by Eliza Boyd
“Thanks.” Evan went to hang up, but Jude’s voice rang out. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Should I tell Roger that you’re bringing her to the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, then?”
“Oh, no, that’s okay.” Just when his heart had calmed down, it started racing again. He needed a good reason why he couldn’t bring his fake fiancée to this wedding. “She, uh, hasn’t met them yet and, like you said, no thunder stealing and all that.”
“I’m sure they won’t mind. You don’t have to say anything about the engagement, but we’d all be happy to finally see you settle down again after—”
“Okay!” he spit out, not wanting to go through the whole song and dance of his past. “Okay. I’ll ask her today if she wants to go. It’s so last minute, so no promises.”
“Sounds good,” his friend said, and then Evan ended the call so he couldn’t lie any more.
Well, the last part wasn’t a lie. He’d ask Nicole if she wanted to go to this wedding, even if it meant keeping their charade up. If nothing else, it was a chance to see her again. And he had to admit that the thought of seeing her again made his heart skip a beat.
Even if it that was the last thing he had time for.
He left the laundry room and checked on his daughter. Hadley was putting her syrupy plate in the sink.
“Thanks, little lady,” he told her. “Wanna get your backpack and your coat? We have to leave in two minutes.”
She nodded and ran upstairs to get her stuff.
He was right behind her, making a beeline for his laundry basket. That ring was burning a hole in his pocket, and he’d need it for what he had to do next.
8
Nicole had five more hours of work to go. But at least that included her half hour lunch break in ten minutes. With her car back, she’d been able to swing over to the grocery store that morning to get food. Her dad would be happy that they didn’t have to have another microwaved dinner of soggy vegetables and those stale tamales she’d found in a long-lost corner of the freezer.
She was also glad to have a sandwich with more than just condiments on it.
As she finished counting cash for a customer, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Normally, employees weren’t allowed to have their phones on them during work hours, but with her dad’s condition, she was an exception. He rarely called, so her pulse spiked as she wondered if her dad was in some kind of trouble. This customer couldn’t leave fast enough.
“Thanks,” he said, tucking his cash into his coat pocket and turning around.
Nicole spun away too, letting Jane, the woman working at the window next to her, know that she had to take a call. Then she put her “window closed” sign up, took her phone out of her pocket, and showed her boss. He nodded to let her know it was all right.
In the breakroom, she checked her phone, her fingers shaking as she worried about her father. But she found a single text message—one decidedly not from her dad.
Evan: Which bank do you work at?
With the adrenaline fading, she didn’t have the strength to question why he needed that information. Or maybe she wanted him to know. Either way, she texted back, her thumbs missing buttons every few presses. Thank goodness for autocorrect.
Nicole: Midtown Financial on Welton.
Evan: Okay. I’ll be there in five minutes. We have to talk.
Nicole gulped. What could they have to talk about? Had he found something out about her that made him worry about Hadley’s likelihood of getting into that school? Or worse—had she not gotten in and now he wanted his money back because his plan hadn’t worked?
She was about to worry herself into a tizzy. She took a deep breath to calm down. He’d be there soon and they’d talk about whatever it was.
Then that fact dawned on her: He’d be there soon. She’d see him again. At that, the panic turned into hope. Little flurries of excitement swooped around in her belly, but she tamped those down. “We need to talk” was rarely, if ever, followed by something good.
She knew that firsthand.
This was not the time to dwell on the past though. What she’d lost when she’d left Phoenix to take care of her father meant nothing anymore. She’d had years to get over it, though it still stung whenever she let the thoughts in. They didn’t normally take over, but after meeting Evan, she’d been forced to remember. The fear of history repeating itself was enough to keep her from making that mistake again.
With Evan on his way to “talk” though, she went to her boss’s office to ask a favor.
“Mr. Brown? Would it be okay if I take my lunch a little early today?” she asked, peeking her head in through the cracked door.
Behind his desk, he checked his watch. “Sure. Is everything okay with your dad? You’ll be back for the rest of your shift?”
“Yeah,” she replied, nodding. “Thanks for asking. Everything’s fine. Just…something else came up and I need to go to lunch in five minutes.”
“No problem. Just be back five minutes early, then.”
“I will.” If she wanted to keep her job, of course she would.
She backed away from the doorframe, and when she turned toward the teller windows, a familiar face stood out among the sea of people in line.
A familiar face that made her heart flutter.
Only for a second though. Then she pushed it down like she had with the excitement. This probably wasn’t good news.
She straightened her spine, preparing herself for something bad, as she strode over to Evan. “Hey. Everything okay?”
He scrubbed a hand over the stubble around his mouth. “I’m not sure.”
“Is Hadley all right? Did she not get into the school?”
His hand fell as he said, “Oh, I don’t know yet. We haven’t heard.”
Nicole narrowed her eyes at him, a crease forming between them. “Then what’s going on?”
Evan glanced around the confines of the bank. “Do you have a lunch break? We should go somewhere else for this conversation.”
“I’m on it.” She peeked at the clock on the wall. “I have twenty-nine minutes left.”
Without giving her a hint as to what the conversation was going to be about, he offered her his arm and said, “Then we better get to it.”
A smile she couldn’t help crept across her mouth as she threaded her arm through his. “That diner is right down the street, you know. We could get more vegan burgers and talk there.”
“You know, I’ve always said that you’re the brains of this operation.” He chuckled as he opened the door for her.
The frigid winter air wasn’t enough to keep her from laughing too. She hadn’t grabbed her coat though, so she stuffed her hands under her arms as they rushed over to his car. But before she opened her door, he slid his jacket around her shoulders. The gesture touched her heart in ways she shouldn’t have allowed it to, but the damage was done. It was another thing to add to the list of reasons why Evan Charleston was a great guy. Another thing to protect her heart from.
This relationship was fake. Nothing more.
As she gratefully tucked it around herself and soaked up his warmth, he pulled her door open. Thanking him, she got in and tried her best not to get her hopes up. If Hadley was okay, this conversation couldn’t be that bad, right?
Unless he wanted the money back.
She really couldn’t blame him for that. He’d given her so much, but she’d spent the previous night earmarking it for all kinds of things. Now that she had enough money to up the number of her father’s physical therapy days, she wanted to go for it. It’d help her father get stronger so he wouldn’t need her help so much. If he were feeling more independent, he’d probably have a happier life. That was Nicole’s main goal: keeping her dad happy. After everything he’d done for her when her mother had left them, she felt like she owed him. He didn’t see it that way, but she sure did.
Evan navigated them to the diner, and the moment they were at a table, he ordered two vegan burgers with t
he works—no hesitation at all.
Nicole beamed a smile at him. “I wouldn’t have steered you wrong, right?”
He grinned back. “Of course not,” he said before the grin fell away. “But I think I might have steered us wrong.”
Oh no. Was he trying to break up with her? Their relationship hadn’t been real. He didn’t need to do that. He was the one who had seemed so eager to keep it going. Fixing her car, giving her way too much money… Had she done something wrong?
“What do you mean?” she managed to say over the thoughts swirling in her head.
“I mean…” He trailed off, flicking the corner of his napkin. “My friend called me this morning. His daughter goes to Pemhall prep, and Headmaster Jamison mentioned meeting Hadley’s mom to him.”
Okay. That didn’t seem like a great thing, but at least it wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it’d be.
She rested her back against the chair, a small dose of relief calming her for a moment. “So you’re worried they might find out you lied?”
“Well, not exactly…” He quit flicking the napkin and stared her right in the eyes.
“Then…what are you worried about?” she asked, lifting her hands in the air and then letting them fall to her lap.
Evan filled his chest with air before saying in a rush, “I told Jude that I let her think Hadley’s mom came with me to the meeting, but I didn’t tell him the truth about who you are.”
Her brow furrowed as she leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. “So you told your friend part of the truth but then…what? What did you say about me?”
The left side of his bottom lip pulled down as he slowly spoke. “I kinda told him we’re engaged.”
Before she could even process that, he rushed on.
“And my other friends are getting married this weekend, so he thinks I should bring you to the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, but I told him that it was really last minute, so I couldn’t make any promises that you’d be up for it. Honestly, if you don’t want to, that’s fine. This is my mess, and I can clean it up. But I’ll give you double what I gave you last time if you want to go with me.” He paused when her eyes flared to the size of baseballs. “It’ll be more time and work than before. But who knows.” Shrugging, he said, “It could be fun.”
The waitress chose that moment to set their burgers down. The plates clattered against the tabletop, and when she asked if they needed anything else with their meals, neither of them said a word. All Nicole could do was stare at the man in front of her.
Her still-fake-fiancé.
Who wanted her to go to a wedding.
With him.
As his fake fiancée.
“That means we’re engaged again?” she asked in a low tone.
The waitress popped a hand on her hip. “Honey, if he didn’t ask, you’re not engaged.”
Nicole eyed the woman standing at the end of their table, and a slow smile curved her mouth. “You heard the lady,” she told Evan, humor dancing in her eyes. “If you haven’t asked me, we’re not engaged.”
He blinked at her several times. “You’re serious?”
She cocked her head to the side. “You want a date to that wedding or not?” Her face was starting to hurt from holding her laughter back.
He narrowed his eyes at her, but she could see the humor dancing in his too. Leaning back in the booth, he reached into his pocket, and when his hand was visible again, that ring she’d worn before sparkled in the matte lights of the diner.
She couldn’t help it. Her breath caught in her chest. He’d been prepared for this. He’d thought it through, and even though this was fake, she was happy he’d asked her again. He could have gone to anyone with the kind of money he had. But there he was, scooting out of the booth, the ring in his hand.
As Nicole turned in her seat to face the opening of the booth, the waitress backed up, giving them space. She didn’t leave though. She watched on as Evan stood in front of Nicole and held the ring out to her.
“Nicole, will you mar—”
“Ahem!” The waitress pointedly glared at Evan and then at the tile.
He did a double take at her. “You want me to kneel? On this floor?” He looked at Nicole and said, “My shoes are sticking to it. It’ll ruin my pants.”
Nicole smugly shrugged and spun back toward the table. “Suit yourself. Telling your friends the truth might be harder than buying a new pair to replace those.” She strained to keep her lips from tilting up.
Evan sighed, but he reluctantly bent to one knee. “This is only because I want to eat that burger now instead of later,” he chuckled. But then he got serious, taking Nicole’s hand in his and holding the ring in front of her finger. “Nicole, be my fiancée so I can continue lying to my friends. Please.”
All of the laughter she’d been holding back left her in one fell swoop. He hadn’t asked her properly the first time, so lying about it then had been easier. This? This felt much heavier. Much harder. Much more real.
Even though his proposal had been ridiculous, he’d almost said the real words before the waitress had interrupted him. It was a good thing she had. Otherwise, Nicole might have actually cried. This wasn’t what she’d envisioned for her life, and she had no idea how long they’d have to keep the charade up. But if it gave her something else to focus on besides her father and her lack of a real life, she figured she should say yes.
Plus, it didn’t hurt that Evan was adorable on bended knee. Honestly, it was the cutest thing she’d ever seen. No one in their right mind could say no to that face on that sticky diner floor.
But she wouldn’t let him off that easily. She swayed her head back and forth like she was weighing the pros and cons. Finally, after moments of that, she said, “Yeah, sure. I guess.” Then she winked and helped him slide the ring on her finger.
She used humor as a mask to hide how much she wished this could end up being real.
Nicole hadn’t noticed the lunch crowd in the diner before, but when everyone in the restaurant started clapping, she realized just how many people had witnessed their fake engagement. This was suddenly more than about just the two of them trying to privately get what they wanted from life. This was turning into a spectacle. And with the way Evan frequently made her feel, it had the power to shatter her the same way she’d been shattered before. She’d do anything to keep that from happening again.
Even if it meant giving up the man she was starting to fall for.
9
When Evan picked Nicole up for the rehearsal dinner, he hadn’t been expecting her to have on the clothes he’d gotten her for the school meeting. He’d thought she’d wear something from her own closet. But he guessed he hadn’t explained that his friends weren’t billionaires who expected her to look perfect. He should have said something—even though he thought she looked beautiful, he knew it wasn’t her style.
In the end, he was just glad he had an excuse to see her again.
He helped her up into his Jeep before going back around to the driver’s side. Behind the wheel again, he navigated them to Roger and Melody’s house, which was on the outskirts of Denver, not terribly far from Nicole’s house.
“You really didn’t have to hire a nurse to watch my dad tonight,” she told him as he made a left turn out of her neighborhood.
He gave her a playful side-eyed glance. “So should I cancel her for tomorrow too?”
“Evan!” she shouted, her mouth fighting not to curve upward. “Seriously, that’s too much.”
“You’re doing me a favor, remember? I have no idea how late we’ll be out, and I need you focused. If you’re worried about your dad, you might forget what my favorite kind of pasta sauce is and then they’ll know we’re faking this.” He chuckled, but the humor in the cab of his SUV dimmed.
“How could I ever forget how much you love mushroom marinara?” she answered, though it lacked the usual hilarity found in her sarcastic responses.
Part of him wondered if
she’d really never forget. If this—what they were doing—would somehow stay with her for a long time to come. It was selfish for him to hope she’d remember him after this was over, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
Probably because he’d never in a million years forget this.
Or her.
The rest of the drive passed quietly, and when they pulled up in front of Roger and Melody’s house, he held a finger up so she’d stay in the car. He walked around the front, psyching himself into doing what he had to do inside that house. He hated lying to his friends. But if the school found out that he’d deceived them, Hadley would never get in. As soon as Hadley was accepted, they could end this. It was as simple as that.
Well, as simple as it could be in a house full of people he knew. People he’d have to lie to. People he’d have to accept sympathy from during the inevitable breakup.
Ugh. This was going to be tougher than he’d thought.
He helped her down from the Jeep and offered her his arm on the walk up to the porch. She accepted it, her warm smile shining bright. Was it fake? Perhaps she was psyching herself into doing this too. Playing the part and taking her role seriously. He almost couldn’t tell. He knew what he wanted the answer to be, but that didn’t matter in that moment. For the time being, he’d accept what she was willing to offer as they pretended on with this charade in front of his friends.
“Ah, you made it!” Melody greeted them when she opened the door. As she hugged Evan tightly, she squealed, “And you brought your fiancée! Jude told us you’re engaged only yesterday! Why didn’t you say anything, silly goose?” She leaned back, giving him a look that said: Seriously, we’re your friends. How could you have held back on us after all you’ve been through?
He wasn’t prepared to deal with that. He’d had to help Hadley with homework and make sure she was settled in with his mom before he’d left the house. Plus, he kept his past buried so deep so Hadley didn’t get hurt over it too. Now wasn’t the time, either.
“We didn’t want to steal your thunder,” Evan said, repeating Jude’s perfectly reasonable excuse for why he’d hid this perfectly unreasonable lie.
