AN: So, Jossam is new for me... I haven't shipped het in a long time... But I can stop now...
Sam hadn't expected him to say yes, she should have expected him to say no either. He was all for getting revenge, even if that meant he had to pretend that he was her boyfriend for the next few days while they went to the states for her cousin's wedding. If there was anyone she could count on to be there for her in her time of need, it would be Josh. He may be a jokester but he seemed so serious when she explained the situation to him. She had only been lamenting about how embarrassing it would be to show up dateless when she had already told her older cousin she was in a serious relationship.
Josh had been all for it when he found out that Sam and her cousin had been in competition with each other since they were children. But as of late it all came down to the men in their lives, it seemed Karen had found some well off businessman to take care of her and make her into the perfect Stepford wife. Although Sam didn't want that for herself she could see the perks of being taken care of like that. Josh joked that if they had to he would be willing to get married and have two point five kids. Sam laughed it off.
"Are you sure you really want to do this?" Sam asked, "My family can be a bit… Intense." She grasped for a word to best describe them as they made their way from the airport, "I mean, if you want, you can always get a plane back home and I can say my mystery man and I broke up."
Josh just laughed, "Sammy, do you really think I would abandon you in the eleventh hour? Plus, I want to be your arm candy on this fancy free vacation I got to America. I haven't been here since the twins were really young. Also, Hannah was upset that you couldn't convince this cousin of yours that you were a lesbian so she could come instead." He was grinning, not taking his eyes off the road.
When they finally arrived at the house Sam huffed out a breath, she looked over at the large red brick house, "Well, let's get this over with," She glanced back at Josh, "Remember, we are head over heels and all of that jazz."
"I don't know if you know this Sammy, but I happen to be a very good actor." After saying this he gave her this look that could only be described as pure sex.
"I said love, not lust." She laughed unbuckling her belt before opening the car door. There was snow on the ground since it was mid-February in Chicago, leave it to her cousin to put them all through the inconvenience of traveling in this weather.
"Love, lust, it's all the same." Josh laughed as he came around the car, grabbing her hand before urging them up the walkway.
Later Karen had pulled her aside, "So, how much are you paying him?"
Sam was a bit offended at the question and immediately became defensive. "What do you mean? The man has more money than I could ever dream to have… Why would I be paying him?"
"You clearly have to be giving him some sort of payment if he is willing to spend the next four days pretending that he is in love with you." She narrowed her eyes at Sam as she tried to stare her down for the answer.
"I thought I was going to have to pay her to be my girlfriend, with her being so far out of my league." Josh answered before Sam could say anything, it was good because she was sure that her answer would just be to punch her cousin in the face. She was sure the bruising would go away before the wedding. When the woman eyed him skeptically, Josh pulled Sam into his side kissing her on the temple, "I don't know about you, but the flight wore me out, I am going to take a nap. Care to join me Sammy?"
Sam blushed at the way the invitation sounded, Karen would obviously assume they were going to be doing more than sleeping. It was something she hadn't thought about before but they would need to share a room, "That sounds lovely," Her blushing was not likely to help put any suspicion from Karen to rest.
When they were shut in the room Sam turned to Josh in almost panic, "She knows, there is no way we are going to convince her. This was so dumb, I knew that bitch was always going to one up me!" She shut up when she heard Josh's laughter, "Joshua Washington, what is so funny?"
"You!" He was almost doubled over in laughter, "You should see your face, you look like a crazy person. Trust me I know crazy!" He laughed again when Sam punched him lightly on the arm. "We are just going to have to be more convincing… Think Mike and Em..." He shuttered over exaggeratedly, "We are going to have to be sickeningly in love. But I feel we have more class than them, we can pull it off without inducing vomiting."
Sam was unsure, "How are we going to do that? How are we going to pretend like we are having sex when the most we have done is playful flirting. And you only do that to get me flustered…" She couldn't think of a way to do this without getting herself in too deep, she knew that she held something more than familial feelings for the oldest Washington sibling, but there was no way they were going to get through this without him knowing it too. It helped that he only saw her as Hannah's little tag along, another little sister to tease, not as an actual woman like she had hoped he would in her early years of high school.
"Well, practice makes perfect…" He wiggled his eyebrows at her, "I say when we are in here we practice being all lovey dovey…" He moved closer to her, pulling her into an embrace. "You know," His voice was the epitome of seriousness. "You have grown up a lot, you aren't the knobby kneed little tom boy that my sisters kept bringing home. I don't know why I never noticed how hot you have gotten…"
Sam could feel her heart start to race, she had longed for this moment, "O-oh," It came out as barely a whisper, she could feel her face heat up. She was sure he was going to lean in and kiss her.
"This would be the time where you comment about how hot I am and how you dream of my body…" He was grinning now, their faces mere inches apart.
She scoffed, pushing him back, "Josh, you are such a jerk." She huffed moving to her suit case transferring her clothes to the dresser as he sat back laughing.
"What, I was just Joshing you." He laughed harder at his own joke. "But really, it would help if you would relax, your cousin only caught on because you look like you are hiding something. We can practice at dinner, I'm sure a few glasses of wine will loosen you up, you were always a bit of a lightweight."
"I'm the lightweight?" She asked turning to him, "You're the one that passes out every time. I can at least remember what I have done the night before. Anyway, it doesn't matter, the drinking age here is twenty-one so I can't drink."
"Well, it seems I'll be drinking alone then." He smiled, "Now, I am really going to take that nap, wake me up when it's time to eat." With that he toes off his shoes and took off his shirt before laying down onto of the covers.
"Well, I'll just tell everyone you are a bit worn out." She winked before leaving him alone in the room.
"Samantha!" She heard her mom's voice when she got to the bottom of the stairs. "I hear that you are hear with a man…" She was giving her the 'we need to talk' look.
"Oh, mom, did I not tell you that I was bringing someone? I had thought it was obvious… Since we have been together for so long…" Sam said as she directed her mother into the kitchen so they could speak privately.
"Samantha, you tell me now when you and Joshua Washington started this affair. Because last I knew you weren't with anyone, as I recall you told me on our last phone call that you were happy to be single and I needed to back off. And you even laughed when I suggested that you may have something going on with the same Washington boy you are sharing a room with… So, Samantha, I need answers." She had never seen her mother this upset, and that included the time she broke her favorite vase playing baseball in the house with Mike and Matt.
"Mom, you know that if we were really in a relationship you would be the first person to hear about it. I'm sure you would have some internal alarm that goes off telling you I am in a relationship. He only agreed to come with me because I told him how competitive Karen and I are in these sorts of things… He found it flattering that his coming with would count as a one up." Sam spoke in hushed tones, she didn't want anyone to overhear her admission.
He mom looked at her for a long time, Sam was almost afraid that she wouldn't agree to play along, "Well, you never know, maybe this could lead to something real… You are going to be spending a lot of time alone together. I do have to say, if you do happen to get intimate… Be careful, I don't want you beating your cousin to motherhood before you're married."
Sam's face heated at the thought, "Mom! We are not going to be doing anything other than sleeping beside each other. To think you would even suggest!"
"Suggest what?" Josh's voice once again caused me to startle. "Hey, I didn't know you were going to be her, Sammy didn't tell me." He gave her mother a charming smile.
"Samantha here was just offended that I would be worried about her practicing safe sex. I wouldn't want her father to have to have a sit down with you… Shot gun weddings are a bit old but I just want you to know, if you touch my daughter… You better be smart about it." With that she left them alone.
"Well it seems your mother approves. She even gave me the green light… Clearly we were meant to be." He was grinning at her.
She let out a disgusted noise, "Weren't you taking a nap?"
"I was, but the bed was too big and lonesome without you…" He glanced over her shoulder and gave her a strange look, as if he were trying to tell her something.
"Sure it was, you're just making-" Sam was cut off when Josh pulled her suddenly to his chest, she didn't know what to say but then she wouldn't be able to say much as his lips came down to meet hers. At first she was frozen, not sure what was happening but then she sighed into the kiss, bringing her arms up around his neck playing with the hair at the nape. Her eyes had drifted closed and she parted her lips at the brush of his tongue. Her eyes snapped back open when someone cleared their throat behind her. She stiffened and pulled back before looking at Josh, he just grinned down at her not letting her go.
"I thought you two were going to take a nap." Karen's voice was icy, "Sam, you know I don't like pda, why would you think it is okay to do in my kitchen."
"Karen," She sighed, turning in Josh's arms to face her, she could feel his chest rumbling with silent laughter pressed against her back. "I'm sorry… We just…"
"We just got caught up in the moment, Sammy here thought it would be rude to ditch out on her favorite cousin to fool around with me under the guise of a nap." She could hear the laughter barely being held back in his voice. "I'm sure you know how men can be, I just couldn't let her get away without a little something to hold me over until after dinner."
Sam got a sick satisfaction from the blush that spread across her cousin's cheeks. "Well, we are leaving in the next half hour… Try to stay out of each other's pants long enough to get ready, it is a fine dining establishment. I don't want poor 'Sammy' to embarrass herself by looking so disheveled."
Sam was sure this was going to be a long weekend if her cousin's attitude was anything to judge it by, "Don't worry, I will make sure that I don't embarrass you. I do have to say though, maybe if you and what's his name fooled around a bit before dinner you wouldn't be so uptight." Sam gave herself a point for the way her elder cousin stomped out of the room, her face red with anger. She turned back to Josh, "Do you want to let go now? I need to go get ready…" He dropped his arms like he had been burned and she left him in the kitchen with an odd look on his face.