You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

Of all the goddamn places in the world I could be right now.

Of all the Mini Cooper’s that could have broken down and got brought into mechanics shops across the world.

My ex-girlfriend’s sister walks back into mine.

Jade Rosebaum, the girl who tore my heart out and stepped on it eight years ago, stands with a pink hat on that says “bride” on it, holding hands with her fiancé, who has the world’s biggest grin as Haley and I walk toward them.

Jade’s jaw drops when she sees me. I’m surprised she recognizes me after all these years, to be honest. I’ve gotten a million tattoos since then, and put on probably eighty pounds of pure muscle.

And no, I was not thinking hateful thoughts about her when I bloodied my hands into any of those punching bags I destroyed over the years.

Of course not. How dare you.

“Hi Jade!” Haley says with a bubbly smile, but if I’m being honest it seems like she is doing the whole fake bubbly song and dance. I examine them closely. A guy who I assume is the best man stares me down like he’s starving and I’ve got the last box of girl scout cookies. Makes me wonder what crawled up his ass and died.

“Haley! It’s great to see you...and you brought...a date?”

“Yes,” Haley smiles. “This is Liam.”

Jade frowns, and makes a sour face towards me, though I don’t think Haley catches it..

“You knew I was bringing a date.”

“But Haley. You broke up with Jack months ago.”

“You knew about that?”

“Seriously?” Jade rolls her eyes. “Of course I know what’s going on with my sister.”

“But I didn’t tell you! I felt bad that it was so close to the wedding, so I brought my new boyfriend.”

“Zack and Jack are frat brothers from college,” Jade explains. “They both work at Goldman Sachs now. What, did you think I wasn’t going to find out?”

“They’re frat brothers? But Zack is so much older!”

“They went to the same college though, same fraternity...look. I don’t need to explain to you how I know. Oh my gosh, this is going to mess up all the seating arrangements, having you here.”

“I can just leave,” I pipe up, an echo of what she did to me years ago.

Just left.

“No,” she croaks. “We’ll figure it out. Nice to meet you…”

“Liam,” I say, and stick out a hand. No one else has any idea about our past, and I intend to keep it that way. “Congratulations to you and your soon to be husband.”

“Thanks,” the man says, sticking his hand out. He’s good looking, the epitome of that city-slicker look. With black hair and a handshake that tries a little too hard, he tries but can’t seem to look me straight in the eye. I’ve never really trusted city people. And for good reason, if you ask me. They’re always looking for an angle.

“Looking forward to being a part of the festivities,” I say. “We just got in though, so we should probably head up to our room, right baby?”

I don’t know where ‘baby’ comes from. It’s not a nickname I’ve ever assigned to a girlfriend. Much less a one night stand who I’ve gotten into some kind of crazy situation with. But the way she looks back at me with her deep blue eyes and a toss of her deep red hair, it feels fucking right when I call her it.

“See you tomorrow Sis,” she smiles at Jade. She’s got no clue about what just went down in the secret glances between Jade and I.

I carry Haley’s suitcases up to our room and drop them.

Before I have a chance to pounce on her, she’s all over me instead; aggressively kissing me and running her hand up my shirt, along my abs and chest.

We don’t even get all of our clothes off this time. Fuck, we don’t make it to the bed. She’s a possessed woman. We fuck on the floor, against the dresser, against the wall. We roughhouse with reckless abandon, she’s got the same fire in her eyes that I do.

Our bodies thrash against each other and I wonder if her soul is as damaged as mine. As beautiful as Haley is, I want to imagine her soul is a perfect, unblemished blank slate that the world would never dare step on.

But I know better than most, the world is rarely nice and good to those who deserve it.

I thrust deep inside her against the hotel wall, and the pleasure and the insight come in flashes. I’m with her, but I’m not as I feel her writhe against the wall, purring, cooing softly, almost sweetly. She’s not loud; maybe because it’s late and she doesn’t want to wake the entire hotel, or maybe her soul has been beaten down over the years, just like mine.

She hums as I fuck her deep and hard; I swear I feel her cervix. Her whole body shakes as she comes. I sweat and relish in the skin on skin slapping of my hips on her glorious flesh.

“Fuck, I’m gonna come,” I growl.

She reaches an arm back. “Where do you want to come?”

“On your tits.”

Without hesitation, she slides down, spins around and kneels in front of me. I pant as she jacks me off with her own juices until I come all over her luscious, freckled tits, pumping one hand on my cock and feeling my balls with another. I shoot ropes onto her, and when we’re done, she looks up at me from her knees. An ever-so-slight smile spreads across her face.

“Jesus, Liam. With this amount of come you’d think you were bottled up for years.”

I smirk and reach a single finger down to her chin, and guide her to her feet before I peck her on the lips.

“Maybe I have.”

I take a towel from in the bathroom, clean her off, then we pass out in a pool of sweat and tangled limbs, not even bothering to get under the covers.

* * *

You know that one person you never really get over?

Most of us have a person like that. The one who drives a stake into your goals of true love and happiness.

It just so happens that, for me, that person is my fake wedding date’s sister.

What are the fucking odds that my one night stand, with a girl who’s passing through Blackwell, ends up convincing me to go with her to a wedding as her fake date? The kicker? It’s my ex who’s wedding we are attending.

And not just any ex. The only girl I’ve ever been in love with.

These are my thoughts the next day as I walk by myself around Lake Okoboji to get some air. I walk onto a public dock and let my gaze drift, the trees around the lake reflecting onto the crystal clear water. A warm summer breeze wafts across my face.

I inhale. The air is so damn fresh here. When I agreed to be Haley’s wedding date, sex was only part of it, although I’m sure she doesn’t think that. Sure, the girl has a smile that kills to go with deep red hair basically made for pulling, but the truth was, for some time I’d been searching for an excuse to get out of Blackwell. I needed to break the routine that comes with living in a small town in middle America.

And now in the deepest of ironies, Jade’s presence has me mentally digging up past wounds. She’s the one I could never totally let go of.

I sit down and let my legs hang off the dock, swinging freely. The late morning hours are quiet except for a few motorboats zooming around the lake.

Haley wanted me to come with her to her sister’s final dress fitting or some such trife, but I declined.

She probably figured I was declining because I didn’t want to spend the day doing girly stuff, which is not untrue. However, there is so much more to it than that.

Not that I’m thinking about my ex—or that I’d ever go back to her. Shit, she’s getting married this week and I’m glad she’s happy. But something about seeing her yesterday just got my blood boiling.

I dip my hand in the water and feel the cool liquid on my fingers. One solitary guy fishes on the dock. He’s got white hair, sunglasses and chews on a cigar while he stands and holds his pole.

I stand up and walk over to him. “Any bites today?”

“Nothing,” he says, giving me a quick glance before going back to focus on his pole.

“What kind of lure are ya using?” I ask, peering out into the clear water.

“A real worm.”

I nod. “Huh. You’re trying to catch catfish, right?”

“Right.”

“You should try chicken livers,” I say, matter of factly.

He squints in my direction. “Do I know you?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, Sir,” I say, and suddenly I’m a little shocked at my own formal-ness. Back at the shop, I would never say ‘Sir.’ But something about this guy’s demeanor just exudes a demand for respect. Maybe it’s his body language.

“Sir. The way you said that. Were you in the military?” He says without shifting his gaze from the water.

“I don’t like to talk about it.”

“PTSD?” He arches an eyebrow toward me.

“No, Sir. I was only in for a year. Got discharged over some bullshit before I was even deployed.”

He winks. “We’ve all had our crazy youth. You still look young though.”

“Were you in the military?”

“Short stint in Vietnam.” He taps his shin. “Took a bullet and got a medical discharge, though. Most painful plane ticket I’ve ever gotten. But worth it!”

I chuckle, but not as hard as he does at his own joke.

Something about the man just makes me comfortable. His soft gaze along with his hardened skin gives the impression that he’s been through some shit and won’t judge you for yours.

“What are you doing here, anyhow, young man? You want to grab a pole and join me? I have extras.”

I nod and grab one of his poles and put a chicken liver on it.“It’s a bit of a crazy story. But basically I’m in town for my fiancé’s sister’s wedding.”

I swallow. Did I just say fiancé? Why the fuck would I say that? Haley and I are keeping this arrangement very loose. I shrug it off. Not like this guy cares anyway. He’s just some fisherman on the dock. I can say whatever the hell I want to him and it won’t ever matter.

I wind my string and size up the lake to see where I can cast.

“My, Son. That does sound quite crazy. What’s the story about?”

“Well, I’ve been dating this girl for about two months,” I say, telling the lie that Haley and I had agreed to. Why not practice a little with this harmless old fisherman?

“That’s not very long for marriage.”

“Well when you know, you know,” I smirk. What the hell, a little embellishment can’t hurt anyone. I cast out into the water, then wind my reel to get rid of the slack.

“Her name wouldn’t happen to be Haley, would it?”

My heart flips. “Uh, yeah,” I say nonchalantly, playing it cool. “How did you know?”

“You’re my daughter’s date,” he says in a low grumble, staring right at me. Hell, he might as well be staring through me.

“That’s right,” I swallow, suddenly feeling nervous for the first time in a while. Hell, maybe it’s been years. “I’m her date.”

“She never mentioned anything about her getting married.” His tone is biting, and he clenches his jaw, destroying that calm fixed stare that had me so comfortable.

“Well, that’s because I haven’t done it yet. I’m doing it tonight,” I say to make up for it.

“Oh you are? Well, congratulations. Although, I have to say, three months is a little quick to be getting married, don’t you think?” He squints hard at me, giving me this Paul Newman stoneface look like he could cut me in half with his eyes if he just squints a little harder. Fine, he wants to up the ante? I’ll up it.

“When you’re in love, you just know it’s real,” I drawl. “And there ain’t no reason to wait.”

“Might seem that way,” he says. “But, you always gotta take care that you don’t get carried away in the passion of the moment. Or else you’ll end up like me.”

He shows me the fingers of his left hand, and he’s got no wedding ring. “Divorced. But, if you know damn well my daughter is the one you want, well I guess that’s fine by me.”

Where before his tone was warm and friendly and connecting, now he sounds cold.

I don’t blame the guy.

I’d be suspicious as hell at a man who wanted his hot ass daughter.

Shit, I’ve known Haley for less than forty-eight hours. And here I am, talking smack to her father about how I’m going to marry her.

But now, I’ve got to commit to this lie for the full duration of the time we’re here. It’ll be fine. We have one week of hot sex, then a few months down the road she can just tell her family that we’ve broken it off.

Easy peazy.

I know what you’re thinking. Liam, you’re batshit crazy.

And well, I’ll tell you this. Not too many people have accused me of being sane.

“Looks like you’re getting a bite,” he says, nudging me.

“Oh,” I say and start to reel in my fish a few feet at a time.

“Guess you were right about that chicken liver,” he says. “It’s definitely a good bait.”

I nod as I haul my line in. I want to make some kind of joke about fake lure, but I’m not even sure what to say.

“So what do you do for work anyway?” he asks me.

“I’m a mechanic,” I reply. “Matter of fact, I met Haley on the Brooklyn Bridge when her car broke down and I stopped to help her.”

“Is that so?” he says, and I wonder to myself if he’s buying my story.

* * *

After an hour or so of bullshitting with Haley’s dad, I head back to the hotel. I’m about to head up to our room when I spot Haley from across the room. Her back is to me, and she holds something in her arms.

I can’t help it, I want to watch her from afar for a minute. She looks so damn gorgeous with her long legs and stunning red hair. Even in just the simple polka dot dress she has on with flip flops. Maybe even more so.

When I see what she’s holding in her arms, something warms in my heart in a spot I’ve never felt before.

She’s bouncing up and down with a little tiny baby. Her smile is warm as she pulls the sleeping little guy closer into her chest.

Finally, I decide to walk toward her, when I’m cut off by the person I want to talk to least in this entire wedding entourage: my ex.

The damn bride.

“Liam.” She says, smiling as she puts a hand on my back.

I freeze. After trying for years to put this woman out of my mind and memory, her touch isn’t exactly welcome. But I’ll be damned if she still doesn’t have a slight affect on me. It’s her scent. Her touch. It’s the memories, she floods my senses with a time of the one and only time I felt in love.

“Jade,” I say firmly, in a businesslike tone.

She looks around the lobby to make sure no one else is within earshot. The coast is clear.

“What on earth are you doing here?” She barks, her tone harsh.

I scoff and smirk a little. “Since when the fuck do you give a shit what I do? You haven’t for seven years.”

She rolls her eyes. “Back to swearing like a sailor are we?”

“Look,” I grunt. “I don’t care what you’re doing now. I’m with Haley, and this is pure coincidence. Nothing to do with you. So let’s just pretend like you and me never happened.”

She snorts. “Truthfully, I wish you never happened. But it’s too late for that. I told my fiancé about you.”

“Yeah?” I arch an eyebrow. “He knows all about the time we spent together in Fort Benning? And how your crazy ass got me kicked out of the military?”

She crosses her arms, green eyes glowing. “This is exactly why I’m glad we broke up. You always blame me for things that, quite frankly, are completely your own damn fault.”

“My fault?” I swallow, doing my best not to raise my voice. Instead, I lean in and speak slowly, deliberately, and look her right in the eye. “So you’re saying it’s my fault I walked in on you—the woman I loved—banging my platoon mate on the one night I wasn’t supposed to be in Fort Benning?”

“I’ve apologized for the way that all happened, Liam. Sure, I take some of the blame, but we were young. I wanted an out. So I did what I did. I’m not proud of it. But the facts remain. If you want to dwell in the past…”

I grit my teeth. My chest swells with anger. “Dwell in the past? After seeing that shit, you know what happened. I went into a tailspin. I fucked everything that moved and it only made me more depressed. I hit the bottle hard until my captain finally called me out for—”

“A dishonorable discharge,” she cuts me off. “I know. You only texted me like eighty bajillion times before I finally changed my number.”

I clench my fists. I’m seething. “You are still such a bitch, you know that? Not a fucking ounce of remorse for how you tore my life to shreds.”

Suddenly, Haley appears within my peripheral vision, still holding the baby. Now she’s got the little one against her chest.

“Ohh, Thomas!” Jade smiles, getting all bubbly with the baby in the picture now.

Haley grins. “What are you two talking about? You look like you’re having an intense conversation.”

“Oh nothing!” Jade says. “Just me being curious about how you two hooked up. How did you meet in New York anyway?”

“My car broke down on the Brooklyn Bridge,” Haley says. “Liam was nice enough to stop and take a look. Next thing you know, we’re dating. Such a nice guy, Liam is.” She bats her eyelashes at me.

I’m anything but fucking nice, I want to say.

And I’m going to give her a good, raw helping of ‘not nice’ before the rehearsal dinner tonight.

But at the moment, she’s so damn attractive, I can’t look away. And it’s not the fact that she’s got her hair up in a ponytail, or that she’s got that summer dress on.

It’s how she holds the baby. The little guy rests his cheek on her shoulder as she bounces him, locking eyes with her sister.

“Well that’s a lovely story. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get ready for the rehearsal dinner tonight. See you two later.”

Jade heads off, leaving me with Haley and the baby.

“Whose baby is that anyway?” I ask, happy to divert attention from Jade and my conversation.

“My cousin’s little one. I’m giving her and her husband some alone time. So what were you two talking about?”

“Oh, I was just wishing her the best.”

She narrows her gaze at me. “Oh, really? It just seemed like she was really talking intensely. I mean, obviously you two don’t even know each other though. I must have been seeing things.”

“Yeah you must have. So when are you giving that baby back?”

“About a half hour. Why?”

I lean forward and whisper in her ear. “Because I want to borrow you for a half hour. If you know what I mean.”

I inhale her sweet cherry scent, and whatever she’s wearing, must have a direct line right to my cock, because I stiffen just from the scent of her.

I step back, and she’s got her eyes on the baby, and damn, I can’t help the weird as hell thought that crosses my mind about Haley. Sure, she’s a one night stand, but I’d bet she’d make a real good mom.

On the other hand, this is just a few days of vacation for me.

I push the thought of babies out, way out of my mind.

This is a friends with a benefits situation. I might as well just enjoy it at face value, and not get all strung up on the details.