Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Harper
I’d been awake almost all night, running through exactly what I was going to say to Grayson. I decided early on that I couldn’t go back on the lie. Not if it meant disappointing Grandma. No way.
Which meant I needed Grayson to go along with my little fib.
Somewhere around three in the morning, I settled on a flawless plan. I’d be logical, calm, and persuasive enough that Gray wouldn’t be able to say no.
He loved Grandma, too. Proved by the fact that he’d been helping out with free delivery, decorating the restaurant for Christmas, and countless other things over the years.
There was no way he could say no.
My plan was perfect.
In reality, my stomach was in knots from the moment I woke up. We’d agreed to meet at the Bean Bag for coffee at ten.
I got there early and waited in the cold outside, hoping to spot him before he went in.
I saw him before he saw me. Broad shoulders filled out his black parka; a knit toque covered his dark hair.
He looked completely at ease. Like a man who had no idea he was about to be ambushed by his ex-girlfriend with an insane request. “Grayson!” I called before I could chicken out.
He turned, that familiar slow smile curling up his lips when he saw me. “Hey. I thought we were meeting—”
“I know.” I cut him off. “I was hoping to catch you before you went in.” My heart thumped hard enough that I almost forgot to walk. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about in…well…in private.”
His smile dipped. “Is everything okay?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“Okay.” He took my arm and led me away from the coffee shop to the relative privacy of the gazebo.
People milled about the plaza, and most certainly there were eyes on us, but at least no one was close enough to hear us. Still, I glanced around one more time, double-checking that there was no one within hearing range.
“Harper? You’re starting to worry me. Are you sure everything is okay?”
“Yes. No.” I shook my head. “Kind of.” I took a breath. Tried and failed to remember my carefully prepared speech. The words were on the tip of my tongue.
But when I opened my mouth, I said, “I need you to pretend to date me.”
Grayson’s eyebrows shot up. “You need me to…what?” He shook his head as if there were no way he could have heard me properly.
“Okay.” I held up a hand as if to ward off his protest before he could say it out loud. Heat flooded my face. “Hear me out. Last night, I was talking to Grandma, and she mentioned how happy she was to see us together again.”
“But we were—”
“I know.” I nodded. “You were only helping me, but…well, anyway,” I continued as quickly as I could.
“She said how good it felt to know that I wouldn’t be alone and that I’d be okay when she—” I choked on the words.
Grayson reached for my arm and squeezed through my thick coat.
His touch steadied me enough to say what I needed to.
“She was just so happy thinking that we were together, that before I knew what I was saying, I kind of told her that we were going on a date today and that we’d decided to try again. ”
“Try again?”
I nodded.
He was silent for a moment, trying to process what I’d just said.
“Try what again?” Grayson finally said. I opened my mouth, but before I could say the words, he answered his own question. “You mean, us? You told your grandma we were going to try us again?”
“Sort of.” I shrugged and nodded at the same time.
“Well…yes. I mean…I know I shouldn’t have said anything at all.
But she’s old, Grayson, and you should have seen her face.
I know how much she worries about me, and she was so happy when she thought that we were…
Well, I just couldn’t let her down. And you know her health isn’t the greatest right now.
She hasn’t said much, and she certainly won’t tell me the details, but if a little pretend relationship will give her something to smile about, especially at Christmas…
I’d be grateful if you’d go along with it.
I mean, I don’t know how much you know, but she’s not well right now, and who knows how long she—”
“Okay.”
It took me a second to catch up with what he said. “Okay?”
Grayson nodded, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “Okay,” he said again. “I’ll do it.”
“You’ll pretend to date me?”
My head spun. There was no way it was that easy. We hadn’t seen each other in fifteen years. Hadn’t even spoken to each other. Not so much as a text message. And without any begging or convincing, he was just going to pretend to be my boyfriend. Just like that?
“Yes.”
“But what’s in it for you?”
The smile fell from his face, twisting instead into a tight frown. “You really have to ask me that?”
I did.
I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. “I do. I mean, the way things ended between us and—”
“That was a long time ago, Harper.” The smile was back on his face, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes this time. “I hardly remember all of that.”
A lie. It had to be. The air crackled with the weight of everything unsaid between us. And yet…here he was, agreeing without hesitation. My chest squeezed tight.
Grayson
Harper’s eyes stayed locked on mine, searching like she thought I’d take it back.
Hell, that was exactly what I should do. I had no business pretending to be in love with Harper Bennett, especially when I couldn’t be sure I’d ever stopped loving her in the first place.
She blinked slowly. It was my last chance to take it back. To stop this madness before it went too far. But that wasn’t going to happen. I’d been waiting half my life to be this close to her again. If this were the only way, I’d take it.
Consequences be dammed.
“Okay,” I said again, firmer this time. “We’ll do this. For Willa.”
“For Grandma.” Harper nodded automatically. “But only until the holidays are over. I’m not going to make you… Well, you won’t have to pretend forever.”
“The holidays? What happens then?” I was pretty sure I already knew the answer, and I didn’t want to hear it.
She tugged on her knit cap that covered her dark hair, pulling it lower over her forehead. “I’m leaving after New Year’s,” she said. “I’m only here to get things sorted out for Grandma and the restaurant and make sure…well, make sure her health is okay.”
It felt as if she’d just punched me in the gut, which was ridiculous because up until a few days ago, I’d hardly even thought about Harper—liar. It shouldn’t matter whether she was in town for one day or one year. The two of us and my feelings for her were ancient history—liar!
I worked hard to keep my face neutral. “Okay. Just for the holidays, then,” I said. “After that, we’ll sort out some kind of believable breakup and you’ll go…wherever you’re going to go and I’ll…” I swallowed hard. “I guess I’ll stay here.”
Just like last time.
Relief washed over her features, softening the tight lines around her mouth. She nodded quickly and reached for my hand. “Thank you, Gray.”
When she squeezed my hand, shock waves crashed through my body, and I knew, just like when we were kids, I’d do anything for her.
Anything.
“There’s just one thing,” I said. “If we’re going to do this, it has to look real to everyone else.”
Her brow furrowed. “Everyone else? Shouldn’t it look real to everyone?”
“My brothers need to know the truth.” I saw a flicker of doubt in her eyes, but it was a nonnegotiable. “Reid tried to pull this with Avery,” I told her.
“Tried?”
“I knew right away,” I said. “And he will, too.”
“Twin thing?” Her lips twitched up into a smile.
“Twin thing.” I laughed. “Only it pissed me off, and it all nearly blew up in his face. I’m not doing that. They need to know the truth. But the rest of the town? They’ll believe every second of it.”
Something flickered in her eyes, and she blew out a breath.
“Okay, your brothers can know. But no one else.”
I nodded.
“So.” I blew out a breath and let myself smile fully. “I guess we start right now.”
“Now?”
“No time like the present, right?” Before I could stop myself, I stepped toward her and brushed my lips against her cheek. I barely touched her, but it didn’t matter; it was enough to send a shock through me.
Harper froze, then blinked and looked up at me with parted lips. “That felt…” She shook her head quickly, as if she were afraid to say what she was thinking.
And what I was feeling too.
“Like a good start,” I finished for her. “Let’s go out tonight?”
“Tonight?”
“Why not? I mean, if you’re only here for the holidays, we should probably get started.” I took a step back, forcing a little bit of space between us. I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from reaching for her again.
“Like a date?”
“Exactly like a date. If we’re going to sell this, we’ll sell it right. Dinner at Creekside. Conversation. Maybe another kiss.”
I knew I was pushing it, but what the hell? I had nothing to lose.
Harper’s sharp inhale told me she hadn’t thought about that aspect of the arrangement she’d proposed. Hell, neither had I until right at that moment. But it was out there now, and judging by the pink in her cheeks, she wasn’t about to argue.
For the first time in a long time, I felt like I stood on the edge of something dangerous, but for the life of me, there was no way I could make myself step back.