A Deal Made In Texas. Michelle Major
Four
Christine blinked awake, disoriented for a moment at the unfamiliar surroundings. The something—someone—moved next to her and the previous night came flooding back.
She turned to find Gavin asleep next to her, lying chest down with his hair rumpled and a shadow of stubble covering his jaw. Somehow they’d both ended up under the covers. He still wore his white T-shirt, and she was in her dress. The last thing she remembered was James Bond being served a shaken-not-stirred martini.
Now pale light spilled in from the room’s picture window. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Seven in the morning.
Well, she’d successfully missed the end of the reception, but if she didn’t leave quickly, she might run into the Fortunado family heading to breakfast.
With as little movement as possible, she slipped out of the bed. Gavin made a snuffling sound but didn’t wake. Christine grabbed her shoes and purse. Without bothering to look in the mirror, she let herself out of the room.
She didn’t need to see her reflection to know that she wasn’t a pretty sight. She had no intention of allowing Gavin to see her this way, either.
The door closed with a soft snick, and she turned, only to come face-to-face with Valene, the baby of the Fortunado clan.
Her brown eyes widened. “Hey, Christine.”
Christine smoothed a hand over her tumbling hair. “Hi, Val. Going to work out?”
Valene wore athletic shorts and a fitted tank top. Earbuds dangled from either side of her head. Her wavy blond hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. “Yeah. How about you?” One delicate brow rose. “That’s Gavin’s room, right?”
“Is it?” Christine’s voice was a croak.
“And you’re wearing the same dress from the wedding last night,” Valene pointed out, none too helpfully as far as Christine was concerned. “Schuyler said Gavin left the reception early because he wasn’t feeling well.”
“I think he’s okay now,” Christine answered, purposely ignoring the question in the other woman’s dark eyes. “Well, I should be going. Have a great day.”
Without waiting for a response, she hurried down the hall, only taking a few steps before realizing that she’d be waiting for the elevator with Valene. Why did decisions made late at night rarely hold up to the light of day?
She breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed the sign for the stairs, pushing open the door and racing down four flights. The stairwell led out to the parking garage. She shoved her feet back into the heels and made it to her Subaru hatchback and then away from the hotel without seeing anyone else she knew.
Thank heaven for small favors.
Quite small since she understood that although Valene had been shocked enough to allow Christine to escape this morning, there would be no avoiding the Fortunado sisters for long. Valene worked out of the real estate agency’s Houston office but visited Austin regularly to help with establishing a new client base. Even if she didn’t see Valene right away, the sisters would talk. Gavin seemed sure they didn’t have anything to worry about, but Christine remained unconvinced.
Walking into her condo, she was greeted with an enthusiastic bark. Diana trotted toward her, tail wagging and ears pricked up. Christine smiled despite her tumbling emotions. Nothing like unconditional love to work as a distraction.
“Hey, girl.” Christine crouched down to love on the dog. “Did Jackson take good care of you last night?” At ten years old, Diana was fairly mellow and low maintenance. As she did on nights when she worked late, Christine had asked her neighbor’s preteen son to dog-sit Diana.
The dog pressed her head against Christine and gave a soft snort, making the tension in her shoulders lessen slightly. “Let me shower and change, and we’ll go for a walk.”
The dog turned in a happy circle at the mention of her favorite word.
“You would not believe the night I had,” Christine said as she placed her purse on the counter and headed for the bathroom, Diana following close on her heels. The dog had been her roommate and companion for so long, she thought nothing of carrying on a one-sided conversation.
She told Diana about Gavin and their arrangement. The dog inclined her head, as if truly listening. Christine was grateful for the sympathetic canine ear. Most of her girlfriends were in the real estate industry or knew the Fortunados, so she couldn’t share the arrangement with any of them.
Her sister would have a field day giving Christine grief about only being able to find a fake boyfriend. Even as adults, their relationship was fraught with teasing, all one-sided. Christine had never allowed herself to think much of it, although it was strange that they couldn’t seem to shake their childhood roles.
Aimee was beautiful, popular and funny. She worked as a hairdresser in a busy salon in one of Austin’s tonier suburbs. She had tons of friends, a steady stream of rich boyfriends and remained the apple of their father’s eye. Yet she never seemed to tire of pointing out Christine’s shortcomings.
It had been easier when Christine lived in Houston. She’d come up with plenty of excuses over the years as to why she could only return to Austin once or twice a year for family functions.
But now that she’d moved back to her hometown, her mother made it clear she expected to see more of her.
After her shower, she dressed in a sweatshirt and loose jeans, laced up her sneakers and headed out the door with Diana. As always, the dog was thrilled to check out the scents along the walking trail situated about a block from the condo.
Christine waved to neighbors and tried to keep her thoughts from straying to Gavin. Why had she agreed to be his pretend girlfriend?
She had no answer, other than the fact that it was her best—and possibly only—chance of ever spending time with him.
Maybe that was a good enough reason.
Diana whined softly as they got to the open meadow that bordered the trail. Christine unclipped the dog’s leash, and Diana sped off to investigate the nearby trees.
Christine’s phone dinged, and she pulled it out of her pocket, drawing in a quick breath at the text message.
I missed you this morning. Talk soon?
She and Gavin had exchanged numbers in his hotel room, but it still shocked her to see his name on the screen.
How to respond?
Last night had been one of the best of her life, even though nothing had happened between them. Okay, she was disappointed nothing had happened. She’d spent the night in a man’s bed and all he’d done was snuggle her. Did that say more about Gavin or her? She was afraid the answer was the latter.
Yes, she knew he respected her and she’d heard him tell his sister that Christine was special. Now, that felt like an excuse for keeping things basically platonic between them.
But he missed her.
That was a good sign, right?
She tapped in the start of several responses and almost immediately deleted each of them. Too sweet. Too trite. Trying too hard.
Finally, she sent a smiley-face emoji.
And immediately regretted it. Her mother sent smiley-face emojis about everything. All Christine needed was to add an “LOL” along with several exclamation points and she’d officially become the fuddy-duddy she was afraid might be her destiny.
Diana barked at a squirrel, and Christine pocketed the phone with a sigh. She wasn’t sure what she’d gotten herself into with Gavin Fortunado, but there was no doubt she was in over her head.
“Where’s Christine?”
Gavin made a show of checking his watch as Schuyler dropped into the chair next to