Chapter Thirteen

Wyatt

The waves were breaking too close to the shore today. It were pretty normal for Miami, so I wasn't all that surprised, but if there was ever a day I wished we had better surfing conditions, it was today. I craved being out on a board. Sometimes I needed it just as much as I needed air in my lungs. There was something about the ocean that beckoned me and riding waves made it even better. Instead, today, I settled for walking along the beach with the sand beneath my feet and between my toes.

Watching the sunrise above the horizon, I saw shades of orange and red color the sky. It was going to be a hot day for winter, but that wouldn't stop beachgoers from crowding the beach soon enough. Saturday was always one of the most popular days. If you didn't come out early and get a prime spot, you had little chance in getting one at all. For now, though, it was just early enough where I could be alone with my thoughts. I relished that.

The way Brandy swept into my life and office this week still had my mind reeling. At first, I remembered the woman I met at the bar, the sexy, flirty woman. It was our second meeting and interaction that had me questioning everything. Was it possible I misread her entirely? Was she just another woman looking for drama?

Both times, she seemed so in control, like she knew what she wanted and was going to go for it with a vengeance, no matter what. But this, this latest interaction felt a little out of left field.

But then I thought about how vulnerable she looked telling me about her mother and I actually felt something for her. Was it pity, I wondered. No, it was more like sympathy. If anyone knew about pressure from their family, it was me. These days that was all I was feeling. In fact, I had managed to get out of tonight's family dinner just to avoid their incessant nagging about my love life or lack thereof. I told them I had to drive to Tampa tonight for a last-minute meeting with a potential client tomorrow morning. It was all true, don't get me wrong, but I was glad I had the excuse.

I knew my family wanted me to start dating, but what if I did and they didn't like the girl I chose to date? I could only imagine. I almost laughed at the would-be irony of them wanting me to move on so bad that I chose the wrong woman.

It was funny, really, because when I met Susan and brought her home for the first time, it never even dawned on me that they wouldn't like her. I was so confident in her, in us, that it was never up for discussion. And I was right, they loved her, welcoming her as if she was one of their own. To some extent, I supposed she was, especially after we married. It might have been impromptu and they weren't there for the wedding, but they didn't mind. They knew the reason why we were married so fast and supported us, wanting to give her dying mother a chance to see her only daughter marry. Mom was a bit unhappy that she was robbed of seeing me get married, but she was a good sport about the whole thing, knowing she had three other sons to focus on.

Now that number shifted slightly. Damon went and eloped in his impulsive way. Colton was doing it all backwards, we weren't even sure they'd ever actually tie the knot. It was always one thing or another causing them to push the date back. And here I was, single again. Not that there stood any chance of me marrying again.

Let's be real, I would never find another woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Most people weren't so lucky to find a great love once in their life, to think, finding it twice felt nearly impossible. Plus, I wasn't looking for a relationship. It would be too hard.

In another time, another place. Heck, another life. Then maybe I would've considered exploring something with Brandy, but now, no way. Besides the fact that she clearly had a boyfriend she was into, my life was messy, my heart was still broken, and I wasn't going to bring a woman into that. The reality was, I was done. I had a great love, a woman who was perfect for me, and she was gone.

At this point, Deacon was Mom's best shot at seeing one of her sons get married, doing the whole wedding thing. Who would have figured, it would all ride on Deke?

I stopped to let the water hit my ankles and looked out. I couldn't help but laugh to myself. Yeah, Brandy wasn't alone. Frankly, if anyone knew a thing or two about family expectations, it was me.

Decidedly confident in my decision where Brandy was concerned, I pulled my phone from the pocket of my shorts and dialed her number I had plucked from Laurel's file before leaving the office yesterday. On some level, I wondered if I had already made my decision, if this walk along the beach, thinking, was really more so about convincing myself it was the right one.

I waited while the phone rang, knowing it was an ungodly hour, but if I didn't do it right now, I might change my mind.

She picked up on the fourth ring. "Hello?" she answered, and it sounded like there was a frog in her throat. "Hello?" she repeated more clearly the second time, obviously just waking up.

I smiled at the sound of her voice. That whisky-laced sound couldn't be missed and it was one I had come to really enjoy listening to, which was good because she always had a lot to say. "It's Wyatt. I'm in," I said without preamble.

"You called at this time to tell me something I already knew?" I swore I could hear her smiling. Then the laughter that ensued only confirmed my suspicions—she found this amusing.

Ignoring her arrogance, I looked up at the sky and closed my eyes momentarily. This was going to either be a lot of fun, which I was definitely due for, or the biggest challenge and thus mistake of my life. The verdict was still out. "I could've said no," I reminded her.

"But I knew you wouldn't. Okay, so we should meet and flush out the details of our story. We'll need to have it all in order before next weekend."

I looked at the readout on my phone. It was still a bit early, not for me, but for the rest of the world. "I'm free all day up until five." When I was due to drive out to Tampa where my hotel room would be waiting for me for the night.

"Well, I'm up now and Laurel doesn't need me today, so I can get dressed and meet you somewhere for breakfast," she offered.

I heard a moan and then the distinct sound of sheets being tossed aside. "Be right back," I heard her whisper and assumed she was talking to her boyfriend. I raked a hand through my hair and wished like hell I wasn't jealous. There I was, though, wishing I didn't just hear her talking to another man in her bed. What was my problem? This was fake. I was to be her fake boyfriend. I could never be a real boyfriend to anyone, not again. And she had a real one already, the whole reason we were doing this.

"Wyatt," she broke into my thoughts, "does breakfast work?"

Breakfast felt intimate for some reason. Most likely because the last time we were together we spent the night together, until I snuck out just before the sun came up, and now all I could think about was how she'd look waking up. Her blonde hair—would it be messy or would it fall pick straight around her shoulders? Would her lips be stained red from her lipstick the night before?

Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to our call. "No, let's meet after breakfast. Say, ten o'clock for coffee?"

She agreed and I named a place, but she'd apparently moved since the last time I'd been to her apartment, so we settled on something more central to us both and hung up.

Walking back up the beach, I eyed a joint that was open for breakfast. I'd be eating alone, but it was better this way.

* * *

I watched Brandy as she shifted in her seat, clearly nervous about this whole thing.

"This was your idea," I reminded her.

She nodded her head and tightened her grip on her purse sitting in her lap. "I know. Don't you think I know that? I know that, Wyatt. It's just—" She stopped mid-thought and sighed, suddenly fingering the handle of the mug and tracing it with her hand.

I knew I had to put her at ease otherwise this would all be for nothing. "Why don't we start at the beginning? What's our story going to be?" I prompted her, hoping that would help.

Her grip loosened and I could see her visibly relax as she sat back. I pushed the mug of coffee that was sitting on the table for her closer. She took a sip and swallowed. "Mmm." She moaned and licked her lips. "Did you know that if you add a little cinnamon into your coffee, it's practically golden? Although, I will never turn down a nice peppermint mocha latte." Then she pointed a finger in my face and her eyes widened as she grew more passionate about coffee, a topic that was so far away from what we were supposed to be talking about. "Black coffee is the worst!" She practically gagged. "I mean, it's disgusting. It has no taste and is—"

"Brandy," I cut her off and rubbed my forehead. "Brandy," I repeated. "I asked what our story was going to be. You said we should get our stories straight and I happen to agree."

She nodded and answered, "Right. It's my cousin's wedding. Her name is Jules. While everyone will be curious about us, the spotlight will be on her, so we could probably get away with glossing over the details a bit. I think we should keep them as close to reality as possible."

I nodded, listening, taking it all in. "So we met at a bar almost two years ago, I was in the Army, so I left and we never saw each other again until I was called to work for your boss, Laurel."

"Exactly. Toss in some facts about how we were attracted to each other, never forgot the other, and when we ran into each other again, it felt like destiny had brought us together," she said, biting her lip.

She began looking around, her eyes resting just past me, so I reached out and laid my hand over hers sitting on top of the table. "Not a lie in there," I pointed out as her eyes came to finally rest on me. "Not that we actually stood a chance, then or even now, but I think we can definitely sell the attraction part," I confessed.

"I told you, you can't fall in love with me, Wyatt Ryder." Her eyelashes started fluttering as she made eye contact with my hand on hers. "I'm with Nate and I love him."

I laughed and removed my hand. "I think I'll be okay. I don't plan on falling in love with anyone," I shared. It wasn't in the cards for us, that much I was sure of. I wouldn't allow it to get that far, especially for me. But there was something about the way she said it, that I wondered if she was trying to convince me or herself.

"Good. So let's talk about the wedding itself. It's one of those long wedding weekends. Thursday there's a welcome pool party. Friday is the rehearsal dinner in the evening. Saturday is the wedding, and Sunday is the farewell brunch. We can skip the pool party if you want. I feel like it's weird to go to a pool party as an adult. Maybe it's just because I've never attended a wedding weekend before. But it sort of reminds me of a pool party I went to in high school." She covered her mouth and started to laugh. "I had the biggest crush on the quarterback of the football team and I spent weeks shopping for the perfect bathing suit."

I cleared my throat, hoping she got the hint that she was doing it again. "Shouldn't be a problem."

"But your job," she pushed, an eyebrow hitched in the air.

I shook my head. "It's okay. I can take a few hours off."

Brandy bit her lip, which I was starting to notice was something she did when she was nervous. "Okay," she finally said.

"Everyone tells me I work too much, so it'll be good in fact," I thought aloud, realizing how happy Andrés would be to see me out of the office for a while, and this time not for a client meeting.

She nodded. "And you're sure about all this?"

"I thought you were so confident, so sure of yourself that this was perfect and I'd agree. Here I am, having agreed, telling you it's all good and you're questioning it? Are you sure about all this, Brandy? It is your life, after all."

It looked like she was considering my words. Then, finally, she nodded her head. "Duh! Of course, I'm sure. I guess I can't believe you really agreed. The way you showed up in my life the first time, and now. I don't know, it's like you're my guardian angel or something."

I shook my head. If I could've been a guardian angel for anyone, it should've been Susan. I should've been able to help her, save her, and yet I couldn't. I didn't even know there was anything wrong with her that would take her from me. On edge over Brandy's comment, I downed the rest of the contents of my coffee cup and stood up, pushing in my chair. "Then we're all set." And I was ready to say goodbye. I didn't want to hear her go on anymore about how I was this good guy. I was doing her a favor, that was all. Nothing about me was special and I certainly was no one's guardian angel.

"I just have to meet with my mom and give her the news," she said, following suit and standing, not noticing my shift. "Do you think I'll be able to sell it? I mean, I'm not concerned about her not being totally over the moon that I decided to move on from Nate. But I want to make sure she buys it. That she doesn't see right through it, you know?"

"You'll be great," I assured her, knowing she could sell this. That confident, strong woman I was first attracted to was in there, she just had to come back out and play pretend for a little while.

Pleased to be ending this meeting, I walked her to her car and got in my SUV, thinking about everything we'd discussed.

All in all, lie aside, I had a feeling it'd be fine, but she couldn't mistake me for something I wasn't.

Maybe we would have a little fun with all of this, but that was all it could ever be. Just a memory we could laugh about in years to come—separately, when we both moved on with our individual lives.