Chapter 2
Faye
Faye held her breath—which was hard for her, because this guy smelled really, really good—as the good-looking stranger she’d just dumped all of her problems on tried to think of a good excuse to back out of their brand spanking new pretend relationship before it even had a chance to start.
But to her surprise, he let out a sigh and told Margo, “Maybe I can change my plans.”
His answer was far from promising that he’d actually carry through with going, but if it would get Margo off her back, even temporarily, she’d take it.
Margo’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Good. Great!” She clasped her hands together in front of her chest. “I’m gonna go drag one of these unsuspecting guys onto the dance floor. I’ll see you both Saturday, then!” She pointed at Faye. “I’ll call you later.”
Oh, I bet you will. Faye grinned until her cheeks hurt as Margo smiled at the two of them in turn and finally left. As soon as she was gone, Faye turned her back to the crowd and picked up her beer, chugging down nearly half of it before setting it back down on the bar.
“Is your friend always so presumptuous?”
“She only did that because she doesn’t believe you and I are actually dating.”
“We’re not.”
“I know that. And you know that. But please don’t tell anyone else that. I’ll never get Jeff off my back if he finds out the truth.” She was only half joking when she said it but, honestly, maybe that wasn’t a bad idea…
“Look,” her new fake boyfriend said, and she barely held back a moan. She knew what was coming.
Before he could say anything, or go back on his promise to be her date for the movie, she started talking. “Margo isn’t really a friend. I mean, she is. But she’s not. She’s a frenemy.”
One eyebrow went up. “A what?”
“I’ve known her most of my life,” she went on. “Actually, I’ve known almost everyone here that long. Except for you.”
“I still don’t understand.”
How to explain… “Margo and I are friends only because we’ve known each other forever.
But…” She struggled to find the words. Only someone from a small town would know that it caused a lot less drama on the group of friends overall to just pretend to like everyone.
“She’s not really a good person. She’s also not a bad person.
She’s just always had this…thing…that she needs to be involved in everyone else’s business.
Of course, that’s because this is such a small town.
It’s kind of hard to avoid being in everyone’s business.
” She was babbling now, but she couldn’t stop herself.
“So, what I’m saying is that she’s not exactly a mean person, she just gets way too excited over everyone else’s life.
Especially mine, for some reason. And Jeff, the guy who’s been trying to get me to go out with him, is her cousin, and so Margo is always trying to think of ways to force us together, hoping that I’ll give in and—”
“Wait,” he cut her off. “Do you want something to happen with him?”
“What?” Faye was taken aback by the sharpness of his tone. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Why not?” she repeated stupidly. “Because I’m not attracted to him.
And he kind of…” She trailed off. Something about the way Adam’s entire body was leaning toward her as he waited for her answer made her cautious of saying anything more.
Jeff had a thick skull and had a hard time taking no for an answer, but that didn’t mean she wanted to cause him any trouble.
And her instincts were telling her that her new boyfriend, fake or not, would cause a lot of it.
“He what?” he repeated.
Faye shook her head. “Nothing.” She wasn’t about to admit that Jeff scared her a little sometimes.
“Faye.”
Her eyes were drawn back to his, almost against her will. His were bright green, almost abnormally so. She blinked.
“Tell me.”
The words were spoken so softly, she didn’t know how she even heard them.
Yet, she did. And she had no choice but to answer him.
Before she realized what she was doing, her mouth opened and the words came out almost against her will.
“He scares me a little sometimes.” Immediately, she tried to backtrack.
She really didn’t want to cause him any trouble.
The town would never let her forget it. “He’s just so big and…
and…” She frowned. Jeff was about the same size as Adam.
But Adam, even with his grumpy exterior, didn’t frighten her the way Jeff did.
Not even when he was knocking back beers, like he was doing now.
Quite the contrary. She felt perfectly safe.
“Has he done something to scare you?”
She blinked as she tried to think. “No. Not really. I’m probably just being silly.”
He leaned back, and she gratefully sucked in a lungful of air. “If your instincts are telling you to be cautious of this guy, I’d listen to them.”
“Okay.” She didn’t know what else to say. She was still trying to get more oxygen into her lungs. “Are you really going to come to the movies with me?” she asked when she could breathe normally again.
His eyes roamed over her face, and he surprised her by saying, “Yeah. I’ll come with you. If you want me to.”
“That would be great.” She smiled as relief flooded her system.
To be honest, she’d been trying to think of a way to get out of it just so she wouldn’t have to go alone and have Jeff up her butt all night.
But it was her best friend’s birthday. And she couldn’t leave Jules alone with the wolves, so to speak.
And she couldn’t ask her not to invite Jeff and Margo.
It would cause way too much drama in their little group, and the town, for that matter.
When you lived in a place with a population of less than eight hundred people, and had since you were born, it wasn’t easy to avoid things without becoming the town pariah.
You couldn’t just make something up, because everyone knew what you were doing at any given moment, including what you ate for dinner and how often you peed.
At least, that’s what it felt like, sometimes.
But still, Faye wouldn’t trade the life she had in Fairplay for anyone else’s.
There were good things about living in a small town.
Despite the gossip and the lack of decent jobs, people cared about each other, and they were there for each other when it really mattered.
And Faye always chose to focus on the positive.
And on that note…
She slid off her stool and grabbed Adam by the wrist. “Come on.”
He tilted his head and gave her a look of curiosity, but didn’t budge off his stool. “Where are we going?”
“It’s New Year’s. Let’s dance.” She gave his arm another little tug.
But he shook his head. “I don’t dance.”
Her smile faltered, but just a bit before she kicked it up another notch. A two-step was going on, and she loved to two-step. “Aww, come on. It’s not hard. I can teach you.”
Adam eyed her. “I didn’t say I couldn’t dance. I said I don’t. And I’m not going to, no matter how much you smile at me like that.”
His eyes dropped to her mouth as the smile she’d tried so hard to keep in place slipped again.
She tried to keep the disappointment from her face as she let go of his wrist. “Oh. Okay.” Not knowing what else to say, she grabbed her bottle of beer and leaned back against the bar to watch the other couples as they passed by.
Tears threatened at his brusque dismissal, but Faye blinked them away.
She wasn’t usually so sensitive, but she’d had a hell of a day and all she’d wanted to do was come celebrate the new year with friends.
And dance. And if her new fake boyfriend didn’t want to help her out on that front, well, it’s not like they were exclusive or anything.
She would just go find someone else to dance with.
Most of the guys who’d grown up in this town had figured out real quick that they’d better learn how if they wanted a chance with any of the girls they liked.
But she also knew that as soon as she left Adam’s side, Jeff would be on her like a bur.
An awkward silence grew between them as all of this ran through her head.
Faye looked around, desperate to find someone she liked to talk to.
But everyone was either already dancing or engaged with other people.
Chewing on the corner of her bottom lip, she fought the disappointment that threatened to rise within her.
“Come dance with me, Faye!”
Her head snapped up to find Alan George—football quarterback and homecoming king in high school—beckoning her onto the floor from the other side of a crowded table. He still dated his homecoming queen, Angela, but Faye had already seen her dancing with one of her brothers.
Knowing that Angela wouldn’t mind, Faye grinned and nodded, then turned to set her beer down on the bar.
Green eyes caught hers. “Where the hell are you going?”
“To dance,” she told him. Turns out Margo was right. He was grumpy.
He didn’t say anything else, but she didn’t give him much of a chance as she walked away, dodging the other couples and meeting Alan in the middle of the dance floor.
Tall, lean, and blond, he let out a “Let’s go, girl!
” and spun her around once before clasping one of her hands with his and settling the other on her hip.
Faye laughed and eased effortlessly into the dance.
Even though Alan was quite a bit taller than she was, they’d danced together many times since high school and moved together almost as well as him and Angela.
Halfway around the floor, they caught up with his girlfriend, and he leaned out and kissed her on the cheek as they passed by.
Angela waved at Faye and laughed as Alan spun her around again.
By the time the song ended, Faye was out of breath.
“Again?” Alan asked her as Garth Brooks came over the speakers.
She nodded happily and laughed as he threw her into a spin as Garth sang about not going down till the sun came up.
Adam could sit over there and brood all he wanted to. Faye was going to enjoy herself and ring in the new year in style. And if the mere presence of her new fake boyfriend watching her from the bar kept Jeff away from her, she would be forever grateful.
Hell, she might even give him a kiss at midnight.