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“Ha-ha. Come on, Damaris. Be my girlfriend. It’s not that much to ask.”

“You said fiancée, not just girlfriend.”

“I said maybe my fiancée. Whatever, it’s all for show so what difference does it make?”

Okay, she must be as crazy as he was. Because she was considering saying yes.

Chapter Two

Nate could tell she was wavering. It wouldn’t take much to convince her to go along with him. He’d started to give his grandma another flat-out no, but then it had hit him. If he could convince Damaris to be his pretend girlfriend, and make it look real, maybe she’d have to acknowledge how good they were together. Maybe he could finally convince her that he was the right man for her.

“You said it’s all for show. Meaning we only have to convince your grandmother?”

“I thought about that. No, I think it would be better to pretend we’re for real. That way gossip wouldn’t get around to her. You know how Whiskey River is. Gossip spreads like weeds.”

“The saying is gossip spreads like wildfire.”

“Whatever. You can’t pee in Whiskey River without everyone knowing it.”

“Disgusting image but true. But how are you going to get out of it? I mean, you’re going to have to tell her eventually that we broke up. And if you tell her I’m your fiancée, which you keep saying might happen, then telling her we’re over will just disappoint her more.”

“I’ll worry about that later.”

“I don’t know, Nate. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why? Afraid you’ll fall for me?”

“Oh, that’s it, Mr. Egotistical. No, I’m not afraid of that.”

“Then what?”

“We’d be lying to your grandmother. And everyone else. Can I at least tell my family?”

“Hell, no. Your family is huge. Someone will spill it.”

“I can’t believe I’m even considering this.”

“But you are.” He’d gotten her with Grandma. Damaris loved his grandma. So he added another reason. “I told her no and she cried again. I have to tell you, Damaris, it shook me to the core.” Which was true.

“If I do this, and I’m not saying I will, then what do I have to do?”

“We have to act like we’re madly in love. Once we do that for a while, we’ll see how it’s going, but we might need to tell her we’re engaged.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Define madly in love.”

“Well, you’ll have to kiss me. A lot,” he added, warming to his subject. “In public. Gotta have some PDA to get back to her.”

“How much PDA?”

“Geez, Damaris. Kissing, hugging, holding hands. It’s not like we’re going to get it on in public.”

“We sure as hell aren’t.”

“You don’t have to say it like that. Am I that disgusting to you? It’s not like we’ve never kissed before.”

“That was a long time ago. A very long time ago.”

It was. And he, for one, had never forgotten it. “Let’s try it again. If you can’t stand it, I’ll have to tell her to forget it. I can’t think of anyone else I could ask to do this.”