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He was grinning. “I suppose Charlie has phoned you?”
Fed up with the whole situation, Brooke marched toward Gavin and again grabbed his phone from his hand.
“Lindsay, seriously. Gavin and I are friends. You do know men and women are sometimes just friends?”
“Maybe, but the two of you? I don’t think so.” Lindsay laughed. “You make such a cute couple. Think how absolutely lovely it would if the two of you get married. Oh, and think of all the cousins playing together on the ranch.”
“Lindsay!” Brooke tried to stop her, but she was on a roll.
“We could take turns dropping the kids off at school and, bonus—you won’t ever have to worry about cooking again. Gavin, as you would’ve discovered tonight, is a great cook, don’t you think?”
“I’m giving the phone back to Gavin; it’s no use talking to you!” Groaning out loud, Brooke handed Gavin’s phone back to him before she pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. The whole family was driving her bonkers. Her mother was bad enough on her own. Now that Charlie and Lindsay were teaming up with her, the situation was becoming unbearable.
“I’ll talk to you later, Lindsay. Got to go,” Gavin finally said and ended the call. He picked up his mug but didn’t sit down. Instead, he leaned against the kitchen counter. He sipped his coffee, staring at her. After long minutes, he finally spoke. “So how do we put a stop to this?”
“I suggest we just ignore it. Hopefully, it’ll blow over soon.”
“You think so?”
“Well, what else do you suggest? Fake a relationship to make them happy?” She didn’t even try to cover up the sarcasm.
Slowly, he put his mug down, his eyes never leaving hers. “You know, that’s not a bad idea.”
Exasperated, she jumped up. “I was being sarcastic! It’s a ridiculous idea. We’re not...we’re just friends. Period.”
He crossed his arms. “Think about it. Logan and I are going to take turns to be at the office in Seattle. It just so happens that I’m leaving for Seattle in two weeks’ time. I’ll probably stay there for about a month. So, my suggestion is we fake a relationship for the next two weeks, and when I leave, we tell everyone we’ve ended the relationship amicably, that we’re just not a match, and life goes on. That way we get everyone off our backs. The fact that I’ll be away for a month also means there will be no awkward moments for you afterwards. By the time I get back from Seattle, everyone will hopefully have forgotten about our relationship, and we can go back to being friends without having to keep explaining that to everyone.”
Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she could manage a sound. “It’s ludicrous. I have an exhibition in Seattle in the middle of July, and I have to be there, so your plan can’t work. Besides, I don’t have time for this, I have a million things—”
“Exactly. You have paintings to finish for your exhibition, your mum tells me, and aren’t you moving to the farm next week? I can help you with that, help with Connor while you get on with your work. How much time are you going to spend in Seattle?”
“With an exhibition, I usually stay for a few days...”
“We simply tell everyone we’re over, and you carry on with your exhibition. I’ll be staying in Logan’s apartment, though.”
“Don’t worry about it. I was going to make alternative arrangements closer to the gallery anyway. There is a small Airbnb in downtown Seattle I often use. It’s close to the gallery, just a block away. I walk wherever I need to be.”
“Then it’s settled. After our breakup, we’ll tell everyone it didn’t work out, and we carry on as friends as we’ve been doing these past few months.”
“It’s so silly. You...we can’t have a relationship, we’re like...like brother and sister!”
He was in her bubble before she’d finished speaking. Slowly, he lifted his hand, cupped her face. “Just for the record—what I feel when I’m around you, can in no way be described as brotherly.”
“What...what are you doing?”
“I’m going to kiss you. Two reasons: one, I’ve been thinking about it all night, and two, then we’ll know.” By the time he’d finished speaking, his lips were trailing down her face.
She caught her breath. “Know what?” she whispered, unsure of what she was asking.
“Whether we can pretend to be more than friends.”
His lips had reached her ear. Desperately, she tried to stay focused, but her eyes closed, sending her other senses into overdrive. The subtle scent of sandalwood seeped through every pore of her body, the sound of his uneven breathing left goosebumps all over her skin, and the feel of his stubble against her cheek had her blood roaring in her ears.
And then his lips touched hers—just briefly before he lifted his head again. Those impossible blue eyes were looking right into her soul.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Was the husky voice hers?
