Fake Valentine Husband (Fake to Real #8)

Chapter 1

LAILA

Ilove the switch to late at night from merely nighttime. Today being Tuesday, it happens just after ten-thirty.

My gaze drifts between my laptop and the chilly rain pitter-pattering on the cars still in the diner parking lot.

Ray’s Diner is one of those timeless escapes from the outside world. Classic teal vinyl booths. Food that’s always better than you’d expect at a place like this. Perky service and bottomless coffee at all hours, even late at night. It’s a small sliver of peace that never changes.

I take a sip of decaf, and sure enough, as soon as I set the mug back down, I see an orange-topped coffeepot out of the corner of my eye descend and pour another inch.

"The first hour you were here, you were completely focused, but now… What’s up?" Claudia asks with a smile, leaning on the side of the booth. She's almost always smiling. Her crisp blue uniform must be a magic charm that wards off bad moods.

"It's the rain," I sigh. “I think I’m wishing it was snow."

"Really? It's so much harder to get around in snow."

"Yeah, I know." My head shakes. "Maybe it's easier to pretend I'm in another world when it's snowy?"

She laughs, then glances around the diner to check if anyone needs her. There’s an older couple at the counter, three teenagers in the back corner with their noses in their phones, and a tall, dark-haired man with his back to us working on a laptop across the aisle and one booth over.

"Hey, since when do you work Tuesdays?" I ask.

Claudia grins. "My schedule keeps getting switched around while I'm in school. And you? Since when do you work so late?"

I shrug, then pull my cardigan tighter around my shoulders. "I had to escape my house. The Megan Show has completely taken over."

She clicks her tongue sympathetically. "It's not getting better?"

I've already told her about the train wreck that is my sister's wedding planning extravaganza. The actual wedding isn’t for another year, but there are already festivities practically every weekend.

I'm getting sick of her trying to set me up with a certain one of the guests, of being yanked into photo shoots, of having to attend events where I'm expected to socialize with her wannabe-influencer friends.

"There's a fourth – fourth – engagement party that lasts this entire weekend. What I’d give to just…" I point to my laptop. "Slip into one of the wormholes in this book and just disappear."

I look up at Claudia hopefully. "Hey, any chance you could arrange some kind of freak accident where I ended up chained to this table and couldn’t be freed until Monday?"

She snorts, then shakes her head. "Honestly, I wouldn’t say no to the company. I'm scheduled to work Saturday night and it's going to be completely dead for Valentine's Day."

"That sucks, I’m sorry."

Just then, the bell over the door chimes as a couple of construction workers come in and greet Claudia warmly on their way to the back.

She shoots me a sympathetic look, then grabs some menus. On the way by, she asks Laptop Guy, "More coffee, Devin?"

"No, I'm good. But thanks, Claudia."

Oh wow. I've never heard a voice that sexy and deep before. It's dark and smoldering, like a hot movie villain. Like, you don't want him to win the battle or anything, but at the same time you wouldn’t say no to listening to him explain his evil plan a few more times.

He slides out of the booth, turning to me and standing. It actually takes some effort for me to close my lips. He's big. At least…maybe six foot three? And even though he's wearing a crisp dark blue button-down shirt, there's no hiding the muscular frame underneath.

He takes a step closer, his caramel brown eyes fixed on me. "May I join you for a moment?"

He's gorgeous. No. Striking. No, that's not it either. My brain short circuits for a few seconds before I realize I haven't answered. "Sure."

He sits in the booth across from me, carefully moving his long legs to the side so as not to crowd me. "Please don't think I sit around cafés eavesdropping on conversations," he smiles. His eyes sparkle. "But I couldn't help overhearing that you want to escape town this weekend."

I relax a bit. "I mean, off the planet would work too. Anywhere so that I don't have to go to my sister Megan's party."

He leans in, letting the volume of his voice drop a bit. It only makes it smokier. "I'm sorry. Is she a mega bitch?"

I clap my hand over my mouth to keep myself from snorting with laughter. "Honestly? She's not smart enough for that. She's just an attention hog who is completely oblivious to the fact that other people have life goals other than fawning all over her, and who—"

My hand flies up again. "Wow. I'm sorry. Now I’m the one who sounds like a mega bitch."

"No judgement, promise." He extends his hand. "Devin Lewis."

My breath catches in my throat as his large hand envelops mine. "Laila Johnson."

"So…Laila Johnson… This is probably going to sound insane, but I think we could help each other this weekend. May I ask you to keep an open mind while I explain my idea?”

I would happily listen to Devin read out the terms and conditions of my music streaming subscription. "Sure."

"Okay." His hands splay over the Formica table as he leans forward. "I’m a stockbroker at Watley Investments. I just started with them. There's a lot of room for advancement and an opportunity to get bigger clients. The only thing is, I didn't realize what a family-oriented company it was."

I nod, thinking I might begin to see where this is going.

“I’ve always kept to myself at work. The more people know about me, the higher the odds of offending someone, you know?

Like, maybe they won’t like which baseball team I support, or think my favorite kind of music sucks.

I’ve always thought the less I say, the better. Allow my work to speak for itself.”

I’m nodding harder. “I could see that.”

"Anyway, there's a big company retreat this weekend. Skiing at a winter chalet, bonding with the team, the whole bit."

"Over Valentine's Day? Isn't that kind of…I don't know…rude? I mean, maybe people have their own plans with their partners."

Devin holds up his hands. "Tell me about it. But I've come to realize that my boss Jim doesn't actually run the firm. His wife Callan does. She gets these ideas in her head and runs with them and logic be damned."

"Huh. I know the type," I mutter darkly.

"Don’t get me wrong, Callan is very smart about some things. She's just a bit…odd." His warm brown eyes lock with mine. "And for this weekend she expects all the brokers to show up with a serious date and be social. Skiing, card games, fancy dinners, that sort of thing."

He sighs. “I just can’t show up alone to what’s essentially a couples event. It would be so much easier if I had a partner with me.”

Yep, this really is what he's asking. "And you…" I can't even bring myself to say it.

"Need a date. Yes." He drums his fingers on the table for a moment.

"I know it sounds crazy, Laila. But you would be perfect.

You're beautiful. You have a great energy around you.

And…" He gestures to my laptop. "I don't know what you're working on, but you were locked in for an hour solid.

So you definitely have focus, and I can only assume you're smart. "

Devin smiles. “I've checked out the chalet’s online reviews. They have incredible food. Beautiful views. Skiing. There's even a little library. I bet you could hide away with your work here and there when we aren't being forced to play charades."

I tear my gaze from his, staring down at my hands. “And this is the whole weekend?"

"Yes. Longer, even. We drive up Wednesday, have Thursday mostly to ourselves, since a few people can't arrive until then. Friday is the company activities, and Saturday is skiing and some special romantic dinner."

I can’t stop my teeth from sinking into my bottom lip. It’s like they have a mind of their own.

"We would just go as friends, of course," he adds hastily. His fingers drum again for about ten seconds. "Cheesy but wholesome fun. And if you have work to do or there are any parts you don’t like, you can always duck out for a bit."

Claudia has been doing laps of the diner, getting the construction workers coffee and beer and garlic bread.

On her next pass, she stops. "Laila, don’t hate me but I've been half-listening here.

Devin is a good guy. He's been coming here for over a year, usually on his own for lunch although he was also here after work with some coworkers once. For what it's worth, I trust him."

She flashes me a grin, then nods slowly.

A prickle runs through the back of my shoulders, drenching me in a feeling of inevitability. This is meant to happen.

Claudia knows something.

She disappears, and Devin holds his hand out, palm up, across the table. "What do you say, Laila? May I be your husband for five days?"

“Wait – husband?” I sputter. "I thought you said you needed a date."

"Yeah." His eyes drop as he stares down at the table with a guilty look. "I promise you I hardly ever lie. But I really wanted this job, and I may have kind of implied that I had a wife. I was going to call them tomorrow and say that she's sick, so I couldn’t go on the trip."

Devin sighs. “But there’s a promotion coming up, and usually they would do that from inside the company. I want to prove to Jim that I’m stable, and ready to take the next step up the corporate ladder.”

A stranger is about to be my husband. A stranger whose voice reverberates up my inner thighs and whose gaze makes me sit up straighter, breathlessly hanging on every word.

If my choice is to spend the weekend with that guy Megan keeps trying to set me up with versus this divine hunk of a stockbroker? The choice is easy.

Well…not easy. I'll have to force myself through some shyness. But I already know it will be easier with him than in the middle of Megan's swarm of friends with whom I have nothing in common.

My palm rests gently in his, the combined warmth of them making my heart speed up. I’ll be moving out soon and doing everything alone. This is a chance to try new things.

Suddenly I feel flushed, and the words tumble out with no input from my brain.

“I don’t know how to be a wife or even how to be close with someone.

But this getaway would save me a lot of awkwardness since I know I’m going to explode at Megan if she shoves me at her friend one more time.

I’m sure it will be less awkward to be with your coworkers…

well, it’ll still be awkward, but I promise I’ll try my best…

and since I don’t know them, they’ll think my jitters are just my usual shyness and it’s more forgivable, and—”

Devin’s gorgeous eyes crinkle very slightly at the corners as he smiles, unbothered by my babbling. “Is that a yes?”

"Sure. What time do we leave tomorrow, and what should I pack?”