“I’m…” She pauses and swallows. Then, she shoves her arm out to greet Brandi. “I’m Dalilah Knight, and you are?”
Brandi’s mouth drops open and works back and forth as she tries to form words.
Now, that’s funny. God, I’m a jerk.
“Dalilah?”
Dalilah arches an eyebrow and cocks her head to the side. “Yes?”
“Dalilah, dating my ex-husband, Dalilah?”
“Uh...”
Dalilah’s eyes jump to me, and I purse my lips together. Here we go. What I won’t do to get my ex off my back. I smile at her while hoping she doesn’t backhand me, and then I put my arm around her waist and pull her toward me.
The fact she moves easily and melts into my side makes me want to bend down and kiss her. Instead, I stare into her eyes like a drowning idiot who’s going under for the third time.
“Yes, Brandi. This is Dalilah. I wasn’t sure if she could get away from work for the wedding, but she surprised me.”
Dalilah drops her hand to her side and grins. “I love to surprise, Damon. He’s such a perfect boyfriend.” She places her other arm around me and bats her eyelashes.
Perfect? She feels perfect against me. Damn, I’m the biggest fool. How am I going to get out of this weekend with my sanity? I’m mastering the art of being reckless.
“I see.” Brandi crosses her arms and shoots daggers out of her eyes. “Don’t be late for dinner.” She wrinkles her nose like she smells something rotten but can’t figure out what it is.
Chapter Five
Chloe
THE WOMAN WALKING out of the bar is clearly beyond irritated that Damon is with me. But how exactly does she know who I am? Well, not me exactly. Dalilah, me.
I twist in my heels and clear my throat. Damon’s arm drops from my waist, and he moves sideways. The warmth of his body against me fades and is replaced by the chilly temperatures of the room. The urge to crawl over to him and wrap my arms around him is embarrassing. “So…?”
“I can explain.” He opens his hands and holds them out toward me. “That is my ex-wife. We’ve been divorced for seventeen years. Unfortunately, every time she’s single, my daughter gets a wild hair up her ass that we should get back together.”
“Did she cheat on you?”
“Yes.” He shrugs. “But that’s been ages ago. She means less than nothing to me. She left me with a newborn and a two-year-old to raise on my own. I love my daughter, but she’s delusional in thinking I’d ever get back together with Brandi.”
Oh, Lord. My heart drops to my feet. He’d been a single father, raising two kids on his own. My ovaries pop and sizzle.
Shit. Don’t get carried away. He’s got two grown children. They aren’t toddlers he’s dragging around. I shake my head and stop the insane train of thought leading to nowhere. I’m too young for him. Way too young. “How do I fit into the picture?”
He flushes. “Well, my daughter was pushing me to entertain Brandi this weekend, and Brandi’s idea of entertaining is hopping into the sack or getting her fingers into someone’s wallet. Or both.”
“I see.” Not exactly, but I see why he would want to steer clear of her. No one wants to be made a fool of twice. Case in point for why I’ll never give Randy the time of day again. He can kiss my ass.
“Anyway, I spouted off that I was seeing someone, but didn’t want to take any of the attention off the wedding. They pressed me for a name, and yours was the first one I thought of.” He wrinkles his nose. “I didn’t anticipate either of them meeting you. I only needed a cover for the weekend to keep the distance between us.”
My shoulders sag. “And, I ruined it by introducing myself.”
“No. You didn’t. It’s fine. I was the one name dropping you, so I should be the one to apologize. I never should have dragged you into this.”
“Would fake dating me really help you out?” It might not be my fault that he’s in this position, but I played a part. And I have a strange desire to help him get back at her. I might be too young for him in real life, but lots of men liked a little arm candy to make their ex jealous.
I grind my teeth together. A cheating ex at that. Fine. I want to use this opportunity to symbolically shove it in Randy and Bridgette’s face. They aren’t here, but I can flaunt something in someone’s face. Yeah, I’m not exactly acting rationally at this point.
“Yes, fake dating someone would help.” He shrugs. “But I can’t ask you to do that.”
“What happens if you go into the rehearsal dinner and tell her you made me up?”
His face falls as he appears to work through the consequences of going through the weekend without a date.
“Or that we broke up?”
“Well.” He cringes. “She’ll be all over me, and I’ll have a shitty weekend. However, that is not your problem.”
“Maybe it’s not my problem, but I’m not doing anything. I told my friend I’d get out and do something wild and crazy.” I giggle. “This is something wild and crazy. I can keep her away from you, and in the process, get a fun story to tell my best friend. She’ll love it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. I can’t bore you with wedding activities all weekend.”
“Pft. You remember I’m the queen of weddings. I love them.” I motion my hand around the bar. “Seriously. Does this look like a fun way to spend the weekend?”
“No.”
“Shit.” I cringe as my eyes travel over the bartender, and the two men still sitting at the bar. “I’ll probably end up sleeping with one of these jerkoffs if I hang out here all weekend.” I snort. “Save me from getting drunk and doing something I’ll regret. Besides, it’ll be fun.”
His eyes sweep over the bar and the pulse at his temple throbs. “Fine. I’ll probably regret it but leaving you here with these guys is something I can’t do.”
I put my hand on his upper arm. “It’ll be fun. I promise.” My fingers twitch as the heat under his shirt, permeates my flesh. Shit. I pull back.
It’ll be fun if I remember it’s a game. Chloe girl, it’s like playing pretend. I’m Dalilah this weekend. It’s time to let loose and have a good time.
Damon
As we head out of the bar, I question my sanity. This is by far the most reckless thing I’ve ever done. Granted, it’s entirely my own fault for using her name when questioned about my girlfriend. I could have used Jane Doe, Sally Jones, or Molly Smith. Hell, I could have come up with any name under the sun, but I had to drop Dalilah’s name.
I shake my head. Can I spend all weekend pretending she’s my girlfriend? I practically trip over my feet. Yeah, I can act like she’s mine. That isn’t a hardship.
Dalilah is gorgeous, sweet, nice, and young. So, fucking young. I cringe. Too fucking young. What in the hell am I doing? Who’s going to believe this beautiful woman is dating an old man like me?
She glances at me and smiles. Her eyes twinkle with some unknown secret that she isn’t letting me in on, and my heart thuds in my chest. Yep. This is the most irresponsible thing I’ve done since I knocked Brandi up twice.