THE PRISTINE WHITE paper with black and white flowers stood out on Dr. Violet Lockwood’s desk. Fiona’s wedding invitation had arrived almost five months ago. And she’d sent along her RSVP and plus-one four months ago.
It was the plus-one causing her issues now. Why hadn’t she just marked that she would attend alone? Violet pinched her eyes closed and took a deep breath. She knew exactly why...because Thomas would be there.
With his new wife.
The one who looked just like her according to the texts she’d gotten when they started dating. His date was the woman he’d actually met at the altar.
If she’d RSVP’d honestly, she’d have had four months to get used to the stares she knew would come her way. Four months to practice her smile among the friend group she’d been so close to in college. Four months to find self-deprecating jokes about how the woman who’d craved a partner was stranded in perpetual singlehood in Maine.
Four months to ready her armor for Thomas’s barbs.
Hell, she could have been truthful when Fiona asked her about her date a month ago—owned up to the lie no matter how embarrassing the whole thing was. She could even have lied, said that the relationship just hadn’t worked out.
But no. Those were not the sensible paths she’d chosen. Violet had bragged about how hot the mythical man was, how good he was in bed, how excited she was for everyone to meet him. All without ever giving away a name. A ploy Fiona had been too kind to call her bluff on.
Now she was two weeks away, with the plate of chicken she’d ordered for the imaginary date. She’d meant to call Fiona and tell her to cancel it weeks ago. Own up to her failure.
She could still make that call. At least that way the servers wouldn’t ask if anyone was coming to the empty place beside her. Violet had used up every excuse in the book. Even now the invitation was on her desk so the excuse of getting home too late to call after working as the on-call emergency vet vanished.
That was her plan a week ago when she’d dumped it in her backpack and sworn for the twentieth time that today was the day she gathered her courage.
She looked at the clock, seven o’clock. She still had almost four hours left on her shift, but no patients at the moment.
Violet let out a breath, but she didn’t reach for her phone. Coward.
“You stare any harder at that piece of paper, it might burst into flames. If it does, I want to video it. I mean how often does that happen?”
“Never, Beck. That never happens.” Violet rolled her eyes at the vet tech who was hotter than any man had a right to be. And, at twenty-six, ten years her junior, Beck Forester was so not in her dating pool.
That didn’t stop her subconscious from filling her dreams with illicit things.
The man was just over six foot, with broad shoulders and the ability to dead lift an injured 110-pound Great Dane. And yet somehow he managed to sneak up on everyone in the clinic where she was a staff veterinarian.
He also blew through his annual vacation as fast as he earned it, jetting to far-off places whenever the whim set in. Two months ago, his hike through part of the Appalachian Trail was interrupted by a far too close call with a cougar. The man had stories that could keep you entertained for days.
“Never is a long time. It could happen.” He winked, then pointed to the invitation. “What has you so cross about a wedding invitation, Doc?”
What indeed?
She laid the invitation down. “Think every wedding invite looks the same so it’s obvious to nosy vet techs what someone is looking at even without reading it?”
“Maybe.” Beck shrugged, not a care in the world. In the nearly two years they’d worked together, she’d never seen the man worry. Never watched a frown cross his lips. No pinched eyebrows or terse words to indicate he was having a bad day.
Nope. Beck always had a smile and was ready for whatever adventure came his way that day. The man was the definition of go with the flow.
Once upon a time she’d been good at that, too. A chance to go to overseas for an agility competition—yes please! Girls’ trip just because—of course.
That was a lifetime ago and a very different Violet.
“That invite has been on your desk all week, right by a notepad that says ‘call Fiona.’ I saw it when I was grabbing Maverick’s file, and then again when I came looking for Jack’s. Sooner or later Dr. Brown is going to have to drop the paper system. And then the supplier will go out of business as I think he may be keeping them in the black all on his own.”
He was giving her an out. A way to discuss something else. It was kind. And the topic of overflowing paper files was one every member of the office, except Dr. Brown, chatted about regularly—even though they all knew the answer.
The office would get a new system when Dr. Brown finally sold it. Probably to one of the corporate companies that came by every few months offering very generous buyouts. So far, Dr. Brown said he had no interest, but eventually the dollar signs would be enough.
Everyone had a price.
“I am a bridesmaid in a wedding in less than two weeks.” Violet threw the invite on the desk. “I RSVP’d with a plus-one and never canceled the date. I hate the idea of going alone. Want to pretend to be my boyfriend for a weekend in Florida?”
“Oh, I am absolutely down for that. What part of Florida?” Beck looked seriously excited. For a moment she thought he might clap.
Violet opened her mouth but no words came out. She wasn’t sure what was more shocking. That she’d made such an offer or that she ached to leap at the option too.
Beck jumping wasn’t surprising at all. This was the kind of thing he lived for. He’d make the perfect date.
“The wedding is in Miami.” Nope. Those were not the words that were supposed to come out. Shutting this down should be her goal. But Beck was hot. He would turn heads. But more importantly, he was kind.
If Thomas pulled anything, and knowing her ex he absolutely would, Beck would have her back. Fake date or not, on his arm this wedding had a chance to actually be fun.
“Cool. I have never been to Miami. How long have we been ‘dating’ for this ruse?” Beck made air quotes around the word dating.
“Beck.” This was rapidly spinning out of control. He was excited, and for the first time in months she wasn’t dreading what should be a happy occasion.
“I can’t ask you to do this.” Though in her head she was already plotting how to get him on the plane with her. She had a ticket...but he would need one too.
And with only two weeks to go, ticket prices would be astronomical.
“You already did.” Beck grinned showing off the deep dimples in both cheeks. Of course the Adonis had dual dimples. That was another thing her brain insisted on imputing into her dream life. “Now I just need the details.”
This was fully out of control. As great as it would be to walk into the wedding on Beck’s arm, she couldn’t do this. Shouldn’t do it. She didn’t need a man. She was thirty-six. She was a veterinarian. Her life was boring but it was hers. Her terms. Period. “Beck—”
“Violet.” He mimicked her tone as he interrupted her. “I have a ton of mileage points, so my ticket will be free. I assume you already have a hotel room. I’ll go halfsy with you on it, if I can sleep on the pullout couch. Do I need my tux for this or will a suit work?”
He clapped. The hot, twenty-six-year-old Adonis actually clapped at the idea of attending a wedding with her. “Or is it a beach wedding and I get to wear a swimsuit? I draw the line at a nude wedding.” Beck put his finger on his chin, closing his eyes. “I mean maybe for the experience I could go to a nude wedding...”
“No! No.” Violet blinked as the wall of words and the image of a nude Beck on the beach gripped her brain. “No, it’s black tie. Why do you have a tux?” Any question would work to try to get the spicy thoughts from her mind.
Beck chuckled as he moved; his tall frame sliding into the tiny office chair with such ease. “For occasions like this.” He held up a hand, clearly anticipating a sharp retort.
“I’m not joking. For occasions like this. I found one at a thrift store in Texas on a trip a few years ago. Got it for less than twenty dollars and had it tailored. Now, I have it for a wedding date in Miami. The world is full of opportunity if you are willing to jump at it.”
Right. That had been her motto once, too. That Violet had traveled the world, jumped at anything that sounded like fun. Fallen in love fast—and been devastated by the results. Lost her entire life in the process.
She’d rebuilt, but she wasn’t the same person. One did not get to go back to the person one was after coming home to find the place practically cleaned out—after getting stood up at the altar.
“So it’s black tie. We leave next Friday?”
“Yeah, on the first flight out. The rehearsal dinner is at six. I have handled all my bridesmaid duties long distance. Luckily, Fiona is the exact opposite of a bridezilla.” Surely she wasn’t actually going to do this. It was too much.
“Beck—”
“You on this five-thirty flight out? A layover in DC and then onto Miami?”
“Yes, but...”
“Cool. Booked. No backing out now, Violet. My points are nonrefundable. But I will warn you I am not a morning person. There is a reason I work the late shift.” He held up his phone and playfully raised his eyebrows.
“Considering we will basically go from our shift to the airport, I won’t hold it against you.” This was happening. Really happening.
A fake wedding date. This should be a new low. But the twinge of excitement in her belly refused to accept any shame.
“So, what roles are we playing? I assume this is to get back at an ex.”
Beck rubbed his hands together, and she couldn’t help but laugh. “Why are you so into this?”
“Come on, Violet. How often do you get to pretend to be dating someone? It’s like our own television drama. I am not missing out on this. So again, who are impressing?”
“You will impress everyone who sees you.” Violet put her hand over her mouth, heat flooding her cheeks as Beck leaned a little closer. Damn the man was hot. And he knew it.
He cocked his head, those dimples appearing as he stared at her.
“My ex-fiancé.” Violet rolled her eyes. “He left me at the altar...via text. An hour before we were supposed to say I do. He and his new wife will be there. It’s dumb, but I don’t want to deal with questions and pitying looks.”
“Why go at all? Surely your friend will understand.”
“Because Fiona and I were college roommates. She was my maid of honor, she passed me tissue after tissue while I cried over the lout who didn’t show. Unfortunately, her soon-to-be husband is stepbrothers with Thomas. The two of them aren’t close, but he doesn’t want to upset their father. The man is getting on in years.”
Violet blew out a breath. “Besides, it will be fun to see my old girlfriends. I am the only one who left the area.” Fled was the actual term, but she was already dumping too much info on him.
She’d sold her and Thomas’s condo, a task made infinitely easier by the fact that the only thing he’d left her was the unopened wedding gifts, her bed and clothes.
Thomas had even taken her grandmother’s cross-stitched tablecloth. He’d played dumb when she’d asked for it back. He said he didn’t have it. That Violet must have misplaced it. Like she’d lose the one family item she cared about.
His mother had posted a picture of it last Christmas that a mutual friend had liked so it made it across her social media. So Thomas had it—and was using it.
The ass.
With little to her name, she’d accepted the job from Dr. Brown and rebuilt her life in Bangor. On her terms. And she was not letting a man mess with her peace again.
“I guess not inviting your ex would make future family get-togethers awkward.” Beck delivered the line without bothering to hide the fact he disagreed with the decision.
Neither Fiona nor her lovely fiancé, Patrick, were happy with Thomas’s attendance, but it made Patrick’s dad happy. Sometimes you did what you could for family.
“So, we have been dating at least six months? Or do we go for a year? We could be engaged. Oh, what if I am a billionaire tycoon? Secret prince of some foreign island?”
Violet laughed. The small chuckle broke free into a raucous giggle, and she hugged her belly.
Beck’s chuckle mixed with hers. A deep baritone that made her toes curl. Dear God, the man was positively delicious.
“I think you, on your own, Beck, are more than enough to get the tongues wagging. Plus all of the stories of your trips will make for dinner conversation.” Heat spread across her body, into places she didn’t think it should, as she leaned closer to him.
“Great. Six-month relationship that we are just now taking public because of your less than grand dating history. But I made you put down the plus-one so I could prove I would still be there for the wedding.” He raised his brows as he created the perfect story for why she hadn’t included his name.
Fiona might even buy it.
“Thank you.” She bit her lip as emotions crept up her chest. This was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her.
“Any time, Vi.”
Vi. Only he shortened her name. It was something he’d done once about a year after he’d started at the clinic. The receptionist, Lacey, had quickly corrected him. No one called her anything but Violet, or Dr. Lockwood.
Her mother had hated nicknames and refused to call her anything but her full name. Control was her mother’s coping mechanism in the world. Its impact on others was never her concern.
She’d gone by Vi in college—until she met Thomas.
Thomas had made a face the first time he heard it used. He said she was as delicate as a flower; one did not cut a flower short. By the end of their relationship, his focus on her beauty irked her, but in that moment, she’d thought he meant well.
Professionally she’d chosen the full name. Something she sometimes regretted.
Hearing Vi from Beck’s lips always brought out a grin. Which was why she never asked him to stop and why she suspected he kept doing it.
“So, do we pass the slow evening talking about the wedding, or backstory, or gossip from your college years to make sure we seem like a long-term couple?”
“Uh.” Right, there was more to this than just showing up on a hot guy’s arm.
The front doorbell chimed and Violet held up her hands. “None of the above it seems. You jinxed us.”
Copyright © 2024 by Juliette Hyland