My Counterfeit Fiancé: A Friends to Lovers Romance Read online

  My Counterfeit Fiancé

  REMI GREY

  Copyright © 2019 Remi Grey – All Rights Reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Cover Created By Embrace the Pace Designs

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations. It is intended for mature readers.

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  Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  MORE BOOKS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  About the Book

  What could possibly happen when you realize you’re in love with your best friend? You lie about being engaged to her to please others, that’s what could happen.

  My life hasn’t been the same since Raegan walked her way right into it.

  She’s my best friend and the last person my mom ever wanted me dating.

  It seemed like a good idea at the time when I lied about us being engaged.

  I needed to get mom and the women she kept bringing home to meet me off my back.

  Raegan needed help getting her daughter Lark into school.

  We’d both be getting what we wanted...what could possibly go wrong?

  The real question is one I never considered, what can possibly go right?

  Raegan had never been hard to love, that I knew.

  And as everyone knows, opposites can’t help but attract.

  Whoever said that falling in love is easy clearly had no idea what the hell they were talking about.

  My Counterfeit Fiancé is a stand-alone lighthearted romance for mature readers with a HEA and no cliffhangers.

  Chapter 1

  Jackson

  I can’t believe that I’m here, standing in front of the love of my life, God, and all of our family and friends just moments away from the biggest commitment I’ve ever had to make thus far.

  A few more words and I’ll be a married man and a stepdad to the most beautifully complicated little girl that I’ve ever known.

  It’s taken so much to get us to this point.

  When I look back on what the three of us have been through this past year, it doesn’t seem real that I’m finally happy and exactly where I’m supposed to be, professing my love openly, allowing myself to be completely vulnerable, no longer afraid to give all of my heart to another.

  Meeting Raegan was a game-changer.

  She’s stirred up just about every emotion in me possible for one person to withstand.

  From our very first introduction over a decade ago, she’d always managed to make me feel something for her, although in the beginning, it was definitely more like loathing than love.

  She’d walked into my freshman Biology lab dressed in this skin-tight denim skirt with an equally tight-fitting top, one long ponytail with bangs so long that she had to sway them to one side.

  She’d been gorgeous, and her body was every ninth grader’s wet dream, including my own, but I would have never given her the satisfaction of telling her that.

  She’d seemed like the type who would take it as just another compliment from a horny little geek who had no real chance of ever getting with a girl like her.

  Taking that realization into account, I'd decided to ignore her undeniable beauty and focus on the task at hand, making it through this class with a perfect score if it killed me.

  “You must be Raegan Thomas; come on in and have a seat,” our teacher, Mr. Justice, had said, pointing at the empty metal stool right next to me.

  Damn, why next to me, there were more than enough empty seats available?

  What about that guy behind me? He’d looked like he would be excited about that arrangement from the way he’d been staring at her boobs and drooling when she walked past him.

  The last thing I needed a distraction right now. I had goals set for the year and having a lab partner who was probably as dumb as a doornail wasn't part of them. I found myself scowling in her direction when she was settling onto her stool. I had to admit it took some effort; there was no room for anyone who had any kind of butt at all, which she had in spades.

  It had made me even more upset that I'd actually noticed. I'd made it that far in my education without letting the opposite sex interfere with my thoughts: why now, why her?

  Later, during the school year, after we got to know each other more, I'd realized it was merely because she was Raegan.

  ~~~

  “I can’t believe you still let you your parents intimidate you like this,” Raegan laughed at me over Face Time.

  “Don’t even start with me,” I scowled.

  "Someone needs to start with you. Seriously, why do you let your parents do this to you?"

  “I can’t help it. You know I can’t say no to them no matter how much I would like to,” I admitted, walking with my phone in my hand as I got dressed for yet another dinner with the family.

  We both knew that dinner with the family was code for another blind date set up or an open opportunity for my family to mention what a good catch some woman I don’t even care to know is.

  “Well, if you like to suffer, be my guest. Don’t ask me to be your buffer between them anymore; you know I can’t stand how your mother looks at me like I’m some kind of home wrecker.” She frowned, pushing her phone farther away so that I can judge her wardrobe choice for the evening.

  “Thank you so much for doing this for me yet again, best friend.” Raegan knew I used the best friend statement to ease the blow that’s bound to come as soon as I appear with her at my parent’s house.

  “Don’t even try it, J. I know your tricks. Don’t forget we’ve been friends for over a decade. I can tell when you’re trying to butter me up before you lead me to my slaughter.”

  “Fine, I’m throwing in the towel. I can see that its shelf life has expired from the look on your face, but I mean it Raegan; thank you for doing this for me.” I smiled, giving her my famous thousand-watt grin.

  “Damn, you’re putting it on real thick this time. Save it for someone who didn’t know you before that smile was so perfect.”

  “Ouch, Pres.” It was a nickname I gave her a long time ago because her name is Raegan. “I can always count on you for brutal honesty.”

  “You know I can’t stand that nickname; it makes me think of high school, which only brought me misery outside of meeting you.”

  High school was a bit of a disaster for Raegan. She moved to our neighborhood with her mom so that she could go to a better school and get away from the reputation she and her mother had.

  The rumors of her being a promiscuous idiot with an equally promiscuous mother were utterly false, but even I had found myself judging her at first glance.

  I now knew that I had been a complete judgmental asshole for assuming that she was brainless because she had a beautiful body. She had a recklessness about her that makes her a bit of a rebel when it came to her judgment. But other than that, she’s extremely intelligent, vibr
ant, and I couldn’t imagine my life without her and her mini-me, Lark, in it.

  Raegan has been through so much. A life filled with misconceptions, a failed marriage, divorce, and single motherhood all in the span of a decade.

  I was in awe of her strength; she was able to leave her asshole of a husband who cheated on her their entire marriage, belittled her with verbal and physical abuse, and then left her for a washed-up cougar with an inheritance as large as his ego.

  “So, I get the seal of approval?” She twirled for me in front of her phone.

  God, she really is a sight to behold.

  “A-plus, Ms. Raegan, as always.”

  “Perfect. I’m headed out now to pick Lark up from her friend’s house, then I’ll head over your way after I drop her off with Mom, okay?”

  “Sure thing, Rae, thanks again for this; it means the world, really.”

  “Anytime. You know I’m just messing with you about your family, right?” she said, moving really close to the screen so that I can see her sincerity.

  “I do; you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.”

  “I love you, friend, and I just want to see you happy, that’s all,” she said, grabbing her keys and heading out the door.

  “Whatever, Rae—I am happy,” I lie with the straightest face I could possibly muster up in such short notice.

  “Keep telling yourself that; maybe one day it will be true,” she scolded, putting the phone into her dash holder before turning her keys in the ignition and easing out of her driveway.

  I hung up, knowing that she had read me like a book.

  I really wasn’t happy. I was a complete fraud to everyone around me, including myself, but I could never fool Rae; she could always see right through my bull.

  With what she said ringing in my ears, I jumped in the shower with every intention of putting on a brave front and telling my parents once and for all at tonight’s dinner that I wasn’t ready to settle down yet, that I don’t love being the kind of doctor I have become, and that every day I walk into work I feel sick to my stomach with regret at how my life has turned out.

  Most people would be ecstatic being one of the top obstetricians in the state. Most people would love being sought after by women and couples from miles around for their expertise in fertility, pregnancy care, and high-risk birth.

  But I was not most people. I wanted more than what mommy and daddy planned for their little boy.

  I’d had dreams as a child of finding cures for cancer, treating untreatable diseases, helping those less fortunate than me who couldn’t afford quality care for unexplainable illnesses.

  That’s where my heart lies, and I’ve let my parents’ definition of success lead me for far too long.

  The hot water from the shower I just took does little to erase the tension of the pending conversation I need to have with my parents tonight.

  At least Rae will be there to give me the equivalent of liquid courage so that I won’t chicken out.

  I’ve already set things in motion to transfer some of my current patients and cases over to some of my trusted colleagues who are just as well versed in obstetrics and respected in the medical community.

  I took one last look in the bathroom mirror, making sure to adjust my tie before grabbing my suit jacket and heading out the door towards my parent’s house.

  I was ready for this; it’s been a long overdue.

  ~~~

  Tonight’s festivities started off just like any other family dinner, as they like to call it.

  For me, it’s more like a family intervention.

  We all sat about as far away from each other as possible at my beloved parents’ way too large dining table, made idle chit chat about things that I absolutely cared nothing about while we were served by my parents’ faithful cook, Silvia. Poor Silvia, she’s got to be one hundred years old now. She was pushing sixty when I was a child.

  One day, I knew we were going to find her teeth in our soup.

  My brother always miraculously had other plans that superseded our little gathering, which by the way no one ever complained about. But God forbid I have other plans or decide not to show up. I was practically castrated for months and made to feel like the villain for opting out of attendance.

  David was the smart one. He’d learned over the years to disappoint Mom and Dad first before they had time to be disappointed in him on their own.

  To a regular person, that statement probably wouldn't make sense, but if they'd ever had the opportunity to get to know my brother, they would understand completely.

  "Your mother is giving me that look again," Raegan whispered, giving me side-eye glances that would pierce the hearts of even the strongest of men.

  I hated putting her through this, but right now I was really in desperate need of a good wingman, or in this case, wing woman.

  “It will be over soon,” I reassured her falsely before our first course is set before us.

  Truthfully, we have about another hour or so before dinner will be over, but I feel bad, so I felt compelled to say something that was a tiny bit reassuring to her, it was the least that I could do for dragging her once again into my mess.

  Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

  I wondered who it could be. Our meals together are never interrupted; it was like my parents put out a wide-spread message to everyone they knew, telling them not to call or visit when we ate together.

  My mom immediately rose to her feet, all of a sudden giddy, placing her napkin on the table and focusing all of her attention toward the door.

  “Oh, goodness!” She lit up, making her way to the front door. “I wonder who that could be at this hour?”

  Now, everyone that knew my mother knew that she never runs to answer the door, let alone light up as she practically skips to go answer it.

  I turn toward my dad, searching for some kind of answer since my dad could never keep a secret.

  “I had nothing to do with this,” my dad whispered from across the table apologetically, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head back and forth with his infamous eye roll.

  Oh man, this couldn’t be good.

  I gave Raegan one last look of confusion before my mom entered the room with her mystery guest standing next to her like a proud auntie.

  “Everyone, this is Simone,” my mom said proudly, giving me a sly wink and a devious smile.

  Shit, it was a setup.

  Chapter 2

  Make Believe

  It had been a complete rollercoaster ride ever since I met Jackson Price.

  The guy with two last names, as I like to call him, I knew he was special the moment I sat next to him in our Biology class so many years ago.

  I could tell that he was trying hard not to like me back then, but I put on the old Rae Rae charm, and in no time, we were chatting it up in and out of class.

  Unfortunately, my false reputation earned at the hands of insecure kids in middle school followed me right into high school even though I had changed districts to get away from just that.

  Jackson was the only one who had really taken the time to get to know the real me.

  He’d pushed me to stop selling myself short by hiding behind the rumors about me being unintelligent and quick to sleep around with whomever showed me the smallest amount of attention.

  For the life of me, I couldn't even remember how it all started or who started it, but all I could remember was that one day back in grade school, I found the word dummy written in permanent marker all over my locker, and the rest was history.

  It had taken work for me to learn to trust someone, but Jackson was patient; he’d encouraged me to embrace my intelligence and my beauty equally.

  He had been the first boy that ever looked at me with admiration, and it was intoxicating.

  I never told him how I felt about him and probably never would, but deep down, I've always loved him as more than just a friend.

  Yes, he'd been awkward, pimply-faced, and a total spaz most of the
time, but his mind was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

  He’d been a dreamer, really wanting to help people, and the theories he used to come up with during his experiments set me on fire. Seriously, one time he’d literally almost set me on fire.

  Somehow, along the way, we’d gotten parked in the friend zone, and I just let it stay there. It had been easier than going down a road we might not be able to recover from if things didn’t work out in our favor.