Chapter Sixteen
Cam
The second we stepped outside, I instinctively reached for Sue’s hand.
“Just in case Britt convinced Charlotte to watch us,” I muttered. “We want to make sure her spies see what we need them to see.”
My gaze drifted across the street, casual on the surface, calculating beneath.
Nothing obvious, no cameras in sight—but that didn’t mean anything.
The fact that Sue and I were leaving the same building at eleven in the morning was bad enough.
No one would care that we’d slept in separate beds, in separate apartments.
Perception would do the talking, and people would happily listen.
Especially the kind who clutched pearl necklaces and morality clauses in the same white-knuckled grip.
I enveloped her small hand in mine, wishing I could protect her just as easily.
A part of me was grateful for this because it meant being close to her.
Was I taking advantage of the situation?
Tough question. It wasn’t my fault exactly that Britt had started this mess, but also I knew Susanne wouldn’t be here if not for me.
Where would she be, though? Fighting off her overbearing mother and ex fiancé?
Scrambling to find someone to pose as her boyfriend?
Over my dead body. If I could help her and help myself, I was going to do everything it took.
The idea that Britt had already set something in motion didn’t just feel possible—it felt inevitable. She was always two steps ahead when it came to spin. I knew how vengeful she could be. I could already hear her spreading the story over mimosas: “He’ll come back. He always does.”
Not this time. I had been young and dumb once, but not anymore.
When I first met Britt I was star struck to the point where it clouded my judgment.
After a while I’d started to see the cracks, the darkness slipping through her perfect facade.
Then she’d screw my brains out and I’d forget. Until the next time.
She’d been my first serious relationship.
I was still missing my dad and she’d made me feel I finally had a goal in life—to please her.
It had taken me a long time to realize her only goal was to please herself.
I’d learned my lesson the hard way, which is why I was never going to fall for her bullshit again.
I’d wasted years before I finally managed to escape that toxic tie.
Afterward, I’d felt like a blind man who could see once more.
The day was golden and clean, the kind of spring morning that made the whole city feel freshly scrubbed.
Crisp air, blue sky, people smiling for no reason.
We walked to Friedman’s, fingers laced as though we’d done it a thousand times.
Bagels and lox helped mask the thrum of anxiety I hadn’t fully admitted even to myself.
This fake engagement was brilliant in theory, but questionable in execution.
The longer we faked it, the more convincing it had to be—to Britt, to Sue’s family, to Sue’s work mates…
How much of it would be fake and how much real?
What did Sue expect from me? I needed some clear guidelines, but this whole thing was so new to both of us I decided not to rock the boat and just wing it.
After brunch, I flagged down a cab and insisted we go hat shopping. We both needed a distraction.
“You really don’t have to do this,” Sue said again as we rode the escalator up to the third floor.
“Don’t have to—want to. I’ve never been Easter bonnet shopping. Or bonnet shopping.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m only doing this because the girls made me.”
I smiled. “One of these days, you’re going to have to stop letting everyone else boss you around.”
“Says the guy staging a fake engagement to avoid his evil ex.”
I tilted my head. “Ouch.”
The escalator deposited us into a battlefield of hat boxes and feathers. The millinery department was a circus—ribbons, netting, flowers, and colors brighter than a kindergarten classroom. People everywhere. Noise layered over noise.
“Welcome to my nightmare,” Sue muttered, gesturing to a stand of what could only be described as post-modern bird casualties.
“You weren’t joking.” I picked up a peacock-themed monstrosity and examined it. For a moment I feared it might peck me.
I turned to Sue, evil creeping up my face.
“Don’t even think about it.” She stepped back. “The swan was bad enough. I had actual nightmares.”
She grabbed a cloche and fascinator and popped them on her head. She looked so ridiculous, so adorable that I lost it, laughter rumbling up before I could stop it.
“You’re loving this,” she grumbled as I pulled out my phone.
“Oh, I am.” I snapped a few photos.
She retaliated with a hat that looked like a Christmas bow that had lost a bar fight and slapped it onto my head. I played along for the laugh, but dropped it fast.
“You look stunning, dahling,” she said in a ridiculous British accent. “Straight out of the royal court.”
“I’ll take your word for it. I don’t get many invites to royal weddings.” I pointed at a particularly sinister-looking feathered thing. “That one belongs in a zoo. And that black one? Either Hitchcock or Poe had a hand in that.”
“Did you know Poe almost used a parrot instead of a raven?”
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “Imagine the poem ending with, Nevermore... Polly want a cracker?”
“Doesn’t exactly have the same je ne sais quoi.”
My face hurt. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so much. God, the woman was funny. Witty, warm… Addictive if I weren’t careful.
She arched an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you spoke French.”
“I vacationed in France after university. Picked up a few words—and a bad habit of eating croissants for breakfast.”
“Do you speak fluently?”
“A few phrases. Probably just enough to order a bottle of wine and get lost on the Metro.” I grinned. “You?”
“A little. Not enough to survive, but I’d love to see Paris someday. God,” she whispered, cutting herself off as something caught her eye. “Look at that furry thing that woman has in her bag.”
“That’s a live dog, Susanne.”
She squinted harder at the pocket sized creature. “No, it’s not.”
I burst out laughing, my head tipping back. “Remind me not to buy you a Chinese Crested for your birthday.”
I picked up a blue fedora with a silver ribbon. I set it gently on her head, then adjusted it carefully.
“Un chapeau pour mademoiselle.”
She chuckled. “Is it symmetrical, Mr. OCPD?”
“Perfectly.” It actually was. Something about the angle softened her face, made her look timelessly elegant.
“It’s almost the same color as the dress you wore last night.” I leaned in. “The one I plan to peel off you one of these days.”
I don’t know why I said it. Maybe because the air between us had been crackling all morning. Maybe because it was true and I wanted her to know it. I wanted to see her reaction.
She didn’t answer, but her eyes met mine in the mirror. They were surprised, but I didn’t see rejection there. A tinge of shyness. A bit of intrigue. And something else I couldn’t decipher yet.
A polite cough snapped us out of the moment. A salesclerk hovered nearby, ready to pounce.
“Madam has excellent taste,” she said. “The hat suits you beautifully.”
Sue offered the woman a smile. “I’ll take it.”
I saw her gaze drop to the label and do a double take. It was Gucci, probably more than her monthly rent. I never intended to let her pay for it.
Before she could argue, I slid my card into the clerk’s hand. “I picked it out, I’m paying for it.”
Sue opened her mouth, but I squeezed her hand and bent to whisper in her ear. “Play along, dahling. It’s only natural for a man to buy a gift for his fiancée.”
“Unlike your fiancée, the money is real,” she muttered.
“And I want to buy this for you. Can you be a good little woman and just shut up?”
Heat flashed in her eyes, and she flipped me off discretely. It made my face split into a grin.
Ten minutes later, we were on the subway, hatbox in her lap.
“You really didn’t have to do that.” She traced the lettering with her index finger. “No one will know you bought it. Britt’s not watching us now. So what’s the point?”
I took her hand, brought it to my lips, and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Her skin was soft, her scent clean and subtle.
“Because it looked beautiful on you. And because I wanted to.”
She smiled—genuinely, fully, a little shyly. And it hit me like a sucker punch. There was nothing fake in her smile.
A couple of hours later we climbed the stairs, overloaded with grocery bags, a pizza box, and Sue’s new hat.
I couldn’t wait for my car to arrive next week, so shopping would be easier.
At some point back in the store she’d offered to cook me dinner now and again.
I had agreed happily, but only if I could pay for the groceries. And then we’d bought half of the store.
I hauled the heaviest bags into Susanne’s kitchen and set them on the counter.
“I’ll put the hat away and warm up the pizza,” she said. “Grab us a couple of beers from the fridge.”
I’d just set the beers on the counter when my phone buzzed. It was Craig.
I frowned down at the display. “Sorry, I have to get this. It’s my brother.”
Craig never called just to chat, so something must be up.
“Hey, Craig.” I took the call, walking toward the living room.
“Hey yourself, big brother,” Craig said. His voice was cheerful, but it had en echo as though he was talking on speaker. “You made the news today.”
“Yeah. I’m guessing you saw the newspaper?”
“Everyone has. You kept her top secret, I’ll give you that. She’s a looker, too.”
I couldn’t help a grin as Sue walked back from the bedroom. “She’s even prettier in person. Do you want to say hi? I’ll put you on speaker.”
I tapped the phone and watched Sue try not to bolt.
“Hi, Susanne,” Craig and Carley’s voices chirped from my phone.
“Can I call her Susanne, too?” Luke chimed in.
“Not at school,” Carley said. “But when she’s visiting here, you can call her Aunt Susanne. Is that okay with you, Susanne?”
I had to press my lips together so I wouldn’t burst into laughter. I should have warned Sue that my family had no boundaries and they would absorb her like quicksand.
She looked like she was about to faint. “Uh… sure,” she squeaked.
I wasn’t even sure how she still had functioning vocal cords. She’d just gone from teacher to honorary family member in three seconds flat.
Still, she held her own. I applauded her in my head.
Sue cleared her throat. “How are you feeling, Mrs. Jones?”
“Much better, thank you! And please, call me Carley—we’re practically family now. When Craig showed me the pictures, I just about fell over. How did you and Cam keep this a secret? And how on earth did you two meet?”
I glanced at Sue, saw the panic in her eyes, and gave her a subtle nod. I’d thought about this, so I was prepared.
“One question at a time,” I said smoothly, settling into a chair.
“Susanne and I met last winter, that week you guys went to Aspen and I stayed with Sebastian. He was running late and told me to grab the key from his neighbor. That neighbor happened to be Susanne. She said come in, I did, and there she was. Pink bubblegum face mask, fuzzy chenille robe… No man could resist that.”
Sue nearly dropped the jar of marinara she’d just picked up. She couldn’t know I’d rehearsed this in my head, so to her it must’ve seemed like effortless lying. Actually, it wasn’t a lie per se—just rearranged facts.
Craig laughed. “You always were a sucker for pink.”
“That’s so romantic,” Carley gushed. “You two have to come for dinner.”
“We’d love that,” I said.
“So, when did you pop the question?” Craig asked. “Was that what you were celebrating last night?”
My mouth dropped open. We had just gotten fake-engaged two hours ago. How did my brother know already?
“Craig, how do you know I popped the question?” I asked.
“Brittany told Becky you two were planning to tie the knot soon. She laid bets you wouldn’t make it to church.”
“We can’t wait to see you prove her wrong,” Carley chimed in.
My jaw tightened as Sue and I exchanged glances.
My sister, Becky, and Britt had been friendly, and after the breakup Becky mentioned that Britt was trying to hang on to their friendship—even as my sister tried to shake her off.
I should have seen it coming. Britt never lost her flair for drama—or sabotage.
“If Susanne’s parents are in New York, they’d better start checking out venues,” Carley said.
I swallowed hard. “Yeah. You’re sure Britt said we were engaged?”
“Damn straight,” Craig said. “So when’s the wedding? Got a ring?”
My eyes flicked to Sue’s finger and her grandmother’s ring. Shit.
I cleared my throat loudly. “Sure I got her a ring. It’s gorgeous, just like she is. We haven’t set a date yet. Let us enjoy the newness of it, will you?”
Craig relented. “Okay, okay, we’ll stop being nosy. For now. But after that article, keeping it private won’t work. Call Mom and Becky, by the way. They’re foaming at the mouth.”
“Will do. How was Japan?”
“Exhausting. I can’t wait to spend some family time and sleep for two days straight.”
I grinned. “I’ll leave you to it. Take care, both of you.”
“And congrats, Susanne,” Carley added warmly. “Welcome to the family.”
“Thanks,” Sue said in a choked whisper.
I ended the call and turned to her. All the blood had drained from her face. Even her lips were pale.
I reached for her hand. “Well, I didn’t expect Britt to tell everyone we’re engaged, but I feel we’re one step ahead of her. It was only a matter of time.”
She groaned. “Yeah, but talking to your family makes this fake engagement… real.”
I chuckled.
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. Next thing, Britt will tell everyone I’m pregnant, and my dad will break your kneecaps.”
I stood up and pulled her into my arms. Her hair smelled of strawberry shampoo and I buried my face in it. Her scent, her warmth were like a drug I never wanted to quit.
“Then you’ll have to take care of me and give me sponge baths,” I whispered.
The weird thing was, I wouldn’t mind that one bit.