Chapter 27 Sarah
SARAH
The day had finally arrived. Not only would I see my arsehole ex and my skanky sister for the first time in over a year, but I’d also become Ben’s fake girlfriend.
And I wasn’t ready.
I’d never had to act before.
I’d never even really lied. Well, unless you counted saying, ‘Yes, of course I came! Best orgasm ever!’ So I really wasn’t sure if I could pull this off.
Ben and I had spent weeks scowling and arguing, and now we had to pretend that we couldn’t keep our hands off each other.
That we regularly kissed.
That we had sex.
Tingles raced down my spine just thinking about it.
Maybe I should call the whole thing off.
If my family found out that I’d asked him to be my fake boyfriend, it’d be embarrassing. A million times more mortifying than them pitying me for being single and not moving on from my ex.
I could already picture Esme’s condescending looks and hear her patronising tone.
‘Poor Sarah. She couldn’t find a boyfriend, so she had to pretend. Diddums. Don’t worry. I’m sure some saddo will date you eventually. Until then, you should get some cats to keep you company.’
Ugh.
I dragged my suitcase across the road and headed towards the library. Just before I reached the double doors, I felt my phone vibrating in my bag.
My stomach tightened. I hoped that wasn’t Ben calling to say he wasn’t able to make it. Although I’d just considered calling everything off, the truth was, I couldn’t bear the thought of going to the wedding alone.
When I took my phone out, I was relieved to see that it was Jess calling.
Phew.
‘Hi!’ I said. ‘Everything okay?’
‘Yeah! Just calling to wish you good luck this weekend,’ Jess said.
‘Thanks!’
‘You’re gonna do brilliantly. Ben will ace it. And I’m sure you two will enjoy spending time together…’ Jess said, her voice laced with mischief.
‘It’s not like that! He’s just helping me out,’ I insisted.
‘Yeah, yeah. Is he going to help you out by ending your sex drought too?’ she laughed.
‘Just because you and Theo bone ten times a day doesn’t mean the rest of us have to. I’m used to not having it. I’ll be fine. I’m not going to sleep with Ben!’ I looked around me nervously. We were meeting in less than ten minutes and I’d be mortified if he overheard this conversation.
‘I’m going to speak to Theo and see if he’s up for running a bet with me on that. Then again, there’s no point because I know he’ll agree with me. You two are so gonna get it on!’
‘We’re not going to—’
‘Morning!’ A deep voice that was unmistakeably Ben’s snapped me out of my thoughts.
That was close.
I spun around and saw him walking towards me.
‘Jess, I’d better go. Ben’s here.’
‘Have fun!’ Jess said. ‘And don’t forget to text to let me know you’ve arrived safely.’
‘Will do. Bye.’ I ended the call, then sighed.
‘What’s up?’ Ben frowned as he stood in front of me.
And of course he looked incredible. Like always.
‘Nothing. Just… I’m kind of having second thoughts,’ I confessed. ‘And I’m generally feeling pathetic about the fact that I’ve had to arrange a fake boyfriend to come to my brother’s wedding.’
‘I offered,’ Ben corrected. ‘And it’s going to be fine.’ He rubbed my shoulder gently, and goosebumps scattered across my skin. But only because the action took me by surprise. I’d have to get used to that kind of contact if we had a chance of pulling off this ruse.
‘I hope so,’ I said.
‘Come on, taxi’s already here. Let’s go.’
I followed him to the street.
Luckily the train arrived not long after the taxi dropped us off at the station.
Ben carried my case onto the carriage and I thought back to the first time I’d seen him on the train. I never thought I’d end up going to my family’s wedding with a man who hated romance novels. But here we were.
He sat in a table seat and I slid in opposite him, then pulled out my phone. I knew that if I stared at Ben for the whole journey, I’d melt into a puddle, so I needed something to keep my mind off him.
I’d finally posted the first video with me and Ben last night, so wanted to check how it was going.
There were already a fair amount of comments on how hot Ben was. And as I’d expected, some followers said that if I didn’t want to date him, they would. All of this engagement was good.
The number of views, likes and saves were decent too, although not as high as I’d hoped, but it was still early days. Hopefully it’d pick up soon.
I replied to all of the comments, but I still had loads of time to kill and I was determined not to spend it staring at Ben, who thankfully was scrolling on his phone.
‘Do you mind if I read?’ I said.
‘Go for it,’ he replied.
I’d survived the journey with Ben. The taxi had just pulled up outside the hotel, so the first part of this challenging weekend was done.
Thanks to my paperbacks and Kindle, it hadn’t been too bad. I’d read on the train, then again throughout most of the flight. I’d even spotted a romance reader and couldn’t resist giving her a copy of a book I had in my hand luggage just in case. Seeing her grateful smile made my day.
Then during the taxi journey, Ben was on the phone to Theo about something to do with the book bar, so that took up more time, and now we were here.
‘I need to pop to the gents’,’ Ben said after he’d wheeled our cases into the hotel. ‘Will you be okay on your own?’
‘Course!’ I said, trying to convince myself. ‘I need to text Jess anyway to let her know I’m here.’
‘Cool. Back in a sec.’
I pulled out my phone, fired off a quick text, then thought about whether I should go to the loo now too or wait for Ben to come back.
Just as I was contemplating leaving our cases at reception, I spotted Esme walking towards me and my blood ran cold.
A sharp pain shot through my chest. It still felt like yesterday that I’d come home early because of my excruciating period pains and caught her in bed with Trent.
She was wearing a skintight, low-cut red dress and high heels and I’d instantly felt like a tramp in my jeans and T-shirt.
Why, why, why did I have to bump into her now?
Especially when I didn’t even have Ben beside me for moral support.
I’d barely been here two minutes and this trip was already a disaster.
‘Hello, Esme,’ I said flatly.
‘Oh…’ she replied, without even bothering to say hello back or, better still, apologise. ‘Adrian said you were bringing a boyfriend.’
She said the word like it was a totally ridiculous and unbelievable concept for someone like me. Then she swivelled her head from left to right before dramatically looking behind me.
‘Yeah,’ I said firmly, already grateful that Ben had offered to come. ‘He’s just in the bathroom.’
‘Yeah, right.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘And no doubt later he’ll be struck down with food poisoning and won’t be able to come to the wedding at all.
Look, if you’re still single, you should just say!
This whole imaginary boyfriend thing is kind of pathetic.
I know you believe that those book boyfriends you’re always going on about are real, but sometimes you need to live in reality.
Not everyone is able to keep a man. Some people are destined to be alone,’ she said in her trademark condescending voice.
If my blood had been boiling before, right now it was about to catch fire.
‘Are you serious?’ I put my hands on my hips. ‘You do hear yourself, right? You do realise that what you did was wrong?’
‘Don’t get your knickers in such a twist, Rah-Rah,’ she scoffed, using the nickname she knew I hated. ‘I hope you’re not going to keep being a big baby about Trent choosing me. Remember, this is our big brother’s wedding. You don’t want to cause a scene. Shit happens, right?’
‘Shit happens?’ I spat, trying to keep my voice low. ‘You slept with my boyfriend!’
‘Trent needed someone that could satisfy him and that was never gonna be you. The best woman won, so you should just quit your whingeing and get over it. And…’ I was just about to tell her to fuck off when she paused and her eyes popped.
‘Oh my God, who is that? Must be one of Adrian’s new friends. He is hot!’
I was about to turn my head when she stopped me.
Yep. She literally reached out and held my head in place to stop it turning.
‘Get your hands off me!’ I snapped, still trying not to cause a scene.
‘No point you looking anyway.’ She shrugged, dropping her hands. ‘He’s only going to be interested in me. You’d never get a man like that.’
Just as I was about to turn around, I felt an arm slide around my waist and a gorgeous scent surrounded me.
‘Hi, darling, what did I miss?’ Ben’s deep, sexy voice surrounded me.
I didn’t even need to look to know it was him, but I did anyway, because, y’know, why waste an opportunity to take in his deliciousness?
Esme’s jaw dropped open so wide that a fleet of jumbo jets could’ve flown into her mouth and landed comfortably.
‘Nothing, I was just listening to some fool who was telling me that book boyfriends don’t exist.’
‘No!’ He mock-gasped. ‘Well, we both know that’s not true.’
‘Yep.’ I squeezed his bicep, then suppressed the urge to say ‘Bloody hell! Your arms are so firm!’ out loud. ‘I didn’t think it was possible, but you’re even better than a book boyfriend.’
‘Awww.’ Ben stroked my cheek and a jolt of electricity shot down my spine. ‘Thanks, beautiful.’
Ben stared into my eyes and my whole body lit up.
Damn. He was really good at this.
He was looking at me like he’d just discovered I’d invented the sun.
A girl could get used to this.
Then I reminded myself that this was just an act and I couldn’t start staring into his gorgeous eyes too intently. Otherwise I’d fall for him.
The objective here was simple. Get one over on my sister.
‘Oh, sorry!’ I gently moved my gaze away from Ben and back to Esme. ‘Where are my manners? Hon, this is my sister, Esme. Esme, this is Ben, my boyfriend,’ I said, emphasising the word, my tone laced with an extra dose of fuck you.
‘This… he… that’s your boyfriend?’ she stuttered. Her eyes bugged and her brows lifted so high I was surprised they didn’t fly through the roof.
‘Yes, he is,’ I said smugly, thinking I owed Ben big time for this. The look on her face was a picture. I was almost tempted to pull out my phone and take a photo to remind myself of this moment.
‘Ah, so this is Esme.’ Ben cocked an unimpressed brow.
‘It’s so… it’s… wow! Er, it’s lovely to meet you, Ben.’ Esme tried to regain her composure, fluttered her eyelashes, then opened her arms wide, inviting Ben in for a hug.
Unbelievable.
Esme wasn’t one for hugs or personal contact. At most she’d do air kisses, but hugs? She barely hugged our parents. She was blatantly trying to flirt with Ben.
Saying how hot she thought he was when she assumed he was one of Adrian’s friends was one thing. But fluttering her lashes and trying to hug Ben when I’d just told her we were together was out of order.
Ben wouldn’t know that she was trying to sleaze over him, though, so he’d probably just do it because he’d think that was how my family greeted each other. It was my fault. I should’ve mentioned this stuff when I did the briefing thing.
My stomach tensed. Although Ben wasn’t really mine, I didn’t want her touching him.
But to my surprise, Ben just looked at Esme with a blank expression, then left her standing there with her empty arms wide open like a plonker.
Yes.
‘I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you’—Ben wrinkled his nose—‘but I was always taught that it’s best not to lie. Come on, gorgeous.’ He took my hand. ‘The quicker we check in, the quicker we can get to our room and test the bed.’
Esme’s mouth crashed to the ground again, and as Ben led me away, satisfaction flooded my belly.
‘You were amazing!’ I whispered into his ear. ‘Thank you!’
‘Pleasure.’ Ben smiled and a basket of butterflies filled my stomach. ‘You haven’t seen anything yet. I’m just getting started.’
Wow.
If it was possible for my knickers to disintegrate, there’d be pieces of white cotton dissolving on the ground right now.
Hearing Ben say those words was the biggest turn on ever. He’d defended me and was ready and willing to do it again. No man had ever done that before.
Thanks to Ben, I’d seen Esme again and it hadn’t been a disaster.
Actually, it had been a success.
If this was a game, the score would be unanimously in my favour.
Yep, I’m calling it:
Round 1:
Ben and Sarah: 1
The dirty little rats: 0
I’d got through coming face to face with my sister.
Now I just had to hope that I’d survive seeing my bastard ex again.