A brand new single dad romance about a college football player and the fake girlfriend he knows he should resist is coming next week from author Lex Martin, and I have a sneak peek for you.
Excerpt
Clearing his throat again, Ben faces me. “Feel free to punch me in the face for this, but I might have told Janelle I had a girlfriend.” He gives me a pointed look.
It takes me a few seconds to connect the dots. “Me?”
“Yes, and I’m so sorry, Sienna. I panicked. She was pressuring me to let her move in with me—”
“She wants to move in with you? Now that’s a bad idea.”
“Right? Thank you. That’s what I figured. Anyway, I was thinking about how Olly said you needed a roommate, and I meant to go with that, tell her I was moving in with you, and then I just took things too far, telling her you were my girlfriend.”
For a hot second, my mind runs with this scenario, and I can’t deny how much I like it.
That bottle to my head must’ve scrambled my brains because last thing I need is to take up with another jock.
I gulp down another long sip of my tea to buy myself a minute and convince myself this has ‘catastrophe’ written all over it.
“You’re pissed. Forget I said anything.” Ben starts to get up.
“Sit down. I’m not upset. Just surprised. Tell me what you would need me to do.”
He drops back down onto the couch and plants his elbows on his muscular thighs. “I’m not sure. I’m really fucking confused. Olly’s right—if the paternity test proves the kid is mine, I’ll need a place to stay for Lily’s sake.” He rubs the bridge of his nose. “Which… that probably takes precedence over fabricating a girlfriend, right?”
“Child security should come first, yes.” I try to hide my smile as I watch him brood. “Okay, let’s make this easy and untangle everything. You need a place to stay, at least when you have your daughter, assuming she’s yours. So stay here when you have her. We’ll clean up the spare room and make it kid-friendly. Cover the electrical outlets, make sure there aren’t any sharp corners on whatever furniture you bring over.”
He nods slowly. “That would be great. Training camp is starting soon, and that needs my whole focus. The dorms we usually stay in are being remodeled, which I guess works in my favor, because then I can spend time with Lily in the evenings. But I can find something else for the fall. I don’t want you to feel like you’re stuck with us forever.”
Would that be so bad?
Yes, Sienna. Think for once. You do not want to fall for the second-biggest player on the campus. Didn’t Cal screw you over enough for one lifetime?
That sobers me up.
I vow it to myself—I, Sienna Cruz, will keep the epically handsome and emotionally unavailable Ben Rodriguez in the friend zone.
No naked funsies. No friends with bennies or getting under him to get over my ex. Completely platonic.
I can do this. I think.
He’s not looking for anything serious anyway. With the responsibilities he has as a Division I football player with a kid and a high maintenance ex, Ben will have his hands full.
And if he’s only planning to stay here for the last month of summer, I can look for a full-time roommate in the fall. Financially, I can swing it until then.
“So we’ll be roomies. What else? You need me to bat my eyelashes at you if Janelle is around and pretend I’m into you?”
He nods slowly as the color rises in his cheeks. “I hate to ask it of you, but yeah, that would be great. Maybe a little hand-holding or some hugs. Nothing major.”
Sure. Nothing major. Just pretend to be into Ben.
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