Dakota didn’t even have the chance to respond to Shawn. He just quickly explained why he was in need of her services and left the apartment. She had no choice, so it seemed. But honestly, if she had been given a choice, she would have helped him out. He had been so kind as to not take advantage of her in her most vulnerable state. She could pretend to be his girlfriend for the day. It was the least she could do to even start to repay him. Spinning on her heel, the blonde clutched the towel that was given to her and followed his footsteps into the bathroom so she could take a shower.
She had never seen such an impressive bathroom. Beautiful walls, stunning tile work, gorgeous shower and tub. She was almost afraid to take a shower because everything seemed so expensive. Glaring at her tired reflection in the mirror, Dakota sighed softly. Could she really pretend to be Shawn’s girlfriend? His parents were bound to know that something was up with her. Shawn would never settle for someone like her, someone so beneath his status. She shook her head. She would never be able to survive this lunch if she kept thinking like this. If Shawn was convinced that Dakota could fool his parents into believing that she was his girlfriend, then she’d be damned if she let him down.
Dropping the towel that she had wrapped around her lithe body, Dakota slipped into the hot spray of the shower. The water felt refreshing and rejuvenating to her tired skin. She didn’t think she had ever taken a better shower. Maybe she’d stay with Shawn in the penthouse more often. As she stepped out of the shower after turning the water off, she wrapped the towel around her body once more. She heard the door open and as she walked into the bedroom, she noticed the dress laid out on the bed before her. It was a stunning yet simple beige knee length dress that she would never have been able to afford. Turning around, Dakota smirked deviously as she watched Shawn’s eyes travel up her form. “It’s perfect. Thank you. Really.” She smiled warmly in his direction and turned her back to him and let the the towel fall to the floor. Dakota shimmied her way into the dress, turning her neck slightly to ask for help with the zipper.
The cool touch of his lips on her shoulder sent shivers up her spine. It also flooded her mind with impure thoughts of better ways that the two could spend their time together. But she would save those ideas for a later time. “Oh, it’s definitely going to take me some time to get used to that. But yes, I’m ready to go,” she said, tossing her damp hair over her shoulder. She snaked her hand down his side and found his hand, linking their fingers together. The pair turned around and she followed his lead to the car. As they sat together, her heart raced. Dakota had never met someone’s parents when she was in a relationship. She was still nervous, even though the relationship was only a pretense. “Okay. Is there anything that I should avoid mentioning or anything like that? I don’t want to mess up anything for you, Shawn. I really don’t.”
Shawn smiled as he looked over at her, sensing the nervousness she was feeling. It meant a lot that she cared so much and she hardly knew him. He lifted her hand to his lips as he stopped at a red light, kissing it softly. “You need to relax Angel. And there’s nothing taboo really. Joe and Brenda just want to see me in something serious, something secure. I’m not exactly sure what you do or what your future plans are but I’m sure whatever you say will sound great. I think the important thing is to go over our history. How about we met in our Ancient Greek History class. Sounds promising and I’m actually taking a class like that. I don’t know what courses you’re in but feel free to talk about those, flaunt your intelligence because I’m sure you are very smart and they will love that. Talk about you future goals, if you don’t really have any which is really okay, make something up that sounds nice. Just don’t say you want to travel. I said that and they almost punched me out. Even though I’m still going to. Sound good?”
He laughed as he looked over to her and she tried to take it all in. As the pulled up to the restaurant, he leaned in and kissed her slowly, a large part of him wanting to turn the car around and spend more time with her in his bed. “You’ll be fine.” He winked at her as he got out of the car, opening the door for her as she took his arm. Shawn wasn’t one who spent more than one night with a girl but he needed help and he was thanking whatever God was out there that Dakota was willing to help him. He put on his best smile as he spotted his foster parents and slid his hand down to meet Dakota’s, taking her hand and giving it a light squeeze of reassurance. Clearing his throat as they approached the table, he shook his fathers hand and kissed his mothers cheek lightly. “Joe, Brenda, I’d like you to meet Dakota, my girlfriend. He smirked at their surprise and curiosity as the asked them to sit down and relax and tell them how they met.
Shawn cleared his throat, reaching across to squeeze Dakota’s hand lightly, signaling that he would take the reigns on this one. “Well, I walked into my Ancient Greek history class on the first day and I had my head down because I was trying to look through my syllabus from my last class and I bumped into someone on the way in. I bent down to pick up my papers and I looked up and found this gorgeous girl standing in front of me, apologizing when I was the idiot who wasn’t looking. She was the first girl to make me seem like an awkward dork as I sat next to her and tried to tell her my name without stuttering. And well when I finally did it all just went up from there. I grew a pair eventually and asked her out for coffee our next class and I mean then she couldn’t resist my charm. And now 5 months later, here we are and Mom, Dad, let me tell you, I’ve never more in love.” Shawn looked in Dakota’s eyes and smiled, momentarily ignoring his parents before looking back in them, smiling widely as he took in their faces: Joe with a proud smile on his face and Brenda with her hand clutching her chest with a smile. Damn I’m good. He thought as he took it in. He had even called them Mom and Dad. He would never say things like that, mostly due to the fact that he thought everything he said was bullshit and it wasn’t even true. He knew if Ryder was here he would be laughing like crazy and he smiled to himself, eager to tell his best friend later.
He looked up and winked at Dakota as she stared at him in surprise. Leaning over he whispered in her ear, “I’m a good actor Angel.” He pulled back as their food came and his parents started to ask Dakota questions about her life and her future goals just as he had assumed they would. He squeezed her hand one last time for reassurance before sitting back and waiting for her to do her part.
