Page 13 of Holidate Pursuit

“Justin—”

But I’m already stepping out and shutting the door before she can argue.

ONE GOLDEN RING

Lucy

“Seriously, thanks for doing this.” I’m still in disbelief, and we’re mere hours from my hometown.

After Justin left the day of my tipsy texting, my mind came out of its wine fog and realized too late what I’d done. Once he agreed to go home with me, he left abruptly, infuriatingly insisting on booking his own flight. Not only that, but he bumped me to first class so we could sit together.

While it might have been necessary since I needed to give him the lowdown on my family, I’m not sure how he’ll feel about paying for it when he finds out how wealthy my family is. I still haven’t told him about that, only that they have certain standards that are hard to live up to.

With two connecting flights, I took the easy route and told him all about my brother, who promised he’d be at the airport to pick me up this time. Since Trevor knows the truth, I figuredit’d be an easier start to the week and assumed Justin would be relieved someone knew about our phony relationship, but he actually seemed put off by it, which was weird.

“If you thank me again, I’m taking the next flight home instead of making our connection. Now, tell me the rest of what I need to know to make this believable,” he says, taking a bite of his taco.

We’re sitting in a Mexican restaurant in the airport during our two-hour layover. The tacos are good, but the margaritas are better, and liquid courage is exactly what I need for this. I’m still not sure how we’re going to pull this off when I secretly want to rip his heart out like he did mine. Instead, I’m supposed to act like I’m in love with the guy.

I stick to the basics while we eat, only giving him names, jobs, and a few hobbies before calling it good. It’s not like any couple talks nonstop about their family, so too much information would be overdoing it. He’ll know all he needs to soon enough.

“Why do you only go home twice a year?” he asks, catching me off guard. I’d forgotten that slipped out during my explanation for this mess. Throughout our previous dates all those months ago, I happily avoided talking about my family. Instead, most of our conversations were centered on our likes and dislikes, favorite shows, hobbies, places we’d like to visit… those sorts of things.

“I’m busy with work, and I have a life. I can’t get away all the time.” That’s reasonable.

“What drew you to San Diego in the first place? Seems far from home. Did you go to school there?” He’s asking way too many questions. Freaking him out about what he’ll be walking into is probably not the best idea at this point. I need to shut this down somehow.

“I wanted to experience a different part of the country. The West Coast intrigued me. It’s an entirely different ocean,different climate, and new people. What about you? Did you grow up in San Diego?”

“No. The military brought me there, and I ended up staying. So, explain why you didn’t just tell your parents ‘no’ to dating some rando instead of lying about being engaged.” Justin quickly veers the conversation back to me. We’re halfway through the meal and two drinks in.

I shrug and down my second margarita, signaling the waitress for another. I’ll take all the help I can get.

“That’s it? No comment?” he asks, taking a bite of his taco while he waits for an answer.

“It was just a heat of the moment thing. They were relentless, and I didn’t like how they disregarded my relationship.” I’m still sore over it.

“Yourfakerelationship.” He smirks.

“Hey, they didn’t know that. What if you and Ihadbeen dating, and my parents tried to set me up with this guy? Then how would you feel?” I reply smugly.

“First of all, if you and I were really dating, you bet your ass I’d have known your parents by then, and I sure as hell wouldn’t have given them a chance to set you up with someone else. Not on my watch.”

With the alcohol setting in and a fresh drink in hand, I’m feeling more mouthy than usual. “Oh really, if we’d been dating, huh? That’s funny, coming from the guy who ran at the first sign of an actual relationship. Oh, I know… maybe you could give Nathan a few tips on how to get me into his bed while you’re there. I’m sure my parents would appreciate it.”

“Lucy, that’s enough.”

But I continue my rant, the alcohol taking control, “Speaking of enough, maybe you should be giving me a few tips since I’m obviously not enough when it comes to sex. I mean, why else would you never call me again? Unless you only wanted to seehow long it would take for me to fuck you.” I lift my drink to take a sip, but before I reach my mouth, Justin leans forward and wraps his hand around mine, slowly lowering my glass back to the table.

“Let’s get a few things straight. Most importantly, your skills in the bedroom are not an issue. I’m pretty sure the four orgasms I had that night prove it. As for adding a notch to my bedpost, I don’t waste time on dates for those. I don’t need to. And just to clarify, the two extra dates before wefucked? That was because I knew the more the anticipation grew, the better it would be. And baby? It was explosive.” He lifts his hand from mine and sits back like he didn’t just light my core on fire. And did he just quote my final text from months ago?

I have no idea how to respond, so I take another sip of my drink in avoidance. This is going to be the longest week of my life.

Justin

Damn this woman is feisty. Not that she doesn’t have every right to be, but fuck is it going to be hard to manage myself around her. All I want to do is remind her exactly how explosive we are. The memory of it makes my dick swell underneath the table. At least she’s quiet for a moment, giving me a minute to cool my jets and get my thoughts under control.

She needs to vent, and it’s less than I deserve. I should’ve let her have her moment, but there was no way I was about to leave her thinking she was the problem. What kills me is that she’s probably been thinking these things ever since then. I’m an asshole for not explaining. It’s not Lucy’s fault I’m too weak when it comes to her, but she’s suffering because of it.

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