Lucky This Isn't Real: MacBride Brothers Series St. Patrick's Day Fake Fiance Romance by Jamie Knight (digital e reader .TXT) 📕

Then she hit puberty, and the hormones must have done something to her because there were times when she could be more than a she-devil, both to my mom and me.

I guess as she got older, she might have resented her dad marrying so soon after her mom’s death or something. Maybe she thought my mom and I were trying to steal her dad away.

I started to feel really foolish for thinking we had ever been close. I was ready to leave it all behind.

“But that’s boring,” I said. “I’m ready to move on to a happier future. I can’t do anything about the past.”

She nodded like she wasn’t convinced.

“Have you been trying to keep busy?”

“As much as I can,” I said.

“Oui, I understand. But could you be a bit more specific?”

“Well, like I said, walking in the woods helps. I’ve been going to the park more and just walking because I don’t do much writing anymore. I’ve also taken a job as an administrative assistant, so I have enough money to eat and cover my rent, since I haven’t been able to write enough.”

“Oui, I quite understand,” Dr. Benoit repeated. “How is your dating life?”

“I-I don’t really have one,” I stammered.

Truth be told, I hadn’t even really thought about such things until just today when I had unexpectedly met Gavin. I had been too shocked and upset by what Kenny had done with Raquel, an image that still made me feel sick just thinking about it, to even consider a love life.

I hadn’t even touched myself in the six months that had passed. Perhaps a self-administered orgasm or two might help.

I was hardly going to mention Gavin to her, of course. It seemed a bit too crazy to be into a guy I had just met minutes before, and under such strange circumstances.

“You should consider it. I know you’ve been hurt, but what better way to reclaim yourself than to find someone who genuinely loves you? You are still young and deserve to be happy.”

“I know… but it’s not as easy as I thought it would be to move on.”

I started to think about Gavin again, now that I had basically been given permission to date him by this wise French therapist. I couldn’t help but wonder where that would lead and how it might affect me emotionally and physically.

I was afraid to trust anyone with my heart again, but Gavin seemed like such a good guy who had helped me when he hadn’t needed to. And despite my mental reluctance, my body was more than willing. A big reason I wanted to see him again was because I couldn’t wait to have sex with him.

Dr. Benoit started recommending some books to me about fierce self-love. I got out my notebook and made a list.

“Thank you,” I told her. “This has been very helpful. I’ll look more into these resources when I get home.”

“Yes, and come back and see me in two weeks, oui?” she said, opening up the calendar on her computer and pointing her mouse to the correct date.

“Um, I think I can,” I told her.

I hadn’t given much thought to whether I wanted to come to therapy long term.

Couldn’t I just listen to one of these audiobooks and be healed?

“Well, dear, why don’t you just let me know, then?” she asked, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “You have my number, and you are free to keep coming to see me until you’re on a healthier path, okay?”

“Okay,” I told her, although her implication that my current path was unhealthy stung a bit.

As I left her office and made my way back down the long hallway, hoping I wouldn’t get lost on my way back out to the parking lot, I wanted to protest that it wasn’t my fault that my ex had cheated on me with my stepsister!

But I did need to heal from it. Obviously, it was still causing me a lot of pain. And I liked Dr. Benoit enough to come back. I was just hoping I wouldn’t need to.

Chapter Six – Maggie

Later that morning, I was feeling better than I had felt in ages, and it wasn’t from any kind of French magic that had happened in my therapy session with Dr. Benoit. Or at least, it wasn’t only from that, and it probably wasn’t mostly from that.

I actually started whistling “When Irish Eyes are Smiling.” I’d asked Alexa to play some old-time Irish music, and I listened to it on the way into work.

There was a definite spring in my step, my Doc Martens, the tops hidden under the legs of my suit pants, barely touching the ground. It would have been quite fair to say that I was finally having a good day for the first time in ages, and it showed.

That was something I was sure I would be teased about by my coworkers, but I could handle it.

I truly felt better than I had in months. Clearly, meeting Gavin had worked wonders on my mental health as well.

“What are you so happy about?” Darcy asked, as I sat at my desk across from her at the office.

I suddenly felt bad for neglecting to inform Dr. Benoit about the power of friendship that had helped me out in the past six months. But not bad enough to ruin the great mood I was in.

“I think I met someone,” I nearly sang.

Her eyes widened.

“Really? When? Last Night?”

“This morning!”

“What? Before work?”

“Yeah, that’s why I was late. It was amazing. Like something out of a fairytale.”

“Sounds more like a RomCom. Where did you meet him?”

“In the waiting room, of all places.”

“Oh yeah. The therapist appointment,” Darcy said, remembering our past