I Pretend You're Mine

6. A Sign

Lucy turned her head as she woke and realized she was being held. She looked to see Tim beneath her and his arms encircling her. It was not the first time she had seen him sleeping; he had dozed off in the shop a few times, and though Lucy jokingly referred to him as "Sleeping Beauty", he did look objectively beautiful with his morning scruff, his face peaceful, and his hair messy. Her eyes traveled lower, and she realized that he was shirtless and only in his boxer briefs, which should have made her uncomfortable, but she liked the bare skin of her legs pressed against his. He was so warm and holding onto her so snugly that she nestled her head back onto his chest and allowed herself to revel in snuggling with him. Her eyes caught on something sparkly in the corner of her vision, and Lucy realized that she was wearing the engagement ring.

She wouldn't dare call it HER engagement ring, but Tim had picked out something absolutely perfect for her, and when he slipped it on her finger, Lucy never wanted to take it off. They would be leaving shortly, she knew, which meant that she would have to remove the shiny ring and would no longer share a cozy little cottage with him. If she only had a few more hours left to enjoy the fantasy, Lucy wanted to stay exactly where she was with her ear pressed to Tim's chest and feel every rise and fall from every breath and hear each beat of his heart mixed with the distant sound of waves while the warmth of his skin bled into hers. It was perfect.

So perfect she was pulled back to sleep.

When Tim woke up, his eyes immediately snapped down to where Lucy was draped on top of him. He lifted the covers to see how their legs had ended up tangled together, and then he followed her arms and hands until he found one palm pressed against his pec. With the gentlest touch, he traced that hand and the diamond ring on it, and he wished this could be his life- Lucy and him waking up in bed together every morning, his ring on her finger tying them together forever.

He thought about how everyone rumored that they were pregnant, and Tim could vividly imagine the sound of a baby crying just beyond the thin curtain separating the bed from the rest of the space. It was a nice dream, but Lucy only asked him to be her fake fiancée for the weekend, and their time to pretend to be in love was almost coming to an end. Since he did not get his fill of kisses and touches the night before (he never thought he could get enough of her), Tim promised himself that he would hold Lucy's hand throughout breakfast and kiss her in front of Aunt Amy before the charade would end. He needed one last kiss.

"Tim," she said, her voice groggy.

"Hey," he replied, and before he could stop himself, Tim's fingers slowly combed through her messy, wavy, locks.

"What time is it?"

"Early. I might try falling back asleep," he lied. Tim had not checked his watch, since that would mean tearing a hand away from Lucy's body, but based on where the sun was hanging in the sky outside, he could tell it was around 8AM. The rest of the wedding guests would probably be starting to go into the main house for breakfast, and a few were likely loading their cars to leave and start the long drive, but Tim did not care about anyone or anything else. He just wanted to keep Lucy in the bed with him for a little longer if he could.

"Okay," she sighed and her eyes slipped closed again. She did not have any impetus to move away from him and the way he was running his fingers through her hair that made her barely swallow back from moaning. Lucy's eyes fluttered open, and she saw him staring down at her and not trying to fall back asleep. "I thought you were gonna go back to sleep."

"Right," he replied guiltily and shut his eyes.

Lucy chuckled, and she secretly hoped he wanted to stay in bed with her as much as she wanted to remain with him, but she was unsure. Finally, she sprang up and announced, "I have to pee."