Pretend for Me (10 page)

Lying back on the bed he let out a sigh.

“That bad?”
Travis asked.

“Let me put it another way. Sara is loaded with money,
and she’s the baby of the family.”

“Ouch. You’re enemy number one then?”

“In a big way.
I’ve been bribed by her father, and her ex is here letting me know
he’ll win when it comes to her.”

Silence descended over the line.

“What’s the matter?” Andy asked.

“Do you want to win her over?”

“What do you mean?”

He heard Travis mumbling over the line. “You’re there
at this woman’s house. She’s been living in the same apartment block for the
past five years. You clearly have feelings for her, Andy. Do the math.”

“I’m not the marrying type.” He argued his point. Andy
didn’t want to get married. None of his friends wanted to get married. They all
had a mutual desire to play the field.

“You may not have been the marrying type. Even I can
see this girl is different. You’ve never put off introducing us to one of your
women. You kept Sara to yourself. I saw the way you were with her at your
apartment. There is something there between you. You can’t deny it.”

He couldn’t deny anything. Andy had kept her to
himself because he didn’t want them to get to her. In his own way he’d been
protecting her himself.

What did it all mean?

****

“Stop checking your phone, Sara. You’re making me
nervous,” Harmony said. Sara glanced down at her phone wondering what was
happening back home.

She stood in the center of the room while a woman
knelt at her feet fixing the floral pink dress. Amazingly, the pink didn’t
clash with her hair, which shocked her.

“You don’t think they’ve killed him and stuffed him in
the pond, do you?” she asked her family.

“This is such a lovely color on you, Sara. I’m so
pleased I went for this one. In the picture I wasn’t sure, but seeing it on
you, it’s perfection.” Bethany gasped and wiped the tears from her eyes.

Rolling her eyes in agitation, Sara tried to balance
herself on the area she was standing. “Why aren’t any of you panicking?”

Tracy threw down the wedding magazine to walk over to
her. “Your man will be fine with Dad and the others. I’m sure seeing Andy put a
spin in Dylan’s plans.”

“Tracy,” her mother warned.

“What plans? Ouch!” The woman pricked Sara with a
dress pin.

“Sorry.”

She hated this, being surrounded by people and them
pushing pins into her or trying to change her to make her look pretty.

“Dylan planned to ask you to marry him again. You’ve
got to give that man credit. He doesn’t give up.” Tracy was the only one to
know about the real reason behind her leaving Dylan. Her older sister shot her a
look letting her know she was on Sara’s side. “I like Andy. He can’t take his
eyes off you, you know?”

Sara smiled unable to comment.

“Ouch!”

“Sorry.”

“Can you walk in heels, Sara? You were struggling to
manage with a one inch heel. Do you think you could manage with a six inch
one?” Bethany asked, showing her a picture of the shoes she’d have to wear.

“I can’t wear those.”

Tracy stood on the chair behind her and started
working on her hair.

“We need to get everything perfect today so that you
can just slip the dress on in a month’s time.”

“Why can’t you stay longer?” Harmony asked.

“I’ve got commitments, Mom.”

“Speaking of commitments, do you think Andy will ask
for your hand?”

She turned to look at her mother. “We’ve only been
dating a couple of months. It’s too early to tell.”

“Too early to
tell?
Sara, you’ve been using that man as material for your
love interests in your book,” Tracy said, admonishing her.

She turned to glance at her sister. “How do you know?”

“I’ve got eyes and ears, little sis. I’ve read them.”

“You don’t even know the name I write under.”

Tracy smiled at her. “I do. I searched your computer
when I visited you last. You’re very talented.”

Glancing around the room she saw all the women were
smiling at her. “You told everyone?”

“Yes. I’m very proud of you.” Tracy pinned her hair up
then inserted little white daisies into her hair.

Sara didn’t know what to say to them.

She liked to think of her writing as a secret.
Something she did that no one knew about.

“Right, I’m finished,” the dress lady said. Sara
hadn’t caught her name.

“How do I look?” she asked the women in the room.
Harmony looked like she was going to cry while Bethany clapped her hands with
excitement. “I guess I pass inspection for the wedding of the year?”

They all laughed. Next was the task of taking it all
off. Sara stood still while they removed every item of clothing. She dressed
back into her jeans and shirt before following them outside.

“Do you think the men will have the barbeque ready?”
Bethany asked.

“Either that or we’ll have spoilt meat to eat later.”
Tracy munched on an apple as they walked back to the car.

Sara kept checking her cell phone to see if Andy would
call. Harmony drove home, and Sara waved at a couple of her old friends as she
passed. There was nothing that stood out about the town she’d left behind. Part
of her was missing her life in the city.

They pulled up into the driveway several minutes
later. She saw more cars had joined, which only meant several more of her
family’s friends had arrived.

Her mother, sister, and Bethany made for the back
garden. She decided to go through the front door. Andy was walking down the
stairs as she entered. The moment she saw him she went into his waiting arms.
He offered her the comfort her family couldn’t give her.

“You hated every second of that trip, didn’t you?” he
asked.

She nodded. “They had a woman sticking pins into me. I
can’t feel my ankles because of it.”

He chuckled. “I’ll kiss them all better.”

“Do I even want to ask how it was?” She nibbled her
lip expecting the worst.

“Your dad tried to bribe me with a check. Your family
is very hung up on money.”

Her heart sank at his words.

“I’m so sorry.” She rested her head against his.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry about. You warned me about
this weekend, and everything is going according to plan. I look forward to the
wedding weekend. That should be a hoot.”

She burst out laughing. He always made her smile.

“Come on.” Taking his hand she walked back outside to
where everyone was mingling. The barbeque was in full swing. Her father wore an
apron as he grilled the meat.

“That’s Bethany’s family over there talking to Mom.”
She pointed in the direction before turning back. “There are several of Danny’s
friends. Some of them are married while others are not.”

Andy stayed by her side as she introduced him to
aunties and uncles that had come down for the special event. They were doing a
run-through of the rehearsal tomorrow night at the local church. On Sunday
she’d be travelling back home with Andy. The weekend should fly by.

When the food was ready they all sat around the large
dining table set out with potato salad, mixed salads, and an assortment of food
that went with the barbeque. She sat next to Andy and helped to fill his plate.
They swapped and changed food with each other. He gave her back the pasta salad
that someone put on his plate, and she gave him back the corn she’d been given.

When she looked up she saw her family watching them.
Tracy smiled at her before going back to her lunch.

“Is it me or are your family constantly watching us?”
he asked.

“They’re being nosy.” She grumbled some words out that
she didn’t want anyone to hear.

Dylan sat across from them. She felt his foot stroke
her ankle under the table. Sara glared at him and kept her feet out of touching
distance.

Andy tried some of her father’s steak and moaned.
“You’ve got to try this,” he said.

She hadn’t put any steak on her plate. Sara watched as
he cut off a piece and fed her from his fork. The meat melted in her mouth.

 
A moan escaped
her lips. For the rest of the meal they fed each other off their plates. The
rest of their family fell away. She didn’t care what they saw or how they
interpreted it. This was how they were back at home. She missed having Andy all
to herself, and part of her felt selfish in her need for him.

The conversation soon turned to business like it
always did at these events. Dylan became the golden boy with his latest venture
into international shipping. She didn’t know what he did to earn his millions,
and she didn’t care. He bored her when he started talking about stocks and
shares.

“What do you do, Andy?” her uncle on her mother’s side
asked.

“I own several nightclubs in the city.”

She took hold of his hand and squeezed. They were
united against her family. The way she felt about her family was ridiculous.

“Nightclubs, classy,” Dylan said.

She glared at the man across from her. Why her parents
thought she’d be happy with the egotistical Dylan, she’d never know. “He owns
his own clubs, Dylan. It’s not something to scoff at.”

“It’s okay, baby. I always wanted to manage a club,
and with Sara’s help I’ve been able to do that. She’s amazing and a rare find.”
He leaned down and kissed her.

The conversation turned elsewhere, which she was
thankful for. “I’m going to go to the bathroom.”

She excused herself and walked inside. Walking up the
stairs she quickly shut the door behind her. Gazing at her reflection in the
mirror she saw the strain of the evening. Her family was
laying
on their protective coat too thick. She felt like they were trapping her. There
were times she felt like she was struggling to breathe.

After washing her hands and face she turned the light
out and left the bathroom. Dylan was waiting for her. He leaned against the
wall with his arms folded.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I came to see if you were all right.”

“Trying to win brownie points with the family? Real
old trick, Dylan. Why are you even here?” She folded her arms over her chest,
annoyed that he’d come to her family at all.

“I thought you’d be happy to see me?” He took a step
closer to her.

“I don’t know why you’d think that. It’s over between
us, and
stop
picking at Andy. He’s a good man. I’m
with him, and I’m never going to come back to you.”

He reached out and cupped her cheek.

Rolling her eyes she pushed him away. “I’m with Andy.
I’m not with you.”

“You can’t tell me you haven’t missed me?” Dylan
asked. The ego attached to this man made her wonder how she could ever fit in
the same room with him.

“Actually, I can. I don’t give you a thought. I’m in
love with Andy. I never loved you.”

“Is there a problem here?” Andy asked, coming up the
stairs. She brushed past Dylan and went straight into Andy’s arms.

“No.”

Andy took her down the stairs. She felt safe with him.
He was the only person who understood her.

Chapter Nine

The following day Andy rarely got a chance to see
Sara. After breakfast they were whisked away to the church to begin the
rehearsals for the main event. He sat down and played his part as Sara’s date.
With each passing hour he saw the agitation grow on her. Her shoulders were
slumped even though her mother kept rearranging her posture. He found it cute
each time she did it. Every time her family tried to keep him out, she’d shoot
them down. She was a natural protector of him, which he found cute, too.

He spent most of his time reading the book he’d found
last night by his bed side. The book itself was a romantic suspense. He’d never
gotten into a book before, but he wanted to finish it before he left. There was
no way he’d deal with the wrath of Sara’s family over a book.

Sara joined him at lunch time. “I can’t believe this.
These rehearsals are taking forever. We’ve still got to go back to the house
and practice the speeches yet.”

Andy chuckled then began reading.

“What are you reading?” she asked.

He lifted the book and he listened as she read the
title and the author.

“Are you enjoying it?”

“Surprisingly
so.
I’m not one for suspense with romantic elements. It’s
pretty good at the moment.”

“Like you said, what happens in the book isn’t real,”
she said.