3. Sydney

CHAPTER 3

SYDNEY

M y insides churned with anxiety, but I couldn’t let him see me sweat. I’d agreed to the deal, against my better judgement. But I did love his family and usually spent the holidays alone watching Hallmark Christmas movies, so things could have been worse.

“So let me get this straight—your entire family thinks we’re together? Even your brother?” Nick and his brother Nate were close; I was surprised he didn’t know about the break-up.

Nick’s lips formed a thin, tight line. He shrugged, then looked over his shoulder to change lanes, conveniently avoiding eye contact.

“It never came up. I was only in Arizona for like two months. Nate made it out to one game. My parents never managed to get there; I’m pretty sure my dad’s allergic to the desert. So yeah, no one knows. Not even Nate.”

“Super,” I said, sighing. Even though I worked in PR, spinning tales about my personal life wasn’t really my jam.

“It’ll be fine, Syd. We’ll just keep it really cool, no big deal.”

“Define ‘really cool,’ Nick. Like, is that holding hands? Hugging? Kissing?” My stomach clenched as I rolled through the levels of affection. How was I going to do those things with Nick and not get attached again? Breaking up with him sucked. He didn’t know it, but I’d been gutted after our break-up. Now here I was, going home with the one guy I absolutely could not get involved with, pretending to be his girlfriend.

What could possibly go wrong?

“I’d say yes to all of the above. Otherwise, it won’t look legit. Nate will be suspicious for sure, and so will my mom. So yeah. We have to act like we’re still together.” He met my gaze out of the corner of his eye and my breath caught in my throat.

It was gonna be a long week.

“Fine. I can do this,” I said, drawing on some magical inner-strength reserve. “I’m annoyed, but I can do it for a week. For your mother.” I emphasized the last sentence so he knew I meant business.

“Thanks, Syd. I really appreciate it.”

I shook my head, a swirling cocktail of anxiety, anticipation, and apprehension coursing through me in equal parts. Nick Milton still did it for me—charming, funny, gorgeous. And did I mention sexy as hell? But he was also a player for the team I now worked for, a hard HR no. Dating him was practically career suicide and my job was literally my life. So what the hell was I thinking participating in this charade?

I folded my arms across my chest, firming up my resolve. No matter what happened this week in Starlight Bay with Nick, we had to be over. For the sake of my career. I’d worked too hard and come too far to blow it over a romance. Our “relationship” had to have an expiration date of Christmas, no matter how great we fit together.

S tarlight Bay was the quintessential New England beach town, the sort of place pictured on postcards. The holidays only made it more magical, evergreen garland and huge red bows adorning every streetlight, with a huge Christmas tree standing tall in the town square. Nick’s parents lived in a quiet suburban neighborhood a few minutes from the town center. Under normal circumstances, I would have loved coming here.

I pushed those thoughts away as Nick pulled up to the house, a gray-and-white two-story Cape Cod with a wraparound front porch, white columns, and dormer windows. Oversized wreaths decorated the double front doors, with matching garland draped down the stair railing. Like I said, picture perfect.

“You ready?” Nick asked, glancing over at me, a tiny crease between his brow the only sign of worry on his handsome face.

I took a deep breath. “I suppose.” Plastering on a smile, I turned towards him. “Is this a good game face?”

He chuckled, the tiny crease disappearing. “Yeah. That’s a great game face.”

Before I knew it, he’d leaned over into my space, dropping a soft kiss on my lips. My traitorous body melted under his touch, a ripple of desire shooting straight through me. Damn it, Sydney. Keep it together.

I pulled away slightly, even though every fiber of my being screamed not to. “Nick…”

“Figured we needed a warm-up before seeing my family.”

His gorgeous face was still only inches from mine, not helping the palpitating heart situation one little bit. I met his gaze, biting the corner of my lip, trying to regain a semblance of control.

“Well, thanks for keeping it PG,” I managed to quip, even though other parts of me did not fully agree with this sentiment.

“My mom’s probably watching.” He glanced towards the house.

“Oh. Right.”

Popping the trunk, he jumped out to grab the luggage. I sat back, took a deep breath.

Nick opened my door. “You coming in?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Grabbing my purse, I followed Nick and the suitcases up the steps.

The front door flew open and there stood Nick’s mom.

“Nick! Sydney! Welcome home!”

She stepped out, embracing first Nick, then me in a tight bear hug. “It’s so good to see you, sweetie.” She smacked a kiss on his cheek, gave my arm a rub. “How have you been? Are you hungry? Can I get you a cup of tea?”

The questions poured out of her as I stood there, mute. Nick waved a hand at me, ushering me into the warm hallway.

A matching garland with twinkling lights lined the banister and to the right was the living room, a silver-and-gold decorated tree the focal point of the room. Beyond the tree stood a brick fireplace, the mantle hung with matching stockings embroidered with names; they’d even hung one for me. This realization caused my heart to squeeze tighter, my stomach queasy with the fraud. Why did Nick put me in this position?

“Sydney, it’s wonderful to see you! You’re more beautiful than ever—I don’t how Nick ever managed to land a lovely girl like you!” She beamed at me, her stylish auburn bob bouncing as she teased her son.

“He’s quite a catch,” I said, smiling over at Nick, who seemed one-thousand percent fine with the charade.

“Well, thank you for saying so. I’ll fix you kids a snack and some tea. You can take your stuff upstairs and get settled in. The guest room is done up for you. I forgot to tell you—Gran’s staying in your old room this week, Nick. You kids can have the other bedroom; it’s fine.” She winked at us and my anxiety ratcheted up, my stomach roiling.

“Thanks, Mom. That’ll be great.” Nick grabbed both suitcases and I followed behind, not wanting to be stuck in the kitchen alone with his mother.

“Nick,” I harsh-whispered as we climbed the stairs. “You didn’t tell me your gran was here too!”

He glanced over his shoulder. “My gran’s here, too.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, climbing the last stair and following him to the end of the hall. We walked into the guest room and I froze in my tracks.

“One bed!”

“Who has two guest beds, Syd? It’s fine.” He shook his head, rolling the suitcases over towards the closet.

“Says the person sleeping on the floor.”

“Whoa.” He stopped, held up his hands. “I am not sleeping on the floor. I am a professional athlete. And I have a bad back.”

“Well, I’m not sleeping on the floor. I’m the guest.”

“That’s why we’re in the ‘guestroom’,” he said, using air quotes.

“Ha freaking ha.” I let out a heavy sigh. “I guess we’ll sleep together. In one bed.” I looked at the inviting queen bed, perfectly made up with a fluffy white duvet, then glanced down at the hard, wood floor. “Because I’m not spending a week sleeping on the floor.”

“And I’d never ask you to,” Nick said, stepping towards me, his hands circling my waist.

“Well, aren’t you the consummate gentleman?” I scoffed, gazing up at him.

“Always.” He bent down and kissed me again, a little longer and harder this time. I didn’t pull away, heat flashing through me. I couldn’t decide if the warmth was from excitement or aggravation. All I knew for sure was this situation just got a lot riskier.

“No pictures, Milton,” I said, breaking away and locking my eyes on his. “I need to keep my job.”

He nodded. “Agreed. I won’t post anything to social media. The entire week.”

“Me neither. From now until Christmas, we’re off the grid.”

“Sounds good. It’s just the two of us, home with my family in Starlight Bay for the holidays. No media, no press. No one needs to know.”

“Perfect. After Christmas, we’re back to business.”

“That’s the deal.”

“Okay. As long as we have that straight.”

“Loud and clear, Syd.” He stepped away from me, scrubbing a hand through his sandy hair, and my chest tightened.

WTF? That was our deal, so why did hearing him say it out loud leave me feeling so depressed?