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UrMrRight’s smile widened and, without getting out of his seat, he motioned for her to take a seat across him. “I hope it’s alright, but I went ahead and ordered us both some Chai and chocolate croissants.”
For the first time since joining him at his table, Josie noticed the two medium sized cups and classic white plate with two croissants on it. “Oh.” Josie tried not to cringe. “Um. Thanks.” It was difficult to spit the words out. She reminded herself that several of their conversations centered around how fantastic Delilah’s vanilla chai lattes and chocolate croissants were, and how it was both of their go to order. Poor, clueless soul probably thought he was earning brownie points; at least that’s what Josie was hoping. “Just... maybe next time wait to order?” Hot guy chuckled again. She shot him a hard look. So UrMrRight made a dating no no; it didn’t give Mr. Sex on a Stick the right to laugh.
UrMrRight’s face crumpled. “You’re not going to leave are you?”
Josie shook her head. “No.” If the only blunder UrMrRight made was ordering her favorite drink and baked goods, she could live with that. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and Josie was feeling more than a little desperate. Besides, their online conversations had been friendly. “So,” she pinched a bit off a bit of croissant, “your name is Will right? Is that short for William?”
“Wilbur,” he muttered, his lips curling up in distaste.
“Wilbur?” Josie felt her brows shooting up. “Like-”
“Like my grandfather,” he interrupted before she could ask if his mother had really named him after the pig inCharlotte’s Web.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, dropping her gaze to the cup of chai in front of her.
Will shrugged, a smile stretching across his lips. “Don’t worry about it.” He crossed his arms and propped them on the table. “I used to date a girl named Charlotte in high school.” Josie tried to bite back a laugh but a small snort burst out. “If you think that’s funny... ” he leaned forward even more, “my last name is Webb.”
“Your parents actually named you Wilbur Webb?” He nodded, his smile broadening. “And you dated a girl named Charlotte?”
“For eight years.” Will uncrossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Always thought we would be married by now.”
“What happened?” Asking definitely fell into the nosy territory, but Josie couldn’t help herself. Eight years was a long time to be someone and then have it end.
Will shrugged again, his smile wobbling. “Her grandma was diagnosed with MS. She felt like she needed to move closer to help her grandpa care for her.” He let out a resigned sigh. “We tried the long distance thing. I even offered to move closer, butshe said no, she couldn’t ask me to do that... ” he shook his head. “She didn’t ask, I offered, and she still dumped me.”
There were two things that were obvious about Will Webb: he was a good guy and he wasn’t over his ex. “How long ago was this,” she asked softly.
“A couple months ago.” A flush blossomed on his cheeks and crept down his neck. “My mom is the one who set up my LoveBuzz account,” he blurted out. “She thought maybe if Charlotte saw that I was dating it would make her jealous.”
Josie fought back a wince. She could relate to having an overly involved mother, her own mother had helped set up her account; his mother was wrong for thinking his ex would be jealous over a few online dates. Josie knew what it was like to take care of a sick relative. She’d put her own life on hold to help take care of her father. The last thing she was paying attention to or thinking about was her ex dating. If she’d had a guy like Will, willing to be there for her, maybe it would have been less lonely. “You need to talk to her.” The suggestion was counterproductive to why she had agreed to meet him. On paper, Will was the perfect guy to be a fake boyfriend. He was nice looking, easy to talk to and be around, and emotionally unavailable. If Josie asked, she had little doubt that he would agree to be a fake boyfriend. It wouldn’t be fair though. He was still in love with Charlotte, and maybe Charlotte was still in love with him. He owed it to himself to find out, and Josie wasn’t going to be the one to hold him back.
“I don’t know.”
“You need to talk to her,” Josie repeated.
“Maybe she was thinking about ending it for a while and this thing with her grandma just made it easier.” The uncertainty in his voice made it clear that Will didn’t believe that anymore than Josie did.
“Will.” Josie reached across the table and grabbed his hand. She curled her fingers around his and gently squeezed. “Pick up your phone. Call her. Talk to her.”
“What if she was serious?”
“Then it’s her loss.” And possibly Josie’s gain. If Charlotte truly didn’t want Will, then Josie was happy to suggest that he get over her by pretending to be Josie’s fake boyfriend. It was an icky thought, and one Josie wasn’t proud of, but Will was a nice guy and she could see the two of them being friends. “Now go, make that call!”
Will glanced towards the door. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
He hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”
“You better.” Arms crossed, Josie rested her forearms on the table, and watched the most promising of her prospects hurry out the door. “Back to square one,” she muttered. She picked at her croissant, pulling it into bite sized pieces, before pushing the plate away. Sucking in her left cheek, she reluctantly created a group text with her mother and Louise.
‘UrMrRight is a no go.’Instantly three dots appeared only to stop, then start again.‘Will explain later,’she fired off before either Louise or her mom could finish typing.
“Well that was interesting.”
Blinking, Josie glanced around before realizing it was the hot guy one table away was talking to her. A slow, panty dropping grin stretched across his lips once he realized he had her attention. Her heart did a little flip. Ridiculously hot guys rarely noticed her, let alone talked to her. It wasn’t her looks, she’d been compared to Amanda Seyfried enough to accept that she was pretty, but her confidence sucked. She was kind of amazed that she had been brave enough to not only lie to Kyle about having a boyfriend, but was being proactive infinding a guy to fill that role. “It was something,” she finally acknowledged.
“Do you do that often?” the hot guy asked, his hazel eyes twinkling with amusement.
