Tamara made quite the feast, and there were more than 5 settings at the dinner table, which Lucy found odd.
"Oh, I invited some friends over for dinner," Amy said from the kitchen and checked her watch. "They should be here any minute." As if on cue, the doorbell rang, and she smiled. "I'll get it."
Dave, Tamara, Tim, and Lucy walked over to the foyer to greet the guests at the door who happened to be a young couple.
"Sam! Andy! It's good to see you guys!" Dave greeted happily and walked over to hug the woman and shake the hand of the man.
Both halves of the couple were stunning- dark hair, dark eyes, and warm smiles. The man seemed to be around the same age as Tim and the woman looked to be about as old as Lucy. The man let his partner move further inside the house like a proper gentleman and helped her shrug off her jean jacket before silently handing it to Dave to hang up. After Lucy admired how attractive the couple was, she noticed how they seem to move together almost as if they can anticipate each other's movements.
"Andy, Sam, this is my niece, Lucy, her fiancée, Tim, and their friend, Tamara. These are the Swareks. They're our neighbors," Amy introduced.
After everyone shook hands and exchanged "nice to meet yous", they all sat down to eat dinner.
The woman, Andy, sat across from Lucy and said, "I've heard so much about you from your aunt. She didn't mention you were engaged. Congratulations!"
"It was news to me, too, when she came into town a few days ago," Amy commented.
"Tim and I haven't really told anyone. It all happened so fast," Lucy replied.
"Can I see your ring?" Andy asked. Lucy stretched her arm across the table to give the other woman a good view of her engagement ring. She knew she was not supposed to call it HERS, since it was supposed to be a prop for their fake engagement, but she had grown quite attached to it. "It's beautiful. Your fiancée has great taste."
"Amy helped me pick it out," Tim chimed in.
"Well, we all know the ring doesn't matter as much as the person who gives it to you. As long as he makes you happy, that's all that matters," Dave advised wisely.
"He does," Lucy replied softly and smiled fondly at Tim. Because, he does make her happy. If Dave was right, perhaps she could attribute part of her love for the ring as a direct result of how much she loves the person who gave it to her. It would be really hard to remove the engagement ring once they left the small town and re-entered their real lives.
Andy loved seeing the sparks between Tim and Lucy, and she had to ask, "How did you two meet?"
"My first day as a cop, actually. He was assigned to be my Training Officer," Lucy answered.
"Training Officer, so you were partners?" Sam asked.
"Pretty much," Lucy replied.
"No, I was her teacher. She THOUGHT we were equals, but she had a lot to learn," Tim corrected.
"I saved your life on my first day!"
"That was LUCKY!" Tim insisted with a smirk.
"So, it sounds like it was love at first sight?" Andy asked.
"No," Lucy scoffed and placed her hand over Tim's. "I didn't really like him at first. He was grumpy and rude, but then I got to know the real him. Behind the gruff exterior, Tim is the greatest man I've ever known."
He heard in her tone that she was being genuine and felt his heart swell. No one sees him the way she does. Would it be too unnecessary and too hard to explain to Lucy afterwards if he grabbed her by the back of her head and kissed her? Because, Tim really REALLY wanted to.
"When I first met Sam, I didn't really like him either," Andy disclosed. "He's quite rough around the edges until you get to know him."
"I'm tough but fair," Sam narrowed his eyes at his wife.
"See what I'm talking about?" Andy chuckled. "He's just lucky I could see past his tough guy facade."
"It's not a facade," Sam shot back, acting defensive with a small smile playing at his lips. He looked at the couple across the table and said, "All I can say is that I'm grateful Andy was patient enough to stick around and put up with me at my worst."
Those words rang true for Tim as well. "Me, too. I don't know where I'd be without Lucy," he said honestly.
The problem with faking their romantic relationship is that it did not necessarily mean faking most of their ACTUAL relationship; she could hear in the softness of his voice that Tim was telling the truth, and to be fair, Lucy stuck with the facts of their history to sell their romantic relationship all weekend. His honesty was enough to make her stomach swoop, but then Lucy felt her nerves start humming when his thumb caressed her hand while his words repeated in her ears.
"Good thing you two never have to find out, since you'll be together forever," Tamara said and lifted her wine glass as a toast to the fake couple.
Lucy wanted to flash her roommate a death glare, but she felt a deep longing at the idea of being "together forever" with Tim. Since she could not have that with him, surely he would find someone else to share his life with. But, that would mean that he would pull away from her, because Tim withdrew from Lucy ever so slightly once his relationship with Ashley grew more serious. He would reserve bringing up topics unless Lucy really pried or would tell her about what he had already discussed with Ashley when Lucy used to be the first woman he would seek advice from and then talk about it with Ashley afterwards. It was small and barely noticeable, but Lucy noticed. And the thought of him emotionally pulling away from her again to make space for a new woman after days as her fake fiancée filled with him physically pulling her to his side made her nauseated.
"That's right! Oh, I've already told Andy all about how long it took you two to get together when I've known for so long how well suited you are for each other," Amy stage whispered to Lucy and Tim.
"Leave the kids alone, Amy! They're engaged now," Dave smiled.
"You're right," she agreed with her husband. Then, she turned to her niece. "Since you'll be in Carmel for a few more days, I'd love to show you around. We'll see Dave's bookstore, and right down the street is where Sam and Andy work. They own the town dance studio. They opened it after they retired from competing professionally, and it's quite marvelous that they work together and are married. Just like you and Tim once you tie the knot." Amy then looked to the Swareks and asked, "How's the studio going?"
"Good! We just started teaching the most adorable little ballet class of 6-8 year olds," Andy answered while beaming.
"No, YOU'RE teaching ballet. You know I can barely do a plié," Sam joked and smiled at his wife.
They snickered at each other while Andy moved to squeeze her husband's hand for just a moment before reaching for her wine glass. In the few minutes Lucy had been observing the couple, she already felt jealous of how cute they were together. As if Tim sensed it, he put his arm around her and rested it on the back of her chair to lean into her.
"Want some bread, baby?" He asked.
Lucy did not even have to say a word before Tim placed a roll on her plate with the beginning of a smile on his face. She could not have what the Swareks have, but there was something special about what she has with Tim- the telepathy that made everything easier. It was a nice reminder.
"Do you still do private lessons?" Amy questioned.
"Sure," Sam answered.
"Perfect! Tim and Lucy will be in town for a little bit, so can they come by for a few classes alone with you guys?" Amy requested.
"Of course!" Andy said happily.
"What?" Tim asked, he had been so focused on Lucy he was barely paying attention to the dinner conversation.
"Aunt Amy just signed you and your FIANCÉE up for dance classes," Tamara filled him in while punctuating the word "fiancée" just because she liked to tease them.
"I-I don't really dance," he blushed.
"You don't have to be good. It's about having fun with the woman you love. I'm all left feet, but I signed Amy and I up for dance classes with Sam and Andy when we started dating. We laughed more than we learned a good box step, but those have been some of the best memories we've made together," Dave grinned widely and looked over at his new wife.
"It was tons of fun! Please, just try it for a few lessons?" Amy pleaded.
Lucy looked up at Tim, and they both silently agreed to please Amy. "You've got some moves. We'll have fun," Lucy said sweetly, remembering how they danced together at Nyla's wedding. He nodded that he was on board.
"Fantastic! Sam and Andy, can you start tomorrow night?" Amy started making their schedule.
"Absolutely. Come by at 5, and we can do an hour of ballroom lessons," Andy agreed.
"This'll be great practice for your first dance at your wedding," Tamara smirked. Maybe if she pushed enough, there actually WOULD be a wedding. If the car was being serviced over a few days, there was a chance Aunt Amy could guilt Tim and Lucy into getting married just for her, since they seemed unable to refuse any of Amy's requests.
"That's true! You know, Andy and I choreographed a whole first dance for our wedding, but we got on the dance floor and ended up just holding each other and barely even swayed. We got a little too caught up in the moment, you know?" Sam shared.
Lucy thought she might start swooning.
"Speaking of weddings, sorry we couldn't make it yesterday. Our daughter had a fever, but she's all better now," Andy apologized.
"We understand," Amy smiled then turned to Lucy and Tim, "I can just picture the beautiful babies you'll have some day."
Tim thought his heart might beat out of his chest, because he had thought about having a baby with Lucy just that morning, and that was too far fetched of a dream to entertain out loud; yet, deep down, it sounded perfect.
"Some day," Lucy said in a small voice while avoiding Tim's gaze for fear of what emotion he might find if he looked in her eyes- the wistfulness of a future with children that they would never share.
"I'm a great baby sitter, so I can't wait to watch Tim and Lucy's kids," Tamara said. It was so much fun to torture her friends, but she promised herself she would stop if the fake couple actually TALKED to each other.
"That's good to know. Maybe we can hire you while you're in town? I like to take my wife out for dinner whenever I can," Sam asked.
Never had Lucy been so jealous of a couple before, but then Tim put his hand back on her thigh, and all of her thoughts were interrupted as she focused on the sparks from his touch. He seemed to like placing his hand there, and it was incredibly distracting in the best way.
♡ ⋆˙⟡ ♡ ˙⋆ ⟡ ♡ ⋆˙⟡ ♡˙⋆ ⟡ ♡
After the dinner guests left, Tim and Lucy helped clean up while Dave volunteered to take Kojo for his nightly walk and Amy had to turn in for the night, all of her energy had been zapped by their lovely evening.
"I cooked, so I'm not cleaning up," Tamara said and started snacking on another cookie.
"You've been so helpful today," Tim replied with a little bite to his words; he heard every single one of Tamara's little comments at dinner about babies, their wedding, how Lucy is a great dog mom to Kojo, but his favorite was when she asked Tim what was taking so long for him and Lucy to move in together. She made the dinner conversation quite interesting.
"You're welcome," Tamara wore a devilish grin.
"Ignore her. I'm sure she'll be on better behavior from now on," Lucy said warningly.
"I was asked to play along. I'm just listening," the younger woman replied simply.
Tim looked around and though he knew they were alone in the kitchen, he still spoke in a hushed tone, "Please ease up? You freaked Lucy out today."
"I didn't freak out!" Lucy insisted.
"I saw you panic at the idea of living with me. Don't worry, we're not really engaged. You don't actually have to live with me," he sounded deflated even in his own ears, but he tried to ignore it as he put the last dish in the dishwasher.
She would not characterize her reaction to Tamara's probing about moving in together as a freak out; Lucy surprised herself when at her friend's words about sharing a home with Tim, her mind instantly showed her an image of Tim's bedroom with a new colorful bedspread and new vibrant lamps on the bedside tables. What shocked her was how her brain so quickly envisioned sharing a space with him, and it was a nice vision. What Tim thought was her panicking about living with him was really how panicked she was that it seemed so EASY. "That's not...I didn't..." how could she describe her response?
He could tell she was having difficulty finding the right words, so he decided to drop the topic, since it hurt his feelings far too much, and said, "Everything's all cleaned up. You can head to the cottage, but I think I'm gonna stay in the main house and watch ESPN's recap of the game."
"Want me to join you?"
"You don't have to. We're engaged, not tied at the hip," Tim replied sharply and shuffled over to the living room.
"He's in a mood. I wonder if it's because you two are being dumb? How about you grow up and talk to him?" Tamara asked sarcastically.
"Yeah," Lucy groaned and walked over to stand at the entrance of the living room with her hands on her hips as she watched Tim purposefully ignore her while navigating to the right channel. "We should talk."
"I missed the game, Lucy, can you let me just watch the postgame coverage in peace?"
She sunk down on the couch beside him and turned to face Tim while he kept his eyes squarely on the TV. Lucy reached out and put her hand on his thigh; she thought it would feel less charged than when he touched her, but she was wrong. She ignored the warmth spreading from her fingertips and traveling up her arm and down to her stomach in favor of talking to him. "Tim," she hummed to get his attention, but when he remained stubbornly stoic, Lucy continued, "I didn't freak out about what Tamara said. I just...when we were undercover, I was pretending to be Sava and you were acting like Jake, but this...we're pretending to be ourselves? It's different and messy, and sometimes, I...I get confused between what's real and what's fake. Some of the stuff you say sounds so honest."
"Because it is," he grumbled before he added frustratedly, "You're the one who came up with this ridiculous situation in the first place! I'm just trying to follow your lead here!" His eyes snapped over to hers to see something indecipherable that gave him pause. Tim instantly felt bad, thinking he had hurt her feelings and added softly, "I'm sorry...just tell me what'll make this easier. I don't want to keep making you uncomfortable."
"You aren't! I just think we should check in with each other every night. Make sure we're okay."
He nodded and swallowed hard, then he asked with a tight voice, "Did I cross a line or something today?"
She wanted to point out he had kissed her and explained it was because he thought he heard someone in the distance, but it was not an unwelcome crossing of any boundaries beyond friendship. If she could justify it, Lucy considered bridging the small gap between them and kissing him again now. "No, you did good."
"Good," Tim replied and exhaled as he calmed down a little, but she was still touching his leg, and there was only so much he could stop thinking about how nice it was to feel her hand on him.
"Who did the Rams play today?" She asked and repositioned herself to face the TV to let him know she was planning to sit with him.
"The Bengals," he answered. His eyes kept flitting between her and the TV, so he barely followed the recap of the game, but for once, Tim found something he preferred to watch instead of a football game.
♡ ⋆˙⟡ ♡ ˙⋆ ⟡ ♡ ⋆˙⟡ ♡˙⋆ ⟡ ♡
Later, they made their way back to the cottage and got ready for bed in companionable silence. Tim left the bathroom and walked towards the couch while Lucy stepped away from him in the direction of the bed, but she stopped. "You know, we can take turns sleeping in the bed. We'll be staying here for a few more days, and that couch can't be good for your back."
"I'll be fine. You should have the bed."
"You don't need to be such a gentleman. I don't mind sharing...not like both of us in the bed at the same time, you know. Just sharing as in you get every other night or something," Lucy felt flustered at the memory of how they had woken up tangled together in the bed, and she knew her heart could not take another morning like that.
"I'm really okay. Take the bed," he promised her and settled into the couch. Tim could feel her eyes were still on him, so he said, "Night, Lucy," to end the discussion. There was no universe where he was going to get in that bed again after how he found them wrapped up in each other in the morning, besides, he is far too chivalrous to allow her to stay on the couch. The one night she stayed at his house where she had insisted on sleeping on his couch, he got in his bed and regretted that Lucy was on the other side of the door sprawled out on his couch, and that thought kept him up and made him start to wonder if it would be weird to offer to share his bed platonically. That was over a year ago. If they shared a bed now, it clearly could not be done platonically if this morning was any indication.
Part of him considered sneaking into the main house and sleeping in there where there would be plenty of distance between them during the late hours when he felt his most vulnerable. It would be so much easier to live in the spacious cottage with Lucy if not for all of his thoughts and feelings crowding the building.
Lucy looked through the thin curtain where she could see the outline of the back of the couch but could not see Tim, but she kept staring in his direction wondering what to do. With every passing minute, she felt her love for him growing, and it had absolutely overwhelmed her, threatening to swallow her whole. How could she survive all of the pretending and proximity for the next few days?