AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He paused, finally taking a breath. “Then, I guess we’d separate.”
I turned that over in my head. With surgery and school and tagging along on Andy’s meetings, I wouldn’t have time to meet someone new. Not that I’d met anyone of note since I’d graduated high school. After a short fling during my first failed attempt at college and a brief relationship with a local real estate agent that ended amicably, I felt like I wasn’t meant for dating.
“No,” I said, more so to myself than Andy. “It’d never work. Cal and Len would never buy it.”
My brothers had been sniffing out my lies since I was a kid—not that I was ever a great liar. Growing up, I was more likely to crumble into a ball of tears than follow through on any type of deception. Anytime I’d done anything wrong, I’d gone straight to Len or Bunny.
Besides, Cal and Andy had a long and not-so-friendly history. Cal would never believe I’d been sneaking around with Andy under his nose.
Andy’s ocean blue eyes sparkled. “I could convince them we’ve been seeing each other.”
Heat threaded his words, and a bloom of warmth spread across my chest.
“For how long? Why didn’t we tell them earlier?”
“You were scared,” Andy said with a shrug. “And I didn’t want to fight with Cal anymore. We’ve been seeing each other since the last Highland Games. That night at Bob’s Cars.”
“That night at Bob’s Cars” had been hard to forget. My best friend confessed she was in love with my brother, and I’d ended the night at a table alone with Andy. We talked and drank until my vision blurred and my head turned foggy. I barely remembered him driving me back to my apartment. I only remembered the bitter disappointment when he walked me safely to my doorstep without so much as a hint of wanting to come inside.
Andy was just that kind of guy. A nice guy. A stand-up guy. The type of guy who’d offer anything, including marriage, to help someone out.
“I’m serious, Nora. This would work for both of us. But, you’re also right. Your brothers would need to be convinced. Bunny, too. Do you think we could convince them we’re in love?” He dipped his head, leaning closer.
The room suddenly seemed too small, too confining. The baseboard heaters turned the tiny office into a sauna. I wrapped two fingers around the hem of my sweater.
“Maybe?”
“I think we could,” he said. His voice was barely above a whisper; it made the hair on my hairs stand up and my chest tight.
Think we could do what? Distracted by his eyes trained on mine and his lips less than a foot away, I lost the thread of our conversation and could only think about whether he’d lean closer.
“What do you say?”
I tore my eyes away, shaking my head as if coming out of a trance. “I don’t know.”
“So, not a no?”
No would be the practical answer.
No, I won’t marry a guy who may as well be a stranger. I shouldn’t marry a guy my brother hated, and my family didn’t even know, who I’d not-so-casually been checking out for the last two years. If it were any other day, I would have said no. But I’d barely grappled with being fired and the worsening prognosis of an autoimmune disease that I didn’t know could morph into needing surgery.
“Not a no,” I answered slowly.
Andy’s lips tipped up. “Well, that’s a start. We should head out before we get locked in.”
He stood and held open the door, following me out of the building into the chilly night air. I pushed my hands into my sweater, glad for the short walk to my apartment since Andy seemed set on seeing me home, and my hands would turn blue at this temperature.
“I appreciate the offer, you know.” The words burbled out of me, piercing the silence that enveloped the quiet of downtown.
“Then, say yes.” His eyes twinkled in the light of a streetlamp, his voice soft.
“I think you might regret this in the morning.” I put words to the fear niggling at the back of my head.
I had plenty of reasons to say no to this half-cocked plan, but I couldn’t quiet the small voice telling me to say yes—that Andy’s insane proposal was the answer to my problems.
Theactualanswer to my problems involved sitting down with Len, Cal, and Bunny. Unfortunately, I already knew the outcome of that conversation: I’d move back in with Bunny, and Len would pay my bills. My family would bail me out. Again.
We stopped in front of my apartment. Andy pressed his palm against the door frame, frowning. “You really think I’ll regret this in the morning?”
