I love the fake dating trope! That said, it can be hard to come up with believable reasons for a couple to act out a romantic connection.
So how do we get all the way to a fake engagement?
In Zax and Lilah’s case, she’s the one who got away, having dumped him after an unforgettable one-night stand. And now she’s bulldozed back into his life, with paperwork to prove the half-finished tiny house he just bought is actually her property. Zax has to tread especially carefully, since his tiny house dreams are built on his Aunt Aggie’s land, and Aggie’s already skeptical about this whole enterprise.
***
Her espresso-dark eyes flash. “It was a one-night stand. Everyone understands the rules: what happens at Ren Faire stays at Ren Faire.”
Fed up with her justifications, I hook my finger through her necklace and tug her forward until our foreheads touch. “Don’t bullshit me, Lilah. You felt what I felt, and you’ll never convince me what we shared didn’t reach the heart you’re hiding beneath your leather armor.”
With a sexy snarl, she plants her palm on my chest and shoves hard. The delicate silver chain snaps, and Lilah’s patron saint tumbles to the ground between us.
She stoops to grab it at the same time as I do, and our skulls collide painfully.
“Damn your hard head, Zachary Dupré.” She clutches her forehead. “Why can’t you leave well enough alone?”
“Why can’t you—” I roar, but before I can finish the thought, Aggie storms up the path, waving her forefinger like a sword of justice.
“No sir,” she hollers, “not in my RV park. No way are we having a repeat of last summer.”
Not this again. Aggie can’t blame me for the actions of a woman who was clearly looking for trouble, or at least for a distraction from her four rambunctious kids and the husband who ignored them to watch sports on his phone. Not my fault she trailed me around the park, amping up her cringey flirtation until even her checked-out hubby couldn’t ignore her antics. Not my fault they woke the whole campground at three a.m. with their cursing and squabbling.
Aggie jabs me right in the solar plexus. “This is a family establishment, gosh darn it!” Her chin wobbles, and so does her voice. “My summer guests are the closest I’ll ever get to grandkids. And this kind of bull-dookie will drive them away.” She sniffles and swipes her eyes with her sweatshirt sleeve. “Maybe I was wrong to let you live here.”
Shit on a flaming stick.
Aggie knows she can’t keep this park open without me, having already run off everyone within a fifty-mile radius who’ll help her crotchety ass. But now is not the time for that kind of harsh truth. I need to placate her, and fast.
Lilah beats me to the punch, winding her arm through mine and wreathing her face in an angelic smile. “We’re sorry, ma’am. You know how it can be. Sometimes the people we love the most drive us the craziest.” She squeezes my biceps. “I promise you, we’d never argue like this in front of little ones.”
Aggie eyes us and huffs. “’Bout time Zax brought home a woman strong enough to keep him in line.” She points to the crux of our argument. “You two worked out what to do with that shack?”
Lilah and I exchange a look. She nods. “We’ve got a plan. I hope you don’t mind my sticking around while we build her out.”
“Where are you gonna stay?” Aggie asks, “’Cause I’m having the cabins fumigated. Won’t be inhabitable for a week.”
I wince. Truly, the fates are shitting on me today. But if I can pull this off without ruffling Aggie’s feathers, she’ll let me install more tiny houses here after Lilah leaves.
I snug my nemesis close, press my lips to her ear, and whisper, “Play along, and I’ll build your interior for free.”
“You swear?” she whispers.
“Hand to God.” I pull the key to her tiny house from my jeans pocket, then fumble it so it drops at her feet.
What is it about this woman that’s turned me into Mr. Butterfingers today?
The key lands in a tuft of grass. I drop to one knee to retrieve it. Above my head, I hear a gasp, echoed by Aggie’s squeak of surprise.
I look up to see Lilah, hands clapped over her mouth, eyes sparkling with wicked glee.
“Yes, Zax Dupré,” she chokes out through manic giggles. “I’ll marry you.”
****
Take me to Zax & Lilah’s fake dating second chance romance!