Chapter Two: Cassie

“Byron?” Sophie arched a questioning eyebrow at the fair-haired man sitting next to her. It almost felt like he was avoiding meeting her gaze. It was strange seeing such a muscular, attractive man being so shy.

“I...” He glanced at Sophie, then looked at Cassie. “Why would I enter the competition with you?”

“Yes.” Cassie turned on her barstool to look at the man, clothed in black slacks, a white shirt complete with waistcoat and tie. He might seem odd and out of place, if it wasn’t for the fact that he looked like something straight out of a romance novel. Not that Cassie read romance novels...often.

At least, not that she would admit to anyone.

Her eyes lingered on Byron’s impressively broad chest before traveling upward to his face, which seemed to be carved from granite, sending a wave of heat across her skin. Was it her, or had the temperature in the tavern gone up several degrees?

“And your answer is?” Sophie gave Byron a look that Cassie could not decipher. Was she missing something here?

“Why wouldn’t I?” Byron stammered.

“That is a non-answer,” Cassie replied with a snort. “Sophie, you don’t have to pressure Byron into entering the competition with me. I’ll figure something out.”

“She isn’t,” Byron said quickly. “Pressuring me, I mean. I want to enter the competition. In fact, that’s precisely why I’m here.”

“Okay? Can you expand that comment a little more?” Cassie pressed for an answer.

“Who doesn’t need sagely, life-changing advice from a…magical tavern?” Byron asked.

“That is true.” Sophie nodded knowingly.

Cassie fell silent as she pondered over his answer. She still wasn’t convinced that Sophie wasn’t putting Byron up to this. But why would Byron agree? Out of pity? To impress Sophie?

She chewed her bottom lip as she mulled this over. Did it truly matter why Byron wanted to enter this competition? She needed him.

And she certainly needed all the sage advice she could get. Especially from The Lonely Tavern.

Cassie glanced around the olde worlde interior.

Most people thought the tavern was an amazing matchmaker. However, Cassie was sure it went deeper than that.

The tavern was not simply bringing couples together. No, it was giving them exactly what they needed.

She’d had long conversations with Flint, the bartender, about the tavern and the effects it had on his life. The tavern hadn’t only given him a mate, it had given him a new perspective on life, and the perfect job. And as for his wife Liselle, she hadn’t just gained a wonderful husband. Her interactions with the tavern had led her to opening up a brewery, enabling her to provide for her children.

And then there was Ash...and so many others.

“So, it’s agreed then?” Sophie’s question broke through Cassie’s inner thoughts.

“I’m game if you are...” Cassie held out her hand to Byron, who looked at it for a moment with something akin to fear, before he slowly raised his hand and slid it into hers.

Skin against skin, a warmth spread out from the point of contact, and threaded its way up her arm and across her chest, making her heart beat faster. She swallowed hard. This wasn’t right.

But as she opened herself to the sensations flooding her body, she couldn’t argue that it felt right.

“I’m…game,” he murmured, his voice a low rumble in his chest.

“Perfect!” Sophie grinned and reached for her drink, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Now, for you to be a convincing couple, you should go on a date.”

“A date?” Cassie squawked and instantly let go of Byron’s hand.

“Yes! This is a couples’ competition, isn’t it?” Sophie reminded her. “I think both the tavern and Morwenna could both spot a fake relationship from a mile away. So, you two are going to have to put in the work to be convincing. You don’t want to be disqualified, do you?”

“No, of course not.” Cassie frowned. “You don’t think there’s going to be like a couples’ quiz or something, do you? Like how we met, or our first date?”

“Maybe.” Sophie leaned in. “You never know if one of the tasks in the competition might involve you having intimate knowledge of each other. It’s going to be important for you two to be prepared.”

“Intimate knowledge?” Cassie puffed out her cheeks as sweat beaded her brow. There was something wrong with the air conditioning in the tavern, she was sure of it.

“Hey, Morwenna!” A rush of cool air soothed Cassie as the tavern door opened and in walked three older men. The Regulars. Harry, Stan and Burt. They really did fit their de facto name. They were practically part of the furniture, spending most evenings and often days here as well. “Is this right? The tavern is hosting a competition?”

“It would seem so,” Morwenna said with a resigned sigh.

“And only couples can enter?” Harry asked.

“If that’s what it says.” Morwenna glanced at the poster on the bar in front of Cassie. “I haven’t had a chance to go over the terms and conditions.”

“So when you say couples, can this just be a friendship thing?” Burt asked. “Perhaps we could enter as a throuple.”

“I’ll have to take advice on that,” Morwenna replied evasively.

“Advice from who?” Stan asked as they reached the bar.

“That knowledge is need to know,” Morwenna replied and reached for a tankard before pouring out a pint of the sour smelling bread brew. “Here.”

“I didn’t order bread beer,” Stan replied with a wrinkle of his nose.

“It’s a requirement for entry,” Morwenna said dryly.

“You are making it up.” Stan chuckled nervously.

“Are you willing to risk it?” Morwenna raised her eyebrows.

“Are you one of the judges in the competition?” Harry asked as Morwenna poured out two more bread beers and placed them down on the counter.

“That is need to know, too,” Morwenna said, “so there is no chance of bribery.”

Harry, Stan and Burt all picked up their bread bear and took a sip in tandem. “Mmm.” They all made the noise in unison, and Cassie couldn’t tell if it was a sound of enjoyment or disgust.

“You know she’s making it up,” Cassie leaned over and said to Harry, glad of the distraction from Sophie’s suggestion of a fake date with Byron.

“Are you so sure?” Morwenna narrowed her eyes at Cassie.

“My, you have good hearing, Morwenna.” Cassie glanced warily at her.

“I am a woman of many talents. And that apparently extends to littering fliers across the globe,” Morwenna said haughtily as she headed down to the other end of the bar to serve a customer.

“Are you entering the competition?” Burt asked as the three men gathered around and read the poster on the bar.

“Cassie and Byron are,” Sophie piped up.

“Ah, Byron.” Harry thrust out his hand. “Good to meet you. Sophie has told us all about you.”

“She has?” Byron shot Sophie a questioning glance as he shook Harry’s hand.

“But what she didn’t tell us was that you were dating our Cassie here.” Stan smiled broadly. “As a man who has recently started dating again, I am happy that you have found your true love at last.”

“Woah!” Cassie held up her hands. “No one said anything about true loves.”

“Oh, I just assumed...” Stan glanced at Sophie, who gave him a warning look. “My mistake.”

“But you are dating?” Harry asked as he looked up from the poster on the bar. “Because in the really, really small print.” He tapped his finger on the corner of the poster. “It says that competitors aren’t eligible if this competition is their first date.”

“It does?” Cassie frowned as she squinted at the print on the poster that was so small it looked as if it had been written by ants. Or imps, more likely.

“It does,” Harry assured her.

“Oh.” Cassie sagged back in her seat.

“Great!” Sophie clapped her hands together.

“Great?” Cassie could see nothing great about this new information at all.

“Yes.” Sophie nodded. “The competition isn’t for a couple of days. That gives you plenty of time to go on a date. Or two.”

“Yes,” Harry agreed. “If you go on a date before the competition begins, then you will have met with the terms.”

“Byron?” Cassie pressed her lips into a thin line as she looked at Byron, who had remained silent throughout this exchange. Entering a competition with her was one thing, but actually dating her was another. Even if it was a fake relationship, that was a lot to ask of a complete stranger.

“If that’s what the terms state,” he said with a shrug, though it looked as though he were trying to stifle a smile.

“Fantastic!” Sophie clapped her hands together in excitement.

“Maybe we could go for…a walk,” Cassie suggested.

“A walk?” Stan snorted.

“Isn’t that what most people do on a first date?” Cassie looked at Byron for help.

“I believe it is,” Byron agreed. “A romantic walk is a suitable first date as it takes place in a neutral, low-pressure setting. At least that’s what I’ve read.”

All eyes turned to him.

“In a magazine…while I was waiting…for a dentist appointment?” He turned to avoid their gaze.

“Oh, goodness, you two,” Burt said with a shake of his head. “That’s not a date!”

“Why not?” Cassie asked defensively.

“Because...” Bert paused. “It’s not. It’s more of an icebreaker.”

“You’re going to need to turn up the romance dial to hot.” Harry explained. “This is the tavern we’re talking about.”

“The tavern?” Byron asked,

“Yes.” Stan dropped his voice to an almost inaudible whisper. “It’s good at sniffing out fake relationships. And it does not take kindly to them, trust me.”

“So, if you want to convince the tavern, then you have to have a proper date,” Burt announced.

“What do you suggest?” Byron asked.

“Oh!” Stan turned and scanned the room. “We’re experts.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Cassie muttered as Harry, Stan and Burtall slid off their seats and rearranged a couple of the nearby tables.

“There,” Harry announced proudly.

“So what, we just sit at the table and…?” Cassie asked.

“You talk, silly,” Sophie said.

“About what?” Byron asked. “Should we select a topic?”

“Yourselves, obviously,” Burt chided.

Cassie turned to Byron. “So…what’s your favorite color?”

“Not like that!”Stan shook his head in disappointment.

“Do you like...ice cream?” Byron ventured.

“No!” Burt cried.

“Then like what?” Byron asked, exasperated.

“Watch this.” Sophie checked Morwenna was distracted before she reached up and grabbed two crystal wine glasses from where they hung upside down over the bar before she nodded at Burt and offered him one of the glasses. “I need a willing volunteer.”

“It would be my pleasure.” Burt accepted the glass, and they both sat down around the table that had been singled out, watched by the group at the bar.

Sophie swirled imaginary wine around in her glass. “So, tell me, Burt. What do you do for fun around here?”

“It’s hard to say. There’s never a dull moment in this town. Especially with such lovely company. However, the beach really is the gem of this town.” Burt took a sip of thin air from his glass.

“I’ve always heard that the bay here is a must see under the full moon.”

“Then you’d have heard right.” Burt tilted his head. “Perhaps we should go for a moonlit stroll. I think the stars would look wonderful in your eyes.”

“Perhaps we could,” Sophie said, fluttering her eyelashes at Burt.

“So tell me, where have you been hiding yourself all my life?” Burt asked in a smooth voice.

“Oh, you charmer! I’m from a little place called ‘The Dragon Isles.’” She winked at Byron, whose cheeks were quickly becoming red. “You might have heard of it.”

“Only that the mountains there are as stunning as its women.” In pantomime fashion, Burt placed his chin on his hand, looking as though he were admiring a painting at an art gallery. “And what would someone like yourself do for fun?”

“Why, give my friends a master class on how to have a successful first date,” Sophie said with a demure smile that made Cassie want to curl up and die a sad, lonely death.

“Cheers to that.” Burt grinned and raised his glass.

Sophie raised hers and they clinked them together, before turning in their chairs and bowing to the bar. Stan and Harry put their hands together in applause.

“Bravo,” Harry said.

“Good show, you two,” Stan said.

Byron and Cassie glanced at one another, grimacing.

“See, it’s that easy.” Sophie sat back down on her stool and replaced the glasses behind the bar.

“Nothing to it.” Burt nodded.

“You two don’t think so?” Sophie asked as she saw their faces.

“I just…don’t get it.” Cassie shrugged.

“It just feels a bit forced?” Byron agreed.

“Well, it won’t when you’re on a real date,” Harry assured them.

Cassie eyed him in disbelief. “But we’re not going on a real date, remember? The whole point of this is to have a fake date just to practice for the competition.”

“Oh, yeah.” Sophie pursed her lips. “I’m sure you guys will figure it out. Just be romantic.”

“Easier said than done.” Byron turned back to the bar and took a gulp of his beer.

Cassie thought about ordering one herself, or something much stronger. As much as it would have irritated her, she wished Byron were romantic. Then he could have navigated them through this romance business so they could make this fake relationship seem half-convincing.

Instead, she was left wondering whether she would have even a chance of qualifying, let alone winning the prize for whatever the tavern had in store for its competition.