Page 63 of Make-Believe Match

“I wasn’t sure. I know she doesn’t want me to be lonely, but swallowing our story takes some serious suspension of disbelief.” I looked over at him behind the wheel of my car. “What about your family? Will they buy it?”

“I think so. My parents got married really quickly too.”

“Thisquickly?”

“Well, no,” he admitted. “The story was that on their first date, he told her he was going to marry her. Six months later, he did.”

I gasped. “Oh, that’s so romantic. I love it.”

“And my brother Austin fell for his kids’ nanny this summer. I wasn’t around, of course, but Xander told me it happened pretty fast.”

“But they’re not engaged or anything.”

“No. But I’ve seen them together, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if it happened soon. They’ll be there tonight, I’m sure.”

I sifted through what I knew about his family. “None of your siblings are married, right?”

“Right. Austin is dating Veronica, the nanny. Xander had a girl with him the night I met you at the bar, and it was obvious he was into her, but he was hired to be her bodyguard, so he felt a little weird about it.”

“What?” I turned to face him in the passenger seat. “I didn’t know he was a bodyguard! I thought he was opening a bar.”

“He is. He was a Navy SEAL, and then he did private security for a few years, and this summer he moved back home to open a bar. But an old Navy buddy called in a favor—he asked Xander to provide twenty-four seven security for his sister while she took a vacation up here.”

“Why did she need that kind of security?”

“Ever hear of Pixie Hart?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s her. Except I was introduced to her as Kelly.”

“Seriously? Wow!” I laughed. “So Pixie Hart was at The Broken Spoke that night? Incognito?”

“Yes. But he took her back to Nashville last week, so I’m not sure what’s going on with them.”

“Wait a minute.” I snapped my fingers a few times. “I just saw something online today about Pixie Hart. Apparently, she was assaulted last night at some big country music awards ceremony.”

Devlin frowned. “Is she okay?”

“Yes. She was fine, just shaken up.”

“Xander must not have been there,” said Devlin. “He’dneverhave let that happen. I bet he was back up here already, getting ready for tonight.”

“So that’s Austin and Xander,” I said, counting off on my fingers. “You’re in the middle, right? What about your two younger siblings?”

“After me is Dash. He’s the one out in Hollywood. He’s an actor.”

“Like in the movies?”

“Television. Hewantsto do movies, but he got cast on this teen beach show calledMalibu Splashand signed a big, long contract. So he’s been stuck playing a teenager for five years, and he claims now he’s been typecast and can’t get other roles.” Devlin snickered. “His fans are all adolescent girls and their moms. It’s hilarious.”

“I’ve seen that show,” I said. “It’s cute. And now that you told me that, I do remember a guy who looks kind of like you. He’s got those blue eyes. He plays a lifeguard, right?”

“Yeah. Named Bulge,” said Devlin, cracking up.

“Aww, be nice. He’s chasing his dream.”

“Listen, Dash has a house in L.A., plenty of money—we call it ‘Bulge Bucks’ in our family—his face on billboards all over Hollywood, and girls all over him.” Devlin shook his head. “He can take some shit from his brothers. And it’s our duty to provide it.”