Wednesday Romance

Part 2

I tried to post this last night and I couldn't access my account for some reason. So this is a little late. Sorry!

If you missed the first part, click here! Make sure to let me know what you like and don't like. This isn't finished, so if you have any thoughts about what you want to see happen, let me know. I just might use some of your ideas!!!
Happy Kisses!


Chapter 2
If I wasn’t so astonished by my own words, I would have laughed. I hadn’t meant to say them, they just came out. Brett’s jaw dropped and his eyes looked ready to pop out of his head. Kate screamed at the top of her lungs and went tearing through the apartment! I returned my purse to its place on my dresser and plopped on my bed. The light in the room was suddenly brighter than normal and I threw an arm over my eyes.
The door clicked closed but I knew Brett was still there. I could feel his presence and that worried me.
“Um, Liddy?”
I didn’t want to answer for what I had just done. Kate, no doubt, hated me for aligning myself with her brother. There was nothing I could do. If I went to her and confessed my lie, that wouldn’t go over any better.
“Liddy, what just happened?”
I peaked up at him. His hand rubbed his neck, his brow creased in confusion. I wanted to laugh. I tried to laugh. But I couldn’t. My heart was breaking. I had once dreamed of marrying the handsome Brett Porter and now I was sort of engaged to his evil twin.
“Your sister caught us kissing. What did you want me to say? You certainly weren’t saying anything.”
I heard the creak of my futon chair as he sat in it.
“How did we go from going to the dance together to getting married?”
I bolted up in defense and put a hand to my head until it stopped spinning. Not the dramatic result I was hoping for. I tried to make my voice severe. “Do you want to be back in your sister’s life or not?”
“Yes.”
“If I’d said we were dating or only going to the dance together, she would have thrown a fit, but nothing between the two of you would have changed. If we get married, she’s stuck. She loves me and will want to be a part of my wedding. Therefore, you will be there and show her you care for her and want to be a part of her life.” I lay back on the bed again. “Really, I’ve done you a great service. You should be rubbing my feet or something.”
I heard the gush of air leave Brett’s mouth but never heard him inhale again. After about a minute, I looked over and saw him holding his breath. His face was somewhat purple.
“What are you doing?” I leaned up on my arm. “For heaven’s sake, breathe before you pass out. I do not want to clean you off my floor. I’d much rather let you rot.”
He breathed and smiled. “So, I can see that nothing between us has changed.”
“Of course not. Why would you think that?” Even as I said it, I blushed.
He chuckled. “So, we’re getting married. How will we convince Kate?”
That thought hadn’t occurred to me.
“I have my mother’s old ring. She gave it to after she and Dad split.” I got up and fished around in my jewelry box until I found it.
He nodded. “I guess we can start there. How are we going to tell our parents?”
I placed the ring on my finger and frowned. “We can wait on that, can’t we?”
“I suppose. But Kate will talk to Mom.”
“So call her first. You could be a little helpful here, you know. After all, we’re doing this for you and your sister. I really don’t need to have any part of this. I’d like nothing better than to….”
“Fine. I’ll call Mom. I’ll tell her we want a long engagement and haven’t set a date. Does that sound plausible?”
I nodded. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. I could pretend to be engaged to him for a few months and then call things off and no one would be wiser. If Brett was truly reformed, it might even be a little bit of fun. When we were younger, he had been lots of fun.
“I’ll have to hang out over here more often,” he said.
I looked at him in shock. “Why?”
“This won’t work if I never come over. Kate has to believe we’re in love. And that means you have to be nice to me.”
“Me? I’m a nice person. You’re the one who will have a problem with it.”
He chuckled. “We’ll both have to work on it.”
I rolled my eyes. This was going to be harder than I thought. The feelings I’d had when he kissed me had completely disappeared. I wanted nothing more than to slap him. If I’d been in the kitchen with my chocolate pudding that was still in the fridge, I would smear that all over his face.
He stood and lifted my hand to inspect the ring. “It’s quite pretty. I like it.”
I looked down at the single solitaire diamond set in a thin gold band. It was still shiny because I frequently pulled it out to polish it. I’d tried it on many times over the years. What girl wouldn’t? Still, today, seeing it on my finger with my hand in Brett’s, it looked strange. I’d always planned to turn it into a necklace but it would stay a ring a little while longer.
Brett dropped my hand. “I appreciate your willingness to help me, Lydia. I know I’m not your favorite person and this will not be easy for you. But I’m grateful.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled and looked away from him.
“I will try to be the most doting of fiancés and not irritate you overly much.”
I looked up and couldn’t help but return his smile. “Me too.”
He suddenly leaned forward, and before I knew what he was doing, he wrapped me in his arms and kissed me. I tried to pull away and he loosened his hold.
“What are you doing?” I demanded, pounding on his chest.
“I thought I’d show you that I really do know how to kiss a girl. I’d hate for you to think that you’d become engaged to a man who couldn’t do the job properly.”
“I’ve seen you with a fair amount of girls. I’m sure you kiss just fine. I won’t have the need to test out your lips. We are only pretending to be engaged. For Kate. We don’t need to be kissing.”
A mischievous glint jumped in his eye. “I really just wanted to satisfy my curiosity. That kiss of ours earlier left me with an overwhelming desire to do a thorough job of it.”
I gasped.
He took the opportunity to tighten his hold on me and kiss me again. Immediately, I quit struggling. I may never have the opportunity to kiss him again. I had always wanted to kiss Brett, so I decided to get my fill of him. I threw my arms around his neck and his eyes flew open in surprise. His surprise only lasted a second as he deepened our kiss. His mouth was hot on mine and our mouths melded together so easily. My fingers glided over his neck to the short spiky hairs on the back of his head. His hair was so soft. His lips became more demanding and his hands glided over my back. A soft moan rumbled in his chest and I melted.
Brett’s arms were everything that heaven should be. In that moment, I knew that no man would ever match up to him. This farce could only end in heartbreak, but I would take what I could from him in the process. He slowly lessened the pressure of our kiss until his lips were gliding with feathery lightness over mine. My breathing was short and fast, as was his. He leaned his forehead against mine.
“Liddy,” he whispered.
I didn’t know how to answer him without confessing imaginary feelings to him. I’m pretty sure I was just drunk from his kiss, because I could not love him.
He apparently didn’t know what to say either. His lips glossed over mine once more before he stepped away.
“I’d better go.”
I nodded.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I couldn’t do anything but stare after him as he left my room. When I heard the front door close, I collapsed onto my bed.