Free Fooled Around and Fell in Love (A New Beginning Book 2) by Connie Stephany Page B

it off without showing her true feelings.
    “Well, does it fit?”  Tom’s voice drew her eyes back to his. 
    “It’s perfect, actually.” Colleen said quietly.  “It’s really beautiful, Tom.”
    “So you like it?”
    What an odd question.  Why would it matter if I liked it?
    Colleen gave him a small smile. “A girl would be crazy not to.”
    “Good.”  He grinned widely.  “I can’t wait to get my mom back!”
    Tom kissed her on the cheek and then jumped up to turn on the movie.
    As they settled in to for the show, Colleen found that she had a hard time concentrating. 
    She kept glancing at Tom while thinking about the joke and the beautiful ring that was still on her finger, wondering how she’d feel when she had to give it back.
     
    ***********
     
    Two days later, Colleen found herself in Tom’s car, driving towards the restaurant where the grand scheme would take place.
    She was nervous as hell. 
    They were going out for his mom’s birthday, which happened to fall on April 1st.  It would perhaps explain why his mom loved playing pranks so much on her victims. 
    Colleen was barely listening to Tom’s excited chatter as they drove into downtown Zimmerman, which had one main street.  It was a small town and she loved it. 
    Tom hadn’t stopped talking since he picked her up just ten minutes earlier from her country home, a few miles outside of Zimmerman.
    What the hell was she thinking? 
    This was a bad, bad idea. 
    She wanted to scream, STOP THE CAR, but she didn’t want to look like a raving lunatic so she kept her mouth shut and tried to sit still.
    The thought that she’d just end up getting hurt kept running through her mind. 
    Even if she did get hurt, it wouldn’t be Tom’s fault.  It wasn’t like he knew she was head over heels.  She was never brave enough to tell him. 
    Now she had to pretend to be engaged to him.  A man she had loved forever.
    She sat there, pulling on her seatbelt.  Why was it so damn tight?
    “You’re awfully quiet, Colleen.  Getting in the zone?” Tom gave her his knee-weakening grin, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze.
    “Yeah, something like that.”  Colleen murmured.
    She squeezed back before reclaiming her hand.  She wondered if his hand was tingling the way hers was.
    She could see Tom glance over at her from the corner of her eye.
    “You look great, by the way.  You don’t wear dresses often, but I like it.” 
    Colleen looked back at Tom and turned pink at his compliment.
    “Thanks.  I figured maybe I should look the part tonight.” 
    She went shopping with her other best friend, Abby, who thought Colleen was crazy.  She lost count of how many times Abby told her just to admit her feelings to Tom.  She was convinced that Tom felt the same way, but Colleen couldn’t bring herself to believe it. 
    Abby helped Colleen pick out a little red wrap dress, which hugged her curves in all the right places.  She also picked out a pair of black heels with red soles, which she had to admit were sexy as hell.
    The look Tom gave her when she opened her door had her smiling again.  Even if he didn’t like her that way, he certainly had taken a good look at her tonight!
    “You look pretty good yourself, Tom.”  She noticed he had a couple-days growth.  It was the look she loved best.  He smelled divine, too, and she found she kept inhaling deeply to get a whiff.  It was making her dizzy. 
    “Thanks, pretty lady.”
    Why does he have to flirt like that?
    Before she knew it and definitely before she was mentally prepared, Tom had parked the car in the little corner lot and they were walking towards the entrance of the Whistling Pickle, aka the WP, a bar/restaurant with the best chicken wings in town. 
    The coolest part of the WP was they had a hired magician, Peter, who walked through the bar on weekend nights doing cup, card and coin tricks which were absolutely mind-blowing.  He also happened to be a friend of