Free Pretend for Me by Sam Crescent Page A

room. The door to her room was left open. Running her fingers through her
hair, she tried her hardest to gather her thoughts. Being the youngest in the
family was a burden.
    Andy stood in the doorway with his arms folded.
    “I thought you’d have gone downstairs,” she said,
picking up her case and putting it on her desk. Sara pulled out her laptop
getting everything set up.
    “You looked like you needed to talk.” He walked in
closing the door behind him. She sighed and sat on the end of her bed.
    “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Being here doesn’t
feel right. My family is so protective of me. I shouldn’t have included you in
this. It was a favor I should have never asked for.” She leaned against his
shoulder feeling the weight of the world on hers.
    Andy held her close as she let the consequences of
what she’d done unfold in her mind.
    “We’re good friends. You’re family are protective of
you, and I can see why. You trust easily, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere
else right now than with you.”
    She ran a hand over her face wishing she could voice
her feelings properly. Being a romance writer didn’t make her perfect with her
words.
    The sound of laughter from downstairs put a stop to anything
she would have said.
     

Chapter Eight
     
    Andy followed her downstairs. The morning had passed
without any more exciting events. There was a barbeque scheduled for the
afternoon, and it looked like the women were going to be trekking into town for
some dress fitting. For the first time in his life Andy wanted to join the
women shopping. He hated shopping and only went with Sara when he had to.
    He stood in the doorway watching as Sara was being
escorted farther and farther away from him. She looked at him with the apology
in her eyes that she couldn’t voice with her lips. Shaking his head, he made to
follow her only to be stopped by Danny.
    “You’re not joining the women, are you? We’re going to
have a beer and get the grill set up.” Danny’s hand rested on his shoulder.
    “I’m sure the two lovebirds can be prized apart,”
Martin said.
    Sara ran up the steps and threw her arms around him.
He held her close not wanting her to let go. She kissed his lips. The kiss
threw him completely off guard. “I’ll be back soon,” she said, breaking away
from his lips. “Ignore them, no matter what they say.”
    He watched her climb into the back of the car and pull
out of the driveway.
    “They’ll be gone for a good few hours. It gives us men
time to catch up and do what needs to be done,” Jake said.
    Following behind the men, Andy couldn’t help but feel
out of place. Sara was nothing like her family. Would he feel this way if he
didn’t have feelings for Sara?
    Martin stood at the barbeque while Danny and James
were handling the table with the food. He stood by Martin and handed him the
coals.
    “So, Andy, tell us about your folks,” Martin said.
    “There’s not much to tell.”
    “Everyone has stories to tell, son.”
    Licking his lips he saw all of the men working but knew
they were probably listening to the conversation. “My parents are dead. They
had me later on in life.”
      “Sorry to hear
that. They were good though? Married?”
    He chuckled. “Yeah, they were married straight out of
high-school. My father said he couldn’t bear the thought of my mother loving
another man. He did the only thing he could do and that was to put a ring on
her finger.” Andy smiled remembering the loving warmth of his family.
    “I know that feeling all too well.” Martin tapped him
on the shoulder. “Go and get us the meat out of the fridge.”
    He left the men to grab the raw meat. A piece of paper
caught his eye on the counter.
    When Sara had said they were overprotective she hadn’t
been kidding. There on the kitchen counter was a check made out to him for an exorbitant
amount of money. He didn’t even bother picking the piece of paper up. Did Sara
have any idea what her family put