It Started Out as a Bluff

The whole thing had started as a joke, yet they were about to board a plane to see his family. She couldn’t believe they were doing this. Looking over at the man next to her, she wondered what was going through his mind. They hardly knew each other, and yet they were going to be pretending to be dating. They’d met through mutual friends who had suggested the whole thing as a joke at dinner one night. Both had laughingly agreed to it. As much as she wanted to get her family off her back because of her lack of boyfriends, she’d thought it was a joke. At the end of the night, he had come up to her and made a proposal. They pretended to be a couple at family events until one of them started dating for real. She wouldn't have agreed if she had known he would’ve been calling her up less than a week later. “We should figure out a story.” The words broke her out of her reverie. “Well, we can say we met through mutual friends, that’s at least true, and that we hit it off right away.” Her leg was bouncing in nervous anticipation. She couldn’t believe that she’d agreed to this. It was completely crazy; she was sure his family would see right through them. He nodded. “Dating for about…." His pause made her look over at him. She could see the wheels in his head, turning, trying to figure out the perfect time frame. “Seven months.” “What else will your family want to know?” “Allergies? Favorite food? Favorite color?” Their boarding group was being called. “...full name?” “I’m allergic to tree nuts. Favorite food would have to be any type of seafood. Favorite color would definitely be blue. What about yourself?” Deliberately ignoring his last question, she boarded the plane and found their seats. “You ignored the last question.” He smirked as he sat down next to her, “Which leads me to believe that it’s not actually Jo and that it’s something you either think is embarrassing or something you don’t like.” “And you didn’t answer any of the questions yourself, so what does that say about you?” Jo retorted. “But you’re right, I don’t like my name. Josephine is my middle name, but Jo is what I go by, so that’s all you need to know. How’d you know, anyway?” “Honestly? I was just curious as to what your last name was or, at the very least, if Jo was your full name or if it was short for something. Besides, it can’t be worse than being Connor Lucas O’Conner,” he shrugged, “but to answer the other questions, I have no allergies. My favorite food is probably a nice simple grilled cheese made with garlic bread and a nice bowl of tomato soup. And my favorite color is green.” “Oh,” her cheeks flushed darkly at the realization that she’d accidentally revealed her secret. “Well, I’m still not telling you, not even Jackson and Tiffany know, so don’t get any ideas.” Wanting to change the subject away from her, she thought of what else they’d need to know to make this believable. “Where was our first date?” “Well, now I’m even more curious about what it could be, and I’m determined to figure it out. Moving on though, our first date, how about, hiking?” For the rest of the flight, they worked out the rest of the details of their story. Connor tried prying Jo's real name out of her while they talked. “Are you sure you’re ready to spend the next week trapped with my family?” He asked, loading their luggage into the rental car. “They can be pretty wild, and sometimes they forget what boundaries are.” Jo laughed. “I’m sure they’re great. I’m actually kind of looking forward to it. My family doesn’t do the reunion thing. We get together enough with all the weddings. Most of my family is on their third wedding, at least.” “What’s the most times someone’s been married?” “Oh that's a loaded question,” she laughed. “My cousin Emma has been married five times, all to different men. My Uncle Roger has been married seven times, but it’s only been four different women.” At her answer, Jo looked towards Connor and laughed at the shocked expression on his face. “Apparently my family really believes in love or rather the idea of it.” She rolled her eyes. “Wow. I don’t think anyone in my family has ever been divorced.” It was Jo’s turn to be shocked. “I didn’t realize there were families like that anymore. That’s amazing. That’s how love should be. Working your differences out rather than bailing out whenever things get tough.” Connor nodded. “Yeah, it’s been nice to have good role models for what a good relationship is supposed to look like.”