The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,14

don’t know anything! I just met you.”

“Not me. Him. Your fake fiancé. The one you made up.”

“I didn’t make him up!” she shouted.

“Then show me a photo.”

“I don’t have to prove a damn thing to you.”

He smirked in triumph.

Damn him. Why did she care what he thought? Yet she found herself digging her phone out of her purse anyway. She scrolled through her photos, then stopped. “Here’s a picture of us at a Seahawks game.”

Josh took the phone and stared at it for several seconds. “This? That looks like you’ve photoshopped your head into a bad photo of James Van Der Beek.”

“The guy from Dawson’s Creek? I’m more than a little frightened you know who he is.”

He shrugged. “Hey, my college girlfriend Trisha was obsessed with that show. I watched it with her. You could have used a photo of Brad Pitt or someone more current, you know.”

“Wouldn’t that be kind of obvious?”

He lifted his brow with a smirk. “So you admit it’s a fake.”

“I didn’t fake this photo!” She took a deep breath to regain control. Pressing her lips together, she gave a slight nod before continuing in an ultra-calm voice. “So his face isn’t very clear. The camera on my phone sucks.”

He tossed the phone back to her. “I’m not convinced, but that’s not the point,” he added when she opened her mouth to protest. “We have a mission.” He made sure he had her full attention. “I’ll make myself look like an ass and break up with you, saving you from your mother’s wrath.”

She narrowed her eyes, her suspicion building. “Why would you do this?”

“Because I’m a nice guy.” He grinned, his whole face lighting up, and in that moment she could see why the bitchy flight attendant had been so determined to snag him. If she hadn’t been so suspicious of his motives, it would be easy to fall for that grin.

“Try again.”

He shrugged with a good-natured smile. “I have my reasons.” When she started to talk, he cut her off. “Look, I’m here in Kansas City for family reasons. I’d prefer not to be here at all—no offense—but this gives me a chance to procrastinate and not deal with the drama.”

She of all people could understand avoiding family issues, but wasn’t impersonating someone’s fiancé a bit extreme? Then again, she’d flown home to her own wedding with no groom, so who was she to judge?

“How do I know you’re not a thief? Or a murderer. Maybe you’re waiting until the middle of the night and you plan to kill us all in our sleep.”

“You have a very active imagination. It makes me wonder even more about the existence of your boyfriend. Why would I go to so much trouble?”

“I don’t know,” she said, annoyed. “How would I know how a serial killer thinks?”

“First I’m a terrorist, and now I’m a serial killer? I think you need to make up your mind.”

She gritted her teeth.

“I’m perfectly harmless.” He held his hands out at his sides. “I promise.”

She knew bullshit when she saw it. And she’d seen plenty of it in her dating life. Jay may not have been the most exciting man in the world, but at least she’d known what she was getting with him. Or at least she’d thought so until he pulled the rug out from under her. What were you supposed to do when even the “safe” guys, the ones you settled for, turned out to be cheats and liars?

She turned to Josh and jabbed her finger into his chest. “I don’t trust you.”

His smile didn’t even dim. “And you don’t have to. Just let me break up with you, and then I’ll be on my merry way.”

“Fine.” She sighed. “Let’s go get it over with.”

He held up his hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. We’re not breaking up tonight.”

“What? Why not?”

“We can’t. How suspicious would that look if we were just super sweet to each other and then I suddenly broke up with you? Your parents might see through it and realize you made up your boyfriend.”

“I did not make up my boyfriend!” she hissed, trying to keep her voice down.

“That’s a moot point,” he said, acting far too calm, considering the situation. “We need to focus.”

She took a deep breath, ready to vent her frustration. She couldn’t think of the last time she’d been this angry. Fights with Jay had run more ice cold and passive-aggressive.

“Fine,” she huffed. “Since this is your crazy scheme, I take it you have some kind of