Fakecation, page 7
He hopped into the shower, hoping it would take his mind off of her. It drowned out the memory of her shoulder pressing against his, and when he got out, he felt more put together. He reached for his usual hair cream but paused as she once again invaded his mind.
They’re very stylish, but I’d hate for you not to sleep because of them.
Technically, slicking his hair back wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was annoying to maintain and wash. Without it, however, his hair was messy, and his natural curls would be all over the place.
He considered going without it, but he wondered what Amelia would say. And then what her family would say.
The last thing he wanted to do was deviate from the person Amelia knew him as. After all, she’d asked the normal version of him to do this fake-dating thing.
After putting his hair in its usual style, he got dressed in a polo and khaki shorts, an outfit he considered somewhat formal, and wondered what it would be like to let go, even for just a little bit. He used to never be so worried about his appearance, but it was something Lucinda used to have a problem with.
Amelia was still asleep, so he went out into the main area, hoping to get some water.
“Don’t you look nice,” Mandy called from across the room.
He turned to face her and felt a slight pang of jealousy. She had been in a nice blouse and expensive-looking tailored jeans yesterday when they arrived, but now, her outfit was casual and ready for vacation life—making him feel overdressed.
“Thanks,” he said.
“Are you going somewhere? I’m heading out to get some coffee myself.”
“Maybe I should get Amelia something. She loves it in the morning.”
Mandy smiled. “You’re welcome to join me if you want. There is a shop only a half mile from here.”
“Of course,” he said. “Lead the way.”
Saying yes was the right thing to do, but his heart pounded at the idea of being alone with Amelia’s mother. Could he manage not to screw this up? He wasn’t so sure.
The minute they were out of the condo, Mandy said, “You know, Amelia didn’t even tell me she was dating someone. I was so surprised!”
“It’s new,” he replied.
“So she said.” Mandy pressed the button for the elevator. “I hear you two met at work.”
“We did. It was a few years ago.”
“So, you’ve known each other a long time. What made you wait so long to ask her out?”
“I didn’t ask, she did. And we were different people when we met.”
“How so?”
Normally, he wouldn’t answer, but this wasn’t a coworker, this was Amelia’s mom, who undoubtedly only wanted to know how this all happened.
And Daniel wanted to be open with her. He didn’t want to be businesslike. Not here.
Not when Amelia herself was so open.
“I was married when we met.”
“Oh, really?” Mandy’s eyebrows rose.
“T-there was no overlap,” he rushed to say. “I would never—”
“I wouldn’t dare think that.” She waved her hand. “I’m just wondering when this started and why Amelia didn’t tell me.”
“We only went on our first date a couple of weeks ago.”
“So it’s very new, then.”
“Yes. And I hope me being divorced doesn’t change how you feel about our relationship.”
Mandy frowned. “Why would that change anything? Marriages can end for all kinds of reasons.”
“She’s your daughter. You’re bound to be protective.”
“She’s also very smart,” Mandy added. “And she’s grown. She’s going to do what she wants to do, even if it’s be single for five years. Thank God that’s over with, though. I could only meddle so much before she stopped answering my calls.”
His heart refused to slow down. This was getting close to a topic he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about. Mandy’s meddling was definitely a point of contention that he didn’t want to get in the middle of.
“So, how long have you and Randy been together?” he asked, hoping pivoting would be the best solution.
“Oh, we’re nearing thirty years,” she replied. “We married young.”
“Wow.”
“Everyone told us we wouldn’t last, even our parents, but we put in the work to make it stick, and here we are.”
Work. Had he put in enough work with Lucinda? The countless hours at the office had piled up, but he wasn’t so sure that he’d done any emotional work with her.
Not that she had either.
What would it have been like to be in Mandy’s shoes, where both parties were dedicated to making it last? His mind flashed to Amelia. Would she have been?
“I’m glad you were able to,” he said, pulling himself out of his thoughts.
“Now, if it’s a bad relationship, it’s just bad. Like Amelia’s last boyfriend. Horrible man.”
Daniel almost asked for more details, but he stopped himself. Why did he want to know?
Amelia brought out a different sort of curiosity from him. Never before did he want to know every detail of someone else’s life, but he took each one in with an unusual sense of fascination.
Their conversation died down as they walked. He was too far in his thoughts and didn’t notice until minutes of silence had passed. He tried to think of something to say to fill the void, but nothing came to mind.
Mandy beat him to it as they walked into the coffee shop.
“This place is amazing,” she said. “It always smells so heavenly.”
Daniel couldn’t help but agree, even though he wasn’t a fan of the drink itself. He scanned the menu, wondering what Amelia would even like. The shop had helpful descriptions explaining what drink was what, but it still didn’t give him an answer. He’d only seen her with office-brewed coffee.
Mandy stepped into line and ordered. Daniel followed suit, eyes landing on something random. A macchiato, where espresso was on the top and foamed cream was on the bottom.
“Huh,” Mandy said, “is that what Amelia likes these days?”
“I always like to surprise her,” he replied.
Mandy shrugged and got her finished drink. Daniel grabbed his, wondering if Amelia would even take a sip of it.
“I’m glad she’s trying new things. Sometimes, she has an idea of what’s best for her, and it’s not really what is.”
“Sometimes new things can be good.” Or he hoped.
They returned to the condo in silence, and Daniel still couldn’t think of a thing to say.
“You’re a quiet one, aren’t you?” Mandy asked.
“People say that, yes.”
“I hope it’s not us. I know our family can be a lot.”
“No, of course not. I’m honored you invited me. It just takes me some time to warm up to people. Some people say I can be a little businesslike at first.”
She nodded, and Daniel hoped it was enough.
They entered the condo as Amelia was coming out of their room with messy hair and a sleepy expression on her face.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Coffee. A macchiato, to be exact.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had one,” she said, taking it from him.
“It’s espresso at the top and cream on the bottom.”
She took a sip and her eyes popped open. “Oh, yeah. There’s the espresso.”
“I think the cream is the reward.”
“So it punches me awake and then I get a sweet treat at the end? I think I like this.” She smiled and took another sip. “Thank you for getting it for me.”
“You were right,” Mandy said. “Something new is good for her.”
His chest loosened. That had been dumb luck, but he would take any point in his favor.
Chapter Nine
Amelia
As she got to the bottom of the cup, Amelia knew she would be ordering a macchiato from now on.
With the caffeine and her medication in her system, she felt wide awake. She thanked Daniel one more time before looking around to see if her mom was still lingering in the living room of the condo. Usually, on vacation, her mom wanted to adventure, even if they’d stayed on Folly Beach many times.
It wasn’t like her to stay in, but Amelia had seen it before when her mother’s mental health was on a downward trajectory.
“Is everything okay?” Daniel asked. She’d been staring at the door of her parents’ room, thinking of all the ways things could go wrong while he was here.
And apparently, he’d noticed.
She bit her lip, wondering what to say. The last time she’d told a significant other of her mom’s diagnosis of bipolar disorder, Andrew had thought her mom was . . . crazy.
And Amelia hated that word.
“Yeah, everything is good. Want to go swimming?”
Daniel blinked at the change of subject, but he didn’t call her out on it. “Sure.”
“All right, let’s get changed.”
As he walked away, Amelia realized what she’d offered. Swimming meant getting into her next-to-nothing two-piece swimsuit.
As much as she would love to be secure about her body, she found it hard not to look at herself and see things she wished were different. Her weight fluctuations had caused stretch marks on her belly. Her thighs rubbed when she walked. Her boobs were just a bit smaller than she’d like.
Amelia was well aware that she didn’t look anything like his ex. And sure, this was for show, but Andrew proclaimed that it wasn’t possible for men not to let it show when they were disgusted by a woman they didn’t like to look at. It was why she had dieted for so long before leaving him for good.
She walked to their room. Daniel came out of the bathroom wearing a T-shirt and his swim shorts. She tried not to let her emotions show on her face as she pulled out her swimsuit and went to the bathroom.
Her best bet would be not to overthink this, but that wasn’t something she was good at. Her brain operated like a well-oiled machine when it had something bad to spiral over, and once the spiral began, it often thought of too many things all at once. She tried her best to ignore the whispers of doubt as she pulled it on, but it didn’t work.
She cursed when she realized she didn’t have her cover-up. She waited a moment, content to braid her frizzy hair, hoping he would leave the room so she could run out and grab it. It was only delaying the inevitable, but she’d rather have his reaction be in public where, in theory, he’d school his expression.
Eventually, he did leave, and she ran out, throwing her cover-up on before following behind him.
He was applying sunscreen on his toned arms. This was a bad time for her to notice, but she couldn’t help it. As he lathered on the cream, she could see every curve of muscle on his arms. Where else was he toned?
And was she going to be able to keep it together long enough to see it?
Amelia tore her eyes away, determined not to make things weirder than they already were.
So what if he was hot? She knew that when she invited him. It was fine. She could easily make it through this trip without acting on it.
She busied herself with grabbing a bag for towels and sunscreen. By then, Daniel had finished his task, too.
“I’ll get the rest of my body down by the pool,” he said. “Ready?”
Amelia nodded, gesturing for him to lead the way.
It was a hot and sunny day. They found a free pool chair in the corner of the swimming area, where Daniel pulled off his shirt.
Amelia froze. He was even better shirtless. He had lightly defined muscles and a lithe build that she would be dreaming about.
Nope. Don’t do it.
She focused on what she needed to do. That was when she knew she couldn’t delay the inevitable.
Her cover-up came off and went into the bag. She could feel the sticky air hit her skin, and she purposefully didn’t look at Daniel as she rubbed her shoulders.
There was the sound of a whistling catcall, and Amelia’s eyes shot up. An old man was looking at her with a lecherous grin on his face.
“Seriously?” she muttered.
Daniel moved closer. “That’s unnecessary.”
Amelia looked over at him and saw he was glaring in the direction of the man. His body was angled toward her, sending a clear message that she wasn’t alone.
Was he being protective? Over her?
Why?
A thousand more thoughts fought for attention in her mind.
“Do you need me to get your back?” he asked, looking down at her.
Her mouth went dry at the idea of his hands on her, but she slowly nodded. They gently pressed into her skin, making long, sure strokes on her shoulders and middle back. Everything else around her slipped away, and all she could focus on was how good his hands felt on her body.
Questions came rolling into her mind as her focus snapped.
Could she get him to lotion other parts of her body? Was he this gentle with Lucinda? Would he be like this in other places?
But her thoughts vanished in a puff of smoke when his hands stopped on her shoulders. His grip tightened, and he pulled her close. She shivered, despite the heat in the air.
“Can I kiss your neck?” he asked in a low tone.
“Y-yes.” The words tumbled out of her. At that moment, he could kiss her anywhere. His lips traced her shoulder, and she closed her eyes, wishing she could memorize every second of the moment. He moved upward, his kiss landing right on the sensitive spot of her neck. She let out a surprised gasp.
He went higher, right until his lips were next to her ear. “There,” he whispered, “that should send the message.”
Her eyes popped open. Message?
Shit. The wolf-whistler. Daniel was sending a message to him.
Amelia’s heart sank, and she stepped away from him. Of course. This fake relationship was exactly that.
Fake.
Maybe she should have brought her vibrator or something. Then she could take care of these thoughts that refused to leave. But then again, when would she even have time?
“Good idea,” she said. “You put on a good show.”
His eyes lingered on her face, and she realized he was breathing hard. Had he been affected by that too?
“Sorry if it was too far. I just didn’t like the idea of you getting hit on like that.” His eyes left her, and he rubbed the back of his neck.
“It’s fine.” More than fine, even. He could easily do it again and she wouldn’t complain. “Do you want to get into the pool now? I doubt anyone else will try anything.”
Daniel nodded. Amelia wasted no time jumping straight in. She needed the cold rush after what had just happened.
“Refreshing,” she said when she spotted Daniel with only his feet in.
“I don’t think I can handle cold water like you can.”
“Not many people can.”
He nodded, and Amelia’s brain started to go back to what had just happened by the chairs, but she shook it off.
Instead, she decided to enjoy the water to quiet her brain. She loved swimming, and the feeling of moving in water always calmed her down. She did a few backstrokes, enjoying that the pool wasn’t too crowded as she swam around.
When Amelia was finally done, Daniel was still watching her.
“You could get in, you know,” she said as she swam over to him. “You adjust to the water over time.”
“I will. I was just noticing how relaxed you look. You don’t look like that at work.”
“Vacation life agrees with me. There’s something about being in water that does good things for my brain.”
You and your weird brain.
Andrew. That had been Andrew.
“You already looked stressed again,” Daniel noted. “Thinking about work?”
Nope. Just my asshole ex that ruined my faith in humanity.
“Things slip in sometimes,” she said. “I’m going to do a few more laps to get back into vacation mode.”
She swam off before anything else could pop in. The water did its job, and by the time she stopped, she felt the last bits of her sadness vanish.
Daniel had gotten all the way in but didn’t look happy about it.
“Now I see why all the adults stay in the hot tub,” he muttered.
“What? Can’t handle the cold?”
“I usually stay warm. This is odd for me.”
“It would be a shame if someone . . . splashed you.”
“Don’t you dare.”
It was too late. Spurred on by her own impulsiveness, Amelia threw water on him. He nearly jumped. At first, he attempted to get away from her, but when that didn’t work, he tried a different tactic.
His muscled arms wrapped around her, their skin pressing together. He quickly warmed, possibly because of the head-to-toe blush that Amelia could feel crawling up her own body.
“Now you can’t splash anymore.”
“This is cheating,” she protested. “Foul play.”
“The only foul play was what you just did. Now, if I let you go, will you be good?”
“What do I get for being good?”
“A pat on the head. Maybe some words of affirmation, like me calling you my good girl. Or my well-behaved . . .”
The rest of his sentence faded away. My good girl. She liked that term. Did he talk like that in bed? Was that what he would whisper to her when they—
Nope. Abort thought.
“Not good enough,” she said and jumped, plunging them both into the water. Really, it was for the best. The only way for her to wipe their last exchange from her memory was to throw herself under the cold surface.
“I should have seen that coming,” Daniel said, pushing his hair out of his face.
“You’re used to the water now, though, right?”
“I suppose I am. But I’m not taking that lying down.”
“Technically, you were standing until I knocked you over.”
He gave her a flat look.
Anxiety poked at her. Maybe she was taking it too far. Maybe she needed to tone it down and be normal for a second.
But then Daniel smiled. “You’ll regret this snark when I come up with a way to get you back.”
