Page 26 of Broken Dreams
My God, I have the answer.
I turn to Addison, feeling hopeful for the first time. “I have the answer to our problems.”
“What’s that?”
“We date.”
six
ADDISON
“I’m sorry,what?”
Of all the things, I never expected that to be his solution.
“You said it yourself. We’re an obvious match. And we don’tactuallydate, we just tell our family and friends we’re together, go out a few times, and make it look real.”
I literally don’t know what to say, not because I haven’t thought about it before, though I haven’t. I mean, dreams aren’t thoughts. They’re...dreams.
So what if I woke up this morning after a beautiful dream where Grady picked me up, we kissed in the car, and went to a fancy dinner where I led him up to my room?
None of it was real because I know that Grady doesn’tactuallywant to date anyone.
“Yeah, but I want to date for real. I want to move on. You don’t.”
He shrugs. “You want to keep going on these dates?”
That’s a big fat negative. “No. I’m honestly scarred for life after the last two.”
“Exactly. Look, you need a date for the wedding in a month or so, right?”
I nod.
“Okay, and I need a girlfriend for these investor meetings and dinners. It works out perfectly.” He’s so enthusiastic, I almost forget he’s talking about the two of us lying to our friends and family about being together. “We’ll go out for the next few months to keep up appearances, and you can come with me to my dinner meetings and I’ll go with you to Oregon for the wedding. No more blind dates with assholes or losers. It gives you time to actually find someone you want to bring home for real.”
I lean back, wondering if I’ve lost my damn mind for considering this, but he has a point. I only have a little over a month to find someone I would even want to bring back to Rose Canyon, and so far, my prospects have sucked. This would give me time to regroup, get through the wedding, and then we can break up when we get back.
“It’s a lot of lying to our friends and your family.”
“We go out on the weekends and have playdates for the kids that they all think are us spending time together. It’s not a lie if we’re doing it. We just don’t tell them the motivation behind it.”
I chew on my thumbnail. “I don’t know, what if you meet someone?”
“Not happening.”
“What if we realize we hate each other? Or I meet someone? Things can get complicated really quickly.”
I don’t think the first one will happen since I think he’s funny, attractive, and apparently is my personal savior lately, but still. My worry is, what if he is all those things and I start to like him more than just as my fake boyfriend?
He doesn’t hesitate. “Then we call it off. I don’t want to trap you. I just want to fake date you. That way, we can both get what we want, at least for a few months.”
Come on, Addison, say no. This is a bad idea. You want love, not a fake relationship. You also want a date to that wedding . . .
Instead of telling him how stupid this is, I say something else. “Okay, but no one, and I mean no one can know this is our plan. If one person finds out, the whole damn town will know. And when we get back from Rose Canyon, we say the trip was bad and we end the agreement if your business deal is all set.”
“Good because we have to really sell this relationship to everyone, especially because the investors live around here and would hear about us.”
“Meaning what, exactly?”
