Page 68 of Pretend To Be My Cowboy
“You sure you won’t mind being the center of attention again?” he asked.
She tilted her head back to look up at him. “Of course not.” She winked. “That’s what a fake girlfriend is for, right?”
Right. That was what he meant to say. But his mouth went dry and felt like chalk when he tried to speak. So he kept his lips sealed and nodded instead.
Fake girlfriend. As if he needed the reminder.
But he did. He needed that reminder constantly, because when he was standing this close to Emma... Close enough that he could wrap her in his arms and hold her tight?... It was way too easy to forget.
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She almost forgot.
For a moment there she almost forgot that it wasn’t real.
That was why she’d forced herself to say it aloud.That’s what a fake girlfriend is for, right?
She wanted him to deny it.
Or no, she wanted him toagree.
Oh heck, she didn’t know what she wanted from Nash Donahue. All she knew was that she was restless and unsatisfied when she reached her bedroom a short time later to clean up before dinner.
The afternoon on the range had been more fun than she ever could’ve imagined. It was hard work, sure, but she’d loved it. She’d relished the feel of having a purpose here on this land, and she’d loved the camaraderie of working alongside Nash and his men. The way they laughed and joked together, the way they teased her and made her feel like one of the team...she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt that happy.
Her arm muscles twinged as she stretched them overhead to remove her sweaty T-shirt. She had no doubt they’d be aching by the morning.
She laughed to herself as she got into the shower. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t going to be quitting her day job just yet. But even so, this hard work had been rewarding.
She’d been in a great mood...right up until Nash had asked her to the festival.
Oh, she’d been happy then, all right. Too happy. The moment he asked, she felt her emotions ricochet in every direction like a pinball. Elated one second that he’d thought to ask her, then disappointed when she realizedwhyhe’d asked.
Because it would be expected. It would look weird if his new girlfriend didn’t tag along as his date.
And Emma wanted to go with him, she just...wished it was a real date.
She closed her eyes with a sigh as the water streamed over her, easing the tension in her muscles and numbing her thoughts.
There was no use denying it anymore. In fact, it was almost a relief to finally acknowledge the feelings she’d been fighting so hard since her very first day in Aspire.
She’d gone and done the unthinkable. She’d let herself develop a real crush on her fake boyfriend. Not the fleeting, initial attraction, but the kind of feelings that would take time to process and get over.
What a moron.
Just because a handsome guy was nice to her she let herself believe there could be something more. Hadn’t she learned her lesson?
Guys like Nash didn’t want a girl like her. Nope. They used girls like her to keep other girls like her at bay.
A cynical snort escaped.
Yup. Definitely a good thing she’d be leaving just after the wedding. Any longer and she might actually return home nursing a broken heart.
She turned off the shower, and the sound of her phone dinging in the other room had her wrapping a towel around her and hurrying out. It was a text from her mom telling her to keep her calendar clear the weekend after she returned because she and Derek wanted her to stay with them at their home in the suburbs just outside Chicago so they could hear all about her trip.
She replied with a:Sounds good. Looking forward to it…including some smiley face emojis for good measure. She was kind of grateful they were texting and not actually talking over the phone. The other night, when she called to tell her parents she was staying longer, her mother tried to read every little thing she could out of her decision—nitpicking for reasons that didn’t actually exist. Emma did have to concede that her mother’s over-questioning may have been a result of the fact Emma refused to breathe a word about her fake-dating Nash Donahue. She made it all about the sisters and her mother could smell the half-truth all the way from Illinois.
She’d also missed another message which she hadn’t even heard come through. The selfie from Lizzy and Sarah made her grin. They wore cheesy smiles, and Sarah was sticking out her tongue while Lizzy crossed her eyes. Such goofballs. The text beneath it read ‘we miss you’ and her heart gave a pang of homesickness.
