Fake Summer Boyfriend

The second I walked into my house and set the alarm, I flipped open my laptop to run Craig Landers through the usual systems.

No official police record. No speeding tickets or moving violations. One parking ticket from two years ago.

Using one of my somewhat ‘gray area’ networks, I found which university he was at last year, and dug up two complaints from fellow students who said he was stalking them. One girl claimed that he followed her for three straight months.

Dammit.

I didn’t want to tell Hayden that, for fear it would make her even more nervous.

At least there was no record of him being violent, or ever touching the girls. But still, this was a scary world. Feeling watched all the time could easily creep someone right out.

If she didn’t want me to confront Craig, fine. I would just play the part of her boyfriend so well that he would move on to bother someone else. Or even better, get a life.

In the meantime, hopefully I could be such a wonderful fake boyfriend for Hayden that she would decide that I was worthy of her for real.

Even though I was turning thirty-six next month, I hadn’t dated much, certainly never such a gorgeous girl as Hayden.

According to the search I was running, she was only twenty-one. The hometown that was listed for her was a six hour drive away. It was going to take some time to find out why she was here, and what her goals were.

My fingers drummed on the desk, staring at the calendar. There was a small black X on a square just two weeks from now.

Decision day. Was I going to stay here, or take the job out in Nevada?

Until this evening, I had been leaning towards taking the new position my older brother Julian had offered me as being the best thing for me. Both professionally, and to give my life a shakeup, find some fresh energy.

Now I was having second thoughts.

The strange connection I felt with Hayden was absolutely intoxicating. Just touching her hand or running my lips across the top of her hair was electrifying. There was something about her smell, her energy, her essence.

I was drawn to her. It wasn’t the sort of thing that happened every day. I couldn’t just walk away without exploring it completely.

The only problem was that time limit. Two weeks wasn’t long at all.

It might not be long enough to find out whether Hayden had real feelings for me. And if so, would they be strong enough for me to change my career plan to stay with her?

Chapter 3

_____

Hayden

I woke up in the morning feeling refreshed and happy for the first time in about two months. The black cloud of the black car seemed to have faded.

Just as I was leaving for work, my phone buzzed with a text.

Leif: When you’re leaving for work, if you go out the back door of your building, there’s a laneway that will take you out to a side street.

Leif: That way you can totally avoid Craig. Please text me when you get to work safely?

He was thinking of me at this hour of the morning? I honestly couldn’t believe it.

I rushed back to the washroom to put on a touch more eyeliner and pack my lip gloss in my purse. I just had a feeling I might run into him today.

Since I’d never had a boyfriend, or even had

a close male friend, I wasn’t used to this feeling of protection. Or overprotection. Whatever it was, it honestly made me feel amazing.

After waiting three minutes, which I hoped was appropriate, I returned his text.