Her Fill-In Fiancé by Stacy Connelly Read Free Book Online Page A

wouldn’t have put you through that,” he vowed, his handsome face showing only sincerity and honesty.
    She longed to believe him, to trust in every word he said. Which only proved she was an even bigger fool than Jake thought. “So it was only a coincidence then?” she mocked. “You showing up right when I most needed a hero?”
    After the way Todd treated her—lying, cheating, turning his back when she needed him most—Sophia had longed to believe nice guys still existed in the world. And Jake had so perfectly fit the bill.
    From the moment they met, she’d seen something in Jake. Something in the golden flecks in his eyes, the faint wrinkles at the corners, the crooked smile that showed a flash of straight, white teeth. Or maybe it had been the hint of hisaftershave, a woodsy scent that reminded her of home—of comfort and safety—and she’d been so sure Jake Cameron was a man she could trust.
    â€œI’m no hero, but I’m not a total jerk, either. It may not make any difference, but I care about you. If you don’t believe anything else, I need you to believe that.”
    If he was acting, Jake deserved an Oscar, but Sophia was no longer willing to take anything at face value. “How am I supposed to believe anything you say after the lies you told?”
    â€œI told you the truth before I left.”
    Another thing that left her as confused and uncertain as everything that had gone on before… “Why did you tell me the truth? Why not just say you had to go out of town and leave it at that? It wouldn’t be the first time a guy stopped calling.”
    â€œI didn’t want to lie to you.”
    Tossing up her hands in exasperation, Sophia had to battle to keep from yelling, well aware of her parents sleeping down the hall. “You’d been lying to me all along!”
    â€œThat was the job. Once it was over and I had the information I needed, it was personal.” His gaze skimmed over her—from the top of her tousled head to the too-thin pink T-shirt and drawstring pajama bottoms she wore to her bare feet—striking sparks that reminded Sophia of just how personal things had almost been. “And I didn’t want to lie.”
    His words wove a twisted kind of guy logic no woman could possibly comprehend, and Sophia didn’t even try to figure it out; she was far too busy trying to understand why an explanation that made no sense could still start to melt the defenses around her heart.
    Â 
    Sophia woke the next morning to the familiar sound of her cell phone. Eyes still closed, she reached toward thebedside table where she normally plugged the phone into its charger overnight. Her hand waved in thin air—no phone, no nightstand. Her eyes flew open and she remembered. Home, her parents, her brothers…Jake.
    She groaned, tempted to pull the covers over her head and pretend the whole world away. But as Theresa’s ringtone continued to play, Sophia knew she might as well face the music. Rolling over to the nightstand on the opposite side of the bed, she pulled the phone from her purse and brought it back beneath the covers with her.
    She barely managed a muffled hello before Theresa said, “You were supposed to call.”
    â€œI know, Theresa, and I’m sorry. I am. It’s just that I got home and…”
    Was Jake Cameron really here, in her childhood home, pretending to be her boyfriend? It seemed like so unreal that Sophia was afraid to say the words out loud in case it all turned out to be a dream. And, she admitted, even more afraid it wasn’t a dream…
    â€œLet me guess,” her cousin filled in when Sophia trailed off in silence, “does Jake Cameron have anything to do with leaving you speechless?”
    â€œHow did—”
    â€œDo you honestly think after the way my mother flaunted the fact that she’d met Jake before your parents that your mother wouldn’t