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“Are you telling Aud about us? Or am I?” He asked.
“I will,” Maggie said. “She kind of helped me come up with the whole idea.”
Dean frowned. “She told you to fake date me?”
“No. She suggested I date someone to get some insight into my characters. She didn’t mention you at all.” Maggie frowned, too. “Cal was going to call one of his friends, but Mac said…”
“Mac?” Dean repeated the name, his grip on her tightening the tiniest bit. Maggie searched Dean’s face. As far as she knew, the two men were friendly, although their paths crossed about as often as hers and Mac’s did. Maybe less. She saw Mac at the store sometimes. “You didn’t want to ask him?”
“Mac said to pick someone I like and trust.” Maggie widened her eyes. She hoped she looked innocent and guileless. Although it was the same face Audrey had often called her ‘utter terror’ face. “You’re the only person who fits the description other than your sister.”
“That’s sad, Babs. We both know you have a lot more friends than that,” Dean said, but he’d tucked her back under his chin and she could feel the steady thump, thump of his heart against her ear. “But I’m flattered that you want it to be me. I’ll help you anyway I can. What are the brothers of our best friends for?”
CHAPTER FIVE
Maggieintendedtoshareeverything with Audrey after Dean agreed to help her. Although they weren’t advertising the pretend part of their relationship, Maggie had always assumed Audrey would be privy to the truth. She had put it off to tell her friend in person, rather than over the phone, but someone had beaten her to the headline. She’d expected a surprised Audrey, an Audrey with a million questions. She hadn’t expected an enraged Audrey.
“My brother.” Audrey’s arms crossed over her chest and her foot tapped a staccato beat when she opened the door the next morning. “You picked my goddamn brother!”
Maggie stood on the front stoop with two iced coffees—from Starbucks, too—and a bag with some chocolate croissants. She shook the bag at Audrey in offering.
“Am I allowed inside? Or are you planning to filet me right here?”
Audrey snatched the bag out of Maggie’s hand and turned to head into the house, leaving the door wide open. Maggie assumed that was an invitation and followed her friend inside. Audrey continued into the kitchen and plopped the pastries into the ancient toaster oven. Maggie handed her the iced Americano, took a sip of her iced latte with enough sugar to fell a rhino, and waited.
“Explain.” Audrey took a healthy gulp of coffee and sank onto one of the bar stools facing the tiny peninsula. Maggie rested her arms on the counter across from Audrey. She picked at the sticker on the side of her drink, trying to figure out how and what to share.
“It’s not real.” Maggie looked down at her hands and the shredded remnants of the sticker. “The dating, I mean. Dean will help me get some experience—”
“Sex?” Audrey’s voice was shrill enough to shatter glass, and Maggie resisted the urge to cover her ears. She couldn’t resist the wince.
“Of course not, Audrey. We’re just going to date.”
“Date.” Audrey took another sip of caffeine. “You and Dean.”
Maggie felt the ice of nerves splinter over her in the face of Audrey’s anger. She knew picking Dean would be unexpected, but Audrey knew about her crush. Audrey had told her to pick whoever she wanted. Audrey told her no one would judge her. Maggie felt the heat of her temper burn away her nerves. She understood Audrey might not have wanted Dean involved in the whole scenario, but did she need to sound so horrified at the thought of them being together? Audrey had had no problem officiating weddings between Maggie and her brother for most of their childhoods. They used to plan for a future where the two of them would be sisters through marriage. Would it be so awful as a reality?
“Why are you mad at me?” Maggie asked, her voice wavering more than she would have liked. She would not be cowed on this one.
“I’m not mad at you,” Audrey said. Maggie didn’t believe her.
“This was not my idea.” Maggie pointed her finger at her friend’s chest. “The dating anyone part? That was your idea. Mac said to pick someone I trust, and you know how I feel about your brother. You know I trust him more than anyone.”
“Maggie—”
“You said no judgment. If you were going to have an issue with me choosing Dean, which you should have known I would do, then you should have told me that yesterday.”
“I’m not mad,” Audrey said. She reached out and took Maggie’s hands in both of hers, squeezing the way she usually did to help ground Maggie during an episode.
“Bullshit,” Maggie said, squeezing back because she loved Audrey, even when she was acting like a judgmental know-it-all.
Audrey shook her head. “I’m not mad. I’m surprised.”
Maggie raised an eyebrow, a skill Audrey had been jealous of since Maggie discovered she could do it in second grade.
“You’re right. I knew you’d ask Dean, just like I knew he’d say yes. I was maybe hoping there was someone else you’d be interested in.” Audrey pushed her hair back behind her ears and centered the charm bracelet on her wrist.
“Someone else?”
