It’s a little late for lunch, just after two in the afternoon by the time we return from the beach. Walking up the pathway, I feel natural reaching over and holding hands with Oliver. Bertha’s running at our heels and circling us, and I have to stop as we climb the stairs from the dunes up to the main property.

The estate looks so beautiful. The sun is still high in the sky behind the house, making it blaze in front of the sapphire blue sky, and I feel my breath taken away. It’s just gorgeous. I wonder what it would be like to have all of this, raising a family here. It would be paradise. If only . . .

I suck in a deep breath, trying not to think about it. I know I’m getting carried away with the fantasy. This isn’t real. But damn, did his being inside me feel real. The way his hands felt on my body. My neck still burns from his kisses.

It was everything I’ve dreamed it could be. More than I imagined. I've been with men. I’m no virgin, but none of them were anything more than a fuck or a passing thought. None of them were more than a physical exercise, a release of primal need.

I’ve always kept a shell around me to protect me from the very thing I’m feeling right now. But I have to wonder if I’d be feeling this way if we weren’t pretending to be engaged.

As if sensing my thoughts, Oliver smiles at me, squeezing my hand. My heart skips a beat, warmth flowing in my chest. “Don’t worry,” he says reassuringly. “Nobody’s gonna blame us for being out for so long. I just hope Roxy told your mom we had Bertha.”

I nod, knowing I need to get ahold of my emotions. It’s scary to be feeling anything when this charade is over in a few days.

We don’t even reach the steps before Roxy’s out the front door to confront us.

“Where the hell have you been?” Roxy demands. “Mom has been going nuts. I told her you went on a walk, but when it stretched for hours, I started wondering if we were gonna have to send out the Baywatch crew.” She pauses, then looks back and forth between the two of us before grinning, reading our expressions. “What did you do, ride a surfboard?”

“No, I got eaten by a shark,” I joke. “What’s it to you?”

Roxy waves it off, chuckling. “I just wondered. You said you were going on a walk.”

Oliver chuckles. “We just walked down to the dunes and watched the waves a little. It was gorgeous.”

Roxy rolls her eyes. She knows we had enough time to walk halfway to the next town if we’d wanted. “Well, I’m glad you two lovebirds had fun. But Mom wants to see you.”

“Why?” I ask.

“She wants help with stuff. I don’t know. Decorations, I think, and they have to go up this afternoon and evening. You know how she is—everything needs to be her way, and she refuses to hire it out. I know she wants Oliver to help move that big ass sound system.”

“Easy enough,” Oliver says. “I’ll handle it so John and Charles don’t have to.”

Roxy shakes her head. “Good. Because let me tell you, they probably won’t be much help. I love them both, but those two geezers can’t do much heavy lifting.”

I have to laugh. She’s rude but she’s right. “Roxy!”

“What?” she asks innocently. “I’m just sayin’.”

Inside, Mom is happy to see us and gives Bertha a gigantic cuddle. “There you two are! We’re preparing to go to the reception hall. We’ve got staff moving stuff there but still need some help.” Bertha squirms in Mom’s arms, turning to lick her face, and I have to snicker as Bertha gets a noseful of foundation. Mom doesn’t seem to mind. “I was so worried about you, snookums!”

“Lord have mercy, I was hoping that rat catcher was gonna stay gone,” Grandma mutters, sitting in a chair and fanning herself. “Most peaceful couple of hours my whole visit.”

“Quiet, Momma,” Mom says, setting Bertha down, where she immediately begins hopping around like her normal self. “All right, let's get going. Oliver, John and Charles are waiting for you in the garage.”

Everyone starts filing out of the room. When it’s just the two of us, Oliver turns to me. “I really enjoyed this morning,” he says softly.

“Besides the dog poop investigation, I did too,” I say before I give him a smirk. “You really ought to be careful where you plant your seed.”

He laughs. “I know the best place to plant it next time.”

A flush burns my cheeks, remembering the unbridled passion on the beach and the way we seem to crash like the waves themselves. He grabs me and pulls me in, giving me a kiss that leaves me wanting more. “See you at the reception hall,” Oliver says.

Outside, I get in the SUV with Sam, the driver, behind the wheel. All the women are in it, and Roxy’s already called shotgun. “Let’s roll, Sam!”

“So what’s this place like again, Mom? I know you told me about it over the phone, but I forget the details,” I say, turning to her. She’s behind me with Grandma.

“You’ll love it. It’s not that far, only about five miles away. It’s on the beach in a little cove,” Mom says. “You’re really going to love it.”

When we arrive at the hall twenty minutes later, it doesn’t disappoint. The outside is amazing, a beautiful giant adobe, almost Caribbean-style structure sitting just on the edge of the sand. The inside of the hall is gorgeous with huge windows along the eastern wall that give a breathtaking view of the ocean. This place looks like something out of a fairytale wedding . . . but that’s what Mom’s getting.

“I’m speechless,” I breathe as I look around the inside. “Forget the reception. I’d love to have my wedding in some place like this.”

“All right, ladies, let’s get to work!” Mom says. “Lots to do, and not a lot of time to do it in!”

Roxy and I are given the task of hanging up some electric lights shrouded in lace, and we get to work with the ladder. As we get the strands tacked, Roxy chuckles. “You know, you and Oli should use this place. You guys are just so beautiful together.”

“You think?” I ask, my heart aching. Before, I could easily lie, say he was just a bastard who has a hot body, but now, the truth hurts. He’s a sham of a fiancé, but he’s got everything I’ve ever dreamed of a man having. Face it—he’s a catch.

My cell buzzes in my purse, saving the day. I pull it out. It’s Brianna. “Hey, Rox, can you handle this for a few yourself? It’s my bestie.”

Roxy glares at me, a thumbtack in her mouth. “Hurry!”

“How you doing, girl?” Brianna asks as soon as I pick up the line, and I feel a grin start before my worries start up again. Brianna knows what this all is. Maybe she can help.

“Good. I guess.”

“What’s wrong? You sound down,” Brianna says, and I hesitate. I don’t know if I should tell her the truth. “Come on, Min, I know you well enough even over the phone. Aren’t you having fun?”

“Oh, I’m having fun,” I admit. “All I can handle.”

“How’s Oliver been?” Brianna asks. “Behaving?”

“No,” I say with a little chuckle. “But good. Very good.”

“I know that tone, Mindy. Something you need to tell me?”

“Well . . .” I say, wondering how much I should tell Brianna. “At what point did you start thinking you had feelings for Gavin?”

“Oh, it’s that sort of problems,” Brianna says. “Well, to let you know, I think it was about three seconds after I saw him the first time.”

“Come on, I’m serious!” I protest. “When?”

Brianna’s voice grows somber, and I can imagine that intense look on her face that she has when she’s worried about me. “Mindy, it doesn’t really matter. It happened. So what’s the problem?”

“You know this isn’t . . .” I start before lowering my voice. “You know this isn’t supposed to be real!”

“And I was supposed to be a one-night stand or a sport fuck,” Brianna reminds me. “Look how Gavin and I turned out. If you’re feeling something for him . . .”

“Hey! Get off the phone and help me, you lazy skank!” Roxy yells. “I’m not doing all of this my damn self!”

“Roxy?” Brianna asks, and I chuckle.

“How’d you know?”

“She reminds me of some foul-mouthed, cute as hell coffee shop manager I know,” Brianna says. “Seriously, though, if you like him . . . don’t wait and give yourself the drama I did. Tell him.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I reply. “Thanks. Love you, Bri, but I gotta go before Roxy starts throwing tacks at me. Bye.”

I head back over toward Roxy, but before I can get halfway across the hall, the doors open. I see Oliver carrying a huge set of speakers, one in each hand, the DJ behind him.

“Over there,” she says, and Oliver gives me a sexy little grin and blows me a kiss as he heads off across the hall.

I get back over to help Roxy, who climbs down from the ladder, handing me what looks like paper lanterns. “Here, you hang. I’ll hand you the next ones,” she says, grumbling. “You know how hard I’ve been working?”

“Sorry,” I say, climbing the ladder. I start putting up the lanterns but get distracted in my thoughts. I think about what a good man Oliver is. With the dog and all that, I could totally see settling down and . . .

I try to push the thoughts away. I have to remember this is fake. In a few days, it will all be over. I just need to enjoy it for what it is—a fun vacation fling.

But it’s not that easy. The passion. The connection. All of that feels real.

Maybe Brianna is right.

Roxy waves her hand in front of my face.

“Mindy?” Roxy says. “The lanterns?”

“Huh?” I ask, looking away and blinking. “What’s that, Rox?”

“I know you love your fiancé’s ass and stuff, but we need to get this done.”

I chuckle as we go back to work, doing my best to deal with the questions running rampant in my head.

But there’s one thing I know for sure. I don’t know what’s real anymore.