I left Remi’s house when the sun fell too low over the horizon to see. Her enthusiasm over this crazy charade that I’d accidentally started surprised me. But it really shouldn’t. Remi had always been so sweet and outgoing, willing to do anything to make even a stranger happy. Was it really so surprising that she’d play along to help me?
The feel of her leaning against my chest flooded my senses, along with the smell of her hair when I’d kissed her on the forehead—clean with a light floral tone. Holy shit. I kissed her. Not just any her, Remi.
My stomach clenched with a sudden and extremely painful force.
Jeremy was going to kill me. How could I have not thought about this before? We couldn’t possibly go through with this farce. Not unless I wanted to lose my best friend and end up beat bloody.
Stopped at a red light, I shot a text to Remi.
Her response was immediate.
There was a pause and dots showing she was texting again.
Remi could crook a finger and have five guys lining up to take her to this stupid party, and I started texting back. A horn from the car sitting behind me jerked my attention to the road and my phone dropped between the seats. Swearing, I drove the rest of the way to the brewery on Wilcox Street and spotted Jeremy’s truck by the curb.
Retrieving my phone from the floorboard, I saw three more texts from Remi.
The last one got me. Her sad and tired eyes flashed through my mind. There was definitely something more going on with this ex of hers. I knew all too well the pain of a broken heart. My shoulders tightened at the thought of telling Jeremy about the setup. How do you tell your best friend that you’re fake dating their sister?
I swallowed and went inside, ready to face the music.
“There he is,” Jeremy called from a booth and waved me over. “Thought you got lost.”
I took the seat across from Jeremy. “I actually ran into Remi at the hardware store.”
His brows lifted. “Really? What was she doing there?”
“Getting dragged around by a dog, actually.” I grinned at the memory. “What happened with her and her ex? She seems off.”
Jeremy grimaced and he white knuckled his beer mug. “I swear if I run into Mark…” He shook his head. “She says it was a mutual break up, but I’ve never seen her like this. She’s hiding something.”
I nodded and ordered a local brew when the waiter approached, considering. “They were together for a while, right?”
“Three years.”
We sat for a minute in silence, then the waiter brought my beer. I sipped the IPA, smooth with a perfect bitter finish. “It was pretty low of him to take all the furniture from the house.”
I didn’t realize my mistake until Jeremy’s assessing expression settled on me. I hadn’t mentioned going to her house. Swallowing, I rushed to fix my mistake. “I helped her get some fencing back to the house with my truck.”
Jeremy nodded, accepting my explanation without question. “She hasn’t let any of the family inside.”
“It wasn’t a big deal. I carried stuff in for her.” I shrugged. “And I helped with the dog.”
“We know from Mitch, the real estate agent, that Mark wants to sell the house, but Remi is trying to keep it. She’ll have to buy him out, which will be over eighty grand, and he’s not budging on the timeline, bastard.” Jeremy downed his beer and waved to the waiter for another. “Mom suspects he was cheating, but Remi won’t talk about it.” He leaned an arm over the back of the booth. “Will you do me a favor?”
“Anytime,” I answered without pause.
“She seems to be more open to talking to you about this,” Jeremy said, a gleam in his expression. “Keep an eye on her and let me know how badly I need to mess up Mark.”
Sipping my beer, I nodded. “You going to beat him in an alley?” I was only half kidding. Jeremy had always been protective of his sister. “We’re not in high school anymore.”
“Nah, I’ve got way worse ways to get to him.”
The expression on his face made me bite back the confession about the deal I’d made with Remi. I had absolutely no idea how Jeremy would react to the situation. Now isn’t the time to bring that up. Don’t want to ruin the night.
Jeremy waved as two guys came in the door, rescuing me from more conversation about Remi and feeling like I was keeping something from my best friend—which I was.
Sunday, I went back to Remi’s early to get working on the fence. Knowing that she was trying to buy Mark out of the house, there was no way I was going to take her money for the lumber. She had bigger things to worry about.
Remi’s bleary-eyed face poked out of the back slider and Gunner dashed out, running to my feet and sniffing the fresh dirt. The fuzz ball, still covered with a good amount of the ultra-soft puppy fur, dropped and rolled in the moist earth.
“Great,” Remi sighed as the pup reveled in the dirt. He looked up at her and sneezed, his tongue lolling out to one side with a contented expression. “Now you need a bath.”
He sniffed out a rock, sneezing again, and scraped his teeth along it. I dug the rock out of his mouth, tossed it to the other side of the yard, and replaced it with a stick. “Here, chew on this.”
He watched where I threw the rock but munched the stick.
“It’s like he’s a piranha, but with fur.” Remi crossed her arms. “I love him, but he’s a lot of work.”
I nodded. “He’s not the easiest breed. That’s for sure.”
“What can I do to help with the fence?” She motioned to the piles of pickets and cross beams.
“You don’t have to help.” I shook my head. “I got this.”
She picked up a cross beam, slipping Gunner’s leash around her ankle. “No way. I’m not letting you do all the work.”
I knew better than to argue with her when she had that determined expression on her face. Last time I’d tried to talk her out of something, she drank a twelve pack of beers at a high school party, just to prove me wrong when I’d said she should stop, and I ended up carrying her to the car to drive her home.
Several hours later, we’d made good progress, finishing two sides of the yard, and getting ready to start on the third. We worked in concert, easily and with little talk.
“Hand me that impact?” I asked, pointing to the tool by her feet.
Remi leaned to pass the tool over.
Gunner, spotting a rabbit, sprang to his feet and dashed after the gray bunny. His leash jerked taut and yanked him to a stop but not before wrenching Remi’s foot out from under her. Her eyes widened and she tumbled headlong toward the freshly built section of fence.
Without a thought, I lunged to catch her. We ended up in a pile on the dormant grass, Remi on top of me, held tight in my arms. Her chest pressed against mine.
She lifted her head. “Are you okay?”
I stared at her face, so close to mine. Her fresh and light floral scent washed over me. “I’m… I’m good.” I sputtered. “You okay?”
Before she could answer, Gunner joined the pile, his cold nose and wet tongue seemingly everywhere as he wiggled between us, obviously thinking this was the greatest game ever. His flying tail smacked my face repeatedly and I tasted dirt and hair.
“Gunner,” Remi laughed, trying and failing to push the puppy away. He licked and got his tongue in her mouth. She sputtered, then rolled off me. “Oh, gross. Gunner!”
I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and pushed up before the exuberant pup could tag me with his deadly tail or tongue again. Chuckling, I stood and offered Remi a hand.
Accepting, she brushed dead grass off her pants and spit. “Love puppy breath.”
Gunner ran in circles, entwining our legs in his leash.
“I’ll take him in for some water,” Remi said. “And to brush my teeth.”
As she walked toward the back door, he pulled to one side, another destination obviously in mind. Remi gave him some slack and he darted directly to the spot I’d thrown the rock hours earlier, plucking it from the grass and trotting happily after Remi.
I shook my head. Damn smart pup.