Fake It Till You Break It

Chapter 1-2

Zane Hughes stepped out from below the deck of his boat and grinned. It was a beautiful day on Cayuga Lake and he was ready for it.

He had a little under an hour before his group showed up. He was a lucky son of a b***h. He got to play for a living. He never thought he’d make his dream a reality, but he was finally doing it. And it felt damn good, too.

His best friend and assistant, Danica Thomas, strolled down the dock toward him, her dark ponytail bouncing with every step. “Are you ready for today?”

Zane grinned at her and nodded. He’d known Danica for years, but she’d only talked him into moving to the Finger Lakes a few months ago.

“I’m always ready.”

“You know there’s the booking from Amavita Estates coming today. Are you going to behave? This could be huge for us.”

Zane grinned. He knew exactly what it meant, but he also knew what Danica was not saying. If they brought in good money through a partnership with a local vineyard, he could stay through the winter.

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” Zane promised.

Danica groaned. “We’re so screwed.”

Zane laughed. “I won’t do anything wrong. I know what this means to both of us. Although I don’t have a hot boyfriend supporting me all year so I can play for the summer.”

Danica grinned, revealing a dimple in her chin. Her green eyes sparkled at the thought of the man who’d stolen her heart. Zane was happy for his best friend. She deserved happiness in her life, but he knew she was lonely when Harry traveled, which was often.

“Harry will be home tomorrow. Do you want to come over for dinner sometime this weekend?”

Zane smiled. “I’d love to, but give it a few days. You two need some time to catch up.”

Danica groaned and laughed. “All you think about is sex.”

“No, that’s not all I think about. I also think about food and money.”

Danica snorted. “And that you need more of both.”

Zane shook his head, all smiles gone. “No. I need more of all three.”

Danica rolled her eyes. “Promise me you’re not going to sleep with the woman from Amavita.”

Zane shook his head. “I can’t make that kind of a promise.”

“Zane.”

“Danica.”

“I’m serious, Zane. You can’t screw this up.”

Zane laughed, but he knew better than Danica what was at stake. If he screwed up a shot to connect with one of the top vineyards on the lake, he wouldn’t be able to afford to stay in the Finger Lakes. He’d be looking at another cross country trip, selling the boat he just bought, and scrounging another winter to save enough money to set up somewhere new next summer. If he had to leave, he wouldn’t come back. And from what he heard, the Finger Lakes weren’t the same in the winter. They were quiet. He liked the thought, but not the income.

Danica didn’t know all that, though. She knew he needed the money to pay for the adventures he ran, but he never told her how close to empty his bank account ran. She didn’t need to know.

“I promise, Danica. I’m not going to screw this up. I know we need this.”

“Yeah?” she asked, her smile growing again.

Zane nodded. “It’ll be good.”

“Good. Because I need you to stick here.”

“You have Harry.” Zane would never have moved there if Danica was on her own. That would have put too much pressure on him to stay put. She had her boyfriend, a life, family. She wouldn’t leave, even if he did.

She nodded. “I know. But I’ve missed you. We always said we would live in the same place again sometime. And now we are. You need to stay.”

Zane forced a smile, hoping she wouldn’t see through it. “We’re fine, Dan.”

“Are you sure? You’d tell me if we weren’t, right?”

Zane nodded, hating that he was lying to his best friend. Ithaca was an expensive area. Life on a lake was not cheap. He found the most affordable place that was available, thanking college students for making that possible, and settled down. The idea of leaving Ithaca, and the entire area, hurt more than Zane wanted to admit. He’d always considered himself a nomad, lost and alone, left to travel forever. When he moved to Ithaca and rented his tiny studio apartment, he never expected that it would feel so much like home.

“I knew you’d love it here,” she said. “It’s perfect for you, for us. And after this summer, we’ll be set. This partnership is going to be huge.”

“I hope so.”

She smiled. “It will be, I know it. We’re going to work our asses off to make sure it’s a success.”

Zane grinned. He could only hope her enthusiasm would make it happen.