Fakecation, page 10
“What?” she asked.
“It would give you more space.”
She looked at the stranger, who was loudly talking to the person they were with. “Are you sure?”
No. “Yes.”
Amelia bit her lip before slowly moving over, lifting her hips and planting them on his legs. He wrapped an arm around her to keep her from floating away.
But then, as she settled, he realized just how bad of an idea it was.
“Well,” she said, leaning back so he could hear her. “I definitely have more room. Your lap is comfortable.”
He pressed his lips together. He could feel the curve of her ass against his cock, which knew exactly what was going on. Her words did nothing but send blood downward.
“Are you okay?” she asked. “I’m not too heavy for you, am I?”
“No, not at all,” he said. “It’s nothing.”
Maybe she wouldn’t move her hips back and feel it. Only then could he get out of this with his dignity intact.
But then someone else wanted to get out of the hot tub. Amelia jerked back to give them room, and her butt rocked against his hardness.
He felt her freeze.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t expect this to happen here.”
She was silent for a long time, and he wondered if she was planning her escape route. He wouldn’t blame her.
“I-It’s fine,” she said, her voice higher than usual. “This is just a thing that happens with friction, right?”
It’s you, he wanted to say. One look at you and I get like this.
But he gritted his teeth and nodded. For a second, they simply sat. Daniel knew he was too scared to move, despite his mind begging him to rock up and get more delicious friction.
“I can’t look at strangers when we’re like this,” she said. “I’m going to turn around.”
Before he could say no, she got up and whirled around where she was facing him. Her legs pinned him in. Instead of his hardness being against her backside, however, it was now pressed against her inner thighs.
“I think this is worse,” he said, unable to look at her.
“I’d rather look at you than the other couple rubbing up against each other,” she muttered.
The water rippled as someone else got into the hot tub, and it made her move just enough to make his head spin.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I could get out.”
“No.”
“Well, this isn’t comfortable for either of us.”
“It’s not that its uncomfortable, Amelia,” he said lowly. “It’s that . . . never mind.” The last bit of his control kept him from speaking.
“No, what?”
That control flew out the window. “The only thing that’s uncomfortable is that we’re surrounded by strangers.”
“And if we were alone?”
“We wouldn’t be here.”
“But if we were?”
Did she want him to admit it? They weren’t supposed to be like this.
But he also wouldn’t lie to her.
“There wouldn’t be swimsuits.” He muttered the words, hoping that she somehow wouldn’t hear them. But her breath hitched and her eyes went wide.
“Really?”
“With a woman like you? Can you blame me?”
She should blame him. She should tell him no and send him tumbling down to Earth. Being in the clouds was dangerous.
Amelia stared at him, face unreadable.
She’s your coworker, his last bit of sense said. Stop this.
“We should go to the beach,” he said. “I bet it isn’t as busy there.”
“M-maybe that’s a good idea. I’ll go first so you can . . . Yeah.”
She got out, and Daniel stared at a palm tree rather than her beautiful body. It took him twenty minutes of thinking of anyone but her for his cock to get the message.
Amelia was probably uncomfortable with what had happened. He deserved a lecture from her, or worse, anger. He wouldn’t fight it because he should have controlled his body’s reaction to her proximity.
After he’d calmed down, he slowly made the walk of shame. She was sitting on the beach, teeth biting at her lip.
“Hi,” he said.
“Oh, hey,” she replied. “Everything back to normal now?”
“Yes. I’m sorry about that.”
“No, don’t be. I should have thought about it more before sitting on your lap. But I’ve always had poor impulse control.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Mad? Why would I be mad? If anything, I’m flattered. At least some parts of you think I’m attractive.”
“All parts of me think you’re attractive,” he corrected.
But her expression made him want to say it again. Her cheeks turned an exquisite shade of pink, and one corner of her lip turned upward.
“That’s sweet.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “You’re really good at this fake-boyfriend thing.”
He pressed his lips together at the reminder. “It’s what I’m here for.”
“I’ll be sure to return the favor once we’re back at the office,” she said. “But for now, maybe we could hunt for seashells?”
There was a part of him that wanted to beg her to go back in that hot tub and never leave. He knew he’d never be able to get the feeling of her sitting on his lap out of his mind. But she’d been gracious enough about it already, and she was making it clear that they weren’t going to go any further.
“Sure,” he said, smiling. “I’ll let you know if I see any good ones.”
They separated, eyes on the sand. He tried to look for shells, but his mind was distracted.
“Got one!” Amelia called minutes later. She picked it up and showed it to him. “Amazing. All these waves and it still made it here safely. It was resilient.”
“Some things truly are,” he said.
Her lips pressed together, and he couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking as she stared at the shell in her hands. She took a shaky breath and looked up at him.
“Ready to go swimming?” she asked.
“Don’t you want to keep the shell?”
“Nah.” She bent and set it on the ground. “I’ll leave it for someone else. I just like to look for the fun of it.”
It took him a moment to follow her to the water. He tried to figure out what had been going through her head as she’d gazed at the shell, but nothing came to him. Eventually, he followed, wondering what could possibly haunt her as it had.
***
Their swimming was cut short by a pop-up storm. They’d gotten out of the water once the waves became too choppy to be enjoyable, and soon after, rain poured from the sky.
The walk to the condo was cold, and Daniel was grateful to peel off his wet layers. Amelia took solace in the bathroom, and he made quick work of changing before she came back out. He’d had enough embarrassing moments in one day. They didn’t need any more.
She came out just as the front door opened. “I brought food!” Randy called as he took off a rain jacket.
That got everyone into the kitchen, even Mandy, who had still been in her room when Daniel and Amelia got back. Daniel didn’t miss the way Amelia’s eyes lingered on her mother, and he wondered, not for the first time, if everything was as okay as she’d said it was.
“What did you get?” John asked.
“Mostly pizza,” Randy replied. “But I got a burger for you, dear.” He gave Mandy a kiss on the cheek, which earned him a lukewarm smile.
Those were the things he missed doing for someone. The little things. Lucinda had grown bored of those quickly.
“How about we have dinner and ride out this storm with a movie night?” Randy offered. The condo didn’t have room for a table, so they all sat on the sectional couch and ate. They put on an easy-to-watch Disney movie in the background.
“I remember when this came out,” Randy said as it played. “This was the only movie Amelia and John could watch together. Everything else, you two fought over.”
“I can’t help it that he has no idea what’s good,” Amelia said, shrugging.
“Says the woman who had a Barney phase.”
“When I was a toddler,” she muttered, her cheeks turning pink.
“It lasted until you were eight,” Mandy added. It was the first Daniel had heard her speak in a while.
“Mom! Whose side are you on?”
Mandy laughed. “The truth’s. You really loved that purple dinosaur.”
Amelia shook her head. “I can’t believe this. In front of Daniel and everything.” She turned to him. “Please say you had an embarrassing show too. We need to make it even.”
“I grew up with a lot of VeggieTales,” he said. “It backfired. I didn’t eat vegetables for years because I thought it would hurt them.”
“Aw, that’s adorable.” Amelia bumped her shoulder with his.
“I would have loved it if you guys had a Disney phase,” Mandy mused. “The songs are so cute. It’s a shame you only liked the one movie from them.”
“We can’t help it that we have taste,” John said. “Well, at least I do. Amelia, I’m not so sure about you.”
“Very funny. I don’t even watch a lot of TV. I don’t have time for it with work.”
“They do keep us busy,” Daniel added.
“Mostly complaining about the same five things,” she muttered.
“That’s right, you met at work,” Mandy said. “Have they been okay with the transition?”
Amelia glanced over at him, and he could see the silent question in her gaze.
“It’s new,” he said. “But neither of us manages the other, so we haven’t run into any issues.”
“And there isn't a rule against it,” Amelia added. "Unless I missed it in the employee handbook."
“Don’t worry too much about work,” Randy said. “This is a vacation. A relaxing one, hopefully.”
Amelia smiled. “It’s been nice for us. What about you, Mom?”
“I’ve just been tired, but I’m still enjoying it.” She returned a small smile to Amelia.
“Hang on,” John said, interrupting them. “We can’t talk over this song. It’s the only Disney one that I like.”
They all went back to watching the movie, but Daniel could see that something was bothering Amelia. It could have been anything from their encounter in the hot tub to the relationship disclosure form waiting for them when they returned to Atlanta.
But judging by the way Amelia looked at her mother, he had one strong guess as to what it was.
Chapter Thirteen
Amelia
Amelia’s brain had an unhelpful way of working through problems.
She’d been trying to find a way to tell Daniel about her mother’s bipolar disorder without making him think the dreaded C-word. She got close to a delicate way of phrasing it as she lay awake that night.
By the time she’d drifted off, she knew exactly what she was going to say.
So then she dreamed about it. And dreams were not helpful. In her slumber, Daniel hadn’t taken it well at all. In fact, he’d left early to avoid dealing with her unsteady family.
When she woke up, she was left with a distinct feeling of hurt that wasn’t even real and shock that Daniel was very much asleep next to her.
Rolling out of bed, she ran her hands through her hair, trying to separate dreamland from reality. She was in desperate need of coffee.
She walked into the kitchen and started the coffee pot. When it was done brewing, she headed out to the balcony with a steaming mug in hand. The thick air promised a hot day ahead, but it was tolerable with a fresh morning breeze.
Amelia only sat by herself for a moment before the door opened and her mom joined her. She was more put together today, but the dark bags under her eyes told Amelia that she wasn’t sleeping well.
“Hi, sweetheart,” she said, sitting. “Your dad told me you might be worried about me.”
“I’m okay,” she replied.
“And that Daniel doesn’t know?”
Amelia looked down at her coffee. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Why doesn’t he?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Because of Andrew?”
Amelia pressed her lips together and gazed out into the distance. She could see waves crashing on the shore. She could hear people talking on their walks.
“Amelia,” her mother started, “all I want is for you to be happy. You know that, right?”
“I do.”
“And if anyone ever makes you feel unsafe, then you don’t have to be with them.”
She clenched her jaw. She wasn’t with Daniel—not really. But she was starting to realize that lying about a relationship was worse than being pressured into one.
“I know,” she replied. “I’m fine, Mom. I promise.”
“You deserve the world. I mean it.”
Amelia nodded, but she knew the only good part of the world was her family. The rest was a dark and cold place where she would get judged for things that were outside of her control.
She’d learned her lesson. Never trust other people. It had served her well.
But she didn’t expect anyone else to understand.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll keep it in mind.”
Her mother nodded. “Now, I promised your dad that I would at least try to get out of the condo today. Do you want to join us this evening? There’s a live band playing at one of the taco shops.”
“I’ll try,” she replied.
“That’s all I ask.”
After her mother went back inside, Amelia let out a long breath. She felt off, and the day had barely begun. She probably needed to take it easy, but it was hard to when she knew Daniel wouldn’t understand why.
“Hey,” a deep voice brought her out of her thoughts. She turned, seeing the very man she’d been thinking of peering from the doorway.
“Morning,” she greeted.
“Good morning,” he replied. “I was thinking about running to Target on the mainland. I need stronger sunscreen. Do you want to come? I’ll get us breakfast.”
The thing was, she did want to go. There was nothing better than a Target run when she was in the mood for it.
“Sure,” she said. “Let me just get dressed.”
She got up, ignoring the red flags in her mind. Going shopping was not a huge deal. If she could handle getting to work every day, then she could go get some sunscreen.
What was the worst that could happen?
***
As it turned out, the worst thing that could have happened was being followed by a screaming child.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like kids, but she didn’t like loud noises. Her eyes nearly watered at the high-pitched screaming. That, plus the fact that it was packed to the brim with people, had Amelia regretting everything.
Breakfast had been fine. Even driving had been fine. But now she was realizing that it had all lulled her into a false sense of security.
Daniel had grabbed her hand. When he did, she couldn’t form a single sentence—not even a thank you. But she could easily agonize over how stupid she must have looked, needing her fake boyfriend to hold her hand in a busy Target so she wouldn’t get lost.
By the time they got out and were walking to the car, her ears were ringing from all the noise.
“How was it so busy on a weekday morning?” Daniel grumbled. “Shouldn’t more people be at work?”
“Vacation town,” she muttered. Her head was pounding.
“I should have just stayed on the island and bought a more expensive one,” he said. “Sorry for dragging you out in this.”
She climbed into the passenger seat. “It’s fine.”
It wasn’t his fault. She was the one who’d gone with him, even though her brain wasn’t working with her. She should have bowed out. She leaned her head back on the headrest and tried to calm down, but her brain felt like static.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” It was a lie, but how else could she explain it in a way that didn’t make her seem . . . crazy.
Amelia could feel his eyes linger on her for a moment, and she wanted to shrink away from his gaze.
“I have a headache,” she admitted as she rubbed her temples. “It just happens sometimes.”
Daniel nodded, staying silent instead of forcing her to keep talking. She leaned her head against the window of the car with her eyes closed, and he drove them back to the condo in silence.
Everything was louder and sharper. Her mind ran too fast and she couldn’t focus.
Usually, her medicine would help her with this, but as she thought about it, she realized she hadn’t taken it yet. It was hours after her usual dosage time.
No wonder she was struggling. Damn it. It was the first thing she needed to do when they got back to the condo.
They pulled in thirty minutes later, and Amelia barely waited for the car to be parked before she dashed upstairs. “Amelia?” John asked. “What are you—”
“Forgot my medicine. Daniel doesn’t know about it, so zip it.” The words rushed out of her, and she went to their room and took it as quickly as she could.
When she turned, she could see John’s pursed lips, and she knew he definitely had something to say about Daniel not knowing about her ADHD.
But, thankfully, he kept his mouth shut.
Daniel walked into the condo, looking at her with concern.
“I just needed to take something for my head.”
John’s eyes widened at the lie, but she ignored him.
“O-okay,” Daniel said. “But you can tell me if I did anything wrong. I can handle it.”
John gestured to Daniel, eyes wide. She could read the message clear as day. He’s nice. Why aren’t you telling him?
But she’d never told him the real ways others had reacted to her ADHD. How even her best friend in college had mentioned the way the medications she took could be abused. How the one person she was supposed to trust the most completely betrayed her.
No. She couldn’t do it again. Not for a real boyfriend, and especially not for a fake one.
“Mom said we were going to a taco shop for dinner,” Amelia said. “Are you going?”
