Chapter 22
Natalie
Tip #22: Stay on your toes. If your fake fiancé is wealthy, they’ll use any opportunity to spoil you, which will make your inevitable breakup awkward.
T he heavy scent of a musky perfume clouded the air as I stood in front of the ornately framed mirror, cringing at my reflection. The blue satin hugged my figure in all the right places, and the black lace overlay was gorgeous… but the price !
Samuel lounged on a vintage sofa nearby, four other dresses draped beside him. “You look perfect. Absolutely stunning and beautiful.”
I propped my hands up on my hips. “You’ve said that about every dress I’ve tried on.”
“I can’t help it if you look beautiful in everything.” Samuel rubbed his jawline, scratching his five-o’clock shadow.
I gave him a flat look, swallowing the fluttery feeling in my chest. His charm was way more dangerous now that we were close friends. I was more likely to fall for it instead of dreaming about egging his precious Porsche like I would have months ago.
I cleared my throat and clapped twice. “Alright, we need to narrow this down to one dress.”
“Why?” Samuel asked.
“Because I can only wear one dress to the gala.”
Samuel looked at the dresses next to him, the skirts cascading over the back of the sofa. “Why can’t I buy them all for you?”
“Because I have no use for five cocktail dresses.”
“Nonsense,” Samuel said. “We’ll just have to go on a lot of dressy evening dates. I’d prefer dinner dates, but if you are into the theater, I could be bribed into attending a performance.” He grinned devilishly.
I turned away from Samuel and went back to peering at my reflection. “You’re incorrigible.”
“Aren’t you going to ask what I could be bribed with?” Samuel asked with too much happiness for it to be an answer that wouldn’t embarrass me.
“No.”
“I’ll give you a hint.”
“I don’t want a hint.” I twirled, secretly enjoying the way the tea-length dress twirled around my legs.
Samuel held up three fingers, which I could see in his reflection in the mirror. “It involves you, and me, and making out?—”
“ Sam !”
The store clerk, who was hanging up a pale pink gown I had rejected a few minutes ago, laughed, reminding me we weren’t alone. “You two are just the cutest.”
Samuel put on his polite smile. “Why, thank you. I believe so too. But Nat can be so stingy with her affection.”
The lady sighed. “You have quite the story too. A Warner and a Mann? Who would have guessed?”
“I’ve been planning it for years,” Samuel said.
The clerk laughed.
I smiled thinly, reminding myself that Samuel was just putting on a show for the staff. It didn’t mean anything. Not a thing.
Samuel stood up from the vintage sofa and sauntered toward me, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He stopped when he was just behind me and leaned in to kiss my temple, making my heart skip a beat.
“Say what you will,” he started, “but why not just get them all? My mother is already planning multiple engagement parties for us anyway.”
I stiffened up. “What do you mean?”
“We have to throw one at Warner Print to celebrate with the employees, then there’ll be a party for our families, and probably one for Warner Print’s top clients.” Samuel shrugged casually, as if it was no big deal.
“Wait, wait.” My hand shot up to interrupt this insanity as I switched to whispering urgently. “I knew what you meant by multiple parties, but you can’t possibly mean they’re actually happening!”
Samuel tilted his head, feigning confusion. “Why not?”
I started to squawk indignantly but stopped myself when I noticed the clerk watching us with curiosity.
We should have gone shopping in a mall in Milwaukee or Madison instead of this small dress boutique in Fox Creek. Then we wouldn’t have had to act out our fake engagement like this. On the other hand, if we went to the mall, who knows what other stores Samuel would’ve dragged me into?
“Honey.” I turned around and hugged Samuel so I could whisper in his ear without the clerk hearing. “The more we play into this engagement shtick, the harder it’s going to be to break up.”
“Nat, you worry too much. We have plenty of time to engineer our breakup,” Samuel said, his voice low and soothing. My arms were still draped over his shoulders, so I felt it when he abruptly tensed up. “Unless... you have someone else you want to date?”
“No!” I blurted, pulling back so I could look up at his face. “I never would have proposed this if that were true.”
Samuel’s shoulders immediately relaxed. “Then loosen up and have fun.”
Unable to hold back my disgust at his breezy attitude, I once again leaned into him so I could rest my chin on his shoulder and grumble. “You’re going to give me heartburn with your cavalier attitude.”
My gaze was drawn to the boutique’s small front window and bustling Main Street beyond it just in time to see Owen and Jenna stroll past the dress store, Jenna’s bright pink winter coat drawing my eye like a neon sign. Despite the cold weather, they were all smiles and laughter.
Motivated by the core strength of all little sisters—nosiness—I pushed past Samuel and sprinted across the store. I planted myself against the glass front door and craned my neck so I had the right angle to watch my brother and Samuel’s cousin disappear down the sidewalk.
“Sam!” I shouted.
Samuel rushed over, concern etched on his face. “What’s wrong?”
“Look!” I pointed at Owen and Jenna, who had stopped to wait for the light at a street corner. My voice rose with outrage. “They’re on a second date!”
Samuel curled an arm around my shoulders—he was a lot better at this performing aspect than I was. “Didn’t you want Owen and Jenna to go on more dates?”
“Of course I did. But Owen never told me he’d asked Jenna out on a second date! I listened to him chatter about their first date for hours . How dare he arrange a second one and not tell me!” I fumed as I watched the pair cross the street.
Samuel’s lips curled in a smile that used to spell trouble for me but which—with our fake relationship—I was coming to enjoy. “Do you want to follow them?” he asked.
“Absolutely!” I spun around, pointing myself in the direction of the changing room. “Just give me a minute to get changed.”
“No time for that,” Samuel declared. “We’ll lose sight of them.” He turned around and addressed the clerk, who had been eavesdropping on our conversation. “Could you scan the tag on her dress? She’ll be wearing it out of the store.”
“Of course,” the clerk said, trying to hide her amusement as she headed to the register.
I darted to the counter, extending my arm so the clerk could scan the tag attached to the sleeve of the beautiful dress.
Samuel confidently strode to the vintage sofa, grabbing his coat with an air of authority. “Get your clothes and put on your jacket and boots.”
“On it!” I rushed into the store’s only changing room.
Hastily, I rolled up the clothes I’d arrived in before hurriedly zipping up my puffy parka and yanking on my boots. I topped off my ensemble with my pom-pom hat, then happened to glance at my reflection in the mirror. Suppressing a snort at my mismatched appearance, I burst out of the changing room to find Samuel standing by the register, putting his credit card back in his wallet as the store clerk folded up the other four dresses I’d liked and placed them in a couple of store bags.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Samuel casually took my clothes from me, tossing them into one of the bags before collecting all his purchases. “I paid for everything.”
“Everything? But I was going to buy my dress, and I just wanted one!”
“Too late now.” Samuel shrugged. “I’ve paid for them all, and we’ll just waste time returning the gowns when we could be following Jenna and Owen.”
My scowl deepened as I realized how masterfully he had manipulated the situation.
“Are you seriously playing this game with me?” I growled, though my brother’s date still held my curiosity hostage.
Samuel leaned into my personal space. “Is it working?”
“No,” I said, then paused. “Yes!”
Samuel laughed as my desire to support Owen and discover what was happening between him and Jenna ultimately won out over my sense of monetary pride. I hurried to the store’s front door, with Samuel following behind. Together, we opened the door and stepped onto the crowded sidewalk.
“There they are!” I pointed down the street where Owen and Jenna were strolling, oblivious to our presence.
Samuel followed my gaze as he stopped by his Porsche and its coveted streetside parking spot long enough to deposit the bags of dresses in the back seat. “Come on.” Samuel grabbed my hand and led me down the sidewalk toward our unsuspecting quarry.
“Has Jenna mentioned anything to you about her dates with Owen?” I asked.
Samuel shook his head. “No, she hasn’t.”
“Really?” I frowned, disappointed on behalf of my brother. “Maybe that means she didn’t have a great time.”
“Nah. It’s mostly a testament to the fact that I try to avoid discussing romantic entanglements with my family.”
“Why? The Warners are so invested in our relationship. They were supportive of our romance from the start.” We paused at a crosswalk, waiting for the sign to change.
“Trust me, their investment in our relationship is not by my choice,” Samuel said.
The crosswalk sign lit up, so he hustled me across the street without further explanation.
Samuel, tall enough to peer over the tops of the heads of other Fox Creek residents who crowded the sidewalk, kept me briefed. “Jenna and Owen just went into Cherry’s Dairy Bar.”
Still hand in hand, we speed-walked down the sidewalk.
“That’s promising, right? Getting together on a weekend, particularly in a place that’s as popular with the locals as Cherry’s is,” I said.
We stopped under the dairy bar’s red-and-white striped awning, and I pulled my hand free from Samuel’s so I could cup my hands around my eyes and squint through the window, spotting Jenna and Owen selecting a table inside.
“Looks like they’re getting settled in and plan to order something,” I said.
“You want to keep spying on them?” Samuel asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
Samuel nodded. “Very well. But how are we going to get inside without being noticed?”
I chuckled. “Leave that to me.”