Chapter Two

“I hate to admit it, but he melts my Haagen-Dazs.”

-Rose Nylund

“Welcome to Kennedy’s ten-year class reunion.” The crowd applauded and whistled.

Luke and Kelli both turned toward the stage. As the emcee was welcoming everyone, Luke tried to get his overactive libido in check. Hard to do when such a beautiful woman was standing close to him. Again, he thought about how he should remember someone who looked like her. He racked his brain trying to think of all the girls from his class.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t quite place you.” Something was niggling at the back of his mind. “What kind of stuff did you do in high school? Cheerleading? Soccer? Field hockey? Yearbook?”

She stared at a spot over his shoulder rather than meet his eyes. He also noticed she wrung her hands together like she was nervous. “Um, you know, like the usual stuff people did in high school.”

Before he could follow up on that, the emcee caught his attention again.

“We’re so excited that so many of you could come out tonight. We hope to see just as many, if not more, of you at our fifteen-year reunion. That’s why we’re already raising funds for it. Please continue to purchase raffle tickets, and we’ll be doing drawings for the donated baskets throughout the night. Starting with our first one, the Jane Austen basket.”

Next to him, Kelli gasped.

As the emcee explained the contents of the basket, his phone went off. He looked down to see a text message from his mother.

Don’t forget about our family reunion next weekend.

Like his mom or sisters would let him forget about it. Still, it was fun to play with them. What family reunion? He wrote back.

Luke Cameron Erickson don’t make me come find you. You know very well about the family reunion.

He chuckled silently. Chill, Ma. Just kidding. I’ll be there.

With a date?

Ma!

What? Can’t a mother be curious?

He rolled his eyes, but suddenly the gym was clapping again.

“I can’t believe it. I won!” Kelli shrieked.

“Hey, congrats. That’s awesome.” Although, he still wasn’t sure why she was so excited about some Jane Austen books. Couldn’t she go on Amazon and download them?

While she walked to the stage to claim her prize, a thought popped into his head, and he snapped his fingers. He did know Kelli Martindale. She’d moved to Arlington at the end of their junior year and had gone on three dates with Luke before she decided to date the head of the swim team.

He’d been moderately upset because Kelli had moved from Alabama and had the most adorable Southern accent that had turned him on to no end. She’d also stood about five-ten, five-eleven with platinum blond hair. Which meant that the woman he’d been talking to wasn’t Kelli Martindale. So who exactly was she? And why was she pretending to be someone else?

Oliver sauntered over to him then. “Hey, dude, who’s the hottie?”

“Interesting question,” Luke said. Oliver cocked his head in question. “I’m not sure yet.”

Oliver waved his cell phone before pocketing it. “Before I forget, your sister keeps texting me.”

“Which one?”

“Gwen. Keeps going on about some family reunion. Wanted me to remind you about it. There. Consider yourself officially reminded.”

Luke groaned and offered Oliver a pained expression.

“What’s your problem?” Oliver tipped back his beer. “I’ll be there.”

Luke stifled a laugh. “You’ll be at my family reunion?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Shouldn’t you stick to your own family?” He punched Oliver in the arm. His friend simply grinned.

Oliver had been part of his family since they were five years old, and he knew it. He was as welcome, if not more welcome, in the Erickson household than Luke. In fact, Luke knew that while he’d been living in other states, Oliver had kept an eye on his mom and sisters. He couldn’t be more grateful to him.

“Hey, if my abuela wanted to have a reunion, I’d be there with bells on. Of course, it would only be the two of us so probably a pretty boring party. Unlike your crazy familia.”

Oliver’s mom had found out she was pregnant in high school. When she told the father, he’d broken up with her. Shortly after Oliver was born, his mom left for greener pastures, too, and his grandmother raised him.

“And they are crazy. Especially my sisters. They all keep bugging me about this stupid reunion.”

“They all want you to bring a date. What’s up with that? I thought I was your date.” Oliver blew him a kiss.

Luke punched him again. “Apparently, I’m ‘of a certain age,’ according to my mom. I wish they’d let me do my own thing.”

“Like that smokin’ hot brunette over there?” Oliver gestured toward the stage. Kelli was picking up her raffle basket. “Gonna tell me about her yet?”

“Her name’s Kelli Martindale. Do you remember her?”

Oliver narrowed his eyes and peered in Kelli’s direction. “Yes,” he said, drawing out the word. “Kind of. I don’t remember her looking like that. Of course, I was cute in high school but nothing like the fine specimen I am now.” He flexed for effect.

“You’re dreaming. So you don’t think that’s Kelli?”

“I dunno. Didn’t you hook up with Kelli?”

Bingo. Luke grinned at the idea surfacing in his mind, but he had to be sure he was right. He decided to test “Kelli” on her Kennedy High School knowledge when she returned. When she began walking toward him again, Luke rushed Oliver off.

Carrying her basket, Kelli wore a huge smile.

“Congratulations,” he said.

“Thank you. I adore Jane Austen. I can’t believe someone donated these. They’re really old editions and worth so much money.”

That explained why she wanted the books so much. “You seem to know a lot about them.”

“I’m a librarian, and I studied literature in college.”

She kept talking, but all Luke could think about was the fact that the arousing woman in front of him with the bangin’ body and alluring glasses was also a librarian. He’d never put much into stereotypes, but the sexy librarian image was too good to pass up.

“And that’s why I can’t believe I won this basket.”

Luke frowned. A basket that was raising money for their next reunion—a reunion he wasn’t sure this woman should be at. He had to go back to his original plan.

“Bet you loved the Jane Austen class junior year?”

“You had a Jane Austen class?” She caught herself. “I mean, yeah, it was the best.”

“I knew some people in that class. They held it in the west building, right?”

“Um, yep. That’s right.”

“Who taught that class?” Luke asked.

“Oh, it was, um, Mrs., that is, Mrs…”

“Stark,” he supplied. “Catelyn Stark, right?”

“That’s right.”

Luke grabbed her elbow and steered her away from the crowd.

“What’s going on?” she asked, still holding onto her prized Jane Austen basket.

“Who are you really?” Luke asked, his eyes narrowing.

Her eyes widened. “I’m Kelli. Kelli Martindale.”

“Oh really. That’s interesting, considering that I’ve made out with Kelli Martindale before. And that teacher of the Jane Austen class I just made up? She’s a character from Game of Thrones.”

She looked like a deer in headlights. “Oh. There was no Jane Austen class?”

“Hell if I know. I was more into math.”

“Oh.”

“If you’re not Kelli Martindale, who exactly are you? And why lie?”

Then the whole story came tumbling out.

“The thing is, my boyfriend broke up with me last week, and I’ve been kinda bummed about it. So my roommate Frankie had this idea, this crazy, stupid idea. See, she watches The Golden Girls and…anyway, that doesn’t matter. Basically, she thought I should have some fun by coming here and crashing the reunion. It was either this or online dating. Not that I have anything against online dating. I know a lot of people who’ve met significant others that way. But I just couldn’t see any more penises.”

Luke blinked, unsure which comment to jump on first. He decided to go with the easiest. “You didn’t graduate with me?”

“Um, not unless you also didn’t go to Kennedy High School.”

“You didn’t go to this school at all?”

“No, not technically.”

“Are you even a librarian?”

“Yes, that’s one hundred percent true. I’m a librarian here in Arlington. Frankie and I live in Shirlington. You know, the neighborhood in South Arlington.”

“I know where Shirlington is. Cool area.”

“Oh God, are you going to tell on us?”

“Depends. I have one more question for you.” He’d made his voice as serious as he could. She waited, her eyes growing wide as apprehension spread across her face. “What’s your real name?”

Her shoulders dropped in relief. “Lola. Lola McBride.”

“Anything else I should know?”

“I’m twenty-six. I don’t usually do things like this. I’m totally blind without my glasses, as you witnessed earlier.” She took a deep breath. “I’m clean, neat, and I can bake a pretty good chocolate cake. I say I’m going to a body pump class at the gym sometimes, but really, I go to Target and buy a bunch of useless stuff from the dollar bins.

“I love to read, like seriously, more than anything in the world. My favorite book is Wuthering Heights, although I read every genre of fiction. Especially romance novels.” She blushed. “I mean, not the super dirty ones.” A wrinkle formed on her forehead. “Okay, I read the super dirty ones, too. I love them. Don’t judge me. But I also donate to the local animal shelter. And I’m afraid of colonial people. I’m totally boring, really.”

Luke didn’t have the answers to the universe but he did know that boring was something that Lola McBride wasn’t.

“Colonial people? Why are you afraid of them?”

“I don’t know. They just freak me out. When you go to Mount Vernon, they talk to you. It wigs me out. Something about the buckles on their shoes.”

He couldn’t help it. He threw his head back and laughed.

She bit her lip. “And I’m still so, so sorry that I spilled Jell-O on you.”

“It’s just a shirt.”

“Still. You must think I’m insane.”

Quite the opposite. He hadn’t met many women like her, and he was curious as hell. He was about to say so when his phone started vibrating again. He saw another text message. This one was from his sister, Gwen.

Mom said you are bringing a date to our reunion. True? False?

False. I’m not bringing anyone.

Oh well. I have this friend I’d love to fix you up with…

“Sorry. It’s my crazy family. See we have this…”

Yet another text message popped up. This time it was from his third sister Winnie.

Hey, Gwen said she’s setting you up with someone. But I have a coworker that would be perfect for you.

It was official—his family was driving him mad. Why couldn’t they just back off? It was bad enough that he was going to have to go to his family reunion next weekend, but to have this kind of pressure about a date…

That’s when an idea started to form.

He eyed Lola. She was clutching her basket of Jane Austen books against her chest, looking nervous. Did she really think he cared that she’d lied and crashed his high school reunion? He actually thought it was pretty funny.

“I’m really sorry I lied to you,” she said. She glanced down at the basket. “I know I’m taking this basket away from someone who actually went to school here and…”

“Here’s the deal, Lola,” he said, interrupting her. “I won’t reveal your identity tonight. You can keep your Jane Austen basket and no one will be the wiser.”

She blew out a sigh of relief. “Really? Ohmigod, you’re amazing.”

“But you have to do me a favor in return.”

“Anything.”

He flipped his phone over in his hands. “Come to my family reunion next weekend and be my pretend girlfriend.”

…

Lola wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.

Had the super-hot guy she’d been talking to just ask her to pretend to be his girlfriend? She must have misheard him. Not surprising, really. The whole night was a blur. From dressing up in this ridiculous outfit to practically being forced to talk to Luke to spilling Jell-O all over him, she was more than ready to say adios to her fake high school and hightail it back to her very real apartment where her comfy clothes lived.

But it was kinda hard when Luke’s enticing chocolate-brown eyes were boring into hers. The guy really was some kind of Adonis. He was tall with an amazing body. Not to mention that cowboy-like face. He had strong cheekbones and a square jaw, complimented with just a touch of a light beard. His sandy blond hair was cut short and neat. He looked like a real-life Scott Eastwood, and that comparison was yum.

What in the world did he see in her?

The gym was applauding again. They must have read another raffle winner’s name.

“What do you say?” Luke asked.

Okay, so he hadn’t been kidding about his proposal.

“Let me get this right. You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend at your family’s reunion?”

He nodded. “I know it sounds crazy, but you’d really be doing me a favor. Besides, it’s only for one day.”

Lola shuffled the basket of books from one arm to the other so she could wipe her palms against her borrowed dress. “You want me to lie.”

The you’ve-gotta-be-kidding-me look he offered her brought Lola right back down to Earth. “Okay, so perhaps I’ve already been doing some lying. But, honestly, I’m not a liar by nature.”

“Trust me, I can see that.”

“And lying to your family on top of it. I mean, what if they find out?” Or worse, what if someone got hurt? Lola certainly knew how much a lie could cause pain.

Luke grinned, and Lola had to work extra hard to keep her legs strong so she didn’t slide to the floor in a puddle of mush. Mush? More like lust.

“They won’t find out,” he said, confidence in his voice, his stance, his aura. Damn, that was appealing.

“Luke, don’t get me wrong. I’ve enjoyed talking with you tonight and spilling an old-school dessert on you and stuff, but we don’t know each other at all.”

He nodded, as if her words made sense.

“Furthermore,” she went on, “what if someone in your family asks for details or brings up something about you that I, as your pretend girlfriend, should know?” She snapped her fingers. “The jig will be up like that.”

“I see your point. But…” he said, drawing out the word as he held a hand up, “there’s a simple solution.”

She started chewing on one of her recently polished fingernails, a nervous habit she despised. “There is?”

“Sure. I’m going to give you a crash course in all things Luke Erickson.”

Lola couldn’t help herself. She eyed him, starting from his feet, up his long, long legs, over that amazing body—with the stained shirt—and all the way to his insanely handsome face. He had the. Best. Lips. Period. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to kiss them.

Lick them.

Bite them.

“Hey, you okay? You’re swaying,” he said.

Yikes. Lola quickly pulled herself together. “Um, sorry. A little too much spinach and artichoke dip earlier. Must have been spiked, ha ha. Anyway, as much as I would um, enjoy, a crash course in you, I don’t know that I have time this week.”

“Come on, Lola. What about Monday night? No one ever does anything on Monday night. I’ll buy you dinner. Anywhere you want.”

“I play bocce on Monday nights.”

Luke blinked. “Bocce? Did you just say bocce?”

She nodded. “Sure. Bocce is this Italian game where you throw different colored balls and try to get as close as you can to the—”

“I know what bocce is. Well, sort of. I wasn’t aware that anyone under the age of seventy played it.”

“Oh sure. A lot of people do. I’m in a bocce league.”

He chuckled. He’d heard of softball leagues, soccer leagues, even kickball leagues. “There are bocce leagues? Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack. Well, we’re kind of this rogue league. There’s an actual league here in the D.C.-area that plays down on the National Mall, but they are soooo stuffy and serious. A bunch of us were fed up with the rules so we started our own league. We play over in this small park in Alexandria. They refurbished the park recently and put in a bocce court. It’s near that Mexican restaurant. You know the one that has the patio seating with the light-up peppers?”

He shook his head. “I can’t wrap my head around a bunch of girls playing bocce.”

“Every Monday night.”

“Let me get this straight. You’re a high school reunion-crashing librarian who plays in a renegade bocce league and covets Jane Austen books?”

Was that strange? Coming out of his mouth it did seem kind of weird she supposed.

“Lola McBride, you keep getting more and more interesting by the second.”

“Really?”

He stepped closer. “Really.”

She wanted to acquiesce and go to his family reunion with him. But she was realizing that it was only to spend more time with him.

Her phone vibrated. Juggling the basket of books, she retrieved it from her purse. She glanced down and saw a text message from Frankie.

That guy is crazy hot. Go for it! #REBOUND

She put her phone in airplane mode. Then she looked up at Luke.

“I have a question. Why do you need to bring a girlfriend to your family reunion?”

“I have three sisters, who are triplets by the way. They’ve been pestering me since the day they were born.”

Wow, three siblings. Jealousy traveled up Lola’s spine at the thought of having sisters. Or siblings. Or anyone.

“The last couple of years the three of them, along with my wonderful, but very intrusive, mother have taken it upon themselves to badger me to death. They want me to settle down and start a family.”

She noticed that he didn’t mention a dad in this scenario. “What about your father?”

He shook his head. His gaze cast down to the floor.

“Sorry,” she said. “I don’t have a dad, either.”

Or a mother. Or siblings, grandparents, or cousins. She should be used to it by now, but as usual, the thought made her want to cry. She gulped down a big breath and steadied herself. She’d had a mother and father, a very loving parental unit. Until the accident took her dad and cancer claimed her mom a couple years after that.

Not for the first time in her life, she wondered what it would be like to have a big, meddling family. Tons of people to spend holidays with, baking cookies and doing gift exchanges. Sunday dinners with lots of noise and food and laughter. Sure would beat Chinese takeout for one.

Any time one of her friends complained about their nosy family, she wanted to shake them. Didn’t they see how lucky they were? Lola would give anything for a family, intrusive and interfering or not. But as usual, she knew she couldn’t blurt that out to a stranger. Hell, she barely talked about it with Frankie.

“Can’t you just tell your family to butt out?” she asked Luke.

Maybe she did want to spend more time with this hottie and get to know him better, but he was asking her to lie to his family. To his sisters and mother. The thought made her stomach roll. Crashing this reunion aside, Lola simply didn’t condone lying. Even when it was coming from a good place, being untruthful caused damage. She knew that better than anyone.

“Asking wouldn’t even make a dent with them.” He laughed, but only for a moment before growing serious. “The truth is, I hate disappointing them. I don’t want to settle down, but I also don’t want to see that look of dissatisfaction on my mom’s face when I walk through the door alone.” He coughed into his fist, and his voice grew quieter. “My mom has done so much for me over the years.”

True love and respect for his mother shone in his eyes, and that was her undoing. Even if going along with his plan went against her better judgment.

“Fine,” she whispered.

“What was that?” Hope filled his eyes.

“I said okay, I’ll do it.”

“Yes! Lola, thank you so much. You will not regret this.”

“I regret it already.”

With that, he pulled her into a tight hug, crushing the basket of books as he did. He smelled amazing. Whatever kind of cologne he wore just about set her mouth watering. Not to mention the feel of his arms around her was amazing. She felt safe and cocooned.

Oh, she was definitely going to regret this.

She broke off the hug and took a large step backward. “Maybe we should exchange numbers.”

Luke pulled out his phone. Just as Lola finished keying in her number, she heard a commotion. She turned in the direction of the sound as Frankie called her name, who was rushing toward her.

“Lola!” She waved as she hustled over.

“Frankie, hey, this is Luke. Luke, my roommate Frankie.”

Luke shook Frankie’s hand. “Ah, the orchestrator of tonight’s evil plot.”

Lola sighed. “I honestly don’t know why I’m friends with her at this point.”

Luke leaned over and whispered softly, “I’m glad you are. We wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

Luke’s words warmed her heart. She felt the struggle to keep from blushing. How many times had her cheeks reddened tonight?

Frankie nodded. “Speaking of my evil plot, we’re busted.”

Unused to getting in trouble for anything ever, Lola gasped. “What?”

“Our cover’s blown. We gotta roll.” Frankie turned to Luke. “Although, it was so nice to meet you.” She batted her eyelashes in the most obvious way. Lola had to physically work from rolling her eyes. “I hope you had fun with my friend.”

“It’s definitely been enlightening. And I look forward to seeing your friend later this week.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Oh shit,” Frankie said, eyeing the door they entered through earlier.

Lola and Luke both turned and saw one of the women who had been manning the table with the nametags, and she didn’t look happy. Her hands were on her hips as she did a sweep of the gym. Frankie grabbed Lola’s arm.

“Hold those books tights. Let’s make a run for it. We can use that side door.”

“Oh right.” Lola smiled at Luke, who was already starting to laugh. “Um, bye Luke. See ya soon.”

They made their way to the side of the gym and out the door into the humid June air. Even at night, the temperature was high and the humidity higher. It was going to be a hot summer in the D.C.-area.

An image of Luke flashed into her mind, and she bit her lip.

“I’ll get us an Uber,” Frankie said as they crossed the parking lot. “So…how was the hottie?”

“Great actually.”

Frankie threw her fist into the air. “Victory. See, I told you all you had to do was follow The Golden Girls and you would be golden. Never doubt Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, and Sophia.”

“Oh please.” Lola was fighting the urge to remove her heels.

“You scoff and yet, I heard Hottie McHotterson say he would see you later this week. I smell a rebound fling.”

Lola stopped, causing Frankie to pull up as well. “What?” Frankie asked.

“Luke is way more than simply a rebound fling.” She paused dramatically, excited to watch Frankie’s eyes bug out of her face.

“He’s my rebound boyfriend.”