The Borrowed Boyfriend (3 page)

Grady slowly shook his head, assessing Allison. “Good point, Kate,” he said blandly. “No worries there.”

Hey!
Allison didn’t consider herself that bad a catch, even a fake one. What did Grady think he was? Irresistible? She issued her reply, her cheeks steaming. “Not a snowball’s chance in…in the…hot sun!”

“Great!” Kate loudly clapped her hands together like that settled it. “There’s no risk of anything going wrong because you two obviously can’t stand each other. The boundaries are clear!
So
then, what’s the problem?”

There were two major issues that Allison saw. One, she was against the idea. And two, Grady wasn’t interested either. Well, fine. What did she expect? That he would leap at the opportunity to help her? Grady wasn’t any sort of knight in shining armor, and Allison wasn’t a damsel in distress.
 

She definitely wasn’t into it any more than he was. Why, then, did Allison feel the slightest sting of rejection? She was overwrought, that’s what she was. The tension of this impending beach trip was getting to her, just as it did every year. Heat prickled her eyes and she quickly turned away as her cell phone buzzed. She lifted it off the countertop and stared down at the text. It was a photo of a guy sent by her college friend Carla. He looked to be in his forties and was plump and balding on top.
Oh, yikes. Is that hair growing out of his ears?
 

Great personality.
 

Dentist.

Allison pushed “ignore” and the phone buzzed again.
 

This man was very thin and closer to her age. He wasn’t
bad looking,
but he wasn’t necessarily attractive either. Not that Allison was so shallow as to focus only on looks. Other things mattered too. She read the description beneath the new photo.

Podiatrist.

What was this? Medical week?

Loves your red pumps.

Ew! Carla had shared a picture? Allison wondered if she’d been wearing the pumps in the photo, or if it had been of the shoes alone. That second thought made her feel a little queasy.

The phone buzzed again and Allison looked down, spotting an attractive guy in his late thirties. He had a manly jaw and kind brown eyes. So what if he was graying a bit around the temples? There was nothing wrong with maturity. Within limits. Given that she’d just turned twenty-nine, Allison had decided her limit was thirty-seven. All right, maybe thirty-eight…thirty-nine…forty? So much of everything depended. She couldn’t wait to see what this guy did.
 

Pediatrician.

It was definitely medical week. Well, she supposed Carla had connections… The pediatrician sounded promising until she read the next line.

Six kids
.

Six?
Allison loved children, honestly she did. But she’d hoped to get started on them individually, not by the half dozen! A single dad wasn’t necessarily out, but Allison didn’t think she had the wherewithal to play Sister Maria to a ready-made brood. She couldn’t even sing!

Before she could respond, Carla rapidly typed:

Come on, you loved The Sound of Music.

Allison switched off her phone and laid it facedown on the counter.

“And so it begins…” Allison looked up to see Kate had settled herself in beside Grady on the sofa. “The litany of inappropriate matches for Allison,” Kate continued, “and her poor lovelorn soul.”

“Carla’s just trying to be helpful,” Allison answered dejectedly.

“That was Carla?” Kate gasped. “Isn’t she always the last one to offer choices?”

Allison’s heart sank because it was true. “We’re getting down to the wire, here.”

“That means...there’ve been—”

“Twenty-two of them so far.”

Grady sat up a little straighter. “Wow. Impressive. All these guys want to date you?”

Allison shook her head. “You haven’t seen the guys.”

“What’s wrong with them?” Grady asked.

“Nothing’s really wrong. In fact, I’m betting they’re all great guys…”
 

“Just not the guys for you?”
 

Grady had nailed it.

Allison gestured to her phone and frowned. “Everyone thinks I’m lonely…lost. And all my college friends are—”

Grady quirked a smile. “Found?”

Allison laughed in spite of herself. But it was a sad little laugh, not a joyful one.

“If you want to look at it that way. They all claim to be in love. Madly and deeply enamored.” Allison gave a resigned sigh. “They can’t imagine what’s wrong with me because I’m not.”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Grady said kindly. “Lots of people are not.”

Kate scrutinized him.

“I mean,
not
in the perfect relationship, or in any relationship at all.”

“I know it’s true,” Allison answered. “But thank you for saying so.” She’d always thought of Grady as brash and insensitive. Perhaps because that’s the way Kate painted him. Now, Allison wondered if Kate’s sweeping portrayal of Grady as a self-focused macho male was entirely accurate.

“So, how does it work, anyway?” Grady asked her. “Do you audition these men by text?”

“Audition? No!” Allison spouted, horrified. “It’s nothing like that!” She didn’t know why Grady’s opinion of her mattered, but Allison didn’t want
anyone
thinking of her as being that uncaring. Even if there were dating apps that did approximately the same thing, she’d never used them. Allison had never even been on any Internet dating sites. True love couldn’t be reduced to algorithms or simple technology. Matters of the heart were much more complicated than that. At least in Allison’s view they were. She was a believer in fate. When the timing was right, the perfect guy would find her. Or maybe they’d simultaneously find each other.
 

While Allison used her head in business, when it came to relationships, she was a
feeler,
not a
thinker.
Love couldn’t be planned for or analyzed in advance. It just sort of rolled over you like a truck, and when that mother lode hit you, you simply
knew it.
 

That’s what Allison thought it would be like, anyway. She’d never experienced the emotion personally. Sure, she’d dated, and Allison had liked some guys a lot. Contrary to what her college friends thought, Allison had even had a real-life boyfriend or two. But none of them had bowled her over.

“Her friends text Allison the guys’ pictures,” Kate explained to Grady, “and one or two things about them.”

“And then you choose?” Grady turned his eyes on Allison and her heart caught in her throat. Grady made it sound like she was shopping for a new appliance. Allison couldn’t help but feel humiliated. This entire situation made her look inept—incapable of coming up with a passable date for one short week out of the year. Even though it was just Kate and Grady here with her, Allison felt exposed. As if the whole world had seen her in her underwear. Next week was creeping up on her and Allison didn’t have a plan. It was probably too late to take up the guitar and become a singing nun. And in that case, the pediatrician was out. So was the hairy-eared dentist. Allison didn’t even want to
think
about the guy who liked shoes. She was a wreck.

“Truth is, she’s never even chosen one!” Kate revealed a bit gleefully. “Can you imagine anyone being that picky?”

Picky
was not the word Allison would have used.
Selective
sounded better. Besides, she didn’t want to
select
from a text photo! Where was the destiny in that? This was all wrong, and every year things had only gotten worse, with her friends’ efforts becoming more desperate.
 

“Sometimes being picky is good,” Grady answered. “Too many people settle for the wrong one.”

“Or settle too quickly,” Allison replied.

Grady locked on her gaze. “I’ve heard of that happening too.”

Seconds ticked by, but neither one looked away. Allison had never fully appreciated the smoky hue of Grady’s eyes. They were a deep blue infused with touches of gray, and unlike any she’d seen. Allison found herself falling into them. Heat swept across her face and her pulse pounded harder. She tried to think of something to say, but Grady’s stare rendered her mute. In fact, it took her breath away.

“Yes, well!” Kate said a little too loudly. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

Grady and Allison turned to her.

“Present company excepted!” Kate blurted out. “I mean, in our case,” she said eying Grady oddly, “everything is cool, right?”

Grady rolled back his shoulders, seeming to shake something off. “Yeah…right.” He glanced uncertainly at Allison before answering Kate. “It’s all good.”

Chapter Three

Allison appeared chagrined that Kate had started this unwieldy ball rolling. Probably the last person on earth she’d intended to dump her personal troubles on was her roommate’s boyfriend. Grady and Allison had barely had any interaction at all, and now he’d been privy to her embarrassing plight. Allison shot Kate an agitated look, then glanced apologetically at Grady. “I’m sorry Kate tried to get you involved in this.”

Grady pursed his lips, sensing her discomfort. He didn’t know why Kate seemed to be having such a good time exploiting Allison’s misfortune. The situation was clearly painful for her. “I’m sorry too, Allison. Sorry your friends are putting you through this.”

“They mean well,” she answered quietly. “Really, they do.”

Allison’s sad baby-blue eyes were on him and, all at once, something
ping
ed inside. It wasn’t a big
ping,
but still, it was there. Like the sound of a pin dropping in a really quiet room. Only that room was Grady’s heart, and the
ping
was a tug at his heartstrings. Maybe he’d been working too hard, or maybe his supposedly ideal arrangement with Kate was finally getting to him. A more likely scenario: the pub chili he’d eaten for dinner last night was giving him heartburn. But if heartburn was to blame, what about that weird connection he’d felt when he’d stared at Allison earlier and she’d failed to look away?
 

 
Just watching Allison grow weepy-eyed was enough to break a grown man’s heart. The very thought of another beach week fix-up clearly tormented her. While Grady felt certain Allison had the strength to confront her friends eventually, at present she didn’t seem up to it. So why not go in with both barrels blazing and stage a counterattack? Grady could help Allison out of this tight spot, and then maybe she’d be amenable to helping him. Wasn’t that how life worked?
You scratch my back and I scratch yours.
 

Even if Allison didn’t agree to his business deal at the outset, she at least might be willing to listen to Total Wines’ proposal. Grady was fairly confident in his powers of persuasion once he turned on the charm. All he needed was an opportunity, one that a week at the beach might provide.

Grady had intended to play this out a little longer, but he couldn’t let Allison suffer for one more minute. Not when it was within his power to alleviate her worries.
 

“Allison,” he began carefully. “I’ve been thinking it over, and I’ve decided that maybe Kate is right. Maybe I
should
go with you to Maine.”

Allison looked like she’d been thrown a curveball. “What?”

“I don’t mind doing you the favor, helping you through this rough patch.”

“Ye-es,” Allison queried skeptically, “and why is that? What’s in it for you?”

Grady decided if he told her the whole truth now, she might instantly reject his coming along. Better to wait and ease her into any work discussions after she’d gotten to know—and appreciate—him as the good-natured guy that he was. Allison had never really spent any time with Grady. Perhaps once she had, she’d see he wasn’t the ogre she imagined him to be. Grady wasn’t sure what he’d done to offend Allison, but somewhere along the line, it must have been something. Grady could ask her about it at the beach and smooth things over between them.
Shortly afterward,
Grady thought confidently,
I’ll seal our deal.

“Like Kate said, I’ve already taken the time off. It will keep me from getting bored.”

“You said Maine was cold this time of year.”

“I’ll pack sweaters.” He hesitated a moment, then couldn’t resist. “There’s just one small thing.”

Allison arched an eyebrow.

“I’m not sleeping on the floor.”

“Agreed,” Allison said firmly. “Because you’re not going.”

“Okay,” Kate said defiantly. “Then turn your phone back on.”

“What?”

Grady nodded in agreement. If what Kate had whispered in his ear was true, Allison would find another barrage of text messages waiting. Her bosom-buddy friends would harass and hound her right up until a few days before her trip. And if she didn’t choose someone herself, which according to Kate she never did, then her friends would pick a love interest for her. Maybe one day they’d get it right. But honestly, what were the odds?
 

Allison reached for her phone, her fingers twitching in resistance, like it emitted some rare biological disease and she might catch it.