Chapter 3
I sat back in the chair, the dull hum of Topher’s laptop filling the room as I waited for his program to finish.
Bored, I pulled out my phone. The moment I unlocked it, a notification popped up, and my stomach twisted into knots.
My loan payment was coming due, and the app’s warning flashed ominously in red. Great. Just what I needed.
With a sense of dread, I logged into my bank account, bracing for the worst. A negative balance glared back at me.
I bit my lip, anxiety gnawing at my insides.
I did some quick mental math. With the five hundred dollars I’d get from watching this laptop, I could barely scrape by and get my account back in the black.
But that was just a Band-Aid, not a real solution.
The looming sense of doom wasn’t going anywhere.
I sighed, trying to shake off the worry and focus on the task at hand. The program on Topher’s laptop was still running, lines of code or data, scrolling by on the screen. I had no idea what any of it meant, but it was clearly significant enough that Topher was willing to pay me to babysit it.
As I approached, I heard voices. I stood outside the door and listened.
“Mom, it’s probably nothing,” Topher was saying. “Just some headaches.”
“Topher, don’t brush this off,” replied a woman—I assume his mother—her voice laced with concern. “You’ve been working too hard, and stress can do terrible things to the body. You need to take care of yourself. What you need is a girlfriend, someone who’ll look after you.”
I leaned closer, trying to listen without getting caught.
“He does have a girlfriend,” the nurse from earlier said, her voice chipper. “I walked in on him with a gorgeous girl downstairs.”
I nearly choked. Gorgeous? Was she talking about me? Wait, does she actually think I’m his girlfriend? But before I could fully process that little bombshell, I heard Topher’s panicked response.
“Girlfriend? That’s… ha… No, she’s…” He sounded like he was about to combust on the spot.
“Oh, Topher! This is wonderful news!” His mother’s voice was practically bubbling with excitement. “I knew you’d find someone eventually. And she’s here?! Right now?!”
“Mom, she’s not—”
“Oh, don’t be shy, dear! I want to hear everything!” his mother gushed, completely steamrolling over his attempts to clarify. Great, now she’s planning our imaginary wedding.
“And she’s not just beautiful,” the nurse chimed in, because apparently, things weren’t ridiculous enough already. “The way she looked at you, Topher, anyone could see the love in her eyes.”
Love in my eyes? My face flushed with heat. This is a nightmare. Please, someone, wake me up.
“And what’s her name?”
“It’s Kathleen, but Mom, it’s really not what you think—”
“Topher, it’s as clear as day that she’s important to you,” the nurse said. “We’re all just so happy to see how much she’s brightened your mother’s spirits.”
“She’s not my…” Topher’s voice trailed off into a long pause. Then, almost like he was realizing it for the first time, I heard him say softly, “I haven’t seen you this happy in a while, Mom.”
As I strained to hear more, his mother’s voice, warm and full of joy, broke the silence. “Oh, Topher, all I’ve ever wanted is to see you happy. And if she’s the one bringing that smile to your face, then I already love her.”
My face was practically on fire at this point. I leaned in a little closer, trying to catch every detail of this increasingly bizarre conversation.
Someone cleared their throat right behind me.
I froze, dread pooling in my stomach as I slowly turned around to see Alex standing there, glaring at me.
He leaned in, whispering through gritted teeth, “Kathleen, it’s over between us. You have to go home. You can’t stay here.”
Alex’s condescending tone made my skin prickle with irritation. My mind raced, searching for a believable excuse to salvage my dignity.
“I’m not here for you,” I said, my voice a little too loud in my own ears.
“I’m… I’m here for… my new boyfriend’s mother!
” I somehow managed not to wince. Inside the hospital room, Topher was trying to figure out how to convince his mother he didn’t have a girlfriend, but out here, I was shamelessly using him and his mother to…
what? Trick my ex into thinking I’m not pitiful?
It was humiliating. And Topher would hate me even more than he already did if he knew.
But he never would. We could stay right outside this room, nice and safe from any further awkwardness.
But just as I thought I might get away with it, the nurse pulled the door open, her eyes lighting up with recognition.
“Oh, is that Kathleen out there?” came the cheerful voice of Topher’s mother from inside the room, sending my stomach straight to the floor.
Great. Things just kept getting better.
The nurse stepped into the hall, eyes landing on me with far too much enthusiasm. “Yes! That’s her! She’s here with Dr. Steele.”
I was not just drowning. Now, I was being actively dragged down by the weight of my own bad decisions.
Alex’s smile faltered, and suddenly the nurse was waving me forward like a contestant on a game show. Before I could escape, I was ushered into the hospital room.
Topher’s mother lit up the moment she saw me. “Oh, Kathleen! It’s so wonderful to finally meet you!” she said, reaching for my hand like I was the answer to all her prayers. “Topher didn’t tell me you were coming today!”
Of course he didn’t. We’d met approximately three hours ago.
“Uh, yes, it’s great to meet you too,” I said, doing my best impression of a functioning adult while internally begging the linoleum to crack open and swallow me whole.
Then I felt Topher next to me, suddenly very close.
His voice was low, smooth, and pitched so only I could hear: “Play along.”
I blinked at him. “What?”
He leaned in closer, giving me an awkward hug as he whispered in my ear. “That’s your doctor ex over there, right? He looks ready to combust. My mom thinks you’re my girlfriend. You want out of this alive? Don’t blow it. And I won’t either.”
He pulled back, and I made eye contact with Alex. I didn’t even like Topher. He was rude, smug, and entirely too good-looking for someone with that much attitude. But... Alex was watching.
And oh, he did not like what he was seeing.
Alex cleared his throat. “Wait. You’re Topher Brodie. You own half of New York.” His eyes bounced between me and Topher like he was trying to do the math and getting all the wrong answers. “You two are dating?”
Hold on. Owns half of New York? I looked again, suddenly clocking the designer shoes, the crisp shirt, the watch that probably cost more than my student loans.
Well. That explained the limo.
I caught the look on Alex’s face—stunned, jealous, and a little desperate—and, honestly? That sealed it.
I felt Topher’s hand brush against mine, and this time, I looped my arm through his.
To my surprise, he didn’t flinch. He tightened his hold just slightly, like we’d rehearsed it.
“Yes, my boyfriend,” I said, adding an extra scoop of saccharine to my voice and batting my lashes like I was auditioning for a Hallmark movie.
Topher’s posture relaxed just a hair. He gave me the tiniest nod, almost like a thank you.
I leaned into him, aiming for graceful and effortless... and accidentally jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow.
Topher flinched, then subtly tried to shift away, but that only made it worse. My hair caught on one of his jacket buttons. Fantastic.
I winced, trying to untangle myself without yanking out a chunk of hair or blowing our cover. All while smiling like nothing was wrong.
Thankfully, no one seemed to notice our accidental slapstick routine. Alex and the nurse had turned their attention to Topher’s mom, who was chatting away like this was the most heartwarming thing she’d ever seen.
Then, just when I thought things couldn’t get weirder, Topher leaned in again, his voice warm and confident. “Honey, is that my laptop?”
Honey.
My heart did a little somersault.
I looked down at the laptop I’d been babysitting all morning and nodded, trying not to look like I’d just been tased. “Uh, yeah. Thought you might need it.”
He smiled and gave my arm a squeeze that sent a jolt through my chest.
“Thanks, babe.”
Babe. My heart zoomed again. At this rate, I’d need medical attention too.
As I was trying to process what was happening, my attention was pulled to Alex as he reached the door.
He paused and turned back, his tone the confident, reassuring doctor that I knew so well.
“Mrs. Brodie, Topher, I want you to know that the surgery that Dr. Julius is planning to remove the tumor is one he’s performed many times, and I’m very confident it will be successful.
You’ll be home recovering in no time, just like we talked about. ”
Alex’s eyes flicked back to me, narrowing with a suspicious look that seemed to linger.
Topher must have sensed it, too, because he pulled me closer, tightening his grip around my shoulder in a gesture that felt both protective and possessive.
Alex’s jaw tightened ever so slightly, then he turned on his heel and left the room, the door closing behind him with a soft but decisive click.
Mrs. Brodie wasted no time. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “So, how did you two meet? I’m dying to know the story.”
Topher and I exchanged a quick, panicked glance, both of us scrambling for a story that made sense.
“At the airport,” I blurted out just as Topher said, “In a car accident.”
We quickly tried to recover.
“Actually, it was both!” My forced laughter felt strained. “We were at the airport, and, um, there was a bit of a fender bender in the drop-off zone.”
“Yeah,” Topher added, nodding. “She rear-ended my limo.”
I whipped around to face him, my eyes narrowing. “Rear-ended? More like your driver backed into me!”