To fulfill a promise to her late father, Aubrey Lynn posts an ad to hire a fake boyfriend for Christmas. But when ex-marine Knox Mikelson shows up, with his arrogant attitude and clear dislike for her, she gets more than she bargained for.
Sending my mom a quick text telling her we were 20 minutes away, I started to ready myself for this week. Seeing my family after 10 months was going to be....odd. I've always come home to visit every few months but this past year I haven't. With work being so busy, and after...everything else I couldn't bring myself to do so. Only sticking to calling my mom every few weeks, and exchanging texts between my brothers.
I had horrible daughter down pat.
"Just a fair warning..." I glanced over at Knox then at Olivia who just woke up. "My mom can be a bit too friendly. So if she asks something you don't want to answer, then you don't have to." No doubt my mom would try and learn every little detail about Knox.
"And if you guys are at all uncomfortable and don't want to stay, you are free to leave. You don't have to stay if you don't want. I will give you the two grand no matter what." I didn't want Knox or Olivia thinking they had to stay if they were uncomfortable.
"It will be fun! I know it." Olivia chirped. I tried to get some of her cheerfulness as we neared my childhood home. I shouldn't be this nervous to see my family. It's my family for crying out loud. But as I gave Knox directions a pit was forming in my stomach.
I don't think I can do this. I haven't been back here since that day and a huge part of me wanted to demand Knox to turn around. I'd make up some lie to my mom about some snow storm that held us back. Yeah, that could work!
"Are you okay over there?" My head snapped towards Knox who was looking at me with a raised eyebrow. It was only then I realized I had been bouncing my leg up and down annoyingly.
"Uh yeah. All good." I squeaked out, but even I didn't believe it. "I don't think I can do this." Breathed as he turned down the road that lead to my parents house.
"Aubrey." My eyes gazed down at the hand that suddenly touched my knee. I followed the arm up to Knox's face, mouth parted in surprise. "You need to take a few deep breaths. In and out." He instructed. I followed along, my heart rate slowly down slightly.
"It will be fine. We will act like a couple around your parents. We'll hold hands, smile, and it will be over in a few days." I was more than shocked at the soft tone he was using. He seemed suddenly okay with this whole thing and it was throwing me for a loop.
"I...okay. You're right." Even if he didn't know I wasn't fully freaking out about our fake relationship, I was touched he was trying to calm my nerves.
"Don't forget about me." Olivia chimed in. "I'll be a good distraction if needed." She smiled kindly at me. True. Having her here will definitely help keep my mom's attention off of the two of us.
I nodded, my nerves only slightly going down only to rise when I saw the house on the left. Directing Knox where to pull in, I gulp. The house looked the exact same. The flower beds were empty right outside the front door because of the freezing cold and snow. The huge tree seeming even bigger than before and it still held the swing my father made from years before.
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