Fake Summer Boyfriend

The smell of coffee woke me up with a smile on my face. Hayden was here. She was puttering in my kitchen, making herself at home. That was almost as wonderful as waking up with her in my arms.

What we had shared together last night was beyond any of my hopes or expectations.

She was it for me. The one. My girl.

I could feel it in my bones.

Hauling myself out of bed, I took a lightning fast shower, then threw on a pair of jogging pants and an old t-shirt. She might as well see my grubby weekend wardrobe now.

Before I could head downstairs, I h

eard my phone buzzing from the nightstand.

My brother Julian. Dammit.

I ignored it, walking around the corner into my office to open my laptop to call him back with a video chat. He was always much more amicable through video calls, and I was going to have to butter him up as much as possible so he took my news that I wasn’t moving to Nevada well. Or at least, didn’t get wildly upset.

“Dude, where the hell have you been?” he said by way of greeting.

“Good morning, and how are you?” I said with a dramatic eye roll that made him grin.

“You’re not allowed to be the bratty little brother. We already have one of those.”

“Hey – middle children are allowed to be brats once in a while,” I pouted.

“Fine. Whatever. Just tell me you’ve started to pack already.”

I could hear drawers and bowls being moved around in the kitchen, and didn’t want to leave Hayden there on her own for too long. Turning down Julian’s offer was going to be a lengthy conversation, so I decided not to have it yet.

“We can discuss it later this week,” I said. “Is there some sort of emergency?”

“Not an emergency, no,” he said slowly, tapping his pen on his enormous walnut desk.

He always had his offices set up like some old-fashioned villain lair, and I had to admit, it always looked incredible. “I was just wondering why you had engaged Toby’s services last week?”

Dammit .

“It was a small side project for a friend,” I said, attempting to look nonchalant.

“You know he doesn’t come cheap.”

“I’ll pay for it out of my own pocket.”

Julian waved his hand. “That’s not the point and you know it. I just want to make sure everything’s all right.”

Maybe if he realized how personal this was, he wouldn’t worry about the resources being used. “A friend was having issues with a stalker, and I needed to have him properly checked out so I knew what I was up against,” I said quickly. “It’s mostly resolved now.”

My brother’s face turned sour. “I see. Well, you know how I feel about stalkers. If you want to really put the boots to the bastard, use everything we’ve got.”

“I’m finding some creative, subtle ways to make the necessary points. But thank you. I appreciate it.”

“You know you’re the absolute best at getting in and out of systems undetected,” Julian laughed. “Hell, you could probably just drop a criminal level of speeding tickets on him.”

“Although that’s certainly an amusing thought, you know I don’t break the law,” I said.

“Of course you don’t break it,” he said, leaning back and folding his hands behind his head. “You just bend it and bend it until it’s weak, then someone else steps in to snap it.”

“Knock it off.”