The Sweetheart Hoax Read online

  He ducked his chin and she felt sure if she were standing within reach, he would have patted her head like a child. “Your practical and highly efficient shoes.”

  She tried to smile before returning to her desk. At least she knew how she’d be remembered: practical, efficient, and utterly boring.

  Chapter 6

  Phil had to do it. He had to make plane reservations by midnight and he was down to only one option. And damn Danny for shoving her in his face so that all others paled in comparison.

  He’d racked his brain for someone to ask. He’d gone to the country club every day for lunch or dinner or drinks. Nothing. He’d gone to Charleston and club hopped twice and left both times with numbers in his pocket for women he’d never call. He’d even gone so far as to invite an old girlfriend to lunch. She’d walked in sporting a three-karat diamond on her left ring finger and he knew he was screwed.

  When he called Margot into his office and asked her to shut the door, he mentally appraised his soon to be ex-receptionist. He had to admit she had a nice build. She was shorter than the women he usually dated, but nicely proportioned with an impressive chest he wasn’t sure how he’d managed to overlook for the past three years. She wore understated makeup that never managed to hide the smattering of freckles across her gumdrop nose.

  It was the hair, he could admit after his quick, but honest review, that made her look like she’d just hopped out of an hour long ride in a convertible. Her frizzy blonde curls seemed incapable of taming, no matter what clip or contraption she tried to force them into. They hid her most alluring feature, another thing he’d only recently discovered: her wide-set, fawn colored eyes. Her perfectly shaped brown brows made him wonder what color hair she had in other parts of her body.

  He gave himself a mental shake as she took a seat in the chair facing his desk. This was Margot, for Christ’s sake.

  She crossed her ankles and linked her fingers, a look of suspicion on her face. “What can I do for you?”

  “That’s…the perfect opening to this somewhat awkward conversation,” he said. In a tactical move he’d perfected early on in his career, he came around the desk and sat next to her in his other guest chair. “Margot, I’ve got a rather large favor to ask of you.”

  She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear where it immediately sprang back into her eyes. She blew it away with a breath. “I’m not willing to work beyond our agreed upon termination date. I’ve got a lot of studying to do and with these interviews—”

  “I don’t need you to work past next week, but…” He found himself fidgeting in his seat as her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “I do need a favor. Not a boss-to-employee favor, but a friend-to-friend favor.”

  She seemed ready to bolt from the chair. Her chest heaved up and down and her lips twitched into a grimace. “You want me to be your pretend girlfriend?” she spewed as if he’d implied he wanted her to strip naked and perform a lap dance.

  “Well, yes.” He ran an unsteady hand through his hair and stood up to pace. “I’ve got to go home for my dad’s retirement party and I can’t go alone.”

  “Why not?”

  “I just can’t. Since I quit seeing Kelly, I don’t have anyone else to ask.”

  Margot stood up and stepped into his path, stopping him mid-stride and forcing him to meet her stare. “You want me to hop on a plane to Illinois and pretend to be your girlfriend and you won’t even tell me why?” She let out an insipid snort. “I don’t think so.”

  When she turned to leave, he reached out and lightly grabbed her arm. “Margot, please, hear me out.”

  “Are you going to tell me why?” she asked.

  “Are you going to make me?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and gave a snorting snicker.

  “Fine!” He raised his hands in surrender and tossed himself back in his desk chair, forcing her to sit across from him yet again. His mouth had gone bone dry. “Some people in my hometown think…there’s some gossip going around about me…” He hung his head in shame and blurted out the truth without looking her in the eye. “I need people there to know I like women.”

  In the silent seconds that followed, he held his breath before lifting his head to gauge her reaction to his most embarrassing admission.

  “People think you’re gay?” she asked. The way she gaped at him in stunned surprise made him feel worlds better.

  He gave a cheerless laugh. “Can you believe it?”

  She regarded him for a second and then shrugged. “Kind of.”

  “What?”

  “I mean, if I didn’t have first hand knowledge of your speed dating, I might assume the same.”

  “Why?” he asked. “And what do you mean speed dating?”

  “Oh, come on.” She sat up, ready to argue. “You bounce from girl to girl faster than cue balls on a pool table.”

  “That’s insulting and completely untrue.”

  She lifted those mocking brows. “I call them like I see them.”

  “Sounds like you need glasses.” He leaned back in his chair and they stared at one another across his desk like a couple of kids on the playground. “So, if you didn’t know any better, why would you think I’m gay?”

  She raised a shoulder in tandem with the blush creeping up her neck. “You’re always so…groomed.”

  “Groomed? Good grooming means I’m gay?” He dismissed her with a wave of his hand. “Please.”

  “And color coordinated.”

  He gloried in the hole she dug for herself. He’d never heard such ridiculous excuses. “Yes, matching outfits screams homosexual.”

  “I’m not finished,” she chided. “You garden and you know the names of colors beyond the basic color wheel.”

  “I’m an architect.”

  “Exactly.” She raised her finger in the air. “Not an interior designer.”

  “This proves nothing. Any man on the street knows colors.”

  She fixed him with a smug smile. “If Danny were in the office, I’d prove you wrong in a heartbeat.”

  “How so?”

  “I’ll name three colors. If you can describe them,” she twitched her lips, “you’re as good as gay.”

  “Bring it on, sister.” He rubbed his hands together and waited. Surely he wouldn’t know her choices. By the way she narrowed her eyes in thought, he knew she’d give him a zinger.

  “Bisque,” she offered.

  “That’s not even hard,” he rolled his eyes. “And it’s a popular wall color. Light beige.”

  “Okay,” she said as she roamed the ceiling for more challenging colors. “Periwinkle.”

  “Light purple, but everyone knows that.” He splayed his hands on the desk. “Give me a hard one or this test is obsolete.”

  He took in a deep breath and he felt his heart beating faster. This little game had turned ugly and he didn’t like it one bit.

  “Puce.”

  Phil inhaled sharply. He knew puce, of course he knew puce. Kind of like putty, mostly like puke, a dull, purplish brown. Damn it.

  “Ah ha!” she wailed, pointing at his face. “I knew it.” She reached for the phone. “Call Danny and prove me right.”

  “This doesn’t prove anything!” He slapped her hand away and shot to his feet. She did the same. “You only gave me one hard one and Danny is hardly a good barometer.” He slapped his hands on his hips. “How do you know puce?”

  “It’s the color of the scrubs at the hospital. Nobody looks good in puce.”

  “This is stupid,” he shouted. “I’m not gay!”

  “Are you homophobic?” she asked.

  “No,” he answered quickly, a little too quick judging by the way she frowned at him.

  “You are homophobic. But why? You know you’re not gay, I know you’re not gay, and pretty much every living, breathing thing on the island knows you’re not gay. So what’s the big deal if some yahoos from home think you’re a dandy?”

  He slunk back into his seat and wan
ted to ignore her question. He wanted to snatch back his asking her to go with him and erase the whole afternoon. But because he couldn’t and because she stood there staring down at him as if he’d lost his mind, he had to answer. “My dad is the original macho man. He’s never understood me or my career or my life. So instead of trying to understand or just accept that we’re different, he’s the kind who makes fun.” He lifted his eyes to find her listening raptly. “I’ve been called more gay slang than you probably even know.”

  “Well, that’s…” she sat down in the chair and reached her hand out to rest it atop his, “just plain awful of him.”

  “I will admit to intentionally grooming well whenever he’s around just to piss him off.”

  “Can’t say that I blame you.”

  “Margot,” he settled his hand over hers and sandwiched her pale fingers between his, “if people are talking about me back home, he’s either furious that I’m making an ass of him or too embarrassed to show his face. Either way, if I show up alone…” He sat back in his seat, let out a defeated breath, and hoped beyond hope he’d convinced her to help him out.

  “I, I don’t know, Phil.” She pulled her hand away and rubbed her crinkled brow. “I’ve set aside next week for intensive study and you said yourself no one would believe we were together.”

  He grimaced. “You really heard that entire conversation?”

  “Enough to make me mad.”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. He’d obviously hurt her feelings and yet she still looked ready to give in to his request. “I never would have said those things if I thought you’d hear.”

  “I know that,” she said. “You’re never intentionally mean.”

  “You think I’m mean?” he asked. No one had ever described him as mean.

  “Insensitive, yes, and occasionally self-absorbed, but not mean.”

  “Oh, well, that makes me feel worlds better.” His attempt at sarcasm didn’t even make her smile.

  “I’m going to have to think about this.”

  “Okay, but I should probably tell you that I need to book the flight by tonight.”

  “Tonight?” she squealed. “You need an answer by tonight?”

  “Not until almost midnight.”

  “Oh, well. That make me feel worlds better,” she mimicked his Midwestern drawl to perfection.

  “Please, Margot, just think about it. It’s only a weekend. The party’s on Saturday night and we’d be out of there early Sunday. You could study on the plane and God knows there’s nothing to do in Cash.”

  “Give me some time to think, Phil. If you keep trying to sell me on the trip, I’m going to get mad and turn you down flat.”

  “Okay,” he stood up and walked her to the door. “I’ll be right here whenever you decide.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I know where to find you.”

  ***

  Margot parked at the end of the long drive and looked up at the impressive structure. Two stories of sand colored, rammed earth with an intricate garret’s nest at the top. She imagined the view over the trees facing the ocean was perfect for watching the sunset and wondered what it felt like to be blissfully in love and have the perfect house for romantic nights.

  As if she’d conjured her, Kate appeared on the doorstep, rubbing her back and holding a large black and white dog by its collar. Margot got out of her car and joined them on the porch.

  “I see you found it okay,” Kate said.

  “You gave perfect directions.” Margot leaned down and tapped the dog on its head. “Your home is beautiful, Kate.”

  “Thanks.” She led Margot past the foyer and into a two-story den featuring a massive stone fireplace. “Go to bed, Teddy,” Kate ordered and pointed to a large crate in the corner of the room. The dog obediently jogged to the crate and laid down on the dark cushion embroidered with his name. “Danny built this place from scratch. Every time I walk in, it’s like getting a great big hug.”

  “There you go being annoyingly happy again,” Margot said.

  “Sorry. Jeez, no wonder I don’t have any friends.”

  Margot gaped at Kate as she sank into the leather couch. “You don’t have any friends?”

  “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” She maneuvered a small pillow behind her back and let out an audible sigh. “Danny’s been harping at me to make girlfriends, but I haven’t exactly meshed with the ladies on the island. I’m hoping once the baby’s born, I’ll find a group of new moms.”

  “The ladies on the island fall into two basic categories,” Margot explained and sat in an oversized fabric chair. She felt swallowed up as it drew her against the fluffy back and left her feet to dangle. “The new residents tend to hang around the country club and shops around Andover. The natives, like me, stick to Echo. You’re kind of an in-betweener being married to a native, but not native yourself. Besides, I’ve heard more than one woman complain about you snatching Danny off the market.”

  “Believe it or not, I’ve heard that myself,” Kate complained. “One woman actually told me not to get too comfortable in his life because he’d dump me within a month. When I explained we were married, she nearly swallowed her tongue.”

  “Oh,” Margot laughed. “I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall.”

  “As satisfying as it was to set her straight, I think the encounter only added to my reputation. So,” she readjusted the pillow and stretched her legs out on the couch, “what’s the big emergency?”

  Margot dropped her face into her hands. “It’s Phil.”

  “What’s he done?”

  “He asked me to go home with him.”

  “What?” Kate dropped her feet to the floor. “How…when…?”

  “Not home with him as in to bed with him. He asked me to go home to Illinois with him for the weekend of his dad’s retirement party.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Kate’s brow furrowed over her electric blue eyes. “I’m confused.”

  “So am I.” Margot shot to her feet and began pacing in front of the fireplace. The dog lifted his head, but stayed put. “He needs me to go with him.” She stopped and held her hand up to Kate like a traffic cop signaling to a driver. “Correction, he needs someone to go with him and he’s so desperate he asked me.”

  “Why does he desperately need someone to go home with him? As far as I know, he’s never taken a woman home before.”

  “That’s the problem, and before you ask me what that means, I’d better tell you I can’t explain.”

  “Okay…”

  Margot continued along her path, back and forth in front of the imposing glass coffee table topped with books and a beautiful pottery bowl filled with river rock. “So he’s desperate and he’s asked me and he needs an answer by tonight.”

  “Tonight? When did he ask?”

  Margot looked at her watch. “About thirty minutes ago.”

  Kate shook her head in dismay. “For a man who appears to have it all figured out, he certainly takes a wrong turn every now and again.”

  “What should I do? I mean, I know I shouldn’t go—it’s ridiculous to even consider going, but he’s so good at making me feel sorry for him. He practically admitted he scoured both islands and Charleston proper for a more suitable woman and yet I’m seriously considering going.” She halted and faced Kate. “What is wrong with me?”

  “For starters, please sit down. You’re making me dizzy.”

  Margot curled up in the chair and tucked her legs under her. “Sorry.”

  “Now, nothing is wrong with you except that you’ve got a serious crush on him and have for some time.”

  “True,” Margot admitted. Amazing how an hour ago she would have denied it, but now, with Kate, she found it easy to face her most shameful secret. “Which makes the fact that I’m considering going that much more stupid. I’ve got a lot at risk. This crush, for lack of a better term, could morph into something more dangerous if I spend the weekend with him. On the other hand,” she said before Kate c
ould interject, “it could prove why we’d never make a good match. This whole experiment could finally break the spell I’ve been under and help me make a clean break.” She took a deep breath and looked at Kate. The perplexed expression on her face made Margot feel a little light headed and queasy.

  “Sounds like you’ve made up your mind,” Kate said.

  “No, I’m of two minds, and I’d like for you to help me choose which one to go with.”

  “Why don’t you ask yourself how you would feel if you turned him down?”

  “Well,” Margot dropped her knees and imagined walking into Phil’s office to decline his offer of help. “I’d probably feel guilty and selfish.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he’s got a pretty good reason for needing someone to go home with him. I’d much rather it be me than his usual dating disaster.”

  “And how would you feel if you accepted?”

  Margot dropped her eyes and played with the fraying edges of her skirt. “I’d feel nauseous and a tiny bit excited,” she admitted. “I’d also feel like I was setting myself up for heartache.”

  Kate sat back against the couch and sighed. “You want to know what I think?” When Margot nodded her head, she continued. “I think if you didn’t go, you’d be giving up an opportunity to find out what could have been between the two of you.”

  “Don’t misunderstand, Kate. He’s not asking me because he’s in any way interested. He told Danny I was young and plain. ‘Between her clothes, snorting laugh, and crazy curls, no one would believe we were a couple.’”

  “Well, you do a mean Phil impression. And I do mean mean.”

  “He didn’t know I was listening.”

  “I’m sure that didn’t ease the sting,” Kate said.

  Margot couldn’t stand the pity in her eyes. “It helped me to quit and it certainly helps me understand exactly what he’s asking for with this trip. I’ve got no illusions about his intentions.”

  “So with no illusions or expectations, are you going to go?” Kate asked.

  “I came here hoping you’d talk me out of accepting, but you haven’t done that.”

  “Sometimes you have to take a risk. There’s no guarantee it’ll work out, but you’ll never know if you don’t try.” Kate looked down at her hands where she twisted them in her lap. “If he breaks your heart, are you going to blame me?”