Fake Marriage Box Set

Gretchen cocked her head to the side. “So, where were you thinking of taking me tomorrow night, then?” she asked challengingly.

I sighed. “Unfortunately, my plan was to take you to the new seafood place for lunch today, so I guess that's out for tomorrow.”

Gretchen laughed. “Is that what you're doing here?” she glanced at her watch. “How 'bout this? I don't have time to do that for lunch today, but we could wander down to that little sandwich place on the corner and get paninis, and then tomorrow night for dinner, maybe we could go down to the seafood place? I've heard that the sunset from there is incredible, and I only work until four tomorrow.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “That sounds great, unless you already had other plans for tomorrow night?”

Gretchen rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately, we can't all be as popular as the great Christian Wall.”

I sighed. “You know, I have been getting used to not being recognized everywhere that I go.”

“Poor baby, feeling like you're losing relevance in the world?” Gretchen asked teasingly.

I frowned at her. “The thing is, and I would never have believed this a couple of months ago, it's kind of nice to have that anonymity. I always thrived in the limelight, but it's also nice to just-” I broke off with a short laugh, running a hand back through my hair.

Gretchen looked like she understood me, though, nodding sagely. “Yeah, I can imagine,” she said, shrugging a little. “I love that I get to live here, but the fact that I've grown up with all of these people means that after a while, everyone knows everything about you. They all have their opinions about everything you do as well. I can only imagine what it must feel like when it's the entire world that has those expectations about you.”

I couldn't help staring at her in shock for a long moment, surprised at how well she understood me. Then, I nodded. “That's exactly it,” I told her. I shook my head and held out my arm to her. “Anyway, let's go to lunch. We wouldn't want to keep your afternoon clients waiting, or you'll be the talk of the island!”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Gretchen

I'd never really been the type to sleep in, but with the amount that I'd been working over the past few weeks, staying in bed until eight was really luxurious. I stretched, reveling in the fact that I had three whole days off from work: Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after Christmas. And it was guilt-free time off, too. Most people were spending the holidays with their families, and they weren't booking appointments anyway.

Finally, I rolled out of bed and hopped in the shower, scrubbing my hair and thinking of my plans for the next few days. Not that I had plans. Basically, I just wanted to relax as much as possible. It had been a while since I had given myself permission just to do nothing. I didn't even have errands to run. I'd caught up on all of those last weekend, knowing that a lot of the stores on the island would be closed for the holidays as well.

I finally climbed out from beneath the warm cascade of water and toweled off. Then, I got dressed in a soft sundress and headed out to the porch with my book. Before I could reach the door, though, there was a knock on it. I frowned and set my book on the table just inside the front hall, wondering who it could be. Probably Mina, but I'd expected her to take advantage of her days off and stay in bed until at least noon.

It was Christian.

I smiled at him, grin growing even broader when he held up coffee and a paper bag from my favorite bakery. “Good morning, darling,” he said, leaning in for a quick kiss. “I brought breakfast for the two of us, if you're interested.”

“Of course, I'm interested,” I said, eyeing the bag.

Christian laughed. “One streusel muffin, one pumpkin muffin, and one cranberry muffin,” he told me. “I wasn't sure which you'd be in the mood for. And then I realized that we could just cut all three of them in half and share, unless you're opposed to that idea.”

I laughed and hugged him, mindful of the things in his hands. “You're the best,” I told him fondly. “Come on.” I led him out to the back porch, and we sat down at the table there.

“So,” Christian said, popping a bite of muffin into his mouth and chewing slowly. “What are you going to do now that you have three full days off?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea,” I told him. “I'm going to Skype with my parents at some point tomorrow to wish them a happy Christmas and act surprised as I open the care package that my mother sent me, even though I already have a pretty good idea of what she's sent me. But other than that, I'm mainly just focusing on relaxing. Maybe I'll get some surfing in or something too. The beaches usually aren't too crowded on Christmas since most people are off with their families. Not sure what the weather forecast looks like, though.”

“Probably warm and humid,” Christian said, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He shook his head. “This is honestly all so strange to me after

growing up with New York winters. I think I've only been out of New York a handful of times in my life for Christmas, and it was always to places in Europe that were just as cold or colder.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it can take some getting used to,” I said. “You can imagine how we all feel, watching American and British Christmas specials. Nearly every single one of you guys are dreaming about a white Christmas, and I've never had a white Christmas in my life!”

“Have you even ever seen snow before?” Christian asked curiously.

“A couple of times,” I admitted, shuddering a little. “I avoid that kind of cold as best I can, though. I'll always be a Hawaiian girl at heart.”

Christian laughed, but there was something dark in his eyes; maybe he was thinking about the fact that he was going to have to leave eventually, and that I wasn't going to be going with him? It was a thought that I seemed to keep having lately. No matter how good things were going between us, no matter how easily the conversation flowed, we were from different worlds, and there was no meshing our lives together. I had to be realistic about that.

That said, Mina's reminders to enjoy what I had at the moment were starting to sink in.

“Hey,” I said, reaching over and lightly squeezing his hand. “At least we get to spend the next few days together, right?”