Three Little Words by Susan Mallery

Mom just wants me to be happy and that I had to go out with some of the women who had applied.” His expression turned helpless. “What was I supposed to do?”
    “Grow a pair and tell them no?”
    “They’re family.”
    A simple statement she completely understood. Family made life complicated.
    “I said it was you,” he told her.
    “What?”
    “I told Dakota and Montana I was dating you.”
    She opened her mouth, then closed it. Honestly, what was she supposed to say to that?
    “Listen,” he said, taking her hands in his. “I’m desperate. I’ll do anything. Wash your car, paint your house. I’ll give you money. Please. Just for a few weeks. Long enough to get my mom off my back.”
    She wasn’t sure why she resisted. What did she care if people thought she and Ford were together? He was nice to look at and fun to be around. She supposed the problem was that she felt funny when she was close to him. Both intrigued and afraid. He was a sexual being and she...wasn’t.
    Her friends had urged her to indulge in a transitional relationship. Fake-dating Ford would certainly be that.
    “What do you think?”
    The soft question didn’t come from Ford. Isabel turned and saw Lauren approaching.
    The V-neck dress was perfect. The simple lines skimmed over her curves, making her look voluptuous. The sheen on the fabric added a glow to her pale skin.
    Isabel pulled free of Ford’s hold and walked to the veils hanging along the wall. She selected one with a simple circle of flowers and set it on Lauren’s head, then helped her up to the raised platform in front of the array of mirrors.
    Lauren stared at herself, her expression disbelieving. “I love it.”
    Ford disappeared for a second, then returned with the teen sister in tow. The girl blinked.
    “You look great,” she said, her voice filled with surprise. “I like the dress a lot.”
    “Sexy bride,” Ford added.
    Lauren flushed. “I don’t know what to say,” she admitted. “Isabel, you were right. This one is perfect.”
    “You need to try the others on, just to be sure,” Isabel told her. “You’re making a big decision.”
    “I’ll help,” the teen said, tucking her phone into her pocket. “Come on, Lauren. Show me what else you have back there.”
    They disappeared toward the dressing rooms.
    Ford turned to her. “You really are good at this. Are you sure you don’t want to buy Paper Moon and settle here?”
    “Bite your tongue.”
    “Will that get you to say yes?”
    She rolled her eyes. “You’re serious about the fake-girlfriend thing.”
    “Didn’t I make that clear?”
    She thought it was kind of sweet that a big, bad SEAL was afraid of his mother and sisters.
    “You make the rules,” he said. “Sex, no sex, I’ll make you coffee every morning, sweep up in here, you name it.”
    It always came back to sex, she thought. Felicia had told her to find a rebound guy. Her friends had agreed. She didn’t want a rebound guy—she wanted...
    Magic, she thought sadly. She wanted the giddy, excited love she saw every day in her store. Women excited about marrying the man of their dreams. She’d loved Eric and had thought theirs was a relationship of equals and shared interests. She’d respected him and enjoyed his company, but there hadn’t been magic. There certainly hadn’t been passion, but that was probably as much about him being gay as anything else. She wondered if her first clue about Eric should have been how interested he’d been in the details of their wedding.
    He took her hands in his. “Friends don’t let friends get mauled by their families.”
    She laughed because he was funny and she liked him. She should do this, she told herself. She was going to be leaving in a few months. What could it hurt?
    “I’ll do it, but only if you promise to never again throw the whole ‘I’ll love you forever’ thing in my face.”
    “Done.” He pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. “Anything else? Want a kidney?”
    “Not