Page 105 of Faking it For Summer

Then it suddenly hits me: I called Mia my girlfriend, not my best friend, and it didn’t feel weird or unusual. There is a part of me that likes her having that moniker. There is a part of me that wishes that this weren’t a pretense.

“She specializes in romance books, so if you like romance, definitely head down to see her and her best friend, Juniper. They can recommend books if you tell them what you like, but I know they also have quite an extensive collection of thrillers andpsychological thrillers and murder mysteries, even some sci-fi and horror.”

“Oh, I like sci-fi,” the man behind her says. “Maybe I will go back with you later.”

“Oh, yay. Thank you, Dylan.” She turns around and kisses him, and then looks back at me. “Thank you for convincing my husband to take me to the bookstore. I was begging him to come with me last night, and he was like, ‘I don’t want to go to the bookstore.’”

“Well, you were just going on about all the romance stuff,” he says. “I don’t care about romance books.”

“What do you say when your girlfriend talks to you about romance books? Do you say you’re not interested?”

“I can honestly say that when Mia mentions romance books to me, I listen with half my brain, and the other half of my brain thinks about work.

“But she can’t stop loving love, right?”

“No, she can’t.” I nod.

“Well, I think we’re going to head out to the beach now, but it was really nice meeting you.”

“Nice meeting you too. You have a good day.”

My phone has disconnected, and I want to curse because I waited so long. I’m about to call the office back again when I see Rex walking into the lobby. I quickly step back out of the line of sight so he doesn’t see me. I really don’t want to have a conversation with him.

A couple of minutes later, Mia steps out of the elevator with her camera. She spies Rex and heads over to him. I frown as I watch them. What is this about?

“So, Mia, Mia, Mia, you are looking absolutely stunning this fine morning,” Rex says to her loudly as he looks her up and down. He lets out a low whistle, and I watch as she blushes. “When we were teenagers, I didn’t really notice you.”

“What do you want, Rex?” Mia asks, holding the body of her camera in her hands. She looks uncomfortable, but she also looks like she’s still willing to give him the time of day, which annoys me.

“I just wanted to say that I regret not giving you a chance. If I had known?—”

“I know. You’ve already mentioned this,” she says.

“Well, I want to mention it again.” He reaches out and touches the side of her face. “You’re beautiful, Mia.”

“Thank you,” she says, and she blushes again.

I squeeze my phone in my palm, trying to control the anger building inside of me about this exchange between them.

“I want to tell you something that I don’t think you know,” Rex says.

Mia tilts her head to the side and looks at him with a curious expression and wide eyes.

“What’s that?”

“I want you to know that Luke will never marry you.”

Her jaw drops, and so does mine. What on earth is he talking about?

“Sorry, I don’t know what you mean,” she says, frowning.

“Have you ever heard that saying,Why buy the cow when the milk is free?’” He grins. “I’m just trying to be honest with you, Mia. He’s fucking you because you’ve grown into an exquisite woman and you look like you have a body to die for, but he’s never going to marry you.”

“I don’t know why you’re telling me this.”

“I am saying, no one in my family knew he was dating you, period, okay? And if he was serious about you, he would’ve told us. Also, I know you’re not really into him.”

“What are you talking about?” She takes a step away from him.