As long as he was too drunk to think about Erin by the time he got back to the house that used to be a home, he was good to go.
As long as his body ached more than his soul, he could cope with waking up alone in the room she designed.
Besides, everyone had the right to make a few bad decisions in their life, didn’t they?
“What about that one, right there, with the legs?” Oliver pointed across the bar at a waifish brunette who kept hitting James with that look…the one he’d learned meant she was more than a little open to him coming over for a visit.
“Nah. Too skinny. I want something to really grab hold of.” James flashed back to a very blurred memory of Ellie’s breast in his hand.
“What about her friend? That blonde isn’t bad.” Ethan waited for James to respond and finally put his whiskey down. “What’s with you, man? A chick is just a place to put your dick. When did you get so picky?”
James took a long drink of his beer and inwardly cringed at how sore his arms and back were already. His knuckles throbbed from forty minutes of pummeling the heavy bag earlier. “Just been a long day.”
“Nah, nah, nah.” Ethan waved his hands and shook his head, a look of disgust igniting a flare of anger in James’ belly. “You’re not gonna get all mopey again. I can’t handle another round of so-sad James.”
“Your brother on your case again? About the wedding?” Oliver took a drink.
James just nodded.
“Fuck him,” said Ethan. “He’s being a dumb shit and you know it.”
James did know it. Love sucked. “Yeah. He is. But don’t talk about my brother that way.” He leveled a finger at Ethan and emptied his glass before signaling to the bartender that he was ready for another. The amount of alcohol currently in his system was nowhere close to numbing him enough to matter.
“Your family still nagging you about how worried they are and shit?” Oliver asked.
James nodded as the bartender sat a fresh pint on the bar in front of him, then picked up the glass and took a giant swig. “All the time. I think they’re afraid I’m gonna self-destruct.”
“Well, here’s what you do.” Ethan sat back and folded his arms over his chest. “You get one of these girls…” He gestured around the bar. “Any of them, and you pretend to settle down with her. Take her to your brother’s wedding. Make her feel good. String her along until your family backs off, then dump her and move on.”
James didn’t necessarily feel like breaking anyone’s heart. If he followed that advice and strung some unsuspecting girl along, who knew? She might go catching real feelings for him and everything would end up messy and hard to deal with. That wasn’t something he was interested in at all.
But what if he found someone who would pretend to be his girlfriend? Go into it with her eyes open. Then there’d be no mess when it was over. No broken hearts. No pieces to pick up. Just a nice, simple, business-like relationship reaching its natural conclusion. He could handle that.
He scanned the bar, suddenly on the hunt for anyone he might want to spend more than a night with.
“There you go,” said Oliver, noticing the change. “Our boy’s back.”
James ran his hands through his hair. “I just don’t think there’s anyone who could hold my interest tonight.”
“What? You could have any girl here. Just pick one and work your magic.”
James scanned the crowd again. For some reason, his mind kept wandering back to Ellie Charles. He’d love to work his magic on her.
Chapter Six
Ellie
Ellie stared at the clock hanging above the counter at Good Beginnings. It was nearly ten in the morning and the day had been slow. So slow she’d called her friend Tessa and begged her to keep her company. They perched on the counter, nibbling on baked goods from the pastry shelf.
“Is it always like this on a Tuesday?” Tessa asked, picking the blueberries out of her muffin and popping them into her mouth.
“Tuesdays are slow, but not usually this slow. I cleaned…” Ellie looked around the café. “Like, everything before I called you. Twice. I cleaned it twice.”
Tessa studied the blue smears left on her fingers. “You’re lucky I love you so much. I worked late last night, and I still really want to be in bed.” She sucked her fingers one at a time, pulling them out of her mouth with little smacks of appreciation.
“No, you don’t.” Ellie poured Tessa another cup of coffee. “You want to be here, getting free food from your best friend.”
“I guess this is better than laying around in my pajamas for another couple hours.”
Ellie poured herself a cup and picked a bite off Tessa’s muffin. “I’m gonna wind up as fat as Steve always told me I was if I don’t stop.”
“What you need to stop is talking like that. Steve’s an asshole and you’re better off without him.”
“I really am,” Ellie agreed and picked another bite off Tessa’s muffin. Steve was Ellie’s long-term boyfriend…right up until she found the confidence to dump him. Or, as she preferred to think of him, her long-term parasite. She’d never really loved him and had only gone on a date with him because he’d been an old friend who hit hard times. She didn’t want to be one more thing kicking him when he was already down. And then somehow, he managed to stick around until they wound up living together. Without a job of his own to help pay the bills—he seemed all too happy to let her support him while he charged loads of debt on her
