The Practical Pretender Read online

  The Practical Pretender

  The Book Club

  Danni Roan

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  Copyright © 2019 by Danni Roan All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. FIRSTEDITIONhttps://authordanniroan.com

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  “Penny, Penny, Penny,” the voice of the bizarre purple haired woman grated on Penelope’s nerves as she tried to make her escape from the book club meeting.

  Things at the meeting had gotten too weird for Penelope Pembroke’s taste in recent weeks at her favorite reader meeting and she simply wanted to go home and curl up with a good romance book, her only escape from her hectic twenty-four/seven job.

  “Whoo hoo!” Dr. Lachele’s voice called again and Penelope knew she couldn’t get away. “I know what you’re thinking,” the bodaciously buxom, purple haired matchmaker said stepping in front of Penny. “You think this whole thing is some sort of trick don’t you?”

  Penelope raised a perfectly sculpted brow but said nothing as she crossed her arms over her breasts and waited.

  Dr. Lachele shook her head. She had proven to the entire group of book club members that what she said was true. She could send people into the stories they loved whether it was fifteenth century Scotland or a steamy dance off in the 1950s. She had already sent Beth, Barb, and several other book club members into their own happily ever afters.

  “I’d think by now you’d believe me,” the psychologist and matchmaker chided. “You saw your friend disappear before your very eyes.”

  “I don’t know what’s going on here,” Penelope said, “but until you came along we had a wonderful little group of book lovers who met to indulge their fantasies. That’s all I wanted, people who wouldn’t judge me for reading sweet, silly romance stories. It’s my only indulgence in a world of big trades, hot deals, and business meetings.”

  “Well no one’s judging you now either,” Lachele said. “I think the book club is perfect, you all love romance and get to meet every two weeks to gush about your new favorite hero or heroine. I thought that perhaps actually getting to live out your own romantic fantasies would make you happy.”

  “Is that what you told the others?” Penelope asked. “Did you promise them their perfect match if they’d go along with this farce about disappearing into a book?”

  “This isn’t a farce,” Dr. Lachele said softly reaching out and patting Penny on the sleeve. “This is real and you’ll believe me one of these days.” She smiled and her bright eyes twinkled with intellect and merriment. “Just humor me,” Dr. Lachele implored. “If you were going to live out your life in the pages of a book where and when would it be?”

  Penelope smiled, she knew it looked like a smirk but she couldn’t help it. She had one of those stony business women’s faces and even with her dark hair falling to her shoulders she knew she looked hard and competent, not pretty. “I’d dive into a western,” she admitted, “but none of this back in time stuff. I would never live without indoor plumbing or antibiotics, one sinus infection and I’d be dead.”

  Dr. Lachele tapped her lips with a glittering hot purple nail and nodded. “Alright,” she said slowly. “I’ll see what I can do just promise me you’ll show up at the next meeting,” she implored.

  Penelope shook her head, rolling her eyes as she turned for the door. Until this nonsense with the woman who had a fixation on purple and a track record of matching couples at the altar in her Matchrimony business, had gone away Penelope Pembroke would not be returning to the sweet little, used book store again. No Penelope Pembroke was too sensible, too practical, and too serious for this balderdash.

  “Penelope,” Lachele’s voice was soft and imploring. “Isn’t the reason you read those romances because deep down you believe that true love exists?”

  Practical Penny as she was called at work knew she should wash her hands of the whole deal. She had a life, a nice apartment, and a fat bank account. She’d been fine on her own before she’d found the book club, she would be fine again. It would be sad to leave behind the group, though they were growing smaller each time they met, she wouldn’t have called them friends exactly, but they were as close as Penny ever got.

  In the high stakes world of marketing for high rollers Penelope had carved out a name for herself as the go to girl for a hard sell. The job had provided her with all the security she had ever longed for but left little time for the risky business of love, or even friends. With no family to speak of and a keen sense of financial security, Penelope kept herself to herself. Still it hurt a little to walk away from the book club. She had enjoyed coming in to the old book store and chatting with others who loved books as much as she did. But what if the women next to her really could do what she said?

  Already at the book club she’d lost Beth, who loved Scottish Highlands Romance and Barbara who, even though she loved historical westerns, was all about the cowboy. Penny and Barb had spent hours discussing their perfect cowboy and what made a man a real man.

  The good doctor insisted that Barb had ended up in the 1880s Arizona with a messenger but Penelope knew drivel when she heard it.

  Penny wondered for the umpteenth time if Dr. Lachele was doing this as a publicity stunt and was paying the book club members to play along. She hoped things could get back to normal again soon. She didn’t have time for this.

  “I still think this is some cockamamie publicity stunt for your Matchrimony agency,” Penelope said. “I know you use science and psychology to match couples who meet at the altar, but a special power does seem like going too far.”

  “But your friends are happy,” Lachele said gesturing back at the room. “They are all getting what they’ve always longed for.”

  Penny tapped her lips thinking. Could it be true? Wouldn’t Beth have jumped at the chance to marry her man in a kilt? And Gemma would swan off as a mail-order bride in a heartbeat. For that matter so would Susan and Penny was sure that Taylor would marry a Duke if she could meet one, and Emma would leap into love in the 1990s without a backward glance.

  All of the book club women would probably jump at the chance to pop into their own perfect book, but the whole idea was ridiculous.

  “I’ll come back,” Penny found herself saying reluctantly. There was something so real, so sincere about Dr. Lachele that it compelled her. Besides, what could it hurt to show up one more time?

  Dr. Lachele reached into her bag and pulled out a business card. “If you make up your mind about taking a little trip sooner, you just let me know,” she said pressing the paper into Penny’s hand. “I’ll fix you right up.”

  The soft beep-beep of Penny’s cell phone in the pocket of her lavender sport coat drew her attention away from Dr. Lachele and she pulled it out pressing the button to answer.

  “Go for Pembroke,” she said hearing her secretary on the other end of the line. “Don’t worry,” Penelope snapped. “I’ll be right there.” Casting one final glance at the purple haired vixen that had turned her place of peace to mayhem Penelope opened the door and stepped outside.

  By one in the morning Penelope was exhausted. She had put out al
l of the fires at work and smoothed the feathers of what felt like a million clients. Laying her head on her desk she couldn’t help but think about Dr. Lachele and her promise of sending her into a book.

  Penny knew she was good at her job but she was tired. She was also tired of going home to an empty house every night. Over the years she hadn’t even gotten a pet because it wouldn’t be fair to leave it at home for endless hours. Rising from her chair she gathered her things and headed for the lobby. At least tonight she was so tired she wouldn’t notice how empty her apartment was.

  Over the next few weeks Penelope pushed herself to complete tasks at work and get her world in order but every night she dreamed of Book Club and the chance at a real happily ever after.

  No matter how she tried to convince herself that the whole idea of being sent into your own perfect story was crazy, but her heart wanted it to be true.

  Last week’s book club meeting had even fewer members than before, and when Gemma didn’t show up at the last meeting Penny was almost convinced there was more to what the matchmaker said than could be believed. If Dr. Lachele could do what she said, Penny might be willing to give it a chance.

  Calling herself every kind of a fool Penny made her way back to the book club to meet Dr. Lachele just one more time.

  “What do I do?” she asked nervously at the end of the meeting as she clutched her purse to her side. “I think I really do want to give this a chance. The worse that can happen is I end up lonely and stuck reading books to fill my spare time.”

  “I can see that you’re still skeptical,” Dr. Lachele said, “but if you’re sure you want this, then I’ll let you give it a whirl.”

  “When do I have to go?” Penny asked. “I’d like to get things set up for a vacation so I’ll have my job to come back to if nothing happens.”

  “Why don’t you get set for that vacation and then we’ll talk,” Dr. Lachele said kindly.

  Taking Dr. Lachele’s advice Penny put everything in order for a two week vacation at work then called the purple haired woman.

  “What do I do?” she asked. “Do I need to come and meet you or something?”

  “You can if you want to but why don’t you just go for a walk and see what happens.” Dr. Lachele said.

  Still calling herself a fool, Penny put on her nicest suit then grabbed her purse and headed for her apartment door after getting off the phone with Dr. Lachele. She didn’t know what came next, but she was ready to give it a try.

  ***

  Bright sunlight dazzled Penelope’s dark eyes as she stumbled forward bumping into something warm, solid, and definitely male.

  “Excuse me,” a deep voice drawled as strong hands grasped her arms and a shadow blocked out the sun.

  Looking up Penelope gazed into deep green eyes shaded by a stiff white Stetson hat. “I’m sorry,” she said still startled.

  A flicker of something danced behind the cowboy’s eyes and Penelope gaped as she tried to follow the rapid shift of emotion on his handsome chiseled face.

  “I know this is going to sound completely crazy,” the man’s voice washed over her in rich tones as still holding to her arms he pushed her to the darker corner of the stoop. “I need your help,” he continued his eyes brimming with the light of sincerity. “It’s a matter of life or death; my life.”

  Chapter 2

  Penelope looked up mesmerized by the man’s eyes and somehow she believed him. Every other thought seemed to fly out of her head as she stood pressed into the hollow of the wall protected from the harsh light of the sun by his body.

  “How can I help?” she asked still studying his face. The man didn’t look like any dime store cowboy, and the smell of dust, hay, and horse mingled with a subtle hint of aftershave lent credence to her assessment. This was a real life cowboy and no pretender.

  “First what’s your name?” the cowboy asked.

  “Penelope.”

  “I’m Dewis Faremore, and I dearly need your help. I need a fiancée and I need her this very minute. If not I’ll lose the only thing that ever meant anything to me.”

  Penelope’s heart twisted in her chest and her throat grew tight with emotion at the intensity of the man’s expression. Every fiber of her being believed him and she found herself nodding.

  “I, I could stand in for a bit,” she said, a tiny part of her thrilled at the idea of being taken as this man’s fiancée’. He looked like someone an author would dream up specifically for her. His deep green eyes and sandy blonde hair set off by sun bronzed skin made her whole body tingle.

  A slow smile spread across the man’s face as joy shown from his eyes. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while,” he added sagging with relief. “Just wait until my brothers meet you, and then they’ll have to give up on selling the ranch.”

  Penelope smiled shocked at how happy she felt about being able to help Dewis. How hard would it be to pretend to be his fiancée for a few hours to help him? “I’m Penelope Pembroke,” Penny said. “Just tell me what to do.”

  As Dewis took her arm gently in his steering her toward the street, Penelope glanced back over her shoulder at the door she had stepped through only moments ago. It wasn’t the one she had entered that afternoon and a cold shiver shot down her spine. It appeared that Dr. Lachele was keeping to her word.

  “Penelope, I’d like you to meet my brothers Mack, and Jack,” Dewis said a few minutes later as they stepped into a law office. Penelope was so bewildered now that she barely registered the two men who stood as she entered the room.

  “Hello,” Penny greeted trying to muster a smile. Something strange was going on here but she couldn’t wrap her head around it. She was in a strange town, in an office building she had never seen before and surrounded by tall handsome men. Was this how it worked for everyone?

  Pulling herself back together, Penny offered her hand to the two other men. Both were tall with dark hair and dark eyes. They looked nothing like Dewis.

  Both men shook Penny’s hand but neither greeted her and the harsh look in their eyes made her want to retreat back into the arms of the cowboy next to her. Mack and Jack both wore smart business suits while Dewis stood in faded jeans, a snap front western style shirt and boots.

  “So you finally found someone who’d marry you?” the man called Mack said with a twisted grin. “Well that’s not the end of it you know. Your Pa’s will said that you had to be married to take the ranch.”

  “That’s right,” Jack jumped in aggressively. “You only have two more weeks before the clause runs out, then you’ll have to sell the ranch and we’ll get our money.”

  Dewis clenched his jaw tight, the muscles rippling with control. “I know that,” he said his voice even. “But I have two more weeks before you can sell.”

  “How come we never heard of you before,” Mack asked pointing a pale finger at Penny. “Is he paying you to do this?”

  “With what?” Dewis exploded throwing his hands in the air. “The two of you have spent every dime we had and I’m barely keeping the place together.”

  Penelope laid her hand on Dewis’s arm as the pieces fell into place. It was obvious that his step-brothers, based on their looks they could only be stepbrothers, were trying to take what he had worked so hard to keep.

  Her mind working furiously to come up with a good story to cover for Dewis, Penny fell back on that tried-and-true matchmaker find.

  “Dewis and I met on one of those dating websites,” Penelope said gently, “we’ve been corresponding ever since. You see with my job I don’t have much time for dating and,” she hesitated looking at Dewis who nodded, “just like your brother I was looking for someone. I’d like to get married and start a family before I’m too old.”

  Mack and Jack looked at each other skeptically. This was not going to be the easy sell Dewis thought it would be and Penny needed to do something about it.

  “If you don’t believe me contact Matchrimony and speak to a Dr. Lachele. She’ll confirm it.” Penny
crossed her arms, hitched a hip and gave the two men the hard sell glare that had worked so well for her over the years. Every inch of her being demanded they believe her and a moment later they both nodded.

  “Well this isn’t the end of it,” Mack barked grabbing his brother Jack by the arm and storming from the room. “We want our share and we’ll get it.”

  A soft whoosh beside her made Penny turn as the door slammed shut and her heart melted at the look on Dewis’s face.

  “I can’t thank you enough,” he said a hitch in his voice. “That ranch is everything to me, it’s been in our family for nearly two hundred years.”

  Penny took a step closer to Dewis, placing her hands on his arms. “I’ll do all I can to help you keep it.” She said knowing that it was the most practical thing to do. “I only have one request. I’d like to see this ranch.”