Page 1 of His Fake Fiancé

Chapter 1

How could anyone be so beautiful?

Claire took a sip of her beer and stared at her best friend across the table. He wasn’t paying attention to her, his gaze skipping around the place as if he hadn’t spent just about every Saturday night here for the last five years. Like anything had changed in the cheesy, shabby bar. The bar that, for some reason, they’d staked a claim on when they’d turned twenty-one.

His dark hair was a little on the long side, but it had just enough curl to make it swoop back at a flawless angle. As if it didn’t want to get in the way of anyone noticing his perfect features.

He had the looks of a classic Hollywood heartthrob. Sharp cheekbones, chiseled jaw. Blue eyes rimmed with inky, ridiculously long lashes. Wide, lush mouth. Straight nose, even though it had been broken more than once. It was almost as if the universe went out of its way to make sure his perfection remained intact.

Honestly, it just wasn’t fair.

And to top it off, he had the charisma and charm to match. And boy did he use every ounce of it to his full advantage. On what sometimes felt like the entire female population of California.

It really was unfair.

Dark scruff lined his jaw, but all it did was make him look sexier. Like he needed the additional boost. His broad shoulders and lean hips did enough of the talking.

She wanted to sigh, but took another sip of her beer instead. How many Saturdays had she spent like this? Watching Jake flirt his way through the evening and well into the night?

Nothing here ever changed.

Including her.

It was depressing really. And she was getting tired of it. It was time for her to… do something. Anything to shake things up. And giving up on her unrequited love on Jake Callahan was the perfect place to start.

“So, do you want to marry me?”

She blinked back into the present. Jake was staring at her from across the table, an expectant look on his far too handsome face.

It took a couple of seconds for the question to penetrate her numb brain. She’d spent most of her life dreaming that someday Jake Callahan would ask her to marry him. Which was why she couldn’t quite believe what he’d just said.

“What?” She was forced to raise her voice over the noise of the bar. She wanted to yell at everyone to shut up, just so she was completely sure she understood the words coming out of her best friend’s mouth.

Jake took a leisurely sip of his beer and leaned forward. “I said, would you be my fiancé?”

Her lungs seized, making it hard to breathe. Yup, that’s what she thought he’d said. She tilted her head, not quite sure what to say.

Jake’s dark brows drew together, his beautiful mouth pulling down at the corners.

Claire knew she was staring at him, her mouth drying as it hung open. And she was blinking way too much. But she couldn’t seem to form any words. Or coherent thoughts.

“Are you okay?” Jake reached across the small bar table and placed his hand over hers. As always, a little zip of electricity shot up her arm. And, as always, Jake didn’t feel it. Because he never felt it in regards to her.

She shook her head to clear the fog that had rolled through her brain. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

“Well, then?” He was looking at her like she knew what the hell this was about.

“Well then, what?” She took a sip of her beer, the semi-warm, bitter bite a welcome distraction to the hopeful stare Jake was tossing her way.

“Come on, Claire,” he said, easing his lips into the sexy smile that seemed to be kryptonite to every female this side of the state line. “My lawyer thinks it’ll look better if I’m in a committed relationship.”

Boom. There it was.

Claire’s heart tumbled down to her feet. Some stupid part of her had actually thought that maybe, just maybe, this was something else. But of course, it wasn’t. And she really needed to kill the part of her that still hoped Jake would see her as anything more than the girl next door.

“You sure you’re okay?” Jake tilted his head, an actual look of concern on his face.

The moment was lost a second later when he glanced away to stare at the leggy brunette walking by their table. It was almost like he couldn’t help himself. And she really should be at a place in her life, and their relationship, where she was used to it.