The loud knocking on his door the next afternoon interrupted Brendan where he sat on his bed writing lyrics to a new song. Putting his iPad away, he stood and walked to the door. Seeing Ava on the other side was surprising, although he knew it shouldn’t have been. Roxanne had warned him that she would be there.

“Hey, there,” he greeted, staring down at her.

“I’ll do it.” Her head was tilted slightly. Partly so that she could look up to his six-foot-one-inch frame, from her five-foot-three-inch one…and partly to emit an air of obstinance.

“Do what?” Brendan asked, teasing her.

Apparently, that was the wrong move to make, because she instantly swirled around and began making her way down the hallway.

“Okay, okay! Wait!” he said and laughed, running after her, as he grabbed her by the elbow. Turning her to face him, he became serious as he apologized. “I’m sorry. Thank you.”

Her arms crossed over her chest, she simply nodded her head, acknowledging his apology.

“So, what do I need to do?”

“Well, there are going to be a series of events we need to attend. But the kickoff is that we’re doing a photo shoot to announce our engagement.”

“I can do a photo shoot,” she said lightly, shrugging as though that were a simple feat.

Removing his ballcap from his head, he looked down at the floor and scratched the back of his head with his other hand. “Uh…not just a regular photo shoot. There’ll be stylists and wardrobe people, and hair, nails, the whole nine yards.”

“What?” she balked. “Why do I have to do all that for a simple photoshoot, Brendan?”

“Because. It’s not a simple photoshoot. This is just how we do things in the industry. Besides, the pictures are going to be for the interview.”

Dragging her fingers through her ponytail, she asked, “Wait…what? What are you talking about? An interview?”

“For the magazine. People Magazine is doing an interview on us, and we need to be prepared for it.”

“Really? When was I going to find this out? If you remember, I just told you I would do this for you a few seconds ago.”

“Well, I had already been scheduled to do the interview, but I’ll call and let them know there is a slight change that involves you.” He couldn’t help it; he reached out and barely grazed her arm and noted that she jumped back as if burned by heat.

Sighing, she nodded. “Fine. I’ll do the stupid interview and photoshoot. What about these other events?”

“You know, we’ll have a few parties to attend, club appearances, and those kinds of things. And then there’s the everyday thing.”

“What everyday thing?” she growled.

“Just us hanging out. In public for everyone to see and photograph. These images will be on their Instagram and Twitter pages.”

“What about my privacy?”

Again, he reached out to touch her, but his hand dropped just shy of touching her arm. “You forgo that for this period. There’s no sense of privacy where stars are concerned.”

“Aren’t you worried about still being able to pull this off if anyone finds out I’m your best friend’s little sister?” she challenged.

“No. I’m not. Love happens between people, and it isn’t always complete strangers that find it. I think they’ll buy the story. We just have to sell it. By that, I mean everything in our attitudes and body language will have to show how much we mean to one another.”

Rolling her eyes, she turned away from him and headed in the opposite direction.

“Wait. Will you still do it?” he asked, grabbing her shoulder and turning her around.

“Yes.”

“Then follow me.”

He saw the curious expression on her face, but rather than acknowledging it, he turned back to his bedroom to get what he had spent most of the morning shopping for. Although it had taken an entire day for her to give her answer, Roxanne had convinced him to move forward with his plan. And he had done so, albeit nervously.

Kneeling, he opened the bottom drawer of the dresser he had been given to use. Reaching inside, he pulled out a small, tan box with the initials “SB” engraved in the mid-section of the box.

Turning to her, he dropped to one knee and watched as her face turned from careful examination to shock as she placed one hand over her mouth. Brendan held out the tiny box towards her.

“I have something I want to ask you.”

Brendan slowly opened the box revealing the halo-style engagement ring with a pave diamond band. “Would you marry me?”

“Is that…is that what I think it is?” she gasped, pointing at the Solomon Brothers box in awe.

Shaking his head with an impish grin, he asked, “Does that mean yes?”

“Wh…what is this for?” she stammered.

“We’re engaged, right? In order to become engaged, don’t I have to ask you to marry me?” he repeated in a playful tone, pushing the box towards her.

This time she took the box and stared at the ring in its satin setting, she gasped again. “Why?” she asked, finally looking up as he stood.

“Well, it won’t be believable if you’re walking around claiming to be my fiancée with no ring on your finger,” he chuckled.

“But this?” she asked, lifting it up to the light.

“To convince the public, it has to be as real as possible. If this were real, this is how I see you.”

Her face turned a bright shade of red. “Seems like you put a lot of thought into this, Brendan.”

“I did,” he said softly, gazing down at her.

“What’s all the noise about?” Keith asked, stepping into the room with Roxanne close on his heels.

“He thinks I’m going to wear this!” Ava exclaimed.

“Let me see that?” Keith asked, coming closer and taking the box from his sister’s hand. He whistled. “What’d this set you back? I know it had to cost a pretty penny.”

Shrugging, Brendan replied, “Not much.”

“Somebody’s gonna knock her across the head and steal the thing,” Keith declared.

“Let me see,” Roxanne said, brushing the men aside. “Oh, my!” she looked back at Brendan with a worried look and then at Ava with whom she shared a loving smile.

“Brendan, diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but do you think this might have been extreme? I mean, we are talking about a fake engagement, right?” Roxanne asked, leveling a serious glance at him.

“Okay, okay, everybody. Can I please get my future wife the engagement ring I want her to have?”

“Aww,” Roxanne murmured, getting caught up in Brendan’s charm and the romance of the moment and quickly forgetting her earlier stance.

“Roxi, it’s just a façade. Don’t forget the purpose here. No one’s getting married for real,” Keith reminded her.

Brendan noticed the sour expression cross Ava’s face once more. “If you insist. I think this is all ridiculous if you ask me,” she said, pushing her way through the three surrounding her.

“Wait! Will you marry me or not?” Brendan called after her, pushing past Keith and Roxanne.

Ava turned back around, watching as Brendan drew close to her. He felt like the scene was right. And although he knew this was just an act they were putting on for the public, at this moment it felt like so much more, as he took her hand and slid the ring on.

“And it fits perfectly,” Roxanne cooed.

“Man, you thought of everything, huh?” Keith asked, scratching his chin.

Ava stared at it for a moment and then ran from the room.

“Give her some time,” Roxanne said, staring through the empty doorway while patting Brendan on the back.

“I don’t get what all the fuss is about anyway. That girl’s been moody since you returned. Who put a bee in her bonnet?” Keith asked.

Roxanne inhaled deeply before releasing it. “Men!” she declared and marched from the room to go find Ava.

“What’s wrong with her?” Keith asked, jerking his thumb in the direction his wife had just walked in.

Shrugging, Brendan replied, “She’s your wife, man.”

Roxanne was the least of his worries. He would pay anything in the world to bring the old Ava back. The fun, geeky, sweet, and kind Ava. This new person was a stranger to him, and she had his head going in a million different directions. There was something different about Ava that kept tugging at him. Something that had him thinking about her even when she wasn’t around. And he wasn’t certain that was a bad thing.