Page 41 of Pretend To Be My Cowboy
He took a deep breath, then laid out his plan as succinctly as he could. “Since you’re staying here a little longer, I thought maybe you could be my date to the wedding and I figure if we’re doing that, maybe you could pretend to be my girlfriend too.” He rustled up a smile, trying to sell it without being cheesy, but then the words just slipped on out of his mouth. “I wouldn’t mind pretending to be your cowboy.”
13
Nash cringed like he’d just said something awful and it took Emma’s brain a full second to register his words. And when she did, it felt like her mind was processing it out of order.
Wedding date.
Yes!
Girlfriend.
Whoa. Holy—
Pretend.
Wait...what?
She stared at Nash as her heart went on a roller coaster ride without her. It landed with a crash and a thud.
“Pretend…?” she managed.
“Yeah, you know…just a bit of fake dating.” He flashed her that boyish smile, the one that made her heart double in size.
This was normally a nice feeling, but right at this second, as the poor organ recovered from a crash landing, it kinda hurt.
Nash kept talking. Some part of her was dimly aware of his low, sexy voice filling the air with explanations, justifications, rationalizations…
“It’s beneficial for both of us really. We could just tell everyone it was love at first sight and I’d get a reprieve while you’re here. You don’t have to commit to anything long-term, since I know you want to go back to Chicago as soon as this inheritance mess is all sorted out. So, when you leave I’ll feign a broken heart and everyone will give me some space to recover.” He beamed at her, going on to say something about his father, but she couldn’t process his words.
All she could hear was her own voice chiding her.Stupid, Emma. So stinkin’ stupid.
Had she really let herself believe that this crush might be reciprocated? She gave her head a shake to rid herself of that voice, but the self-recrimination was worse than her disappointment.
It was just that...she’d been here before. Many times. With every guy she’d ever actually developed feelings for. She was not the girl men like Nash dated.
Nope. She was the kind of girl theypretendedto date.
Emma winced. Her pride was definitely stinging.
And it seemed Nash caught her wince because his tone changed, and the resignation in his voice brought her back to the moment. “Oh no. You think it’s a terrible idea.”
She blinked up at him. She’d yet to say anything but apparently her face was speaking for her. “I didn’t say that.”
He grimaced, taking off his hat once more and scrubbing the back of his head. It gave off such an apologeticaw shucksvibe, it was impossible not to feel a tug of sympathy.
“I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that,” he said. “I was just trying to help us both out. But I’m not very good at this sort of thing.”
She arched her brows. “You’re not good at asking girls to be your pretend girlfriend?” Her lips curled with amusement despite the lingering sting of rejection. “Do you do this often?”
He dipped his head with a rueful chuckle. “No. This would be a first.”
“Good,” she breathed. When he glanced up at her, she added, “I might be offended if I thought I was just another fake girlfriend in a long line of phonies.”
His smile was adorable. All sweet and hopeful, and tinged with a hint of disbelief. Like he couldn’t believe she was making a joke about this.
Truthfully, she couldn’t either.
Her pride was stung, and yeah, her heart might still be a little rattled. But she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at Nash. He was too sincere. Too genuine. And right now, she was even getting a glimpse of something vulnerable. A side of him she suspected few got to see.
