The Family You Make (Sunrise Cove #1)(34)

She took a deep breath. “What would this thing entail exactly? I mean, nothing . . . physical, right? Pretend or otherwise?”

When he spoke, his voice was serious now. “I wouldn’t want pretend physical anything from anyone. Especially you, Jane.”

She frowned. “Because . . .”

That got her a small smile. “I think I’ll let you wrestle with that one.”

She drew a deep breath. Oh boy . . .

“You mentioned stipulations,” he said, sounding amused.

She nodded and tried to remember what they were. “You have to promise me that this thing stays pretend no matter what, that you won’t fall for me.”

He smiled.

She pointed at him. “Hey! It could happen!”

His smile faded. “I have no doubt.”

Her heart did a somersault. “Promise me,” she whispered.

He was quiet a moment. “I get it,” he finally said. “Us falling for each other wouldn’t be smart. We’re both leaving Sunrise Cove sooner rather than later, and we lead very different lives that would make it nearly impossible to maintain a relationship.”

Well, if he was going to be all grown up about it . . . And yet, she appreciated that. His honesty. She appreciated it a lot, and it made her feel a whole lot better about things.

“My turn for a question,” he said. “You mentioned not really having a family. What happened to yours?”

Moment of truth. She looked away, eyed the high warehouse ceiling and the lighting, the people milling in the store— “Jane?”

“I’m not in contact with them.”

Gently he turned her face back to his. “None of them?”

“Not in a long time, no.”

“Jane,” he said softly.

“Believe me, it was for the best.”

“What happened?”

She shrugged. “I got bounced around a lot as a child between anyone even halfway related to me. Kind of soured me on the idea of family.” She shrugged again and even smiled, though she hated to talk about her childhood.

Hated.

And then there was the way Levi was looking at her, like he felt sorry for her. The thought of anyone pitying her made her feel anxious again, and though she knew how much worse it could have been—that she’d had her basic needs taken care of, had never gone hungry or without clothes—thinking back on her life never failed to make her feel like a spare button, the ones that came attached to new sweaters but were easily removed and tossed aside. “My turn now,” she said. “Do fake girlfriends get the friends and family discount?”

He laughed, breaking the emotional tension, but his eyes remained serious. “Fake girlfriends get whatever they want. Why?”

“I was hoping to buy my roommate the jacket sitting at the checkout counter.”

He smiled. “Smart. Funny. Sexy. And a shrewd businesswoman. You got it. So . . . we’re doing my parents’ dinner party?”

“Yes.”

He nodded. “We should probably spend a little time getting to know each other before the dinner.”

She blinked. “Like a date?”

“Great idea,” he said. “Yes, a date.”

She stared at him.

He smiled.

She narrowed her eyes. “Did you just trick me into going out with you?”

“Or . . . did you just trick me into getting the discount?” he countered.

She had to laugh. “Smooth. We’re talking a pretend date, though, right?”

“Whatever you want, whenever you want. Just name the time and place.”

She hesitated, shockingly tempted. “I don’t know . . .”

“If it helps, you could consider it a fact-finding mission on your pretend boyfriend. We can get to know each other.”

“When I’m ready.”

“When you’re ready,” he agreed.

At just the thought of what she was agreeing to, meeting his family while playing a role that she’d never been any good at—doting girlfriend—she quivered with more nerves than she’d battled while climbing up this wall.

Levi’s mouth curved, like maybe he was reading her thoughts. “You trust me, Jane?”

“No.”

“Damn.” But he was grinning again, clearly, unabashedly not worried. “Then this isn’t going to be nearly as much fun.”

“What isn’t?”

He stood and took her hand, pulling her back to the edge of the wall.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“My first act as your boyfriend is to get you safely to the ground.”

“Pretend boyfriend,” she corrected, and then screamed all the way down.





Chapter 10


Charlotte cranked up the radio and mainlined a huge mug of black coffee to keep herself awake as she drove home from her shift. She was coming off twenty-four straight hours in the OR, and thanks to the season and all its icy snow, she’d been on her feet the entire time.

Car accident victims had arrived on top of car accident victims. Heaven forbid people slow down or take the road conditions into account as they leave their cities and hit the mountains. Nope, they were on vacation, so caution went out the window.

She used the drive home to decompress. She breathed deeply and calmly, sang along with the radio even though she couldn’t carry a tune, and did her best to stick with happy thoughts. All to shed off the horrors of the day, the shocking and devastating results of those accidents that rivaled any episode of Grey’s Anatomy she’d ever seen.