Chapter 10 #2
“This is a point on which we’ll have to agree to disagree, Molly-girl.
” His eyes twinkle as he leans forward, linking his fingers on the tabletop.
My stomach does a little shimmy in response, then drops at his next words.
“But we should probably agree on what happens next with our little … situationship.”
Ah, yes. The great woolly mammoth in the room.
“How did your conversation with Chase go?” he asks.
“I … didn’t have it.” I make a face. “I avoided him, going to a coffee shop and then ended up at Wolf’s Bar.”
“Ah. That explains it.”
“Explains what?”
Collin smirks. “Your brother texted me last night. Implied I’m holding you hostage. Requested I return you at some point today.”
“I’m not a hostage.” I frown. “Or a library book to be returned.”
Once again, Collin laughs, and I like that I have the ability to make him do so. “I tried to tell him.”
“How did it go with your family?” I ask.
Collin rubs the back of his neck. “I avoided mine too.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “Well, at least we’re on the same page.”
“My dad knows, though.”
This makes my stomach drop. Tank Graham is intimidating.
Not in the usual way where someone makes you feel small or afraid, but in the way where I crave his approval.
I may not have spent much time with him, but it’s clear how much he adores his family and how much they, in turn, love and respect him. I don’t want Tank to think badly of me.
Molly, your daddy issues are showing.
I clear my throat, which suddenly feels drought-dry. “How did he know?”
“I’m sure everyone in my family has questions or suspicions since I’d been with them moments before you absconded with me at the festival.”
“Absconded?”
“Do you have a better word?” Collin smirks and doesn’t give me time to answer. “Didn’t think so. Anyway. Tank called me on it like he’s been calling me on everything I’ve ever tried to get away with. Maybe we should sit them all down together. When were y’all planning to head back to Austin?”
“Tomorrow.”
“When are you flying home? And when will you come back to start work?”
I smooth the napkin over my lap until it’s perfectly flat. “I’m not going back to Kansas.”
Collin’s brow furrows. “Why not? What about all your stuff? Don’t you have a car you’ll need to drive down?”
All very reasonable, practical questions. My answer, however—which is that I’m scared that if I go home, I won’t be able to leave—would not sound reasonable or practical. It screams unhealthy relationship. And it makes me feel childish.
Like, what adult woman can’t just stand up to her father?
Me. At least, not face-to-face. Not yet. But I’m hoping this move is the start to my emotional emancipation.
Collin is still looking at me, patiently waiting for me to answer his questions.
I know I shared a little about my family last night with him, but a liquor-fueled admission is different than a bright-morning confession about my issues with my dad.
So, I change the subject instead. “Were you bothered when Chase started dating Harper? I’m just wondering how everyone will react when we talk to them. I mean, I know it’s different since we’re not really dating,” I add quickly in a lower voice.
Am I imagining it, or does Collin deflate a little? He clears his throat and stretches a little in the seat as though the booth is suddenly too small.
“Right.” He runs a hand over his trimmed beard before answering.
“I wasn’t upset, but then, we all knew Chase was simping for Harper for years before he admitted it. By that time, he was already like our bonus brother. We would have been more upset if he hadn’t done something about it.”
My heart seemed to seize up at the casual use of the words bonus brother.
The Grahams folded my brother into their family years ago.
I don’t think he and I have had a phone call since where their names didn’t come up.
They were like this legendary family to me—and the feeling didn’t subside after I met them at Chase’s wedding.
They’re all so nice. Not to mention so attractive, with the kind of charisma that makes every head in the room turn on a swivel.
And the Grahams threw my brother right into their ranks with good-natured teasing—which sometimes looks like mild physical violence—and a kind of unconditional love and support that almost makes my mouth water.
Even now, sitting across from Collin in this diner booth, I can feel the intense desire to belong. To be invited into the circle.
Which is not the same as forcing my way in by fake-dating Collin. I’m not someone they’ve included so much as an intruder who broke in.
Thinking about all this makes me feel extra guilty about the whole situation. Like I’m not just using Collin for my job but to plug some kind of hole in my leaky boat.
He’s just opening his mouth to say something when out of nowhere, a dark-haired man in a suit appears beside the booth, grinning as he looks between us.
“Good morning.” The man effortlessly hijacks our conversation as he removes his suit jacket, tossing it over the booth before squeezing in next to Collin. “Thayden Walker. I’m the Graham family lawyer. You must be Molly. Didn’t we meet at Chase and Harper’s wedding?”
Thayden looks to be in his mid-to-late thirties with a dark beard to match his hair and a smile with charm that could rival Collin’s. I shake his hand, amused by the way Collin is glaring at him.
“Probably? I’m not sure.”
“Go ahead,” Collin grumbles. “Interrupt our breakfast.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Thayden says. “This is what happens when you stop returning my calls. I make house calls.”
“This is a diner not a house,” Collin points out.
“Even better. Because this comes with food.”
Nan arrives with our orders at that very moment, and Thayden must have called ahead because she has a plate for him too.
I had not even a hint at what the Howdy Sunshine breakfast Collin ordered was, but it looks amazing.
My stomach growls at the sight of the scrambled eggs and French toast dusted with powdered sugar.
“Big Mo said to tell you hi, but he’s slammed at the moment. I’ll be right back with your coffee,” she tells Thayden. “Anyone need anything else?”
“A new lawyer,” Collin grumbles.
I bite back a laugh and pick up my fork, suddenly starving and more than a little relieved at Thayden’s interruption.
“This looks perfect, Nan,” Thayden says. “Thank you. Just put all this on my tab.”
“Does that make this a working visit?” Collin asks, scooting a little farther into the booth. Both men hardly fit, but Thayden doesn’t seem nearly as bothered by the close quarters as Collin. In fact, he inches even closer to Collin, who’s now pressed up against the wall.
I’m enjoying watching this play out while wondering exactly how many different people have been adopted into the Graham family. Thayden seems to have a sibling or close friend vibe going on.
I’d never peg him as Collin’s lawyer, that’s for sure.
“Considering how much work we need to do and the fact that you won’t answer a text message, yes. We have business that can’t wait.”
“Maybe we could do this without Molly present? No offense, Molly.”
Weirdly, I am a little bothered. I don’t like feeling left out, even if Collin’s legal business doesn’t concern me. I stab my eggs vindictively.
You’re not a real girlfriend, I remind myself.
I wonder how long it will take for me to fully get the memo. Or for me to quell the growing desire for that to be true.
“On the contrary,” Thayden says. “Molly is a key part of this discussion.”
“I am?” I say, just as Collin says, “She is?”
Thayden’s grin is Cheshire Cat-like. “Eat up, buttercups. Then we can talk business.”
Even without jalapenos—which Collin and Thayden both insisted are necessary—this breakfast is amazing.
By the time I’ve found the iron will to keep me from running my tongue over the plate, the headache I woke up with is gone.
I’m not sure the meal would help if I had an actual hangover instead of a mild one, but I have to think … maybe.
Collin seems very smug about it, but all pleasantness disappears once Nan takes our plates and Thayden pulls out his phone. “Now that we’re all in better moods, let’s discuss how you two can help each other.”
“I’m sorry—how we can help each other?” Collin says. “I might be confused.”
He’s not the only one.
“Sorry, I’ll speak more slowly,” Thayden says, then slows to half-speed. “Let’s … discuss—”
“Cut the cuteness,” Collin says. “In what way do you think Molly and I can help each other that involves you?”
“The little—”Thayden glances around and lowers his voice—“fake relationship you two have going on.”
My cheeks immediately heat, and Collin drops his head into his hands with a groan. Somehow the whole thing seems worse with a lawyer addressing it. Can I get in legal trouble for lying in an interview? And are we so obvious that everyone just figured out what we were doing?
But then Thayden says, “I’ve got an idea for how the arrangement can benefit you both.”
“It wasn’t really an arrangement,” I say. “More like … an accident that got away from me. We were just going to talk about how to end it.”
I mean, that’s what we need to discuss—how I could keep my job but not keep Collin stuck playing the part of my boyfriend.
I remember him saying last night that it wasn’t a hardship, but I’m not holding him to this nonsense. Also, I don’t know how I’m going to not fall head over heels for him and get all attached to being part of his family in the process.
The best option is to figure out the easiest exit strategy for us both.
Collin lifts his head, narrowing his blue eyes at me. They’re very nice eyes—the vivid blue of a cloudless summer day.
Not that I should be thinking about his eyes right now.
“Who said anything about ending it?” he asks.
I blink at him. “Me. Right now.”
“I thought we were going to discuss this.”