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I met his eyes. My only response was to laugh into my hand because he was so right. This entire situation was ridiculous, to be honest, but we had to make the best of it.
“Okay, if we’re going to do this, we need to have our stories straight if we’re going to pull this off,” I said. “The problem is that my co-worker who I swapped shifts with thinks this is a date, so I need to clue her in just in case she says something.”
“Right. We should go for a simple story.” He put on the blinker and turned. “We can say we met online.”
“Makes sense. App? Facebook? How?”
He grunted. “App?”
“Tinder? Two months ago?”
“That works.”
“Perfect.” I clapped my hands. “Now, what does your ex look like?”
“Doesn’t matter. Knowing Claudia, she’ll make an entrance.” Mason made the turn to The Beachside. “She’s dating her boss now, and he’s not exactly broke. She’ll make a fuss.”
Great. I was here to show up a diva. “Ugh. I’m the least dramatic person in the world.”
“I don’t know. You were pretty dramatic over my need for chicken wings.”
“That’s ridiculous.” I rolled my eyes.
He put the car in park and grinned. “You really do have the exasperated girlfriend thing down. Are you sure we can’t go in in the middle of a fight?”
“Mason, no. I can’t pretend to both love you and be mad at you. Jesus.”
“A little more of that—”
“No.” I laughed.
“Okay.” He sighed. “Let’s get this over with. How long do we have to stay?”
I got out of the car and shrugged. “Long enough for your ex to turn up and me to piss her off?”
He locked the car and rolled his shoulders. “I’m going to kill my sister for this shit.”
“Mason!” A voice boomed across the parking lot.
He looked over his shoulder. “Shit—that’s Trevor. He knows about this, just so you know.”
“Oh, good. I don’t have to act for another few minutes.” I joined him at the back of his car as he greeted his friend.
Trevor was a little shorter than Mason but just as good-looking. Where were all these hot guys when I was actually looking for a date?
“Trev, this is Lauren. Lauren, this is Trevor.” Mason waved between us.
Trevor looked me up and down with light brown eyes. “Well, shit, if you need a fake girlfriend…” He met my gaze, smirking. “It’s a pleasure.”
I smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
He looked at Mason. “She’s hotter than Claudia. She’s going to flip her shit.”
Mason shrugged. “That’s her problem.” He looked at me. “You ready to go in?”
Nodding, I took the arm he offered me by wrapping my hand around the crook of his elbow. We walked toward the main doors of the bar with Trevor leading us in. He pushed open the door, holding it for us.
The second I stepped in, I immediately felt eyes on me. I knew exactly where they were coming from, and that was old Mr. Hennington at his usual spot at the bar.
He clutched a wrinkled, weathered hand to his face. “Lauren. You wound me.”
I laughed. “Mr. Hennington, we’ve talked about this. Mrs. Lawrence would be devastated if we went out. I can’t do that to her!”
“Oh, psh!” He waved his hand. “I’ve told you that she doesn’t need to know about us.”
“Stop tempting me.” I wiggled my finger at him. “I’m not working tonight, and if you carry on with that, there’s no telling what I’d do with you.”
He chuckled, rocking his head side to side. “I don’t think I’d survive the night, my darlin’.”
I winked at him, waving at Pete behind the bar. “Exactly. Hey, Pete, is Stella out the back?”
My boss nodded, cleaning a glass out. “Yep. And she’s gonna want to talk to you.” He looked pointedly at both Mason and Trevor.
“Oh, Pete, this is Mason, and this is Trevor. Guys, this is my boss and the owner of The Beachside, Pete.”
“The owner?” Mason shook his hand when he leaned over the bar. “Do you know you seriously lack in chicken wings on your menu?”
“Fucking chicken wings,” Trev murmured.
I laughed, leaning into Mason’s arm to mask it. It seemed he felt the same way I did, and I’d bet he’d heard a hell of a lot more about it than I had.
“I happen to agree with you, son,” Pete said. “Let me get the missus, and you can tell her. She’s in charge of the food.” He nodded toward the door that led to the kitchen. “Maybe she’ll listen to someone who’ll buy them. Until then, your party showed up early.”
I nodded. “Come on,” I said to both guys. “Let’s go.”
Here goes nothing.
CHAPTER FIVE – MASON
Shit the fucking bed, she was stunning.
That was all I could think as she stood over at the end of the bar, talking to the busty young woman on the other side of it. Lauren laughed, throwing her head back so her dark hair fell down her back in a shiny wave.
