Chapter Seventeen
Sue
God, he smelled good! The warmth of his body and the feel of his hard muscles under my fingers sent my libido into overdrive. How could I keep my hands off him, my head clear and my story straight when his presence made my brain stutter?
“We’ll talk to your parents together this afternoon,” he said, his tone soft but sure. “We’ll get our story straight and tell them we’ve been dating for a while. I’m madly in love with you, I proposed last night, and they’ll believe it. Of course they will.”
A reluctant smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
I wasn’t sure what unnerved me more—how easily he spun the lie or how badly I wanted it to be true.
I tried to dodge the implication. “I don’t know how we’ll pull this off so soon.
And please tell me you weren’t serious about dinner with your brother and his wife.
I’m not ready for that kind of performance yet. ”
Cam leaned back just enough to look at me, his hands still warm against my arms. “Are you telling me that Fearless Sue who faced down a roomful of drunk Neanderthals watching porn is afraid of an engineer, a woman on crutches, a twelve-year-old, and a Boston terrier?”
I giggled. “Do any of them bite?”
“Only when provoked. But let’s not borrow trouble.”
I nodded and pulled out of his arms, reaching for my beer once more. He was right. We had to take things one day at a time.
“Looks like we’ve got to work on our story.
” Cam started emptying the grocery bags for me to put away.
“We should stick as close to the truth as possible—hence I was mostly honest about how we met. I stayed at Sebastian’s back at the beginning of December, so we could say that’s when it happened.
I actually did see you that weekend. You came home with a guy.
Arms full of gift bags. You were laughing about something he’d said. He thanked me for holding the door.”
“That was Phil, my cousin.” I stared at him, trying to picture the moment. “He and his wife came down for the Rockettes. That was before I got laser surgery on my eyes—I had my old glasses on, and they fogged up the second I walked in the door. I probably didn’t even see you.”
“You didn’t. But I saw you.” His smile tilted. “And I remember wishing I was the one who made you laugh.”
The heat that flooded my cheeks wasn’t from the oven warming behind me. I ducked my head and grabbed the pizza, sliding it onto a baking sheet to hide my fluster. “That would’ve been a hell of a story if we’d started then. Guess we missed our Hallmark moment.”
“There’s still time,” he said, almost to himself.
I lowered my gaze to the groceries I was unpacking, my hands suddenly clumsy. “Okay, let’s start weaving our web of deception. If we met last winter, where did we have our first date?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “Rockefeller Center. We went skating. Snow was falling, there were lights and music, and you wore red gloves.”
I gaped at him. “Wow, that’s really good.”
“I’ve seen more Hallmark movies than I care to admit. My mother’s a fanatic. She’ll ask all the same questions your mother will, and if I want to stay in her good graces, I’d better know my story.”
“Did we get hot chocolate or hot cider afterward?”
“Hot chocolate. With whipped cream and peppermint sprinkles.”
I bit down on a smile. “My mom’s going to swoon.”
“That’s the goal.”
I leaned against the counter. God, I would’ve loved every second of that date.
The feel of his warm fingers entwined with my cold ones, the thought of us floating together over the ice, laughing and gazing into each other’s eyes, the taste of chocolate when his tongue touched mine in a kiss so hot it would have melted all the ice in New York…
I cleared my throat, forcing myself back to here and now. “I’ll need details. My parents haven’t seen the article yet or they would’ve called.” I glanced at my watch. “I have four hours before I have to make my weekly call home. Four hours to invent a four months relationship.”
“We’ll invent everything together,” he said reassuringly.
“Actually... I’ve got an idea. Well, it’s not mine per se, I’ve read it in a book—a fake engagement romance, as it happens. The couple did this thing where they filled out one of those get-to-know-you questionnaires to nail their story.”
Cam tilted his head, interested. “You want to interrogate me?”
“It’s only fair. Your brother just welcomed me to the family. At least let me ask about your favorite color.”
He held up his hands. “Ask away, Miss Morelli. Let’s see if we’re soulmates or just mutually delusional.”
The oven timer dinged, and I went to get the pizza, then I brought my laptop and searched for a questionnaire.
A Google search on fake engagement got me completely different results than what I was after.
Since I wasn’t looking to improve my website’s engagement rate or social media presence, I tried get to know you couple questionnaire and in a few minutes we were up and running.
“Okay, here we go.” I nibbled at a slice of pizza, scrolling along through the questions. “Let’s start with some basic things. When’s your birthday?”
“August 17th. Yours?” He added some ketchup on his pizza slice, creating a perfect zigzag pattern.
I noted his answer down in a document I’d created on my desktop. “Mine is June 3rd.” I looked at him expectantly. “Don’t you need to write this down?”
He shook his head, then tapped his temple. “It all stays up here, believe me. Next question.”
“Favorite color? We already know that it’s blue for both of us.” I read lower. “These questions are spread into four categories: Favorites, Dreams and Future, Personal, and… uh, Sex and Romance.”
“That last one will be interesting.”
“Well, I don’t think anyone will be asking us that kind of questions.”
“I’m curious for my own reasons, not because of anyone else.”
Feeling my cheeks heat up, I buried my nose in the screen again. “Favorite movie?”
“The Shawshank Redemption. Yours?”
“I have a million. It depends on my mood. If I have to pick the one I’ve seen the most, I would say Dirty Dancing.”
“Ah, a classic. Haven’t seen it.”
I stared at him, scandalized. “You must! I have to fix that. Okay, what’s your favorite sport?”
“Hockey. Yours?”
“Hockey.”
He beamed. “We could say we went to see a hockey game on our second date.”
“Sounds perfect.” I looked back at the screen. “Let’s see… Dreams and Future… What’s the one thing you most want to achieve before you die? Wow, that’s deep.”
“I want to give back to the world as much as I can.”
His answer was so swift and simple it took me by surprise. “Well, that’s noble of you. I would guess most people’s answers include love, money, traveling, but this… I haven’t heard this one before.”
He shrugged and reached for another slice of pizza. I thought it was a decoy to hide his embarrassment. This was an exceptionally multi-layered man, and as I peeled off each layer, I discovered I liked him more and more. The worst thing was that I wanted our relationship to be for real.
“What’s your answer?” he asked.
I brushed my fingers over my keyboard, thinking. I had no idea. Like most young people, I was too busy with life to think about death or big goals.
“I don’t really know,” I admitted. “Getting through each week and paying my bills until my next paycheck occupies most of my time.”
I stopped myself before making a comment about him not understanding those issues.
He’d been on a tight budget once, and he’d been brutally hurt because of it.
If he was rich now, it was because of his hard work and smart risks.
Oddly enough, I almost forgot he was a wealthy man.
He was so down to earth I never thought about his financial situation.
In the end, I took a deep breath. “My answer isn’t nearly as noble as yours, it’s probably silly, but here goes.
I want to have the kind of love Baby and Johnny have in Dirty Dancing.
Crazy, passionate, fun, idealistic… But not one that only lasts for the summer.
I want a love that will last forever. I want someone who will make me feel loved and in love even after twenty years together. ”
When I took a chance to look up, his eyes were intent on my face.
I’m not sure what had changed, but the air between us was charged with tension, with longing, with unspoken promises and a sweet anticipation of the unknown.
Without touching me, he sent a ripple of awareness over my skin, like a gentle caress.
“I want to change my answer,” he said.
“To what?”
“I want to watch Dirty Dancing.”
We shared a slow, quiet smile. I noticed he had a lot more laughter lines than frown lines on his handsome face. I liked that about him. I liked everything about this man.
“Then we’ll watch Dirty Dancing together,” I promised.
As we finished eating, we went over the most important questions and things we needed to know about each other.
I was a Gemini and he was a Leo—an excellent match, if you believed that sort of thing.
My favorite number was nine; his favorite number was twenty-three.
We both liked animals, rock music, detective shows on TV, and Christmas movies.
We had a pretty heated debate on whether Die Hard was a Christmas movie, but since we were pressed for time I conceded that it was—it’s really not.
Finally, we talked about our hopes and dreams. I told him about my lifelong ambition to be a teacher, and he explained the love affair he’d always had with computers.
“Why did you name your company Omega Software?”
He grinned. “I wanted it to be the last word in computers. Chuck loved it. He and I used to be close until Brittany ruined it for us. Maybe with her out of the picture we can try to get some of that friendship back. Speaking of friends, will you tell yours the truth about us?”
A shadow fell over my face. I had several messages from the girls, but so far I had ignored all of them.
“I don’t know. They’ll never buy this insta-love, insta-engaged story.
I mean, lying to my family is one thing, but friendship is sacred.
I trust the girls with my life. Would you mind if I told them the truth?
It’s not just my secret to keep, it’s yours too. ”
“Of course not, if they promise to play along and make sure they keep it to themselves. Since I’m new in town, we probably don’t have friends or acquaintances in common, except for you.”
“I’ll make sure they’re discrete. Let’s get back to the questionnaire.”
He set down his empty can and reached for my plate. “We can do that later. Now we need to go shopping again, and if you don’t want to be late calling home, we have to hurry.”
“Shopping for what?” I finished my beer and stood up.
“An engagement ring.”
My jaw dropped, and I shook my head. This was getting out of hand. “Oh no, we’re not buying a ring.”
“Oh yes, we are. My fiancée will need one. Something to make Brittany take notice and accept that this is real. Didn’t Neil give you a ring?”
“Yes, but I gave it back to him.” And he’d promptly had it resized for Sally. Seeing the ring I’d picked out on her finger had been almost more painful than discovering them together. “Didn’t you give Brittany a ring? Did she give it back to you?”
He shrugged, looking sheepish. “I don’t have it anymore. When I proposed to her it was a spur of the moment kind of thing, so I didn’t have a ring.”
His face was a mix of embarrassment and amusement, making me believe he’d proposed while she was screwing his brains out. I’d heard men tend to do that sometimes.
As though reading my mind, Cam didn’t meet my eyes while he spoke. “I did get her a ring eventually, when I realized what I’d done.” He chuckled. “But she always complained the diamond was too small, so when she gave it back to me I sold it. It wasn’t worth much.”
But it was priceless from a sentimental value perspective.
What a greedy bitch! Imagine saying that to a man you’re supposed to love, that the diamond he’d worked so hard to give you was too small.
My dad had always taught me that if I wanted pretty things, I should work for them, not expect anyone to serve them to me on a platter.
The dislike I felt for Brittany was turning into pure hatred.
“Do you hate her?” I asked softly.
His expression turned introspective. “Hate is a very strong emotion. I don’t think I've ever hated anyone in my life. She simply couldn’t give more. All humans are imperfect.”
I was speechless. He was good and kind to the core.
I could write a ten page list of people I hated—just to warm up.
I could effortlessly hold a grudge for decades.
This man was so gentle, so intrinsically good, he didn’t even hate the woman who’d crushed his soul.
I wanted to cradle his heart between my palms and keep it safe forever.
Oblivious to my thoughts, Cam took my hands into his, talking to me slowly and reasonably, as I often did to some of my students.
“I want you to have a ring. Everyone would expect the CEO of Omega Software to buy his fiancée a beautiful, expensive ring. To a guy, this is a matter of pride.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why do guys have to measure everything in dollars? I’m a fake fiancée, not a trophy wife.”
He didn’t budge, his eyes steady on mine, a silent plea in their depths.
“Okay, we can buy a ring, but it will absolutely not be anything expensive. I mean it, Cam.”
“We’ll pick something to make us both happy.”
“What will you do with it after… our breakup?”
“I’ll keep it for my future wife.”
“I doubt your future wife will appreciate a second-hand ring.”
“Let’s cross that bridge when we get there. Now come on, take your coat, and let’s go.”