The Weekend Girlfriend (8 page)

***

“Come back here, we aren’t done yet.”

I giggled as Kyle grabbed ahold of my wrist and pulled me toward him, causing me to snuggle against his hard chest once more. Not that I was complaining. At this point, I couldn’t think of anywhere else I would rather be. “They are going to think we are avoiding them, Kyle.”

“I am avoiding them,” he said, his hand drifting into my hair. “I would much rather spend the day in bed with you then to be forced to spend it where I am not wanted.”

“But it’s your family,” I protested softly, feeling the heat of him against my cheek. My body was sated, my heart nearly bursting from the tender lovemaking we had just experienced and I didn’t care to leave the bed either, afraid that this bright spot in my life would be over and done with. I drifted my fingers over his bare stomach lightly, receiving a satisfied grunt in response. “Besides, the bluegrass festival starts this evening and I want to eat something horribly bad for me tonight. Maybe a greasy deep-fried something.”

Kyle’s chest shook with laughter and I slapped his abs, knowing exactly what he was thinking and it had nothing to do with food. “Come here.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me against him, all of his hard body fitting into my soft one, sending a shaft of heat shooting through my body. Gah, I didn’t think I would ever get tired of him if he was mine all the time. “I will get you whatever you want,” he grinned, kissing the tip of my nose. “As long as you wear something short and easy accessible.”

“I don’t know how I am going to keep up with you,” I sighed as his fingers drifted over my shoulder and down the middle of my back. “You are going to wear me out with all of this sex.”

“Just as long as it’s me,” he said, some of his easy grin sliding into something more serious.

“Of course,” I smiled, pushing at him lightly before moving out of his reach. “Besides you keep me in bed enough of the day already. I don’t have time for anyone else.” He chuckled and released me, allowing me to climb out of the bed and move into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I cut on the shower and leaned against the door, hating the way I was feeling about this and the easy ways I was falling into a pattern with him, becoming more and more comfortable in his presence. Staying in this comfort zone with him wasn’t going to be an option after we finished out this weekend, it was never part of the plan to begin with. The question was, how was I going to be able to walk away?

***

“You look beautiful, Nicole. I would die for a body like yours.”

“You look great as well, Jess. That green is gorgeous on you.” I smiled as I looked down at the green strapless I had brought, glad that Gretchen had thrown it in the suitcase at the last minute. Kyle’s hungry gaze had been enough for me to silently thank my best friend.

The night was warm and perfect for a night at the square, Nicole and I walking side by side as the guys walked ahead of us. My heart jolted at the sight of Kyle’s lean profile in the streetlight, the way he joked with Reese as we walked down the street. His parents had declined to walk with us and for once I was grateful, though my perception of them had changed. It wasn’t my place to try and mend the fences between them and Kyle, but I was glad that I understood both sides now.

“You know we will be expecting your invite in the mail by next year,” Nicole said, hooking her arm with mine. “By the looks of it, I would say a ring will be coming soon.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” I muttered, dismissing the notion about any sparkling diamond in my future. I wouldn’t even entertain those thoughts. Hell, we were sleeping together, but that was it. There was no relationship, no sharing of tender feelings. I loved him yes, but he hadn’t alluded to anything other than the favor I was returning to him and the satisfied kisses after the hottest sex imaginable. But just the tiny bit of hope flared in my chest at the thought of this continuing, that this could become something serious. Could I really compete with all of those women back home? Could I be enough for him?

Tuning out my thoughts, I saw that the entire downtown had been lit up with lights of all kinds, the strains of bluegrass music intermingling with laughter from the people around us. Vendors lined the street as we joined the crowd, the tantalizing smells of barbeque, hamburgers, and chicken causing my stomach to rumble appreciatively.

“Welcome to Friday night on the square,” Nicole smirked as we stopped in the midst of it all, reaching the Reese and Kyle. “And our joint semi last night as single people group.”

“Oh my God,” I exclaimed, stopping in my tracks. “Why didn’t you tell me? This is so not what a bachelorette should be.” Not that I had been to many, but I had seen the parties on TV. They involved flashing buttons, hot guys, and lots of alcohol. Besides I assumed that she had already had one. Only a fool would have it the night before their marriage.

“No, no, it’s fine really,” she laughed, grabbing my arm. “We didn’t want to have to go through the hoopla of the traditional marriage festivities, like parties and the like. This will be all of it rolled into one.”

“But what about your friends?” I asked. If I ever did walk down the aisle I would want Gretch at my side before the wedding. So far, I had seen not one member of the bridal party.

“We didn’t want a big bridal party so we ditched those too,” she said sheepishly. “Mom put up a fuss of course but my closest friends will be here in the morning. You will be wishing you never asked. They were all in love with my brother in high school.”

I smiled then, glad that I wouldn’t have to be pulling anyone’s hair out over Kyle tonight. Gah, there I go again. I was being overly obsessed with my boss but hey, I knew what he looked like naked. There was no way I was going to share that with anyone else. Kyle’s smile nearly knocked me down as I reached him, casually sliding my hand into his and grinning like a fool when he squeezed back. This was more than showing off in front of his family. We had them in our back pockets with our fake relationship.

“So let me show you around before dinner.”

“You got thirty minutes!” Nicole exclaimed as we walked away.

“Don’t make us late or she will never forgive us,” I replied as we strolled down the middle of the street among the crowd. “What’s all of this about anyway?”

“First of the month block party,” Kyle explained, nodding to nearly everyone we passed. “It’s tradition. We come out of our big homes and mingle like real people for at least one night. Everyone gets drunk and then we go home to do it all over again the next month.”

“A drunk fest, awesome,” I smiled.

“I remember the last time you got good and wasted,” he teased, pulling me against his side, wrapping his arm around my waist. “And you survived a night, in my bed, with your clothes on.”

“Don’t remind me,” I groaned, remembering my botched wine-induced night. I knew his toilet very, very well.

“Well, next time the results will hopefully be better,” he said softly.

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at him, my heart in my throat. “What?” he asked, his brow furrowed.

“This, this thing between us, what is it to you?” I asked softly, my hands smoothing the imaginary wrinkles on his shirt. I was well vested in this relationship, probably more than I should be, but what he felt, I didn’t know. I was scared to know.

“Well, we have some amazing sex,” he grinned, some of my hope fleeing out of the window. Yeah, exactly what I was afraid of.

“Well, I am glad you didn’t pick Shirley,” I finally said, taking the hurt out of my voice. What was I expecting? This wasn’t even a real relationship. I signed up for this, I took my panties off one leg at a time every step of the way.

“Yeah, me neither,” he smiled, putting a finger under my chin and forcing me to meet his gaze. “Hey, are we okay?”

“Just fine,” I gave him a false smile and quickly averted my eyes before he could see any of the emotion in them. “Come on, show me this one-street town before dinner.”

***

Thirty minutes later, we walked into the restaurant right behind the soon to be married couple to shouts of “surprise” as the lights came on in a cozy little Italian place off the main thoroughfare, packed to the gills with smiling faces that looked equally excited to see the couple.

“Oh my God,” Nicole exclaimed as Reese hugged her close. “This was… I wasn’t expecting this…”

“Exactly,” Reese finished for her, a smile on his face. “Surprise, love. I know you said you didn’t want a rehearsal dinner, but your friends wouldn’t let it go. They insisted on throwing you a surprise rehearsal party so here we are.”

“I’m glad you did,” Nicole exclaimed happily, kissing him on the lips. A group of women immediately surrounded her as they moved deeper into the restaurant, their eyes straying to us. Great, the ones I had been warned about a day early.

Julia and Brent also appeared, though they made no move to embrace anyone in particular. I did catch the faint nod she sent my way, glad to see that I didn’t dream up our little talk. Another older couple approached and I could tell immediately that it was Reese’s parents. The resemblance was striking between him and his father.

“Ah, the other happy couple. So glad you could make it. Love your dress, Jessica, it flatters your figure so well.”

Danielle’s voice drifted over me and I forced a smile on my face as I turned toward her voice. Barf, I wanted to jump across the room and scratch her eyes out. Apparently, her claws were out to play as I surveyed Danielle’s skin-tight red dress that barely covered her you know what, the V-neckline just barely above being slutty. While most redheads would stay away from the color, she had embraced it, completing the look with red lipstick and black pumps that could not be comfortable. “Danielle, how nice of you to say that. It’s nothing compared to your dress though.”

She gave me a false smile and sidled up to Kyle, who either was not seeing the show before him or choosing to ignore it. “Kyle, daddy wants to see you for a second. You don’t mind, Jess?”

“Not at all,” I said through clenched teeth as she dragged him away. Kyle gave me a grin and allowed Danielle to pull him away into the crowd, leaving me to move aside lest the giggling crowd of girls run me down. “Be right back.” Yeah, sure, I knew what she was thinking. Territorial flags went up in my head but I shrugged them away. There was no reason for me to act like this, no reason whatsoever. I might be in love with the man, but this wasn’t a real relationship, this wasn’t anything that would go beyond our plane ride back to Texas.

***

“I know what is really going on here.”

I sighed as I recognized Danielle’s haughty voice, wondering if the night was going to get any stranger. Kyle had deposited me at this table an hour ago before being pulled away by one person or another, the entire town trying to reconnect with him. I had watched him laugh and shake hands with nearly everyone in the room, like a politician on election night. Not once had he attempted to introduce me, which was fine. It wasn’t like I was ever going to see these people again anyway. I should be thinking about my future, my next job instead of Kyle’s killer grin and beautiful chest under his shirt. “What would that be?”

“I know the truth,” Danielle smiled as she came into my view, sliding into the seat in front of me. “I know you and Kyle are not the lovey-dovey you are putting on for the rest of these people. He didn’t mention you at all on my last visit. I didn’t see any of your stuff at his house nor did I get the vibe from him that he was involved with anyone.”

“I’m sure snooping around someone’s private property is against the law,” I replied, taking a sip of my water.

“You know, Jessica, you are not as smart as you hope you are,” she said, looking at her fingernails. “I see the way you look at him, the hope in your eyes. Honey, I am here to tell you that Kyle will never say the ‘L’ word to you. He will never choose anything over that precious job of his and the fun he can have by staying unattached.” She then shot a searing look in my direction, dropping her voice dangerously low. “I know firsthand. I loved that man more than anything. I followed him to Texas, gave him my virginity and my heart. I held onto the hope that he was going to put a ring on my finger straight out of law school. Instead, I got the boot, just like every other woman in his life. Don’t think that whatever you are trying to pull will stick when you leave.”

“If you know so much about him, why did you stay all those years?” I asked, unaffected by her rant. She sounded like a wounded ex-girlfriend to me and wasn’t telling me anything I wasn’t either already aware of or prepared for. I knew his love life was a revolving door, I knew that he wasn’t serious about anyone or anything other than his job. I had worked for him long enough to know better, though a small piece of me, a very small piece, thought something might be different this time.

“I loved him,” she said softly, some of the fight leaving her face. Instead, I saw a mirror image of me in a week or so and hated what I was seeing. “Listen, I know I haven’t been the best person to you in the last few days, but I am going to tell you straight up what I have experienced. Get out and don’t hang on to what might be. It didn’t work for me and all you end up with is a shattered heart and wasted time on something that was never going to happen in the first place.” She then slid back into her smile, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes as she stood, adjusting the hem of her dress in the process. “This does not mean we are friends by any means, I hope you know that.”

“I appreciate your honesty,” I told her as she turned to go. She nodded tightly and disappeared into the crowd, leaving me with my water and not much else.