Free Temporary Fiancée by Judy Rogers Page A

ambulance.
    “What if he dies on the way to the hospital? I need you to be with me, Rand.” He followed her in without a backward glance.
    Haley, standing on the steps of the house, felt like Cinderella as the ambulance pulled out of the driveway. Not that they were heading off to a ball, but no one asked if she wanted to accompany them. She was horrified to realize she was feeling as if she really were a neglected fiancée.
    It’s a fake engagement, a temporary job. You better put the brakes on before you’re in real trouble . But she was secretly afraid it was too late. She was already in trouble. Big trouble.
    Her cheeks flushed, remembering. If Angela hadn’t knocked on the door when she did, her sexual experience would have been a lot broader than it currently was.
    Haley nudged Delphine who was leaning sleepily against her legs. “Let’s go to bed, Delphie. It’s been a long day.” They trudged upstairs and fell asleep in the middle of Rand’s king size bed.
    ****
    Rand held Angela’s hand on the way to the hospital. It was the least he could do, and the most he wanted to do. He didn’t want to put his arm around her, didn’t want to comfort her. To tell the truth he didn’t really want to be with her in the ambulance. He had wanted to follow in his car and bring Haley with him.
    He had glanced back as the ambulance pulled away and had seen Haley, looking forlorn and lonely on the steps of his house, her hair sticking out in crazy corkscrew curls all over her head. It was amazing how much he’d come to like that wild hair. He almost ordered the ambulance driver to stop, but then Angela laid her head on his shoulder and begun crying again. Her sobbing was getting on his nerves. The paramedics had given George a mild sedative, which worked immediately. He was no longer moaning and was answering questions semi-coherently, but Angela was still carrying on.
    Immediately he felt like a heel. George had gotten sick at his house. Perhaps from food that Rand’s fiancée had prepared. Whoa! He and Haley weren’t really engaged. She was a hired fiancée and would be gone in the morning. The thought depressed him. Suddenly, the realization he was depressed about not seeing her again scared the hell out of him.
    He glanced down at Angela who was leaning against his arm, gazing up at him. Although her eyes were a little red, there was no actual moisture in their blue depths. She looked beautiful, flawless, and phony. Two seconds ago she’d been sobbing her heart out. There should have been tears, some puffiness at least.
    He leaned forward to peer more closely at George and to put some distance between himself and his ex-fiancée. Blakely’s color was still pasty. Hell, maybe he was having a heart attack. It was a good thing the hospital was only a few miles from his house.
    The emergency room was a nightmare of noise and people. The paramedics rushed George into a cubicle where two nurses hooked him to a large heart monitor. In the dreary waiting room, Rand lifted his cast onto a nearby chair. His leg hurt like hell. For some reason that made him think of Haley and their almost-lovemaking. Rand had wanted her so badly he felt a surge of resentment toward Angela, and even George, for interrupting them.
    Haley was so responsive his groin stirred remembering the tiny little sounds she uttered as he had taken her breasts into his mouth. He shifted uncomfortably as he finally admitted to himself that Angela had only been lukewarm in bed. She made all the appropriate moves and sounds, but after one night with Haley, he realized his ex-fiancée had never exhibited true passion. She had as many control issues as he did.
    Haley may look like a teenager, but she hadn’t felt like one. They were too different for a permanent relationship to work between them, but perhaps she’d settle for a short-term fling based on great sex. He was pretty sure that if he made love to her a few times, she’d be out of his system. He