if not me?”
“I’d seen you at breakfast, and then again at the beach—thanks for saving that guy, by the way—and I guess your face just flashed in my mind and went with it. Stupid, I know.”
Benjamin shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “Doesn’t have to be what?”
“A lie.”
“Not following.”
He scooted to the edge of his chair and leaned toward her. This hadn’t been his reason for coming over. Hell, he couldn’t have said what his reason was, but maybe his sudden brainstorm wasn’t so bad.
“We’re talking about what? A fake boyfriend until about September for the wedding? Four months? Shoot, I can do that.”
Her mouth gaped. “You would do that for me? Why?”
“Why not? Look, I’m in and out of the country all the time. I don’t expect that to change any time soon. I’m not seeing anyone and don’t really have the time, or inclination, to have a real relationship with a woman, at least not right now.”
“Wow, that’s sad.”
“That I’m traveling?”
“No. That you don’t want a real relationship with a woman.” Her eyes narrowed to a slit. “Is that because you need me as your beard?”
He gasped and then howled with laughter. “No, no, I’m into women, but…” He scooted his chair closer. “I’ve reached the point in my life where I’m not looking for love, marriage, the white picket fence and so forth. I’d not even sure love is a real thing. Sometimes I think people say love when they mean, ‘I’m tired of being lonely.’” He sat back in the chair. “I have the perfect life. I can do whatever I want. I can come and go as I please. No one but the Navy expects me to report in, and I like it that way.” He shrugged. “And frankly, having a steady girlfriend is convenient for me at the moment.”
“What? The women beating down your door? Begging you to marry them?” She grinned.
He lifted an eyebrow and a shoulder. “Yeah. I mean…” He waved his hand over his face and down his chest. “I’ll be honest. Yes. I’ve had two different women at two different times in my life claim to be pregnant, insisting I had to marry them.”
Her mouth gapped. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” He sighed. “The first one was when I was about twenty, when I was still naïve about how some women responded to me being a Navy SEAL.” He rubbed his head as the emotion of that event so many years ago came slamming back into his chest. “I’d fallen pretty hard for this gal. A real stunner. Scraped up every penny I could to buy her a ring, and then she up and disappeared. Later, she sent me a note to say that she’d married her old boyfriend, who’d been the father of the baby, not me. The last time was about…” He thought back. “Maybe five years ago. I knew it was impossible for her to be pregnant because I…well, I’ll leave it at I knew she was lying.”
“I’ve lived here all my life. Grew up in Coronado, so when I say I understand, I do. I’ve heard about frog hogs my whole life. Heck, I knew a few and…” She leaned in. “To be honest, I never understood the attraction.”
“Well, aren’t you great for a man’s ego,” he drawled.
Her eyes grew wide. “Oh my gosh, I didn’t mean…”
She dropped her face into her hands and her body started shaking.
Was she crying? He’d been kidding. He hadn’t meant to upset her or embarrass her. He squatted next to her chair to say something, anything that would stop her crying. But then she snorted…loudly.
“I’m sorry,” she said, slapping her hand over her mouth.
Now that she was looking up, he could see the corners of her upturned grin as well as the amusement in her eyes.
“That didn’t come out quite like I’d intended.”
He grinned. “I can take it.” He retook his chair. “Now you know more about me. What’s your story? Obviously, you’re single and not husband hunting.”
Her stomach took that moment to let out a loud growl. She covered her stomach with her hands. “Yikes. Sorry.”
He stood. “Let me take you to dinner. We can talk while we eat.”
“I have a better idea. I’ll cook, you’ll help, and we can eat here. How about three-way spaghetti?”
“I don’t know what that is, but trust me when I say, there isn’t much I don’t eat.” Somehow, that sounded a whole lot dirtier than he’d intended, but apparently, she didn’t mind as she responded with