Love For Hire: The Helena's Grove Series Book 2 (4 page)

With only two weeks until Christmas, Annie was as nervous as ever. Every day was a moral battle of whether or not she should call off this entire charade of having a boyfriend. The only thing that kept her from cancelling her contract with Marcus was the fact that he intrigued her in such a way that she always found herself wanting to see him again after every visit.

“You can’t have a crush on your acquisition!” Roxy chastised Annie from across the room when she giggled over their last encounter together.

“I don’t,” Annie assured her. “He is just very nice to look at and I like talking to him. He’s so gentlemanly and…”

“No, no, no!” Roxy shook a finger at her. “Stop! The only feeling you are allowed to have towards him is approval or disapproval. Think of him as a product you bought at the grocery store. Like shampoo, does it work for you or not. You don’t have a crush on your shampoo do you?”

“No. I mean, not literally.”

“Okay then, get a hold of yourself or your going to be in for a whole lot of trouble. These guys are doing their job. He isn’t spending time with you because he likes you – you’re
paying
him. He probably has a handful of real girlfriends that he can call whenever he feels like it. He’s a womanizer, they all are. Charming, beautiful, charismatic womanizing scum bags, Annie; all of them so get used to it.” She waited until Annie nodded in understanding before putting her pointing, disapproving finger down and went back to her computer.

Annie sighed heavily. She knew she had a problem of getting attached to people she could never be with. However, this was different. She could be mature about this. She could be nothing but professional, just like Marcus was. And together they would fool all her loved ones into thinking they were a couple. Once the holidays were over, Marcus would collect his payment and walk out of her life just as quickly as he had walked in. She was okay with that; and she could go on as if she had never seen his beautiful face.
Of course she could!
Annie nodded as if agreeing with herself, and for the first time since Thanksgiving, she felt alright about everything.

****

Marcus was at the airport when Annie arrived on Christmas Eve. “You’re here!” she said smiling.

“Did you think I wouldn’t be?” he asked, returning her smile. He wore the same long coat he had the day they’d met and a scarf wrapped tastefully around his neck. His hair was combed and his face clean shaven.
As always, the picture of perfection.

“I guess a part of me wondered,” she admitted.

“Well here I am, ready to go.”

Annie nodded and then remembered something. “Here is the down payment we talked about.” She handed him an envelope.

He accepted it graciously. “Thank you very much.” He took her rolling suitcase from her. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she said with a deep breath. With that the two of them made their way through customs and to the waiting area. There was little conversation until the two of them were seated on the plane waiting for takeoff. Marcus sat next to Annie, engrossed in some book about solar panels.

“So…” Annie began, “do you ever get nervous for these things?”

“Not anymore,” he said casually, barely glancing up from his book.

“How long was it you’ve been in this business?”

He gave a half smile. “A while.”

“What made you choose hiring yourself out as people’s fake dates as a career?”

“I couldn’t make it as an actor in Hollywood.”

Annie looked at him skeptically. “Really?”

He looked up at her, eyes full of amusement. “No.”

“How old are you?” Annie asked. “I just realized I don’t know how old you are and that is probably something I would know about my boyfriend.”

“Marcus is your boyfriend, why don’t you tell me?”

Annie sighed. “Well you look to be about thirty so let’s go with that.”

“Sounds good.”

“Do you want to know how old I am?”

Marcus closed his book but kept one finger in the pages to hold his place. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-four – almost twenty-five.”

“That’s right your birthday is the first of February, correct?”

“That’s right.”

The ‘fasten your seat belts’ sign went off and the stewardess walked in to begin the final instructions before takeoff. Annie watched out the window as the plane began to move and pick up speed. Take off was her favorite part of flying; that sudden weightless feeling was something she never got tired of. Before long they were in the air and the passengers were allowed to move about the cabin.

“So…” Annie turned to Marcus. “What if someone asks you something and you don’t know the answer? Or our stories don’t match up? Has that ever happened to you before? Has anyone ever found out what you do and called you out on it? My Aunt Gabby is old but she’s quick as a whip and if you slip at all I’m sure she’ll think something’s up. Zack and Jen will be easier to fool since they are still in the new relationship phase. Is there anything else you think I should know or that you should know because I’ve been wracking my brain the last week trying to think of stuff and I keep thinking we got it all covered but I’m kind of a scatter brain so it would be just like me to forget something big...”

“Annie.” Marcus took her hand, cutting her off. She stared at it a second before looking up to meet his eyes. “Will you please, for your own sanity and mine, calm down?”

His eyes pierced through her and she felt a tingling sensation as his hand touched hers. “I’m sorry, it’s just… I’ve never done this before.”

“I understand that but as I’ve told you before, I have done this before, countless times. I’ve never messed up and it’s always worked out so just take a deep breath and trust me.” He grinned at her and she seemed to forget how to speak so she just nodded instead.

“Good.” He let go of her hand.

Annie took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Just relax,
she told herself. She awoke with a start when the captain announced their descent into Cleveland, Ohio. They landed and made their way through the crowds to grab their luggage. The holidays were always the worst time to travel and Annie couldn’t believe how many people were in the airport. She and Marcus stayed close together as they walked through the large glass doors to the line of waiting taxis. Before long they were settled in the warm car, winding their way through the traffic toward Aunt Gabby’s house.

“Have you lived here your whole life?” Marcus broke the silence as he looked out the window.

“We moved here when I was little, right before my dad died.”

“I’m sorry,” Marcus said quietly. He turned to her. “I mean about your dad.”

“Thanks, it was a long time ago.”

“Time doesn’t make losing someone any easier. You just get better at blocking out the pain.”

Annie looked at him but he had turned his attention back to window, watching the snow covered earth as they passed by. It was the first time since they met that Annie had a glimpse of the real man she sat next to, instead of Marcus, the man she hired. They continued in silence the rest of the way and soon the taxi pulled up in front of Aunt Gabby’s house. The sun had gone down and night was settling in fast. The lights from the house glowed softly as a light snow began to fall. Annie could see the seven foot tree in the living room window, lit up for the entire world to see. She paid the taxi driver as Marcus got their luggage out of the trunk. The taxi drove away, leaving them standing in front of the house, the snow gathering on their shoulders and hair.

“Are you ready?” Marcus asked as he stood next to her.

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. She looked up the stone pathway to the beautiful little house that she loved so much. “What am I doing?” she asked aloud to more herself than him.

Marcus set the suitcases down and put an arm around her shoulders. “The holidays make us all do things we wouldn’t normally do.”

“I suppose it’s too late to back out now.”

“Do you really want to?”

She looked up at him. “No, yes, maybe.”

He laughed and took her hand in his. “Come on babe, let’s go meet the fam.”

They picked up their suitcases and walked into the house without ringing the doorbell.

“Hello?” Annie called as she hung up her coat and scarf. “Aunt Gabby?” she called again. The house was spotless and smelled of Christmas, with decorations to match. They walked into the kitchen where a cinnamon apple candle burned softly on the counter.

“This place is like a real life Christmas card,” Marcus commented.

“Yeah, it really is.”

“Annie! Is that you?” Aunt Gabby called from upstairs.

“Yes it’s me!” They made their way to the staircase just as Aunt Gabby was coming down. Annie hugged her tightly. “I missed you so much!”

“Oh I missed you darling. And I see you’ve brought a guest… a very strong and good looking guest.” She hugged Marcus and winked at Annie who blushed slightly.

“Aunt Gab this is my boyfriend Marcus. Marcus this is my Aunt Gabby.”

“I’ve heard so much about you Ms. Berkley,” Marcus said politely.

“Oh my good heavens,” Aunt Gabby said waving her hand, “I’ll hear none of that Ms. Berkley stuff. That makes me feel old. Call me Aunt Gabby like everyone else.”

“Of course,” Marcus smiled.

“What’s your last name honey?” Aunt Gabby asked.

“Everett ma’am,” Marcus told her smiling brightly, and then added, “Annie didn’t tell me what a beautiful woman you are.”

“Oh my, well thank you Marcus. And Annie didn’t tell me she landed such a handsome catch!” She winked at him and he laughed.

Annie blushed with embarrassment. “Aunt Gabby,” she whispered.

“What? I may be old but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate.”

“Age is just a number,” Marcus agreed.

“Exactly.” Aunt Gabby passed Annie and whispered, “I like him very much.” She headed into the kitchen. “Well you guys look starved. Come in and get yourselves something to eat.”

They followed her back into the kitchen and sat down, chatting about their flight and how crazy travel was during the holidays.

“Where are Jen and Zack?” Annie asked when there was a lull in the conversation.

“They’ll be here sometime tomorrow morning. Roger is coming with them and he couldn’t leave until then.” Aunt Gabby looked at Marcus. “Roger is Jennifer’s dad, my little brother.”

“Oh I see,” Marcus nodded.

As Aunt Gabby pulled some food out, she filled Annie in on what was going on in the town. She turned to Marcus from time to time to let him know who was who and how they were connected to them. Annie was glad she refrained from asking him any personal questions.

“Well,” Aunt Gabby said finally. “It’s time for this old gal to get in bed. Tomorrow’s a big day.” She stood and Marcus and Annie followed suit. “Marcus I’m so glad to have you here. I am waiting until everyone else gets here tomorrow to ask you about yourself so you don’t have to keep repeating the same things over and over.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you. And thank you so much for opening your home to a perfect stranger.”

“Oh well, if Annie trusts you, so do I.” She smiled and Annie tried to wipe the look of guilt from her face.

“You can go ahead and put your bags up the stairs in the last room on the right,” Aunt Gabby instructed.

Annie froze and Aunt Gabby caught her look. “What’s wrong dear?” she asked.

“We… um…” Annie looked at Marcus for help who sat back casually waiting for her to spit out whatever it was she was trying to say. “We hadn’t planned on staying together.” She watched Aunt Gabby’s face, waiting for it to dawn on her. She finally caught on and nodding knowingly. “Well honey, you’ve been dating for a couple months now, haven’t you…?” She let the question hang in the air and Annie could feel her face turning cherry red. “You know, if you haven’t, then honey, you should get on that. He is a fine, fine young man,” Aunt Gabby whispered to her.

Annie tried desperately to compose herself. “Well, yes of course we
have
, it’s just… I didn’t think you’d be ok with us… you know, staying together, so we just planned on not,” she stammered.

“Oh don’t be silly. I’m old but I’m not that old fashioned. I know what goes on nowadays.” Aunt Gabby waved her hand at them and made her way toward her room. Annie was close on her heels whispering loudly enough for her to hear.

“But I knew you only had a twin bed in each guestroom, so I thought it would be more comfortable if we stayed separately. I’m a girl who needs her space, you remember?” She laughed nervously.

“Oh I already thought of that,” Aunt Gabby told her. “I ordered a new bedroom set for the back room and I must say it looks marvelous.”

Annie stopped, turned and quickly walked up the stairs to the end of the hall and peeked in the room. The new cherry wood furniture was indeed beautiful. The set was complete with a dresser, nightstand and a brand new queen sized bed. She suddenly felt weak, and was sure she’d have a heart attack.