My Silver Lining: A Small Town, Fake Dating Romance (Rosewood River Series Book 2)
My Silver Lining: Chapter 9

I could handle crazy. I grew up in a large, loud, wild family with colorful personalities.

But the Sonnets were next level.

You had the sweet grandfather, who clearly favored his youngest grandchild, Lulu.

He appeared disgusted by his eldest grandson, Barron, who was possibly the biggest dickfucker I’d ever met. His brother-in-law, Hunter, was a close second.

I knew the type. I worked with a lot of men like these two. Barron was clearly a trust fund kid because he’d still yet to answer what he actually did for a living, aside from saying he made money.

I asked Lulu, and she said he managed his and his sister’s trust funds.

Yet he was busy pointing his finger at everyone around him like they were beneath him.

I’d never been that guy. I didn’t give a shit what people did for a living or how much money they made. It’s more about doing what you love. I wasn’t surrounded by people who compared or looked down on others, so the dude instantly rubbed me wrong. Lulu had already prepared me for him, and she hadn’t exaggerated.

She was in the bathroom getting ready for the party, as we were sharing a room, which could potentially be awkward as fuck, seeing as there was only one bed. There was a couch at the end of the bed, and I assumed that was where I’d be sleeping.

The bathroom door swung open, and Lulu walked out, and I quickly tried to straighten my features.

Because holy fucking shit, this woman was stunning.

Long blonde waves fell over her shoulders, and she wore a black sparkly dress that dipped low in the front.

And by dipped low, I mean that it dipped down real low.

The rise of her breasts peeked out of the opening, and I wasn’t sure how the fabric was staying in place.

I couldn’t stop staring, and she clearly noticed because she snapped her fingers in front of my face. “You can’t be looking at my boobs as if you’ve never seen them before.”

“Well, they’re kind of hard not to stare at.”

“Fine, get it over with. Once we walk out the door, you need to look at me like you’ve seen me naked hundreds of times.” She shrugged, placing her hands on her hips and motioning for me to check her out.

“I’m not going to just stand here and stare at you. That’s ridiculous,” I said, scrubbing a hand down my face.

“You already were staring, so I don’t know why you’re acting all weird now. You’re clearly attracted to me,” she smirked.

“Listen. Don’t make it a thing. You’ve got great tits. That’s all it is.”

Her eyes moved down to my black dress pants, which were clearly tented.

For fuck’s sake.

My dick could give Benedict Arnold a run for traitor of the century.

“You sure you can handle this tonight?” Her voice was all tease.

“Yes. I’m absolutely fine.”

She moved closer, brushing nonexistent dust from my suit coat. “You look handsome, Rafael. You wear this suit well. And you handled my jackass cousin well, too.”

“Barron is an asshole. And Hunter is, too,” I said, as I stood in front of her and took her up on her offer to take her in. “You look really beautiful tonight, Wildcat.”

I didn’t miss the way her chest rose and fell quicker at my nearness. Pear and vanilla wafted around me, and I swore her scent was some kind of aphrodisiac.

“Thank you. And I’m sorry about Barron and Hunter. Keep your eye out for Charlotte; she’s a quiet kind of evil.”

“They seem to be hyperfocused on you. Has it always been that way?”

“With Barron and Charlotte, it has. They don’t like my mother, and they don’t care for me either. At times, it feels like they are gunning for me. Always trying to dig around for things and bring it up at family gatherings.” She shrugged, as if that were perfectly acceptable.

“Fuck them,” I said. “I’ve got your back if you need me tonight.”

“It’s fine. I don’t need saving, Rafe. I can handle myself. We need to go. The party starts soon.” She started to turn, and I put a hand on her shoulder.

She was the most intriguing woman I’d ever met.

She was beautiful and vulnerable and fierce all at the same time.

“You do know that someone can have your back without it meaning you need to be saved, right? I don’t give a fuck if this is fake. Just know that if you need me, all you have to do is say the word.”

Her gaze narrowed as if she were surprised by my words. “Just say the word? And you’ll be there for me even if we’re not together? Even if I’m not sleeping with you?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation. Because I would.

She was Henley’s best friend. Hell, we lived on the same property. When she wasn’t causing me physical pain, I found her very entertaining.

She’s also starred in every dirty dream I’ve had lately, and I’d spent quite a lot of time in the shower with thoughts of her.

“Careful, Rafe Chadwick. Don’t go falling in love with me while we’re faking it.” She smiled, her red-covered lips plump and taunting.

“I’m the last guy you need to worry about. That’s not really my thing.”

“Oh, trust me, I know.”

There was a knock on our bedroom door, and Lulu moved across the grand room and pulled the door open.

“What are you two doing here?” Lulu said. “We were just coming downstairs.”

“Francois has ten minutes to sit down with you two, and nothing is happening downstairs. Everyone is just arriving and having cocktails. He wanted to meet with you and just, you know, talk for a few minutes,” Noemie said, as she pushed into the room and took me in. “You look very handsome, Rafe.”

“Thank you. You look lovely, as well.” Lulu’s mother wore a black velvet dress that was long and stopped at the floor. Her blonde hair was tied back at the nape of her neck, and she was wearing a lot of sparkly jewelry that I imagined cost a ton of money.

“Hello, Rafe,” Francois said, taking both of my hands in his and closing his eyes briefly before opening them and quirking a brow. “I know we met briefly at lunch. But we didn’t get a formal introduction. I’m Francois Tremblay, and you’ve got some magnificent energy.”

“Mom, we need to get to the party,” Lulu said, as another knock came from the other side of the door.

“I brought the party to you,” Noemie said as she waggled her brows. A woman I recognized from our lunch walked inside with a tray holding four champagne flutes.

She walked over to the table in the corner that had four chairs surrounding it, and Noemie and Francois took their seats as Lulu groaned and led me there, as well. There were fresh flowers in the center of the table, which Francois slid to the side before taking a sip of champagne.

I thanked the older woman for the drink, and she left the room.

“We have a few minutes before we get swamped downstairs,” Noemie said.

“I planned to meet with you tomorrow, Francois.”

“Tomorrow is going to be busy with the family photos and the interview,” her mother said as she took a sip of her bubbly.

“The interview?” Lulu gasped. “What are you talking about?”

“The press is coming. Hunter and Charlotte set this up, claiming it was an interview for Hunter and Uncle Charles, with him just being reelected. But obviously, it now involves the whole family with us all being here. And your father thinks it would be great to have Rafe present. You know, it would be a good thing to make your relationship public, so everyone can stop talking about Bucket and see that you’ve moved on.”

I noticed Lulu’s shoulders stiffen, and I reached for her hand beneath the table. She glanced at me, and my gaze locked with hers, and I tried to reassure her without speaking.

It’s fine. We’re fine. We’ve got this.

“We will sit in on the photos, but we’re not being interviewed. We aren’t politicians. We’re here to celebrate a birthday, not give political statements,” Lulu snipped.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Francois said as he continued studying me. I didn’t mind it. He appeared to be trying to see into my soul, and I was fine with it. I was an open book. No way he could tell this relationship was fake just by looking at me, but Lulu seemed uncomfortable. She left her hand in mine, which made it obvious she was definitely nervous. Francois finished his thoughts. “It doesn’t surprise me that Charlotte wanted to turn a family celebration into a photo shoot and press event.”

“Yet you made sure she got the better reading at the holiday dinner.” Lulu pulled her hand away from beneath the table, clearly more comfortable now. “Come on, Francois. You basically said that Charlotte saved all humankind, and you made me some kind of colonial whore. What the hell was that about?”

My head tipped back in laughter, and I had no idea what we were talking about, but she was funny as hell.

Her mother gasped. “I knew you were upset about that.”

“I never said you were a whore. Charlotte was the one who said that. I said you were a lot of fun, and you had the hots for Ben Franklin. That’s not a bad thing, Lulu. And just because your cousin was a healer in her last life doesn’t mean she’s a saint in this one,” Francois said, tossing a wink at her.

He was probably in his mid-sixties, had long, dark wavy hair, and was wearing a black velvet suit with a pink floral button-up beneath.

Lulu sighed. “Whatever. Ben Franklin was hot, so I can live with that.”

“Are you getting a feel for these two, present day?” Noemie asked, looking between us, like this man could tell her everything she needed to know.

“Yes. It’s very strong. The connection between them. They don’t even know how strong it is,” he chuckled. He then continued to stare at us and smile and then closed his eyes and smiled some more. “Wow. This is better than I imagined.”

“It is?” Noemie asked, a wide grin on her face.

Lulu was chewing on the corner of her lip, and she peeked up at me.

“I’m happy for you, Lu. You went through your fair amount of drama with the last one, but this is going to be fairly easy,” he said, clasping his hands together and turning to Noemie. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

“Yes?” she asked.

Lulu shrugged and reached for her champagne flute, so I did the same. We clinked them together, and I watched as she tipped her head back and drank the whole thing. I did the same. When we set our glasses down, they were both staring at us.

“Lulubelle, do you know that when Francois met your father for the first time, he told me that he was my forever? Did I ever tell you that?” Her mother dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief that Francois had just handed her.

“Yes. You’ve told me, and it’s very sweet.” It was clear that Lulu wasn’t fully on board with Francois and his predictions, but she was appeasing her mother.

“He never saw you and Bucket together. He saw flames and disaster and darkness,” Noemie said.

“Yes, Mother. I recall him telling Beckett and me that over a Christmas dinner once,” Lulu chuckled. “That went over like a whore in colonial times.”

Damn, she was cute. Funny and sexy and confident.

“He sees it. He sees it!” Noemie squealed, and Francois shook his head and clapped his hands together as he turned toward us.

“I do see it. Congratulations. I know you two don’t see it,” he said, quirking a brow as if he were in on something. “But you must trust me.”

“Of course, they don’t see years down the road. They’re young and in love, and it’s all new. But this is wonderful news.”

“My work is done.” Francois pushed to his feet. “You can stop worrying, Noemie. She’s in good hands. Rather large hands, if I do say so myself.” The older man winked at me, and I barked out a laugh.

Her mother pushed to her feet, as well.

“I’ll stop bothering you now. Let’s go enjoy the party,” Noemie said, as she hurried around and hugged me. “Welcome to the family, Rafe.”

“Mom, please stop,” Lulu groaned.

Noemie paused in front of her daughter. “I love you, my beautiful girl. We’ve been worried about you for a long time. About your choices. But you’ve figured it out professionally and personally. All I want is for you to be happy.”

Francois reached for my hand and held it between both of his. He pushed up and whispered in my ear. “You’re a lucky man. Don’t mess it up. She’s not as tough as she pretends she is.”

They both left the room, and Lulu pushed the door closed and leaned against it before bursting out in laughter.

“Damn. He hates most men. He told Charlotte she would be married twice,” she said.

“Well, after meeting her first husband, I don’t think that’s the worst news.”

“He announced it at the table at her rehearsal dinner.” Lulu was laughing now. “It was a whole thing. But she’s determined to prove him wrong. He then basically said that Beckett was the devil, and I should stay away from him. And now he embraces the guy who I’m not really dating. This is like a psychic’s worst nightmare. He’s completely wrong, which means, maybe I’m the one who healed the sick in colonial times.”

I barked out a laugh. “Listen, I wouldn’t have been hanging out with you in colonial times. I would have avoided your cousin like the plague.”

“Well, she was busy curing the sick back then.” She reapplied her lipstick. “Shall we go dazzle them?”

“I mean, we already have the dude who can see into our minds and souls on board; I think we’re going to crush it.”

She paused with her hand on the door handle. “Thanks for doing this. I’ll return the favor at the wedding next week.”

“I would have done it either way.” I shrugged, because it was the truth.

Her brows pinched together. “Why?”

“Because I get to stare at your boobs in that dress. Totally worth it.”

Her head tipped back in laughter as she placed her hands over each breast. “I never thought they were that powerful because they aren’t super large. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan. They’re perky, they don’t get in the way if I’m playing sports, and they look good in low-cut blouses, but you’re acting like they’re the best boobs you’ve ever seen.”

Her words went straight to my dick, and I closed my eyes and cleared my throat. “All right. No more talking about your perfect tits, or I’m going to be walking around with a boner all night.” I motioned her toward the door.

“Okay, Rafael. It’s game time,” she said.

Let’s do this.