Faking I Do (Blame It On I Do #1)

Chapter 1

LACEY

“I do.”

I blinked multiple times, trying to see through the obnoxious fake eyelashes my assistant had talked me into wearing at the last minute.

My fingers fiddled with the microphone in front of me as I silently willed the reporter from the television station in Houston to give it a rest. Not even forty-eight hours into my term as the newly appointed mayor of the little town of Idont, Texas, and I already had a full-blown crisis on my hands.

The reporter didn’t back down. Instead, she got up from the metal folding chair, causing the legs to scrape across the linoleum. I squinted as I fought the urge to cover my ears. My upper and lower eyelashes tangled together, and I struggled to peer through the dark lines barring my vision.

“Let me rephrase that.” The reporter cocked a hip while she consulted her notebook. “You expect us to believe you’re going to find a way to put a positive spin on this?”

I inhaled a deep breath through my nose in an attempt to buy some time and answer with what might sound like a well-thought-out response.

The problem was, I was winging this. No one had been more shocked than I was to find out the biggest business in town, Phillips Stationery and Imports, had closed its doors.

The company had made its headquarters in Idont for over a hundred years, starting as a printing press then moving into manufacturing and importing all kinds of novelties from overseas.

“I’m sure Mayor Cherish will have more to say as the situation unfolds.” Leave it to Deputy Sheriff Bodie Phillips to bully everyone back into line. He was part of the problem. Granted, he wasn’t the ogre who decided to shut down the warehouse, but he did share DNA with the two men in charge.

“I’ll have a statement to the press by the end of the week,” I promised.

My assistant stepped to the microphone as I moved away. “Thanks, everyone, for coming. As Mayor Cherish said, she’ll be prepared to address the closing by the end of the day on Friday.”

“You okay?” Bodie appeared at my side. He angled his broad chest like a wall, as if trying to protect me from the prying eyes of the people who’d turned out for the press conference at city hall. All six of them.

“Yes. No thanks to you.” I summoned my best scowl, ready to chastise him for interfering in my business.

It didn’t matter that much when we were kids, but he needed to see me in a different light now.

I was the mayor, after all, not the same scrawny, bucktoothed little girl who used to follow him everywhere.

“I’m just as surprised as you.” The look in his eyes proved he was telling the truth.

I’d never seen that particular mixture of anger and frustration, and I was pretty sure I’d been exposed to all of his moods.

“Dad didn’t say a word to me about this, and I spent the holidays over at their place, surrounded by the family. ”

“Well, you and your dad aren’t exactly bosom buddies, now, are you?” I gathered my purse and shrugged on my jacket before heading down the hall to the back door of the building.

Bodie followed, taking one step to every three of mine. Damn heels. I would have been much more comfortable in a pair of ropers, but my new assistant never would have let me step in front of a microphone without looking the part of mayor. Which was precisely what I paid her to do.

“Hey, you can’t punish me for something my dad and my pops decided to do.” Bodie stopped in front of me, his muscular frame blocking the door, his head nearly touching the low ceiling.

I clamped a hand to my hip, ready for a throwdown. “I’m not trying to punish you. I just don’t understand how all of a sudden, after a century in business, they decided they can’t make a go of it anymore. And breaking the news right after the holidays?”

Bodie shrugged. “I don’t know, Sweets.”

“Stop calling me that. I’m the mayor now.

” I pursed my lips. Why couldn’t he take me seriously?

I’d figured the childhood nickname would have disappeared, along with my aggravating attraction to the man who’d been my big brother’s best friend all my life.

But here I was, back in Idont where nothing had changed, especially the way my traitorous body reacted to Bodie Phillips.

“Aw, come on, Lacey. You’ll always be Sweets to me.” He grinned, dazzling me with his million-dollar smile. Well, maybe not million-dollar, but I’d been there when he had to go through braces twice, so it had to be worth at least five or six grand.

I tried to resist the pull of his charm.

He’d always been able to tease me back into a good mood when mine had gone sour.

But this was different. The only reason I’d run for mayor was because my dad had been forced out of office after a particularly embarrassing public incident.

In which he drove a golf cart into a pond. A stolen golf cart. While drunk.

His stunt earned him his third DWI and twenty-four months of house arrest. During my tenure as mayor, I hoped I could polish off the tarnished family name and turn the tide of public opinion about the Cherish family.

That, and I couldn’t find a real job. Evidently, a degree in communications wasn’t worth much more than the paper my diploma was printed on.

“What am I going to do, Bodie?” I shook my head, my gaze drawn to a section of chipped linoleum on the floor. The whole town seemed to be falling apart.

“Maybe it’s time to consider merging with Swynton.”

I jerked my head up, causing one of my fake eyelashes to flop down over my eye. “Please tell me you didn’t just suggest we wave goodbye to our roots and hand our town over to that obnoxious man.”

My fingers fumbled as I tried to reattach the line of lashes to my eyelid.

Bodie didn’t bother to suppress a smirk. “Come on, Lacey. You’ve got to admit, their economy could run circles around ours. I know you don’t care for Buck, but he’s doing something right over there.”

I pressed my lips together. The only thing Mayor Buck Little was doing was turning the once-semi-charming town of Swynton into a hot pocket of cheap housing and seedy businesses.

“Have you seen how many building permits they’ve issued in the past three months?

If he had it his way, we’d end up with empty strip malls and low-rent apartment buildings all over town. ”

“At least that would create jobs and give people some affordable housing options.” Bodie leaned against the wall. “My family’s business was our biggest employer.”

“I know.” I gritted my teeth, wishing with all my heart I had someone to talk to about this. Someone who might be able to offer a realistic option, not just confirm everything I already knew about what a sorry situation we were in. “I need to think.”

Bodie pushed open the door leading to the back parking lot and swept his arm forward, gesturing for me to go first. “You want to grab lunch over at the diner and talk?”

“I can’t now. I’m late for my shift at the Burger Bonanza.” I jammed my sunglasses on my face, crushing the stupid fake lashes as I brushed past him into the sunny, but chilly, February day.

“When are you going to quit that job, Lacey Jane? The mayor shouldn’t be flipping burgers and mixing milkshakes.”

I turned, jabbing a finger into Bodie’s chest. “I’ll do what I have to do to pay the bills.” I jabbed harder. “And I’ll do what I have to do to keep this town afloat.”

Despite my efforts, the concrete plane of his pecs didn’t budge. Damn him.

He grabbed my hand, twirling me around like we were doing a two-step instead of sparring about the future of our hometown. “That’s one thing Idont has going for it that Swynton never will.”

“What’s that?” I stumbled as he released me, not sure if I was dizzy from the spin or off-balance because of the way my hand had felt in his.

“You.” Bodie tipped his cowboy hat at me as he walked away. “You’re determined, I’ll give you that, Mayor.”

I adjusted my purse strap on my shoulder and tried to compose myself as he climbed into his pickup and drove away.

Bodie wasn’t one to dish out compliments, especially to a woman he’d considered a pesky nuisance most of his life.

Either that was the nicest thing he’d ever said to me or he wanted something. Knowing him, it was the latter.

That would give me two things to think about while I worked my shift at the Burger Bonanza . . . how to save the town of Idont, and why in the world Bodie was trying to butter me up like a fresh-baked biscuit.

“You’re late.” Jojo stood at the counter, loading her arms with blue plate specials. “Watch out for Helmut, he’s on a bender.”

“Thanks.” I slipped off my heels and slid my feet into my flats before tying an apron around my waist. “Where do you need me today?”

“Why don’t you start on the floor and take over the grill when Helmut leaves?

” Jojo had been waiting tables at the Burger Bonanza since she and I started high school.

If Helmut had taken the time to name a manager, Jojo would have been the natural choice.

But instead, he paid her the same as the rest of the waitstaff and expected her to keep everyone in line.

“Sounds good.” I grabbed my order pad and made my way to the front of the restaurant.

“Table twelve just got seated.” Jojo nodded toward the corner booth.

“Got it.” I headed that way, my eyes on my notebook. “Hey, can I get y’all something to drink?”

“Well, look who it is.” The voice that had squashed a thousand of my childhood dreams drifted across the table.

I lifted my gaze to stare right into the eyes of my high school nemesis—Adeline Monroe.

“Oh, hi, Adeline. It’s been a long time.

” And thank God for that. Adeline lived over in Swynton.

It used to be the only reason she’d cross the river that divided the two towns was if she was on the hunt for some too-good-to-pass-up gossip. What was she after now?

“It sure has. And look at you. I heard you came back.” Adeline leaned over the table, lowering her voice, that familiar glint in her eye. “Is it true you got yourself elected mayor?”

I nodded. “Yep, sure did. Now, what will it be? A round of Burger Bonanza Banzai Shakes? Or can I start you off with a basket of buffalo bites?” I tried to pull a smile from deep down, but it seemed to stick on the way to my face.

Half of my mouth lifted, the other half slid down, probably making me look like an undecided clown, especially with the damn lashes still glued to my eyelids.

Adeline turned to the man next to her. A quick glance at the giant rock on her left hand confirmed he was probably her fiancé.

What happened to the curse I’d cast at graduation?

Adeline was supposed to be hairless and withered by now, or at least well on her way.

Instead, she looked like she’d just stepped out of a salon.

Every highlighted hair was in place. Her eyebrows were plucked to perfection, and there was no sign of premature aging.

“Lacey, I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Roman.” Adeline put her hand on Roman’s arm, obviously staking her claim. As if I were going to try to dry hump the man right there at table twelve.

“Congratulations. Nice to meet you, Roman.” I managed to correct my awkward expression and forced a smile. “Are you ready to order?”

Adeline’s smirk faded. She ran a manicured nail down the side of the menu. “We’ll take two Burger Bonanza baskets with fries. Diet for me.”

“Do you have iced tea?” Roman asked.

I nodded. I’d been afraid the man couldn’t speak. I wouldn’t have put it past Adeline to marry a man incapable of talking back to her. He probably didn’t get a word in edgewise most of the time. “Sweetened or unsweetened?”

“Unsweetened, please.”

“Got it. I’ll be back in a minute with your drinks.” I tucked my order pad into the front of my apron. First the news of the Phillips business closing, now an unexpected visit from Adeline. Bad news usually came in threes. What would happen next?

It took less than a minute to find out. As I approached the soda station to grab two cups, someone grabbed my arm.

Bodie.

“Mayor Cherish, you’ll need to come with me.

” His voice was all business. The commanding tone sent a shiver straight through me.

But his lips twitched. A hint of humor shone in those deep gray eyes.

I’d spent way too much of my life thinking about what it would feel like to lose myself in those depths.

“What are you doing here? I’ve got a shift.”

“I’m aware of that.” His fingers closed around my elbow, eliminating any argument, propelling me toward the door. “But we’ve got a problem that needs your attention. Now.”