I stared at my sister just then. The way she was hunched over, holding her stomach like she was one step away from throwing up herself. Padding around in her slippers and oversized shirt and joggers. The bags under her eyes. I was the one who felt like an intruder. I could always stay with my mom and Russ, but…no. I knew what I had to do. And I was not looking forward to crawling to Miles with my tail between my legs, believe me. Or even worse, pretending to date him. But, even more than that, I didn’t want to force my sick, miserable pregnant sister onto the world’s most uncomfortable pull-out couch.
“Actually, I think Miles has a cabin he can let me stay in.”
Chloe’s eyes flashed my way in surprise. “His cabin?”
“No. It’s empty. The gas fireplace is broken, so they couldn’t rent it out.”
“Won’t you freeze?”
“Apparently, this cabin was one of the originals. The wood-burning fireplace is still there, but they added a gas fireplace for ease. So, there’s wood we can chop.”
“You want to know my first thought when I saw him?” Chloe’s eyes were flashing with a bit of the playfulness she’d had the night before at the lodge, which immediately raised my guard.
“Not really,” I said, taking a sip of my coffee.
“He’d make an excellent lumberjack.”
“Okay, simmer down. He’ll probably make me chop it.”
Her gaze turned questioning. “Why?”
Dang it. Any boyfriend worth his salt would probably do the wood chopping for his woman. I decided to appeal to Chloe’s feministic side. “He’s a big proponent of teaching a man to fish—or in this case, a woman to chop wood.”
“You tell him that if he doesn’t chop your wood, I’m going to kick him where the sun doesn’t shine.”
Oh, right, I forgot. Chloe only had a feminist side after she watched any movie set around 1800’s England.
“Well…do what you’ve got to do.”
She sputtered out a laugh. “He’s hot, I’ll give you that.”
I straightened in my seat. “Thank you?”
“And I can tell he likes you.”
I suddenly felt like a mouse trapped by a playful cat. Maybe Miles was a better actor than I thought.
“I missed the surprise. Were you freaking out when you saw him?”
“Yup. Definitely freaking out.”
Her smile took on a pained look. “All right, I want to hear more, but I’m gonna go lie back down for a while. Ben said he’d take the kids to look at the animals this morning while I took a nap.”
“Good. Sleep well.” I stood from the table, taking one last sip of coffee for fortification. “I’ve got to go see a man about a cabin.”
Though my sister seemed sad about the idea of me changing cabins, I could tell a small part of her tired, pregnant body was relieved to not have to sleep on the pull-out couch. And Ben would probably be excited to walk around in his underwear.
I spotted Miles out chopping wood behind the barn. Of course he would be chopping wood. My steps slowed significantly as I drew closer, watching his tall, lean body bend over to place a log carefully on the stump, lift the ax, and swing. I jumped, hearing the abrupt thunk as his muscles tore through the log like it was a twig. It was too much. Really. All of Chloe’s lumberjack jokes, and here I was, about to beg one to be my fake boyfriend. Again.
When I was a few yards from him, he stopped and stood tall, stretching his back. Though he was covered up to ward off the chill, my eyes couldn’t help but admire the way the old pair of Levis snugly fit his frame. Turning, he spotted me almost upon him and smiled.
My breath caught. That smile was unexpected. It seemed genuine and didn’t look like he was about to tease me or— “Morning, Celery Stick.”
Okay. Yeah. Back to earth.
“I’ll do it.” Might as well just get down to business before the “offer” could change or whatever nonsense he threatened last night.
His eyes narrowed, and alarm bells began ringing through my head. Maybe I should just let Chloe take the couch. No. I had to do this. Also, there was Glenn to consider.
“Do what?” His gleam etched across his face, letting me know we would be doing this the hard way.
I sucked in a breath, allowing myself to revel in the last calm moment before my world would change forever. “Pretend to date you this week.” Oh, yuck. I can’t believe I was even saying those words aloud. Pathetic and one hundred percent my own fault.
“What changed your mind?”
“A three-year-old barfing all over me at 2 am.”
To his credit, his face was sympathetic. “That’ll do it.”
“I need my own cabin.”
“I see.” He nodded his head thoughtfully as he leaned over to set another log on the block.
I waited with bated breath for my fate.
“Well, unfortunately, since you waited so long to accept, the offer has changed.”
There it was.
“Come on,” I whined, taking another few cautious steps toward him.
“I’m sorry. I tried to warn you last night.”
“Changed to what?” I asked, folding my arms. Of course he wouldn’t make this easy. Except, this time, I had to say yes.
He adjusted his gloves. “Nothing too drastic. But I realized something. I gave you too much. If you get your own cabin, you’ll never leave. Nobody would ever see us together.”
“That’s not true.” It was exactly true. A brilliant plan if I said so myself. “I’m sure I’d get hungry.”
“There’s a coffee maker in that cabin. And it’s a good one. So that only leaves two meals you’d consider coming outside for.”
I didn’t like where this was going, but I couldn’t see how to stop it. Miles was looking at me like I was a juicy hamburger, and he hadn’t had lunch yet. I felt flushed and agitated and twitchy.
“Doesn’t that sound like the perfect way to fake date? Limited time together?”
A small smirk appeared on his face. “It might be easier, but much less realistic. I’ve got a reputation to uphold. Any woman of mine wouldn’t be able to keep her hands off me.”
“You’re about to be very disappointed, then.”
He only stood there with arms folded, a lazy grin on his face as he waited for me.
With great reluctance, I asked, “What do you have in mind?”
“Bingo.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll only agree to this if you do the bingo game with me.” He leaned in closer. “Not just the bingo. The blackout. I could really use a trip to Mexico.”
“The blackout?” I didn’t remember much about the bingo card, but two things stood out like a glaring neon sign in my brain. A mistletoe kiss and something about a polar bear plunge. Two very strong NOs from me.
“No.”
His eyebrows raised. “No?”
“Just the bingo. That’s more than enough time together.”
“You scared you won’t be able to resist me?”
“No. But isn’t there some sort of nepotism clause for you to do the blackout stuff?”
“I’m not an official employee. I’m just snagging a few free meals and helping out with the farm. If I was just a boyfriend and you ended up winning, they couldn’t stop it.”