AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We encounter five more prying couples eager to quietly ask about Alexandra’s story, or express their mock outrage, but the time dinner is announced.
“They don’t know what to make of you,” Gavin mutters once we’ve escaped a pair of gossip-prone ladies at least ten years younger than us. “Or of us.”
“We need to give them something else to talk about.” I take his hand and lead him toward the restrooms. I head for the one marked handicap. Glancing over my shoulder, I pretend to wait until I think the coast is clear. I know it’s not. I can see three known gossips coming out of the ladies’ room.
Perfect.
I pull Gavin into the bathroom with a forced giggle and close the door. Then I release my hold on him.
“It worked,” I murmur. Beyond the door, I hear the evening’s host taking the stage and calling everyone to their seats.
“This is your plan? To spend the salad course in here?”
I nod and glance around the white tiled space. Metal bars line the wall near the toilet. Otherwise the room is spacious, ready to accommodate a wheelchair. “Of course, we’ll need to leave and abandon the plan if someone requires this restroom.”
“I’ve never left a party to have sex in a bathroom,” he says dryly. “In fact, I’ve never had sex in a public restroom.”
“And you’re going to have to wait a while to cross that off your list.” I lean my back against the door, wishing that I’d chosen a hiding place with comfortable seats. “We’re only pretending to have sex.”
He crosses his arms in front of his chest. “It isn’t enough that we’re hiding in here?” he asks in a low voice. “We need to give them more evidence?”
My body reacts to the word “evidence” as if he’d pulled me in for another kiss. But we don’t have an audience here. He has no reason to kiss me.
“Yes, we do,” I say firmly.
“Okay.” He nods and moves to my side. He mimics my pose, his broad shoulders nearly touching mine as he leans against the door. With his chin tucked, he gives me a sideways glance. His dark eyes sparkle with humor. “Do you have a plan?”
CHAPTER 12
KAYLA
“Do I have a plan? I’ve known you for thirty years. I would never steal you away from a party without a plan.” I force myself to keep a straight face, and say, “We need to make fake sex sounds.”
Gavin stares back at me. I keep my lips pressed tightly together. I refuse to crack first. And I win. He laughs and breaks eye contact.
“Kayla, how the hell can you say that with a straight face?”
“You’re not taking this seriously,” I chide. But now that he’s laughing, I can’t help but smile. Then a giggle escapes. I place my hand over my mouth.
Gavin draws a deep breath and then turns his body to face mine. His left shoulder rests against the door, but he’s focused on me. “For the sake of argument, say that we go ahead with your crazy idea,” he says in a low voice. “Do you think anyone will hear us over the guy at the microphone?”
“Oh yes.” I turn my head to look at him. “Three women saw us disappear in here together. At least one of them will probably find a reason to walk by again just to see if we’ve come out. She’ll probably stop in the hall and check her hair, or take a friend with her so she has an excuse to linger by the bathrooms.”
“And you know one of those women will do this because—”
“Intuition,” I say. He raises an eyebrow in silent challenge to this bullshit statement.
“It’s what I would do,” I admit. “In fact, I’ve done it before. Once, about four years ago, I stood in the hall after I watched you slip away with one of your girlfriends. I pretended I was on the phone and needed a quiet place to take the call.”
His brow furrows. “What possessed you to do that?”
“I didn’t want anyone to accidentally stumble on you. I thought you’d be embarrassed.”
“It’s not easy to embarrass me. Not like in high school.”
And yet here we are, trying to trick the world into believing we’re engaged so your past doesn’t humiliate you a second time.
I keep this thought to myself. “For the record, it was pretty simple to determine what you were doing behind the door marked employees only. You needed a guard.”
