Fake Marriage Box Set

“She's been my best friend for ages, since we were kids,” I told him. “And we're lucky enough to work next door to one another. She runs the pineapple shop next door. I get to see her all the time. More so lately. I think she must have been feeling that we weren't seeing enough of one another because she's been over here two days in a row now with breakfast for me!”

“Or she thinks you don't know how to take care of yourself, maybe,” Christian said, smirking up at me.

I laughed. “That could be, too,” I agreed. “I probably have a better grasp on that than she does, though, if I'm being honest. She's a brilliant woman and very creative, but she's a bit flighty, I guess.”

“I work in the same office as my best friend,” Christian told me. “His name's Paul. He's a great guy. No matter what I do, he's there for me.”

“Well, yeah,” I said. “That's what friendship is, right?”

“I guess so,” Christian said, sounding as though he was considering it.

“Mina and I would do anything for one another,” I told him. “And I tell her everything, and she tells me everything as well. I probably know her better than I know myself. She's like a sister. The sister I would have chosen.”

Christian smiled a little. “Do you have any siblings?”

“Oh no,” I said. “I'm an only child. My parents decided I was too headstrong when I was a toddler, and they knew they were already going to be chasing me around for my whole life. They decided that one was enough.”

Christian laughed. “Are they still chasing you around?”

“I've settled down more now. But I'm close enough that they could pop by at any time if they wanted to. And I go over there for dinner a lot.”

“That's nice.” Christian sounded like he was drifting off again already, but whether he was falling asleep or falling into his thoughts, I couldn't tell.

“What about you, do you have any siblings?” I asked, wanting to prolong the conversation.

“I did,” Christian told me. “Next subject?”

I cast around for another conversation topic, but his unwillingness to talk about his family had me wanting to know more. “What are you going to get up to this afternoon?” I asked.

Christian came back into the conversation at that, and I realized he had just been caught up in his thoughts. There was something there, I guessed, and I wondered what it was. But I wasn't going to ask.

“So, have you always wanted to be a masseuse?” Christian asked as I worked my way up his arm.

I shook my head. “Not exactly,” I said. “I wasn't sure what I wanted to be, growing up. I just knew that I wanted to live here in Hawaii forever. I thought about being a yoga teacher for a while too, but I didn't like the idea of working for someone else's studio, and it's hard to get your own clients if you just strike out on your own. Mina's the one who pointed me toward being a masseuse. I don't know how she came up with the idea, but I liked it immediately, went to school for it, and here I am.”

“You must have a background in business as well, to run your own.”

“No,” I said. “I know the basics. I took a night course for entrepreneurs. But I don't know all that much.” I laughed a little self-consciously. “Whatever I'm doing, though, it seems to be working.”

I let my fingers linger on Christian's skin for a moment, reluctant to pull away again. “I'm afraid that's all we have time for again,” I told him.

“That went fast today,” he said, sitting up and rolling out his shoulders.

“It did,” I agreed. “I like talking to you.” I blushed after I said it, hardly believing that those words had come out of my mouth. Not that they weren't true, but he would probably take that as an invitation to–

“So maybe we should talk some more over dinner on Saturday night,” Christian suggested.

–ask me out.

I sighed and began tidying the room. “I don't date clients,” I told him. If only it were that simple.

“Well then, I'll never come back for another massage,” Christian told me, a devilish grin on his face.

I frowned. “I also don't date people who don't live here,” I told him.

“Do you ever even date?” Christian asked, and I gaped at him.

“You can't just-”