“And cut,” Natasha said. “It was perfect.”
While the camera, sound, and lighting crews moved into the living room, Lilly came over with a brush and powder and quickly did her magic to make sure Presley’s face looked as flawless as Marilyn’s.
The director called for the marker and then called out action. Presley’s breath caught when she saw Kade standing with his back to her, staring at the flickering fire. His broad shoulders filled out the suit coat to perfection. The assistant director motioned for Kade to slowly turn around. Either Kade was a natural when it came to acting in front of the camera, or he was truly love-struck. It was the only way Presley could describe the look in his eyes as he made a slow perusal over her from the top of her head down to the strappy gold stilettos encasing her feet.
It allowed Presley time to take him in all his glory, leaving her a little love-struck too. He hadn’t shaved, something Presley had requested, making him look a little on the dangerous side. Beneath the slim-fitted suit, he wore a crisp white dress shirt and a long, skinny black tie.
“You look so beautiful, Presley,” he said in a low sexy voice that shot a jolt of warm energy through her.
“You do too.” Wait…she wasn’t supposed to say that, but nobody yelled for them to start over, so she took Kade’s outstretched hand. “I missed you,” she said, totally off-script.
One corner of his mouth edged up into a lopsided grin. “It’s only been an hour since we saw each other.”
“It feels like forever.”
His blue eyes smoldered as they roamed over her face and settled on her mouth. “It does.” Then Kade wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, lowering his head to give her a long, sensual kiss that had her heart pounding so rapidly she was sure the boom mic overhead would pick it up.
“Cut,” Natasha called out.
Kade disregarded the command and let his lips linger for several more seconds. One of the camera guys gave a low whistle when Presley and Kade drew back and stared into each other’s eyes.
“That was perfect,” Natasha said with a chuckle. “Can somebody bring me a bottle of cold water. It’s getting hot in here.”
One of her assistants brought her the water, and then they prepped for the proposal. Instead of a candlelit dinner, Presley and Kade decided to slow dance to Michael Bublè singing “White Christmas.”
Kade took Presley in his arms as the music cued and pulled her close, his warm body sending an enticing tingle across her skin. He was a good dancer, and Presley imagined they were the couple in the yellow Christmas village house she loved.
Contentment flowed through her as they swayed to the soft music. She could stay in his arms forever and never get tired of it. She didn’t want this moment to end. This felt real, but the proposal coming up was all part of the show.
As Michael Bublè sang the final few lines, Kade gazed at her with a tenderness that made her believe in the magic of Christmas love. “You’re so beautiful,” he said before covering her mouth with his, kissing her so sweetly as if savoring this moment too.
The song ended, and she expected the director to stop filming. Natasha motioned for them to keep going as Kade took both of Presley’s hands in his. She was trembling but his grip was sure and solid as he said some sweet things about the first time he noticed her. This wasn’t part of the script either, but Natasha kept the cameras rolling as Kade admitted how much he’d liked her but was afraid to say anything because she was his best friend’s little sister.
Presley’s head was spinning because he seemed sincere and like he really meant every word. “I tried not to fall in love with you,” he said. “But I couldn’t help it.” He leaned down and kissed her softly. “You’re irresistible, and I love you, Presley Windsor,” he said when their lips parted. “And need to ask you a question.”
Kade dropped to one knee while Presley’s mind replayed his words. Was he in love with her, or were those precious words all part of the act?
Shaking, she covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hide her emotions. Her thoughts raced as she watched him pull out a black velvet ring box from his pocket. Presley knew her mother’s ring hadn’t come in the ring box, so either Kade’s mom had a spare one lying around, or the props master gave it to him.
“Stop,” a shrill voice said just as Kade was about to open the ring box. His face darkened like a thundercloud as the room erupted into utter chaos. Presley turned to see one of the sound guys trying to get Jillian to leave the room, but she wouldn’t budge. The curse words flying around the room would give the show an R rating as Natasha demanded to know who let Jillian in.
“Jillian,” Kade said. “That’s enough. You need to leave.”
“No, Kade,” Jillian said, holding her phone up as if she was recording this moment for her posterity. “I’m not going anywhere until your family and the rest of the world knows the truth.”
“Jillian, what are you doing?” Marilyn asked, coming into the overcrowded room with the rest of Kade’s family right behind her.
“I’m exposing Presley as a fraud and the publicity scheme she and her press agent came up with that involves Kade pretending to be her fiancé.”
A buzzing sound filled Presley’s head, and her vision blurred when she saw Jillian had another phone in her hand. Presley recognized the case and knew it was her phone.
“Kade, is that true?” his mother asked after Jillian read a text message from Brynlee that talked about their fake engagement and asked if she thought any of Kade’s family knew the truth.
Before Kade answered, Jillian read another message from Zuri, where she asked Presley if she’d found someone to be her fiancé.
“It’s not like what Jillian is saying,” Kade said. “We didn’t do this as a publicity stunt.”
“Then why did you do it?” his mother asked. Marilyn looked at Presley, disappointment reflected in her eyes. “Was this some kind of game to you?”
Every part of Presley’s body was shaking so much that she wasn’t sure how she was still standing. She licked her lips, trying to get enough moisture back in her mouth so she could talk. “No,” she choked out. “This started out as a misunderstanding.” Her voice was raw and came out barely above a whisper. “We didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
“Well, you did,” Marilyn said. “You came here, inserting yourself into our family and winning over the love of my grandchildren.” Marilyn put an arm around Stacie’s shoulders. “Making my daughters think they were gaining a sister when you never had any intention of marrying my son.”
That’s where she was wrong. Presley wanted to marry Kade, but getting married required both parties felt the same way. Kade wasn’t ready for marriage, and the sad truth was that he might never want to get married.
A sob broke through as Presley looked at each of Kade’s sisters. Each one stared at her as if she was some kind of monster. Like they were horrified they’d ever let her interact with their children.
“Mother!” Kade called out. “This is not Presley’s fault.”
“So you came up with this plan?” Jillian asked. She held out Presley’s phone with the picture of her trying on rings with her brother. “This isn’t you, Kade. This is Presley’s older brother.”
“Is that true?” Ben asked since Marilyn was now crying.
“Yes,” Kade answered, rubbing a hand across his jaw. “I can explain everything.” Then he narrowed his eyes at Jillian. “Are you live streaming this?” he asked.
“People deserve the truth,” Jillian said, not denying the accusation.
Natasha was furious all over again, threatening all kinds of lawsuits. None of it phased Jillian. She continued to record the events as if she was doing something noble and saving the world.
Presley couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to leave but had no idea what to do since Jillian still had her phone. She could hear some of the kids crying, which broke her heart even more. Slipping behind one of the camera guys, Presley left the room an
d hurried up the stairs. No one came after her except for Lilly.
“Ah, honey, don’t cry,” Lilly said, wrapping her thin arms around Presley and hugging her. Presley gave into the hug, needing someone on her side. “It’s going to be okay,” Lilly soothed.
No, it wasn’t going to be okay. Nobody could fix this—not even her big brother. Still, Presley needed Travis and Brynlee. They were the only family she had. The only family she might ever have.
“Lilly, is there any chance I can get a ride out of here?” Presley asked as she stepped back to wipe her face.
“Sure, but I’m going back to LA.”
“That’s okay, I just need to find a rental car and will have a better chance in LA.”
“Oh, then we can stop at the rental car place on the way out of town. One of the guys is staying in Big Bear for Christmas to go skiing, and he rented a car when we first got in this morning.”
“That’s perfect.” Presley didn’t take time to change out of her dress. She shoved all of her clothes into her suitcase and then grabbed the small duffle that had all her toiletries in it and followed Lilly down the stairs.
There was still a lot of angry voices coming from the living room as she and Lilly exited through the front door. Pausing at the threshold, Presley looked at the beautiful house one last time. She blinked against the burning behind her eyes as despair pooled in her stomach, and she pulled the door closed, silencing the voices and leaving her broken heart behind.
Chapter 18
Kade had only felt this much anger a few times in his life, usually at work if he was called on a scene where innocent children were hurt. He still couldn’t believe Jillian was doing this to him. To his family. To Presley.
Knowing he needed to go to her, he glanced to his right and found the place where she’d stood was empty. His gut twisted with renewed anxiety as he searched the room, looking for her. Where was she?
Jillian was still recording this entire mess. In three long strides, he reached out and snatched the phone from her.
“Excuse me!” she said, trying to grab it back.
“Give me Presley’s phone,” he said, holding Jillian’s out of reach. He wanted to turn around and hurl her phone into the fireplace but needed it as leverage.
Outrage filled Jillian’s face. “Give me my phone first.”
“You know this is still recording you, right?” he asked.
She immediately changed her demeanor, so she didn’t look like a raging lunatic. “Please return my phone,” she said, handing over Presley’s.
Kade ended the recording before handing it back to her. “Get out,” he said, barely refraining from using a few words he’d picked up at the fire department.
“I’m a guest of your mother’s,” she said, slipping her cell phone down into a hidden pocket of the gold dress she was wearing.
“Not anymore,” Stacie said, coming to stand by Kade. “Way to ruin Christmas and your relationship with this family.”
Jillian’s face paled as if she’d expected everyone to start cheering and hugging her for exposing and eliminating the threat to the family. “I only wanted to tell the truth.”
“Oh, so you figured live streaming it on social media was the way to do it?” Stacie seethed. His sister looked like she was mad enough to cause bodily harm to Jillian. “What you did was selfish and vicious.” Stacie’s voice broke as tears filled her eyes. Her hormones were yo-yo-ing all over the place. “You are a terrible person, and I would say more but my daughter is watching,” Stacie said, breaking down and crying.
“Come here, sweetie,” Greg said, putting his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Let’s get Maddie and take her downstairs.”
Jillian looked hollowed out as she looked around her. It looked like a war zone with kids crying, the production crew packing up, and the director on the phone, still yelling obscenities Kade didn’t want any of his nieces and nephews to ever repeat. “Where’s Marilyn?” Jillian asked in a small voice.
“She’s in her room,” Jamie said, trying to soothe little Blake. “Please don’t go and talk to her. You broke Mom’s heart tonight, Jillian. You broke a lot of hearts.”
Presley’s phone buzzed in his hand, reminding him that she wasn’t here. He glanced down and saw it was a text from Zuri, telling her to call back immediately. “I need to find Presley,” Kade said, trying to squeeze between Jillian and one of the sound guys.
“Kade,” Jillian said, grabbing onto his arm. “I…I’m sorry.”
Christmas was the season of giving, but Kade didn’t know if he could ever give this woman his forgiveness. Still, he knew what holding onto a grudge did to a person. It had taken years to move past what his father had done to him when he was little. He still carried a lot of baggage, but he’d let go of the anger.
“I’m going to need a lot of time, Jillian.” He pulled his arm from her grasp. “Despite how this all started, I’m in love with Presley and want to marry her.” He felt for the ring box in his pocket and was relieved it was still there. It was kind of a blur after Jillian hijacked the proposal.
Tears mixed with mascara streamed down Jillian’s face, making her look like a specter from a horror film. She didn’t try to stop Kade this time as he slipped past her and took the stairs two at a time.
“Presley,” Kade said, knocking on the closed bedroom door. He didn’t wait for her to answer and twisted the knob, swinging the door open to an empty room. “Presley,” he called again, rushing across the floor to knock on the bathroom door.
After discovering the bathroom was empty, Kade checked the closet and saw she’d cleared out her clothing. She’d left him. Not that he blamed her.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he pulled at the tie and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, not sure what to do next.
“You’re going after her, right?” Stacie said from the doorway.
Kade looked up and saw Allie and Jamie standing beside Stacie, both of them asking the same thing.
“Yes, but I’m not sure where she is or who she got a ride with.” He held up her cell. “She left her phone behind.”
“Call her brother,” all three of his sisters said in unison.
That was one phone call Kade did not look forward to, but it was all he had since he was pretty sure Presley wasn’t hiding somewhere in the house. Pulling his cell from the inside pocket of his suit coat, he tapped on the screen and pressed the call icon next to Travis’s name. “Can you give me a minute?” he asked his sisters as the call went through.
“Sure,” Jamie said.
“We want details,” Stacie added.
Allie smiled and gave him the thumbs up. “Good luck.”
“Dude, so how’s it going?” Travis asked, clearly oblivious to what was going down. “Presley texted Brynlee last night and said she needed radio silence so she could follow through with her plan.”
“Yeah, so that text wasn’t from Presley.”
The conversation went surprisingly well, considering Travis only threatened to kill Kade a few times. At least by the time Kade got to the part that he was in love with his little sister and wanted to marry her, Brynlee had received a text from an unknown phone number from Presley that said she was renting a car and would be in Oceanside in a few hours.
“So you’re really in love with my baby sister?” Travis asked.
“Yes.” Kade ran a hand through his messy hair. The stylist had put some kind of product in it, making his hair hard to smooth down. “I love her.” He let out a shaky laugh. “I know it sounds crazy, but I love her and want to marry her.”
“What is it you’re always telling me?” Travis asked, humor lacing the tone of his voice. “That love has made me stupid?”
“I was wrong,” Kade said. “You’re only stupid if you fall in love and don’t do anything about it.”
“So what are you going to do about it?” Travis asked.
“I have no idea.” He glanced at the doorway. “But I have three sisters eavesdropping
right now that will help me come up with a plan.”
Stacie poked her head in the door. “Now we’re talking,” she said, coming into the room with Jamie and Allie right behind her.
Before Kade hung up, Travis promised to text when Presley arrived at Brynlee’s parents’ house. “Hey,” Travis added. “I couldn’t have picked a better man for my sister.”
“Thanks, man,” Kade said, feeling all choked up. “I just hope she’ll want me too.”
Kade ended the call and dropped the phone onto the bed. “I think I have an idea,” he said, as a plan formed in his mind. “But I’m going to need the whole family’s help, including mom.”
Chapter 19
Christmas morning came way too early. Presley pulled the covers over her head, feeling like Scrooge and the Grinch rolled into one. “What time is it?” she said when Brynlee bounced on the bed.
“Time to get up.” Brynlee pulled at the covers and grinned. “Hurry, Santa came, and I can’t wait to see what he brought.”
Presley’s eyes felt gritty. Crying for three hours straight did that to a girl. “I need at least ten minutes with my makeup, so I don’t scare your parents.”
“You don’t look that bad.” Brynlee tipped her head to the side and squinted. “Okay, so I’ve seen you look better.”
“Ha,” Presley said, throwing a pillow at her. “I need you to be nice to me.”
“Wait right there,” Brynlee said, getting off the bed. “I need to get something from my room.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Presley said, laying back down to stare at the ceiling. Part of her wondered if everything that had happened yesterday was all just a really bad nightmare. But then she remembered watching Jillian’s video last night. It had gone viral and was trending more than parents tracking where Santa’s sleigh was.
After arriving in Oceanside, Presley had purchased a burner phone at a convenience store and called her brother for the Taylor’s address. Clearly, Travis had talked with Kade. He said Kade was worried about her and encouraged her to call him. Presley couldn’t bring herself to make the call. She’d already ruined Christmas Eve day. No need to ruin his night too.
Her Stand-In Fake Fiancé Page 15
