One Week Girlfriend
Page 1

When I saw you I fell in love and you smiled because you knew.
– William Shakespeare
Day 6, 11 p.m.
Too caught up.
Those three little words ring through my head over and over. The perfection description of how I’m feeling at this very moment. Too caught up in your sweet, heartbreaking words, in your strong, capable arms and in your warm, soft lips. I’m too caught up in this…pretend life I’m so completely submersed in.
And you know what? I like it. I love it. Even though I know deep down inside, it’s fake. That the way you talk to me, look at me, touch me. Kiss me…is all for show. I’m some sort of protection for you but I don’t care. I want it.
I want you.
What I don’t get is why we’re here. Right now. I’m in your bed and we’re half na**d, our arms and legs tangled around each other, the sheet slipping off our bodies because our skin is so hot, it feels like we’re burning alive. You keep kissing me and whispering in my ear how much you want me and oh, my God, I want you too, but that nagging little voice inside my head tells me we only have one more day together and then we go back to the real world.
Where you ignore me. And I ignore you. You’ll get what you want—shocking the hell out of your parents and everyone else at home so they won’t bug you ever again. And I’ll get what I want, the money you promised me for ‘putting up with your shit for seven days’—direct quote—so I can take care of my little brother for at least a little while longer. We’ll settle back in to our usual roles.
Where you hate me and I hate you.
It’ll be a lie. I might’ve hated you before all of this, but now…
I think I’m falling in love with you.
~* Chapter One *~
T-Minus 4 days and counting…
Drew [verb]: bring toward oneself, by inherent force or influence; attract.
I wait for her outside the bar, leaning against the rough brick building with my hands shoved deep inside my sweatshirt pockets, my shoulders hunched against the wind. It’s cold as shit and dark from the clouds hanging low in the sky. No stars, no moon. Creepy, especially since I’m standing out here alone.
If it starts to rain and she’s not done working, forget it. I’m leaving. I don’t need this shit.
Panic sweeps through me and I take a deep breath. I can’t leave and I know it. I need her. I don’t even know her and she sure as hell doesn’t know me, yet I need her to survive. I don’t care if that sounds like I’m a complete pu**y or what, it’s true.
No way can I face next week on my own.
The music from within the tiny bar thumps loudly and I can hear everyone inside laughing and shouting. I swear I recognize more than a few voices. They’re having a good time. Midterms are going down and the majority of us should be studying, right? Chilling in the library or bent over our desks, our heads in a book or hunched over our laptops, rereading notes, writing papers, whatever.
Most of my friends are in that bar drunk off their asses instead. No one seems to care it’s only Tuesday and there are still three more days left of testing and turning stuff in. It’s make or break time, but everyone’s focused on the fact that we’re off next week. Most of us are hightailing it out of this shit small town where we go to college.
Like me. I’m outta here by Saturday afternoon. Though I don’t want to leave. I’d rather stay here.
I can’t.
She’s off work at midnight. I asked one of the other waitresses who works at La Salle’s when I snuck in there earlier, before anyone had really arrived. She’d been inside working, in the kitchen so she didn’t see me. Which was fine.
I didn’t want her to notice me. Not yet. And my so-called friends don’t need to know what I’m up to either. No one knows about my plan. I’m afraid someone will talk me out of it if they did.
Like I have anyone to tell. It may look like I’m surrounded by plenty of people I call my friends, but I’m not close to any of them. I don’t want to be. Getting too close to anyone only brings trouble.
The old wooden door swings open, creaking on its hinges, the noise from within coming at me like a physical blast as it smacks against my chest. She emerges into the darkness, the door slamming behind her, the sound echoing in the otherwise quiet night air. She’s got on a puffy red coat that almost swallows her whole, making her legs covered in black tights look extra long.
Pushing away from the wall, I approach her. “Hey.”
The wary glance she flicks in my direction says it all. “I’m not interested.”
Huh? “But I didn’t ask you anything.”
“I know what you want.” She starts walking and I fall in behind her. Chasing her really. I didn’t plan on this. “You’re all the same. Thinking you can wait around here, hoping to catch me. Trap me. My reputation is far more outrageous than what I’ve actually done with any of your friends,” she tosses over her shoulder as she picks up speed. For such a little thing, she sure is fast.
Wait a minute. What she said, what’s it supposed to mean? “I’m not looking for an easy mark.”
She laughs but the sound is brittle. “You don’t need to lie, Drew Callahan. I know what you want from me.”
At least she knows who I am. I snag her arm just as she’s about to cross the street, stopping her in her tracks and she turns to glare at me. My fingers tingle, even though all I’m grabbing at is coat fabric. “What do you think I want from you?”
“Sex.” She spits the word out, her green eyes narrowed, her pale blonde hair glowing bright from the shine of the streetlight we’re standing under. “Look, my feet are killing me and I’m exhausted. You chose the wrong night to think you can get with me.”
I’m totally confused. She’s talking like she’s some sort of paid prostitute and I’m hoping to get a quickie blowjob in an alley or something.
Drinking in her features, my gaze settles on her mouth. She has a great one. Full, sexy lips, she could probably give a most excellent blowjob if I’m being honest with myself, but that’s not why I’m here.
Makes me wonder exactly how many of my fellow teammates have got with her. I mean, the only reason I’m talking to her is because of that reputation she mentioned. But I’m not trying to buy her off for sex.
I’m trying to buy her off for protection.
Fable [noun]: a story not founded on fact; an untruth; falsehood.
Campus golden boy Drew Callahan is holding onto me like he’s never going to let go and he makes me nervous. He’s huge, well over six feet and with shoulders as broad as a mountain. Considering he plays football, that’s no surprise, right? And I’ve made out with a few of the guys from his team. They’re all pretty muscly and big.
But not a one of them makes my heart race just by grabbing my arm. I don’t like how I react to him. I don’t usually react to anyone.
With all the strength I can muster, I tug out of his grip and step away from him gaining some much needed distance. A sort of pleading light flickers in his eyes and I part my lips, ready to tell him to f**k off when he beats me to the punch.
“I need your help.”
Frowning, I rest my hands on my hips. Which is sort of hard considering the stupid bulky coat I’m wearing. It’s cold outside and the flimsy skirt I wear for work is allowing a major draft to coast up my legs. Thank God for wool tights, though I know my boss hates them. He says they’re not very sexy.
I could give a crap about what he says when it comes to what’s sexy. My tips are still good. I have over one hundred dollars in my purse from tonight. It’s already spent though.
My money is always spent before I actually get it in my hands.
“Why do you need my help?” I ask.
He glances around, as if afraid someone might see us. No surprise. Most guys don’t want to be seen with me in public.
Sometimes it really sucks, being the campus slut. Especially when I don’t even go to that stupid university.
“Maybe we could go somewhere and talk,” he suggests with a slight smile. I’m sure most girls would melt at first sight of that smile, the beguiling look on his face. It’s a beautiful face and he knows it, with those dark eyebrows that match his brown hair and the striking blue eyes.
But I’m not most girls. I don’t fall for a bunch of crap. “I’m not going anywhere with you to talk. If you have something to say, you can do it right here. Be quick with it too, because I need to go home.” I’m pretty sure my mom isn’t there and my little brother is all alone.
Not good.
He blows out a harsh breath, sounding all irritated. I don’t care. Whatever he has to say can’t be something I’d consider. I’m too curious though, so I need to know. Just so I can savor it later.
Drew Callahan does not talk to girls like me. I’m a local. A townie. He’s the quarterback of our winning university football team. He’s like a superstar, larger than life, with fans and everything. He has NFL aspirations for the love of God.
I work a shitty job and can barely make ends meet. My mom is an alcoholic who sleeps around and my little brother is starting to get into trouble at school. Our worlds are such total opposites I don’t have a clue why he would want to talk to me.
“Thanksgiving break is next week,” he starts out and I roll my eyes.
Duh. I’m extra thankful for it too. Means everyone will vacate this town and the bar will be virtually empty, making work a breeze. “Go on.”
“I have to go back home.” He pauses, his gaze cutting away from mine and uneasiness slips down my spine. I have no idea what this has to do with me. “I want you to go with me.”
Okay. That I didn’t expect. “What? Why?”
His gaze meets mine once more. “I want you to pretend to be my girlfriend for a week.”
I gape at him. I feel like a dying fish. Closing my lips, opening them. As if I’m gasping for my last breath, which I sorta feel like I’m doing. “You’re kidding.”
He slowly shakes his head. “I’m not.”
“Why me?”
“I…” He shakes his head and clamps his lips shut, as if he doesn’t want to tell me. “I’ll pay you.”
I cross my arms in front of my chest. They’re elevated from the stupid puffy jacket. I hate it so much but it’s the warmest coat I own. I bet I look like a blimp. “I’m not for sale.”
“Listen, I don’t want to pay you for anything—sexual.” His voice drops an octave and chills scatter all over my skin. The way he said that was sexy, though he didn’t mean to be. “I just need you to pretend to be my girlfriend. We won’t have to share a room or anything like that. I’m not going to try and get in your pants, but we’ll have to look like we’re together, you know what I mean?”
No answer. I want him to continue this so I can remember later how I had Drew freaking Callahan begging me to be his pretend girlfriend. The moment couldn’t get any more surreal than it already is.
“I know you have a life and a job and whatever else that you do. It’ll probably be hard for you to ditch everything and go away with me for a week, but I swear, I’ll make it worth your time.”
He makes me feel cheap with that last remark. Like I’m the whore every guy brags that I am. The exaggerations are out there. The stories so outrageous, I don’t bother denying them. There’s no point. “How much are you talking?”
His gaze locks with mine and I’m trapped. Anticipation curls through me as I wait for his answer.
“Three thousand dollars.”
~* Chapter Two *~
T-Minus 2 days and counting…
For once, I want to know what it feels like to be someone’s first choice. – Fable Maguire
Fable
I still can’t believe I agreed to do this. Three thousand dollars is way too much money to let pass by. And Drew knows it. He had me the moment that staggering number dropped from his perfect lips. Despite my wariness and worry over how the heck I’m going to leave town for a week and not have my world completely fall apart while I’m gone, I said yes without any hesitation.
Guess I’m just too greedy. I can’t let that sort of opportunity go and that makes me feel like crap. Despite how much I tell myself I’m doing it for my family. For my brother, Owen. He’s only thirteen and I hate to see how much of a troublemaker he’s turning into. He’s sweet, he has a good heart but he’s fallen in with a shitty group of boys at school and he’s doing bad stuff like cutting class, minor shoplifting and I know he’s smoked weed a few times. I’ve smelled it on his clothes.
Our mom doesn’t care. I’m the only one who does. And now I’m leaving for a week. He’ll be out of school for only half that time, but that’s enough time for him to get into trouble.
The tug of war going on in my heart is near overwhelming.
“Why you gotta leave?”
I pull the old duffel bag no one’s used in however long from the top shelf of the closet and toss it on my mom’s bed. A cloud of dust puffs up when it lands. “I won’t be gone long.”
“A week, Fable. You’re leaving me here with Mom for seven f**king days.” Owen flops back onto her bed next to the duffel bag and starts coughing from the dust lingering in the air.
“Don’t cuss.” I smack his knee and he rolls over with an exaggerated yelp. “It’s a special job that’s going to pay me a lot of money. We’ll have a good Christmas.”
“I don’t give a shit about Christmas.”