Page 25 of His Fake Fiancé

“There’s my girl,” Jake said, and brushed past her to grab the baby. He lifted Olivia up over his head, giving her a little wiggle. She squealed, the delight in her tone at seeing her daddy infectious. Claire found a smile that matched the baby’s tilting the corners of her lips up.

“Let’s go see your room.” He and Olivia disappeared down the hall.

For a second, Claire stood there, dumbfounded. The guest house had two bedrooms, but for some reason, she’d assumed she’d take one and Jake would take the other. It never occurred to her that Olivia would get one. Which meant she and Jake…

She glanced at the bed again, and the weirdest sensation rolled through her. Part giddy anticipation, part utter terror. She had no idea what vibe she was giving off, but whatever it was, it must have alarmed Mrs. C, because the older woman came over and wrapped her arm around Claire’s shoulders, giving a squeeze.

“You doing okay with all of this, Pumpkin?” The childhood nickname, along with the motherly concern in her tone, was almost enough to bring Claire to her knees. But she was a big girl, and she was going to act like it.

“Yeah,” she said, forcing a smile to her face. It felt a little wobbly, but at least it was something. She wrapped her arm around Mrs. C’s waist and gave a squeeze of her own.

“And you’d tell Jake if you weren’t, right? If this isn’t something you want to continue with?” The question was simple enough, but there was a touch of bite to the words all the same.

“I…” The rest of the words died on Claire’s tongue. It didn’t feel right to lie to Mrs. C. Not that she’d be lying, per se, she’d just always had a hard time saying no to Jake. The last few days were the perfect example.

How many times had she decided this wasn’t a good idea, only to chicken out at the last second? Somehow, he always managed to make her forget everything in the moment. It was only after she remembered all the reservations she’d had. And by then, she was usually up to her eyeballs committed to whatever scheme Jake had cooked up.

A high-pitched baby laugh sounded from down the hall, followed by the deep rumble of Jake’s laughter. It made her heart roll over in an old-timey swoon. How could she not be okay with this? With not doing this for Jake and Olivia? If this was going to help him keep custody of his daughter, then she, as his best friend, had to help. Regardless of her reservations.

She looked at Mrs. C and nodded, her smile coming much easier this time. “Yeah, I promise, I’m good. And if I can do something to help Jake and Olivia stay together, then I’m going to do it.”

Mrs. C gave her a narrow-eyed stare, and for a second, Claire was positive she could feel the layers of herself slowly being peeled back, one by one. But, after a moment, Mrs. C seemed to come to some sort of conclusion, because she gave a quick nod.

“Let’s go see what my granddaughter’s new room looks like, shall we?” Mrs. C disappeared into the hallway.

Claire blew out a breath and followed along behind her. When she stepped through the baby’s bedroom door, her mouth dropped open. All of the stuff from Olivia’s nursery in the main house had been transferred here. Although this room was much smaller than the one at the house, it was fine because it gave the nursery a cozy feel. It was all pink and white and girly.

Jake sat in the rocking chair, Olivia standing on his thighs. He had his hands wrapped around her torso and she was bouncing up and down by bending her knees. Jake was making faces at her and she was laughing. It was the sweetest thing in the entire history of the universe. Claire practically melted into a puddle of gooey chocolate pudding.

“I think someone needs her diaper changed,” Jake said, his deep voice taking on a sing-songy lilt. So. Freaking. Cute. Claire could barely stand it.

“Here, let me.” Mrs. C swooped in before anyone could move, and whisked the baby over to the change table. She glanced over her shoulder at Claire. “Why don’t you go and get settled?”

With nothing else to do, Claire nodded and then spun around and wandered back to the other bedroom. She tried to blank her brain, refusing to dissect what there being only one bed meant. Nothing good could come of letting her brain wander into that dangerous and dirty territory.

She clonked her suitcase on the bed with a thunk. It made a good amount of noise considering how light it was. She unzipped it, the sound loud in the quiet room. She wasn’t used to things being so silent. Over at her house, her brothers were the opposite of quiet. Somedays, she thought they had a competition going to see who could express their opinion the loudest. Or maybe it was because they were all trying to talk over one another, attempting to get the last word. She loved her brothers, but sometimes they were a lot to take.

Not that it was much better here at the Callahan’s. While they weren’t quite as boisterous as her brothers, there was still a lot going on. All the time. Even though Jake was the most rough and tumble of the bunch, as well as the loudest and most boisterous, the others spent a lot of time coming and going.

Honestly, she wasn’t sure how she was going to handle it just being her and Jake and Olivia. Alone.

As if he was reading her mind, Jake appeared in the doorway.

She pulled her panties and bras out of the zippered mesh pocket and quickly stashed them in the top drawer of the beautiful wooden chest of drawers next to the door. Her cheeks felt hot, which was stupid, because it was just underwear. It wasn’t like Jake hadn’t seen underwear before. Granted, it had never been her underwear, but still.

He wandered over and flopped onto the bed, rolling over so he was lying on his side, facing her. She refused to look at him, even though part of her was screaming to take it all in. Jake Callahan spread out on her bed was the stuff of her deepest, darkest fantasies. But she was feeling off kilter right now, and honestly, she didn’t need the distraction.

This entire experiment was going to be a huge test of her willpower, that was for sure. But it was also a good thing. If she could survive this living together charade, and come out stronger, then maybe once this was all over, she’d be able to move on. There was always a part of her that knew her feelings for Jake were never going to be reciprocated. Maybe after this was over, she’d be at peace with that, and would be able to let go.

And hey, maybe living with Jake would show her all of the bad stuff he kept hidden from her, and probably everyone else. Maybe he picked his nose when he didn’t think anyone was looking. Maybe he snored like a big old grizzly bear. Maybe he put ketchup on his oatmeal. She was sure there were plenty of negative things she could learn about him.

“What are you grinning for?”

She snapped her gaze to him, forgetting all about her vow from a moment ago. He had propped his head up on his bent arm and was watching her, his blue eyes full of mischief. Her insides took up an almost infinitesimal vibration, making her feel jumpy and uneven. This was going to be a long however long it ended up to be if she acted like a teenage girl with her first crush every time he looked at her.

Okay, so Jake was actually her first high school crush. And yeah, he was also her last and only high school crush. Even though she’d had two boyfriends—one when she was in her senior year of high school and one just last year—Jake was always the one she compared everyone to. He was always the pinnacle that no one else seemed to be able to eclipse.

And that was the problem. She’d put him on this stupid pedestal when they were young, and had never been able to knock him off. And, over the years, he’d done plenty of things that should have punted him to the pavement. He was far from perfect—and would be the first person to tell you that—but it clearly didn’t matter. Her stupid heart had decided a long time ago to give itself to Jake, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t snatch it back.