Chapter Seven
Reese
‘Shocked’ was not a strong enough word to describe how I was feeling. Less than a minute ago, Kelly Iona was going to kiss me. And I was one hundred percent going to kiss him back. However, his mom's arrival ripped me out of the haze, and I sobered up quickly.
Mrs. Iona was a beautiful native Hawaiian woman.
She had braided her salt-and-pepper hair back, showing off her deep brown eyes and laugh lines from smiling, just like she was right now.
Kelly looked nothing like this woman, but he had just called her ‘mom.’ Now I knew for sure that Kahale had meant it when he called Kelly his ‘brother.’ Maybe their father was extremely blonde, and Kelly took after him.
None of this mattered right now. Mrs. Iona had just implied that Kelly had a girlfriend.
I was fuming because until one minute ago, I had trusted this guy, but he was a liar and a cheater.
Maybe if Dad hadn’t left our family broken, I would despise cheaters like any other person, but it went further than that.
“This is my girlfriend, Reese Phillips.” The words left Kelly’s mouth, but I was sure I hadn’t heard him correctly. He turned his back to his mom, his eyes intense on me, and mouthed the word ‘please’ before turning back to her.
I wasn’t sure why he had just lied to his mom, but his eyes were begging me to follow along. The same eyes that have been haunting me since the beach. The same ones that had been comforting me in the next room over.
Mrs. Iona set some food containers down on the counter, and the next thing I knew, I was being wrapped up in a hug by a woman I had just met. The smell of roses and citrus enveloped me.
“Reese! I just heard about you today! You are even more beautiful than I could have imagined.” She pulled back, but didn’t release me as she looked me up and down, thoroughly inspecting me.
“Kelly hasn’t introduced us to a girlfriend of his in forever.
How long have you guys been together?” She had a slight accent that I was starting to recognize as native Hawaiian.
I looked over at Kelly, trying to decide if I should go along with this.
Was he lying to both of us? I could walk away right now and not look back.
But there was something in the way Kelly had so tenderly consoled me earlier.
He’d had an earnest look in his eyes when he had admitted how much he had struggled to be away from his family.
I wasn’t sure why he was lying, but I couldn’t leave him out to dry.
“We actually just met a few days ago.” I stuck to the truth because I had never been good at lying.
“That’s very recent!” Mrs. Iona finally released me.
“Well, they say when you know, you just know,” Kelly added in, smiling easily now.
“That’s very true. I knew his father was the one right from the start,” she smiled fondly at this.
“In grade school, when you were nine, you knew he was the one?” Kelly moved one eyebrow up in disbelief.
“I sure did. Now, Reese, what do you do for a living? Are you more of a dog person or a cat person? Where’s your family from?” The questions flowed out of her.
“Mom, you don’t need to interrogate her,” Kelly chastised her.
I laughed uncomfortably. “I’m an emergency department nurse. I don’t mind cats, but I love dogs. My parents are divorced. My dad is in San Diego, and my mom lives in Salt Lake City.” I hadn’t meant to bring up the divorce, but it slipped out as I felt more anxious.
“I’m sorry to hear about your folks. But a nurse! No better fit for our Kelly! Has he already asked you to come to dinner on Sunday? Did Kalani mention anything to you before she left?” Mrs. Iona was practically jumping for joy.
“Kalani? The Kalani that works here?” I asked, confused.
“Yes! I love that my children get to work together like this,” she said as everything clicked together.
“You know, she didn’t mention anything about Sunday,” I said.
“I was going to ask you before you left if you wanted to come over and meet the family,” Kelly said nervously. I tried to telepathically ask if he wanted me to say ‘no’, but his eyes still seemed to be saying ‘yes.’
“I think I’m free on Sunday?” I said this more like a question.
What was I doing? It was one thing to pretend to be this guy’s ‘girlfriend’, who, by the way, was still very much a stranger, but it was a whole different thing to pretend to be his girlfriend in front of his entire family.
The last time I met a guy’s family was during my junior year of college. We had been dating for six months at the time (my longest relationship to date).
“I am so excited to get to know you better!” Mrs. Iona came back in for another hug.
“Me too, Mrs. Iona,” I said, unsure how to react to all the physical affection.
“Oh, please. Call me Lilly.” She rereleased me. “Are you sticking around for dinner?”
“I was just about to go get my cousin some food. Her dog is sick.” I omitted the condom part.
“No need. I brought Kelly’s favorite from the grocery store. I have plenty for everyone,” she said.
Despite her kindness, my throat felt dry, and my knees were buckling as I thought about staying and making small talk when I didn’t even know why I was lying.
“Beth will appreciate the food, but I need to go home. It was nice to meet you, and I’ll see you on Sunday.
” I backed away before she could trap me in another hug.
“Kelly, would you mind walking me to my car?”
I turned quickly and made my way through the front doors, assuming Kelly was following right behind me, but I didn’t risk looking back.
I clicked the unlock on the key fob several times before I got in the driver’s seat. Kelly got in on the passenger side, and we both stayed quiet for a moment.
I turned to confront him, but he spoke first.
“I am so sorry that just happened. It’s a long story. But I can explain!” Panic showed on his face.
“You'd better start explaining!” I shot back at him. “Am I an accessory to your adultery?”
He licked his lips. The same lips I was previously on the verge of kissing. “No, nothing like that. I am not interested in a girlfriend right now. But my family seems to think it is their job to find me the perfect woman. I’m being set up on random blind dates everywhere I turn.”
I felt my stomach drop at the mention of his lack of interest in dating. I wasn't interested in an actual relationship, so I shouldn’t have been so disappointed, but I was.
“So, you thought you could just say that I was your girlfriend and that would just make everything better? Why me?”
He pushed his hands through his hair and sighed.
“I didn’t mean for you to be my fake girlfriend.
I was on the phone with my mom earlier, and she was trying to set me up again.
Despite my requests, they refuse to leave me alone.
Out of desperation, I lied to her, and then my sister overheard me.
” He took a deep breath. “I got stuck agreeing to bring my new girlfriend to Sunday dinner. My mom must have thought you were my girlfriend when she walked in and saw us...” He didn’t finish that sentence, but he didn’t need to as a flush of red spread across his face.
I looked down at my hands and felt heat building in my face as well. I wasn't ready to talk about the almost-kiss, so I changed the subject. “Why aren’t you interested in dating?”
“Honestly, I don’t have the time for a relationship right now. But I want to make my family happy. I don’t know if I can do both anymore.” He frowned at this, looking like this was the first time he had admitted this out loud.
I thought about Kelly being alone in Oregon and how much he’d missed his family. I didn’t know if anyone had ever missed me like that.
“I’m sorry,” he said, putting a hand on the door handle, ready to leave. “I shouldn’t have asked you to lie. I’ll go right back in—"
“You promise you don’t have a girlfriend?” I interrupted him.
“I swear.” His eyes melted into mine.
I was quiet for a second as I thought. “You’ll need my number,” I said finally. “That way, you can send me the address.”
He looked at me in disbelief. “You don’t have to do that, Reese. I can tell them you aren’t feeling good, and then later I’ll fake our breakup.”
“If we break up, won’t they start setting you up on blind dates again?” I asked.
“Shit, you’re probably right. Well, now that my mom knows you’re a nurse, I’ll make up an excuse that you’re too busy with work to come over.”
“So, I’m just never going to be available, and your family won’t question a thing?” I crossed my arms and shook my head at him.
He laughed at this. “Don’t worry about it. This is my problem. I’m just forever grateful you played along with my lie in that moment. I wish I had a way to repay the favor.”
“Maybe we can make an arrangement,” I said, smiling just slightly.
Kelly’s eyes seemed to sparkle in the last of the evening light. The blue in his eyes lightened, as if the sun was finally peeking through the storm clouds. “What kind of arrangement?”
“You need a girlfriend, but don’t want a real relationship.
I also don’t want a relationship.” His smile dipped slightly, so quickly I might have imagined it.
“I have been traveling so much, but not getting to appreciate any of the places I’ve been lately.
What if I pretend to be your girlfriend and you show me around Hawaii?
To your family, it will look like we are going out on dates, but in reality, it will be two platonic people hanging out.
You get your family off your back, and you can help me enjoy my time out here. ”
“You don’t want to date anyone right now?” he asked.
That’s what he took away from my proposal?
“I move every three to four months for my job. I’m not relationship material,” I said honestly.
“So, what almost happened in my clinic...” he said hesitantly.
“Can never happen again,” I interjected quickly. “You said you felt lonely while you were in college. Well, maybe you can help me feel a little less lonely while I’m here.”
He seemed to think it over before grabbing my hand. A warm sensation started to build at the base of my stomach at the touch. “Reese Phillips, will you make me the happiest platonic man, and pretend to be my girlfriend?”
I laughed easily at this, “I will.”
“It’s settled then,” he said as he pulled out his phone and handed it to me. “Put your number in, and I’ll text you the details.”
I did as I was told, glancing back at the storm in his eyes, wondering what the hell I had just signed up for.