the beach entrance side. Then she swam straight to her target. Luke half-smiled as she popped up like a beautiful mermaid right in front of him. She was close enough that their noses nearly touched. She draped her arm around his shoulder. I couldn’t watch any more. I took off at a fast walk toward the house. This was the longest weekend of my life.

Rachel came out of the house as I reached the veranda. She was wearing a bathing suit. The bones on her shoulders and clavicles stood out sharply. Ice cubes clinked in the highball glass she was holding. I realized then that I’d never actually seen her with David. What an odd world I’d stumbled into.

“Isla, I could lend you a suit, so you can come down to the pool.”

“Thank you for the offer. I took a long bike ride this morning. I feel like I need to get out of the sun. I’ve got a touch of a headache.”

“Me, too.” She swirled her drink. “I’m hoping this will drown it. By the way, thank you for yesterday. Bryan is a total pain in the butt, but I love him, ya know?” There was a hitch in her voice as she spoke.

“I know it well. I’ve got siblings, and yes, they can be irritating, but I couldn’t live without them. I’m just glad I could help.”

“You are coming tonight, right? To the dance? Mom has this whole weekend so overfilled. I can’t wait until it’s done.”

We were definitely on the same wavelength there, but this wasn’t my wedding weekend, so that made her statement sad. “I plan on being there. And Rachel, I know you’ll be very busy tomorrow, so if I don’t get a chance to say it—I hope you have a lovely wedding and a brilliant, love-filled future with David.”

I hadn’t meant for my words to bring tears to her eyes, but they did just that. She pressed her hand on my arm. “Kind of you to say, Isla, and I wish things were different, between you and Luke, I mean.”

I smiled and nodded. It seemed to be my turn for tears. “Have fun at the pool,” I said in a forced airy tone. I walked inside and realized I really did have a headache from too much sun. I reached my room and walked straight to my bag for an aspirin. I was struggling with the Fort Knox-style, childproof cap when I returned to the door to answer a knock.

Hazel smiled down at the bottle of aspirin in my hand. “This family has that effect on people.” She had a sunny orange shawl draped around her slightly hunched shoulders. She was holding a black velvet box. “May I come in? I won’t stay long.”

I stepped aside. “Of course. Please, come in.”

She walked with a bit of a halted shuffle as she entered the room. She laughed at the pillows on the bed. “My daughter-in-law has a decorative pillow addiction. Is there even a bed under that mound?”

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