I nodded. “I advertised a fake date. Honestly, I’m fine with it. Besides—if it goes really bad, I work at the Beachside, so I can run away and hide from you.”
He laughed. It was a delicious sound. Like melted ice-cream on top of a hot chocolate brownie. That’s what it would taste like if laughs could be eaten.
Hnnnnng.
Okay. I needed to get ahold of myself. This was going to be a disaster if I didn’t calm the fuck down.
I took a deep breath as I stepped into the elevator.
“You didn’t mention that you work there,” Mason said, hitting the button for the ground floor. “I’ve never been there.”
“Really? I thought everyone in town had been to the Beachside.”
“Nah. I’m more of a sports bar guy instead of a beach bar.”
“It’s not really a beach bar.” I paused. “All right, kinda, but only because it’s right on the beach.”
“That makes it a beach bar.” He chuckled. “Plus, they don’t play sports or serve wings, and that’s a deal breaker for me.”
“Right. Your love affair with buffalo wings.” I looked at him and tapped my temple. “See? I remembered.”
He laughed as the elevator shuddered to the ground floor. Holding out his hand, he made sure the doors stayed open and motioned for me to exit first. “Honestly, if they served wings, I might go.”
“Really? You can’t eat anything but wings? They do great food. You’ll see tonight. The party spreads are epic.”
“Will there be wings?”
“No, but there won’t be cheeseburgers either, and you don’t see me complaining about it.”
“I’m going to find your manager and tell him to serve wings. What kind of a bar doesn’t serve wings?”
I pushed open the door to the building. “The kind who doesn’t want sports yobs shouting at TVs?”
“Point well made.” Mason shook his head. “I can’t believe there are no wings.”
“Okay, if you’re gonna complain about it all night, I’m gonna have no problem pretending to be your girlfriend. I’ll be rolling my eyes like it’s my job.”
He caught the door as he followed me out and smirked. “Well, that’s how we’re gonna do this. I’ll complain, you roll your eyes, and everyone will believe this is a real relationship.”
I rolled my eyes.
“That. Do that all night.” He grinned and led me to his car, where he hit the button on his key fob and opened the passenger-side door for me. “That’ll sell it.”
I didn’t want to roll my eyes again, but… I was going to have one hell of a headache by the end of the night at this rate.
“Maybe we can try something a little less headache-inducing,” I said as he joined me on the driver side. “What kind of girlfriend would you like me to be? A simpering thing who hangs off your arm and laughs at everything? An independent woman who can do everything but buy her own drinks? I’ll warn you now; I’m a terrible actress. Not even my elementary school productions wanted me.”
He laughed as he pulled out of the parking space. “Just…be yourself,” he said slowly. “How would you normally act around a boyfriend?”
“No idea. I’ve been responsible for my own orgasms for at least three years.”
“I’d offer to help with that, but we just met, and after that much practice, you’re probably far better at pleasing yourself than I would be.”
Ha! “I can’t decide if you’re being honest or trying to convince me to let you try.”
“Would I be an honest man if I said you were onto something with the last part of your sentence?”
“Yes, but as you said, we just met. And I’m only your fake girlfriend. Honestly, if you got me into bed, you might not let me out. That’d mess with this deception.”
Mason laughed. “You think a lot about your bedroom skills, don’t you?”
“Oh, I don’t think anything. I know I’m great in bed. I’ve been the only one in mine that’s been able to do anything right for years.”
He banged a fist against his chest. “Well, of all the fake girlfriends I could have found, I’m glad it’s you. Can you use some of that confidence to tell everyone how good in bed I am?”
“Why? Are you trying to pull someone? Jesus, way to dent my confidence.” I flicked my hair over my shoulder and looked at him. “Is that how you treat your fake girlfriend?”
He quickly met my eyes. “You’re something else. Do you know that?”
“Something else? What does that mean?” I paused. “If you mean a total delight, hilarious, a pleasure to be around, then you’re right. Anything else, you’re wrong, and we’re going into this reunion on the tail end of a fight.”
“Hey, at least that would be realistic.”
“Yes, that’s how you get under your ex’s skin. You show up mid-fight with your fake girlfriend.”
He burst into laughter and pulled up at the intersection. “Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”