She set her glass back down on her napkin and pushed back the reluctance he saw in her eyes. “Let’s just say I did something really stupid after consuming too many margaritas, but tonight, my limit is just this one.”
“You know you’re killing me with curiosity, right?”
“Not purposely. I swear,” she said, rubbing her hands along her thighs. “I’m just a little nervous that after I tell you what I did, you’re going to think I have a major screw loose.”
He chuckled, certain she was exaggerating. “Peyton, I remember enough about you to recall that you’re a little quirky. Consider me warned. I’ll do my very best not to be shocked or traumatized by your confession and your proposition.”
That made her smile. And relax just a bit. Mission accomplished.
“Okay . . . so, it all starts with my loving, attentive, well-meaning parents, and you need to understand that dynamic before I get to the part that involves you,” she said, her tone droll. “I’m an only child, and I was totally a surprise baby after my mom and dad gave up on trying to conceive after three miscarriages, even after working with a fertility doctor for a few years. The pregnancy was difficult, and I was born a preemie, which I’m sure added to their overprotective tendencies and the way they constantly worried about everything I did . . . but really, they were great parents and I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood. I just always felt . . . coddled and smothered, and as I got older, their constant hovering started feeling more intrusive when I wanted to just live my own life without them knowing everything I did.”
Leo nodded as she took another drink of her margarita, totally understanding her feelings. What teenager wanted to be constantly monitored by their parents? He knew all this backstory was leading up to the one that would reveal why he was here, but he honestly found himself enjoying learning about her.
“I agreed to stay in San Diego and live at home while going to college because that’s what my parents wanted, but I always knew that as soon as I graduated, I was spreading my wings and flying the coop,” she said lightheartedly. “I was desperate to be independent, and I picked New York, because I was interested in the fashion industry, and it came with the added bonus that it was far enough away that I could do what I wanted without having my parents meddling in my life on a daily basis, and I have to say it’s been incredibly liberating.”
Hearing the excitement in her voice and seeing the light in her eyes, he grinned, but he knew there was more coming. “Except?” he prompted.
She sobered once again. “Except they constantly worried about me being alone in a huge city and not knowing anyone, to the point that I just wanted to reassure them I was okay and that I had someone watching over me. So, I told them I had an attentive, protective boyfriend named Leo Stone, who lived near me in the city, who made sure I got home safe in the evenings after work . . .” Her complexion flushed furiously at that admission, even as she started talking faster to get it all out in a hurry. “And because I thought it would be more convincing if my parents actually saw proof of this boyfriend, one night after a few too many margaritas, my roommate and I used a couple of your online photos and super-imposed them onto pictures with me to make it look like you were my new guy. I sent them to my parents and now I’m kind of stuck in the lie.”
No two ways around it, he stared at her in shock, momentarily speechless.
Mortification etched her pretty features, and she groaned and dropped her face into her hands. “And now would be a really great time for the floor to open up and swallow me whole.” She spread her fingers apart and peered cautiously through them at him. “You probably think I’m some kind of deranged stalker.”
Surprisingly, he found the fabricated tale kind of amusing. “No, I don’t think that . . . I’m just trying to wrap my head around why you’d use me as your boyfriend, of all people.” They hadn’t seen or talked to one another in four years.
It wasn’t posed as a question, rather a statement, but he really wanted to know the answer. Unfortunately, the waitress chose that moment to deliver their meals, setting down a plate with a classic burger in front of him and a chopped chicken salad for Peyton.
“I swear, I never thought it would come to this,” she muttered to herself as she absently pushed her lettuce around on her plate with her fork.
“You never thought it would come to what, Peyton?” he asked while removing the onion from his burger before putting the bun back on top.
She sighed, the sound resigned as she lifted her gaze to his. “Me asking if you’d play the part of my boyfriend for the next week while I’m in San Diego.”
He stared at her, speechless once again.
She arched a brow his way. “Now do you think I’m crazy?”
An abrupt gust of laughter escaped him because, yeah, she’d totally integrated him into her life without him even knowing, and her efforts were mind-boggling. “Maybe. Just a little.” But damn, she was still so cute and adorable.
Her small chin lifted a fraction, contradicting the vulnerable glimmer in her eyes. “Knowing what I’ve done, if you’d like to me leave, I’d totally understand.”
“Pixie, I don’t want you to go,” he said, realizing it was the truth. He was enjoying her and this conversation way too much. “But you have to give me time to digest the fact that we’ve been dating . . . for how long now?”
A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Umm, nine months. My parents have seen photos of you, but they’ve never spoken to you on the phone or seen you on Skype with me when I’m chatting with them. I’ve built you up as such a great boyfriend, which is why they were hoping to meet you during this trip back to San Diego.”
He swallowed a bite of burger and raised his brows. “And you told them I’d come home with you?” Now that was presumptuous.
“Not exactly,” she explained as she mostly played with her salad instead of eating it. “They strongly encouraged the visit, and I told them that you weren’t sure you could get the time off since you run your own business, but you’d try. As of right now, they think you’re still in New York and that there’s a chance you still might make it out in time for the wedding to meet family, if you can get things covered at work.”
He wasn’t committing to anything, but he couldn’t deny he was curious about his fictitious role in her life. “Okay . . . and what do I do for work?”
“Same thing as you do here,” she said, biting into a piece of grilled chicken. “You own a car service business in the city. I, umm, tried to stick to the truth where I could to keep things simple so I didn’t get things mixed up.”
Wow, she’d really thought this through, except there was a way out of the deception. “Why didn’t you just make things easy on yourself and tell your parents that we broke up a week or so ago?”
She set her fork down on her plate and lifted those soft blue eyes up to his. “I seriously thought about it . . . but there are two reasons I didn’t. One is that my father recently underwent a quadruple bypass, and during that time, my mother kept on telling me how relieved she was that I had someone watching over me in New York so she didn’t have to worry while taking care of my father, and I didn’t want to upset either of them or add to that stress.”
He could easily understand that reasoning. “And the second?” he prompted.