Say Yes To The Fake Date (How To Win At Love #3)

12. Dominic

12

DOMINIC

As soon as I close the door behind Lucy, I turn to Walker, and he has his hands held up. “You know I can’t tell you anything.”

I walk over to his desk and hover over him. I’m trying to be intimidating even though there’s no way Walker is intimidated by me. He stands up. “You know I can’t tell you anything about Lucy’s fiancé.”

I practically growl at him, “Ex-fiancé.”

He shrugs his shoulders. “Fiancé, ex-fiancé, partner… whatever you want to call him. He’s a piece of shit, but you know I can’t give you any information and you go off half-cocked out of here. ”

My jaw is pulled tight. “He put his hands on her.”

He runs his hand through his hair. “He the one that put that bruise on her?”

“Yes.”

He nods. “Okay, I’m going to get my best people into it. He’s keeping her business from her. Do you know that?”

“Yes… but I don’t even know the name of her business. I can’t look this guy up… if you just give me a name, I’ll take care of it.”

He looks at me with understanding and palms my shoulder. “I get it, I really do, but let me gather some intel.”

“Fuck, Walker, you know exactly how I feel right now. When Brook was kidnapped and in danger…”

He crowds me. “Let’s not bring my wife into this. Like I said, I know exactly how you’re feeling. I’ll get some information that she can use to get her business back—or hell, at least help her salvage some of her income and put the guy away.”

There’s no sense in arguing with Walker, and I know his word is good. If he says he’ll take care of something, he will. “Okay. Thanks for offering Lucy the job. ”

He waves me off. “She’s more than qualified.”

I nod in agreement, and after telling Walker bye, I find Lucy in the gardens. “Hey, sorry about that.”

She smiles up at me. “It’s fine.” She spans her hand out at the gardens around us. “Isn’t this beautiful?”

“You’re beautiful,” I answer her.

She blushes and tucks her hair behind her ear. “You know you’re making this hard on me, right?”

I flinch because the last thing I want to do is make anything hard for her. I want to help her.

She shakes her head and steps toward me. “I just mean, how you’re being so nice to me, that’s all. You’re making it hard for me to stay mad at you.”

I couldn’t stop the smile from forming on my face if I tried. “I’m not trying to rush you. I’m just happy being around you, Lucky.”

She pats her briefcase. “For the first time since I got back into Whiskey Run, I’m starting to feel lucky. Thank you for setting up this appointment with Walker.”

“I got you the appointment, you got the job offer.” I search her face. “Are you going to take it?”

She shrugs, her face not giving anything away. “ What was that about afterward? Is everything okay?”

I debate on telling her, but decide it’s best to come clean. “I asked him to tell me the name of your business partner.”

She looks at me curiously. “And did he tell you?”

“No, he didn’t. But you could tell me, Lucy. Just give me a name, and I’ll talk to him and get the money he owes you.”

She laughs, and it’s then I realize how much I have missed hearing her laugh. Years ago, when we were together, she was always laughing. “Dom, I’m not getting you mixed up in all that.”

I start to interrupt her, but she puts her hand on my chest to stop me. “No, listen. I know you, Dominic Evans, and you wouldn’t just get my money back.”

I grit my teeth but don’t deny it. “You’re right. I’d probably teach him a lesson or two about putting his hand on a woman.”

Her hand slides up my chest to my shoulder, and she squeezes me there. “I know that… and that’s why I’m not going to get you involved.”

I could stand here all day with her hand on me. I don’t move or even take a breath for fear of her realizing that she’s touching me. We stare into each other’s eyes, and I can feel the shift between us. I can’t help but wonder if she feels it too.

Eventually, she lifts her hand from me and takes a step back. I start to panic, and I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

She doesn’t tense or even hesitate. “Sure, anything.”

My eyebrows lift, and I lean in. “Anything?”

She smirks. “Anything within reason. I figure I owe you at this point.”

It’s my turn to hold my hands up. “No, you don’t owe me anything… that’s not what this is about.”

She laughs and swats me in the chest. “Ease up, Evans. Ask me the favor.”

I want to pull her to me, but I keep my hands at my sides. I can hear the emotion in my voice as I ask her. “Be my date for the fundraiser this weekend.”

The easygoing smile on her face disappears, and I want to take back the words I just asked her, but instead I switch it up. “I mean, my fake date. I know you don’t want to date me, and I don’t have any reason to ask you to do this, but you’d be helping me out. ”

She bites on to her lip, and I want to reach up and run my thumb across her mouth to soothe it. She looks unsure, and I hate seeing that on her face. “How would me going on a fake date with you help you out?”

“Well, I know you’ve noticed the amount of women that come into the garage.”

She grunts and rolls her eyes.

“Right, well, it’s both been a blessing and curse doing the monthly auto maintenance lessons in town. Business has picked up… but some of these women are feral.”

She laughs. “Are you really asking me to be your date because you’re afraid of a few women?”

I look her straight in the eye. “I’ve had Ms. Gleason show up at my apartment at ten o’clock at night in a negligee. Ms. Holden brought me a cake to the garage, and the card was a naked picture of herself. Ms. Stroker acted like her car had broken down out at Lookout Point and then tried to kiss me when I went to tow her in. So yeah, maybe if people thought I was seeing someone, then word will spread, and I wouldn’t have these… uh incidents anymore.”

She’s considering it, and I’m holding my breath waiting for her to answer me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but she really would be helping me out. But more than that, I’d get to spend more time with Lucy.

“Isn’t Mrs. Gleason in her seventies now?”

I nod. “Yep.”

“Fine,” she mutters.

I can’t hide my surprise. “You’ll do it?”

She waves her hand at me. “It’s one fake date, Dom. After everything you’ve done for me since I got back, I can handle one fake date.”

I hate that this is the only way I can convince her to go on a date with me. “You ready to get back into town?”

She nods, and I gesture for her to walk beside me. As we walk the path back to the parking lot, I can’t help but ask her, “Are you going to take the job?” I would give anything to have Lucy stay in Whiskey Run, but I know she has a lot going on right now.

She shrugs and is looking at the ground in front of her. “I’m not sure. I have a lot to think about.”

We’re both silent as we get to the truck and I help her into the passenger side. “I know my vote doesn’t really count, but I still want you to know that I want you to stay.”

She’s looking into my eyes, and again, I’m stopping myself from reaching for her. With a longing look at her lips, I take a step back and shut the door. I can feel her eyes on me as I walk around to my side of the truck. I get in and take off toward town without another word. We get to the intersection where I either turn to take her toward her mom’s house or stay straight to the garage when she finally starts to talk. “Would you care if I went to the garage for a while to work? I can walk home later.”

I press my foot on the gas so fast that both our heads jerk. “Honey, of course. The office is yours. And when you want to go home, I can take you.”

I wait for her to argue with me, but she just continues to look out the window. “Thanks, Dom.”

I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but it feels that she’s letting her guard down with me at least a little bit. I just have to make sure I don’t fuck it up.