“I studied design,” Serena replied as she rinsed and dried her hands off.

  “Really?” Charlotte sounded surprised. “You didn’t want to work in the field?”

  Serena didn’t want to go into the details about why she hadn’t finished her degree. The car accident that had killed her family and put her dad in the hospital, had subsequently made her drop out. It was something that she kept close to her chest.

  “Maybe someday,” she said.

  “Wine?” Charlotte asked and held up the bottle.

  “Sure,” Serena whistled. She clapped her hand to her mouth. She had forgotten all about her tooth.

  Charlotte laughed. “Just go with it. You have a beautiful smile.” As she said ‘smile’, Charlotte whistled lightly.

  The two women, who had once hated each other, broke out into a fit of giggles.

  “Cheers,” Charlotte said through her laugh.

  They clinked their glasses together and sipped the expensive wine.

  “Hey, Charlotte. I need to thank you,” Serena said, and leaned against the counter. She glanced out to the patio and saw Freddie standing up miming something that looked like surfing.

  Charlotte followed her gaze. “He’s an entertainer, that one. And you don’t need to thank me for anything. It’s been a pleasure having you here tonight.”

  “Well, that’s just it. I want to thank you for being accepting of um, us. I mean, our engagement. You’re the only one who hasn’t pulled Freddie aside for a ‘what the hell are you doing’ talk.”

  “Freddie may come across like a fifteen-year-old, but he’s a grown man. He hasn’t had much luck in the love department, so it’s nice to see him happy with someone.”

  “You know, Charlotte, if someone would’ve told me that you and I would be standing here, sharing a bottle of wine, instead of throwing it at each other, I never would’ve believed them.”

  “It’s a little crazy, isn’t it?” Charlotte smiled. “So, do you have a favorite style of architecture?”

  “Oh, where do I start,” Serena gushed. “It changes with my mood, and where I am. I mean, if I were going to design something for downtown Chance Rapids, I would go with Craftsman style, maybe add some gingerbread features. But, over here, in this neighborhood, wow… the sky is the limit. I’m not usually a fan of contemporary architecture, but across the bridge seems to scream for it.

  “I’m with you on that.” Charlotte took another sip of her wine. “Where did you say you studied?”

  Serena ignored the question and gestured to the patio doors. “Should we join them?”

  “Sure,” Charlotte replied.

  As they approached the table, everyone was laughing and wiping tears from their eyes - Josh was even holding his stomach. Serena walked up behind Freddie and rested her hand on his shoulder. He then reached up and held his hand on hers while she took her seat next to him.

  How were these small intimate gestures coming so naturally to them?

  “Freddie was just telling us his strategy for the auction,” Megan said.

  “Auction?” Serena asked.

  Megan explained. “Every year the search and rescue team holds a fundraiser. This year, they’re doing a bachelor auction. Freddie is going to win over the audience with his stellar dance moves.”

  “Is that what those were?” Charlotte laughed.

  Serena laughed, too. “When is this auction? You might need some help with your moves, babe.”

  “Oh, no,” Charlotte spoke up from the end of the table. “I think that the bachelors actually have to be bachelors to be in the auction.”

  Josh swatted his hand. “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a fundraiser and a drink.”

  Serena’s heart jumped into her throat. If they were just dating, she wouldn’t care about something as silly as a bachelor auction, but this, this wouldn’t look good to Sidney’s.

  “Charlotte’s right,” Serena said.

  “Oh, come on. It’s all in good fun, and they need Freddie. Have you seen the other guys on Search and Rescue?” Logan said, leaning onto the table, his eyes darting between Serena and Freddie.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Freddie,” Serena said.

  “He committed to this before he committed to you,” Logan said and pushed back from the table.

  “No. She’s right. I’m sorry Charlotte, you’ll have to tell the organizing committee that I can’t do it,” Freddie said.

  The group went totally silent and Logan stood up. “Grow a pair Freddie,” he said, and walked away.

  Serena cast her gaze down at her ring, the band suddenly felt too tight on her finger. Freddie pulled Serena out of her chair by her hand. “Thanks for dinner, Char. We’re going to head out now.” Serena didn’t protest. The lighthearted atmosphere had disappeared under a thundercloud who went by the name of Logan.

  Freddie held her hand as they made their way through Charlotte’s house, but he dropped it as soon as they were out the front door.

  The drive home was silent until they had passed through the covered bridge. Serena realized that this weekend was going to be tough for both of them, but she didn’t have the judging eyes of an older brother to deal with. She felt for Freddie. “Are you okay?” she asked. The starry night had slipped into complete darkness; the only sound was the truck’s tires on the wooden slats of the covered bridge.

  “Logan and I don’t always see eye to eye on things, but he’s never been like that with me. And I’m sorry that he made you feel uncomfortable.”

  “Is this worth it?” she asked. “I mean, your friends, your family, Charlotte is being cool about it for some reason, but can you handle the pressure from everyone else?”

  “They’ll understand once it’s all done and you’re gone.”

  It was rational and she knew that he was right, but for some reason, those words, ‘you’re gone,’ seemed to cut into her like a knife. “Okay, as long as you can handle them.”

  “I can.” Freddie reached and turned up the radio, ending the discussion.

  They pulled into the driveway at Freddie’s house and he shut off the engine. “I’m sorry about your tooth,” he said.

  “My tooth!” Serena realized that she had left that little piece sitting on Charlotte’s countertop.

  “It’s okay, I’ve got it here.” Freddie reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled it out. “Put this somewhere safe. I texted Ken and you have an appointment first thing Monday morning to get it fixed.”

  “You can text the dentist?”

  “I can text everybody in this town. Ken’s on Search and Rescue, he’s the best, well, the only, dentist in town.”

  As they walked into the house, Serena stared up at the night sky. Had the number of stars quadrupled a million times in the last few years? She had forgotten how expansive the night sky could feel. She gripped her tooth in her hand and stared up at the sky as they walked to the front door.

  “If you don’t watch where you’re going, you’re going to lose that other tooth,” Freddie joked and put his hand on her hip to guide her.

  “I just… I don’t remember the stars looking like that,” she said.

  “Like what?” he asked.

  At that moment, a bright flash streaked across the sky, burning brightly for at least one full second before it fizzled out.

  “Oh, my God. Did you see that?” she gasped.

  “I did. The Perseids meteor showers start in a couple of weeks. I guess that one was early to the party.”

  “That was a meteor?”

  “Sure was. But most people call them shooting stars.”

  Serena had never seen anything like it before. “That was incredible.”

  “Have you never seen a shooting star?”

  “Never.” Serena stood transfixed, staring up at the sky, her feet glued to the sidewalk in front of Freddie’s house.

  “Did you make a wish?” Freddie asked. “If you make a wish when you see a shooting star, it will come true.” Freddie flexed his fingers into her hip and she shivered from the touch.“Let’s get you inside,” Freddie said.

  Serena hadn’t thought quickly enough to make a wish, but at that moment she knew, if she ever saw another shooting star, exactly what she would wish for.

  “Can we stay out here one more minute?” she asked.

  “Sure.” Freddie nodded and rubbed Serena’s arms. She tilted her head back to stare at the sky. The friction from his hands was warming the skin on her arms, but that didn’t account for the heat pulsing in her lower abdomen. Even though her back was inches away from Freddie’s chest, she swore she could feel his presence as surely as if they were touching, the heat from his chest warming her back. She wanted to give in, to let herself relax back into his body, let him hold her and warm her from within, but that wasn’t their deal. She had to remember that. This was business.

  Sixteen

  Freddie had to keep his hands moving or else she would feel them trembling. His justification was that he was keeping her warm, not the fact that he just wanted to touch her. He didn’t know how long they stood on his front walkway; it could’ve been three minutes or three hours. time seemed to come to a standstill as they waited for another cosmic event to light up the sky.

  It didn’t happen. Freddie was tempted to wrap Serena in his arms but kept his distance for two reasons. The first, even though at that moment, they felt like a couple, they weren’t; and secondly, she would’ve felt the raging hard-on that was straining at the zipper of his jeans. He cursed himself for going commando.

  “I guess you’ll have to schedule our next meeting for August when the meteor showers are in full swing,” Freddie whispered. “Let’s go inside and get warm.”

  If it were any other girl, this is where Freddie would’ve laid on the charm. He knew that if a woman came into his house at the end of a date, they would end up in his bed. It had been true one hundred percent of the time.

  Tonight, Serena was going to end up in his bed, he knew that for sure, only he wouldn’t be there with her. She excused herself to get ready for bed and he grabbed a wool blanket and a set of sheets from the closet to make up the couch. He knocked on the bathroom door and spoke through it, “There are towels under the sink,” he said.

  She opened the door, her toothbrush in her mouth, “Thank you,” she said.

  She was wearing flannel pajamas. Not sexy ones though, she had on the kind that grandpas wear. He turned away from her, thankful that he hadn’t changed out of his jeans – the fabric was strong enough to stop his semi-hardon from standing at full mast. How the hell did she make those look sexy?

  “Your turn,” she said, exiting the bathroom. “I’m just going to edit the photos from tonight and post them. Charlotte got some great shots. You know, she seemed to be the only one who was okay with all… this.” She pointed to him and back to herself and then slipped into his bedroom.

  Freddie grunted. He knew why Charlotte appeared to approve, and it didn’t have anything to do with her support of their faux relationship.

  Freddie glanced into his bedroom, Serena was seated cross-legged on the bed, the light from the computer screen reflected on her face.

  “You could do that tomorrow,” he said.

  “No, it has to be done tonight,” she replied. “This is my job Freddie, I take it seriously.”

  “Okay, well…” He paused with his hand on the door handle, “goodnight Serena.”

  She held up her hand, “Wait, come here and look at this shot.” Freddie stepped to the side of the bed and peered over her shoulder. It was a photo of the group. Every single person in the picture was laughing. He was looking at Serena, laughing, his hand to his chest. Lauren was wiping a tear from her eye, and Serena was looking back at Freddie. To anyone who saw the photo, it would look like, well, love.

  “It’s perfect,” she said.

  “You can see your missing tooth,” he jabbed at the screen.

  “Oh, shoot.” Serena squinted at the screen. “I didn’t notice that. I’ll have to post another one.”

  “Were you able to get a good shot of the bear?” Freddie sat on the edge of the bed.

  “Yes, but they’re not great.” Serena turned the computer to face him and toggled between the shots. “Which one do you like the best?”

  Freddie pressed the arrow keys with his thick calloused fingertip. “This one. One hundred percent.” The bear was slightly blurry in the background of the photo, with Serena’s face was in the foreground, her reflection gazing at the bear in the side mirror. The photo seemed to capture the awe and playfulness of the moment.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that one,” she turned the computer back to face her.

  “It’s real Serena, more real than any of that other crap that you post.”

  Serena paused and looked up at Freddie over the top of her screen. “Excuse me?”

  “I mean… that came out wrong.” Freddie started to back out of the room. The last thing he needed to do was start a real fight with his fake fiancée.

  Serena interrupted, “I know what you mean.”

  “You do?”

  “It’s all curated. It’s not a reflection of me. It’s a picture of how I want the world to see me.”

  “Maybe they would like the real version of you better.” Freddie shifted so he was sitting beside Serena and pointed to the screen. This photo was a mistake but look. You’re not posing, your hair is a little crazy from the wind, and I don’t know how to say it, but I can tell that you’ve never seen a bear before and that it meant something to you.” Serena was silent. Freddie hesitated, but it was a well-known fact that Freddie’s mouth worked faster than his brain. “What did the bears mean to you?” he asked.

  She paused, opened her mouth, but then closed it before she spoke. “Nothing, they’re just bears.” He noticed a slight slump in her shoulders and then she closed the laptop. Freddie, I know that you don’t like what I do for a living, but it pays the bills and then some. I would love to take the extra money and go back to college, but that’s not in the cards.

  “College?” This was the first time that Freddie had heard anything about Serena’s background. “Why?”

  “Why go back to college?” Serena scrunched her brow at Freddie.

  “No, I meant, why is it not in the cards?”

  “There are other things that are more important right now…” her voice cracked. She set the laptop on the nightstand and cleared her throat, “Thanks for the bed.”

  “No problem,” Freddie replied and stood up and stretched. He turned to walk away, but Serena reached out to grip onto his wrist. “Hey, Freddie.”

  He paused, the strength of her fingers as they wrapped around his wrist surprised him.

  “Other than your asshole brother, and my tooth, I had a great time tonight.”

  “Me too,” Freddie said. And it was true. After the awkward announcement was over, he had forgotten all about the contract and had simply enjoyed the night with his friends.

  “Goodnight,” Freddie said.

  “Goodnight,” she echoed.

  Freddie turned and walked into the living room, rubbing his wrist where she had gripped it. He swore that there was heat radiating from the spot her hand had been. He shook his head and pulled off his jeans, replacing them with the boxer shorts he should’ve worn that night. He unbuttoned his shirt and eased himself down onto the couch, the leather creaking as he shifted and tried to get comfortable. He was tired but couldn’t sleep. They had nothing in common but tonight he saw a different side of Serena, and being with her didn’t feel forced. It felt good.

  After what seemed like an eternity, he checked the time on his phone. He had been tossing and turned for forty-five minutes. He pulled the cushions off the back of the couch and tossed them on the floor to give himself some more space. A beam of light appeared on the floor and he sat up to see Serena was standing in the open door to his bedroom.

  “We can share the bed,” she said. “If you stay on your own side.”

  Freddie sat up, feeling the static snapping through his hair as it stuck to the leather. “It’s okay.”

  “It’s not okay. I can hear you tossing and turning from the other room. If you ever got busy on the sofa, the whole block would know,” she laughed.

  Freddie smirked. She’s right about that, he thought to himself and imagined bending her over the padded armrest, pulling down those grandpa pajama pants and letting the neighborhood know exactly what was going on.

  Oh no.

  That was a very inappropriate thought to have about your business partner.

  “Come on,” she nodded her head toward the bedroom. We’re not going to be able to make that hike tomorrow if your back is all messed up from sleeping on the couch.

  He could do this. He reminded himself that she annoyed the hell out of him seventy-five percent of the time. He rolled off the couch and onto the floor on all fours before standing to follow Serena into the bedroom. She was sleeping on his side, but at this point, he wasn’t going to split hairs. She pulled the covers back and slipped into the bed. He did the same, but took two pillows and lined them up down the center of the bed.

  “Don’t you dare cross this border,” he said.

  “Is that really necessary?” She snuggled down under the covers.

  “I just want to make sure that you don’t take over the entire bed,” he lied. He knew the subconscious, horny man in him would come to life with a vengeance if he rolled into her warm body, or if she turned and those perky breasts of hers brushed his back; then there would be no stopping him.

  “Suit yourself,” she sighed and clicked off the lamp.

  This was worse than the couch. Freddie stared at the ceiling, listening to the tempo of Serena’s breath as she laid beside him. He held his own breath as he listened to hers, waiting for any sign that she was slipping into sleep.

  “Freddie,” she whispered. “Are you sleeping?”

  “That’s the dumbest question I’ve ever heard,” he said.

  “Today, with the bears…”

  “Yeah…”

  “My dad is in the hospital in a coma. He might never come out of it. I guess the momma bear taking care of the cubs. I don’t know. I guess… I mean, I just miss my dad.”