Her Faux Fiancé Read Online Free PDF

the BMW, leaving a trail of dust as he drove down the long drive.
    Mon Dieu, what have I got myself into now?

Chapter 3
    Erik turned up the music and tapped against the steering wheel in time with the country beat. If he’d planned it for years, today couldn’t have turned out any better. He was on the verge of crushing his enemy. And pretending to be Analise’s fiancé meant he got to kiss and hold her whenever he wanted. Which, face it, was no hardship. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.
    He’d been infatuated with Analise from the first. She’d come to live with her grandparents following the death of her mother. Straight from Paris, the young French girl had seen the tiny town of Akureyri as the worst kind of exile. With her exoticism and beauty, she hadn’t been welcomed by the other local teenage girls. She’d also been tarred with the same brush that had painted her father as a bad lot when he’d seduced and got Gunnar’s teenage daughter pregnant. The fact that Analise was the innocent result of that bad behavior didn’t seem to matter to the town gossips.
    His sister, Karen, who had always been on the outside of the popular cliques, had latched on to Analise, and the two had quickly become best friends. Erik had been away at university at the time and only met Analise after she’d been in Manitoba for several months. He could still remember the pain in those uniquely aqua-colored eyes and the vulnerability in her smile.
    Over the summers he’d spent on his grandparents’ farm, he’d gotten to know her—her quick laugh, shy smile, and the way she’d look at him when she didn’t think he was watching. She’d been interesting to talk to, as well. Having lived in Europe, she had a different outlook than those he knew who had never been beyond the Manitoba borders. And she’d been so sweet to his family, helping out in the house when his mom or grandmother were ill, making birthday and anniversary cards for his grandparents as though they were her own. Laughing at his father’s awful jokes.
    Yeah, they’d been good times. For God’s sake, he’d been excited just to get up in the morning, knowing he’d see her that day. And morning joy was nothing on the nights he’d spent dreaming about her in his bed.
    When he’d come back to the farm for his sister’s graduation ceremonies, Analise had turned eighteen, and he’d been unable to resist her any longer. And to his immense relief, she seemed as into him as he was to her. The kisses they’d shared had lingered in his memory for years.
    He’d intended to see her grandfather and ask permission to start dating his granddaughter. After the scandal surrounding her parents’ marriage, Erik wanted to ensure their relationship was aboveboard. Unfortunately, he had to go back to Winnipeg the following day for an interview, and by the time he’d returned, everything had changed.
    But that girl was gone. The few smiles he’d seen from her today had been tinged with defiance. She was definitely tougher now. So why did he still want to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be all right? When he knew that, until he’d sorted out the past, nothing would be right.
    For now, however, they were pretending to be engaged, and he was damn sure going to enjoy it.
    He pulled into his grandparents’ drive to see his mother sitting on the porch swing, the now-empty glass of wine still in her hand. Okay, there was a tiny flaw in the day. Stopping the car, he took a deep breath and went to talk with her, hoping she wasn’t too drunk. He’d failed his sister; he couldn’t let his mother down as well. He didn’t blame his father for leaving, but it meant Erik was the only one left to pick up the pieces.
    “How’s it going, Mom?”
    She raised blurry eyes to his. “I’m sorry, Erik. I forgot about Analise’s mother. Now I’ve ruined everything.” A sob caught on a hiccup.
    Erik sat next to her on the swing, moving the empty bottle of