Fake Marriage Box Set

“Oh, woe is you,” Jeff said sarcastically. “You just had to spend your days sitting on a beach and sipping piña coladas?”

I snorted. “I know, right? How did I get this lucky?”

“You worked hard,” Jeff said quietly. “Luck had nothing to do with it.”

I glanced over at Gretchen and then reached over to squeeze her hand. “I wouldn't say luck had nothing to do with it,” I said, pleased to hear her giggle in response to that.

The beach was already pretty crowded by the time we arrived, and Mina was buzzing all over the place trying to make sure that everyone was happy. “There you are!” she exclaimed when she saw us. “I was beginning to think I was going to have to run this whole thing by myself!”

“Which you would have done an excellent job of,” Gretchen soothed.

“Sorry,” I said, grimacing a little because I kne

w that it was my fault that we were late. “We had to pick up my brother—this is Jeff—from the airport on the way, and the traffic was really bad getting back here; there was an accident. It looks like you've been doing a great job, though.”

“Can we get the speeches and the formal part out of the way first?” Mina asked.

“Sure thing,” Gretchen said. She grabbed her friend's hand and led her up onto the front porch, which today would double as a stage. Then, she looked back at me, frowning when she saw I was still standing there next to Jeff. She beckoned me up toward the stage, and after a sharp nudge from my brother, I slowly made my way up to join them.

“This is your day,” I said in an undertone to Gretchen.

“I never would have made it here without your help,” Gretchen shot back. “It's our day.”

The way she smiled up at me left me unable to argue.

“Hi everybody,” she said into the microphone, giving a little wave. “Neighbors and friends and whoever else our neighbors and friends have dragged along.” There was a short laugh at that. “A lot of you out there know Mina and me, and most of you are getting to know Christian as well. Now, Mina and I have been operating our businesses next to one another for years now. Lately, we've been successful at intermingling our client pool, so that people who come to me for a massage then go to her for a shake and people who come to her for pineapple then come to me for a massage. Our aim in all of this has been to give everyone the most relaxing experience that they can have on this beautiful island.”

“But there's so much more to our partnership than that,” Mina said. “I'm lucky enough to be standing up here with my best friend, and about to go into business with her. We believe that a great shop experience begins the moment you encounter the smiling face of your shopkeeper, and we both know that with the two of us working together, we're always going to be smiling.”

They continued talking along this vein for a little while, and I, along with most of the audience, I was sure, couldn't help from smiling along with them at their sheer enthusiasm at the fact that they were going to be coworkers. Finally, they wrapped it up, and together they cut the brightly-colored ribbon that had been strung across the back doors to the new place. The crowd erupted in cheers, and then it was time for the party to start.

“Just like a luau, huh?” Gretchen asked a little while later, smiling next to me as we watched people begin grilling up tasty bites for dinner.

“Pretty much,” I said, grinning at her. “Looks like Mina's having a good day too, doesn't it?”

Gretchen looked over where I was pointed and gaped at her friend. I'd been watching them over the course of the past few hours, and Mina was unmistakably flirting, tossing back her hair every once in a while, and totally focusing all of her body language toward-

“Is that your brother?” Gretchen asked in surprise.

“Yup,” I said, grinning over at her. “He's not a billionaire like some of us, but he's a pretty good guy.”

Gretchen snorted and lightly hit my arm. But I could tell that she was pleased to see Mina looking happy. “Do you think that she's ever going to convince him to leave Boston and move down here?” she mused.

“Stranger things have happened,” I said, shrugging.

“That they have,” Gretchen said. She bit her lower lip. “So, I know that you're part of the business now, as a consultant if nothing more, but…”

“Are you asking me again whether I regret moving down here?” I asked, turning to face her. “Because I definitely, definitely don't. And you don't need to ask me that every month, you know!”

Gretchen sighed. “I love seeing you here with all my friends and everyone else. You look like you're having fun, but I don't want you to feel like I'm holding you back. I know managing a little massage parlor-slash-pineapple shop probably wasn't exactly what you had in mind for your life.”

“Gretchen,” I sighed, wondering how to make her see the truth. There was only one thing that I could say. “You know that I love you, don't you?”

Gretchen stared up at me in surprise. “You do?”

“Yeah, baby. I love you,” I told her firmly. “More than you could even know.”

She stared at me for another moment and then smiled broadly. “I love you too,” she said quietly, almost shyly, as though there were anything left for either of us to be shy about. She bit her lower lip and then laughed a little. “So, we aren't just fucking anymore?”