Page 20 of Fake It For Him

“You didn’t have a problem with it before,” I grumbled as I reached for the door handle, wondering how much this little shopping trip was going to cost me.

Calan chuckled. “You weren’t going to meet my parents before. Besides, Della said this is part of the deal. You’ve got a wardrobe budget of five thousand.”

“Dollars?” I squeaked. “You want me to spend five thousand dollars on clothes? Like, right now?”

He shrugged as he reached for the door handle. “Well, it’ll probably be more than that, but I don’t mind if we exceed her suggested budget. It’s all on me. Let’s go.”

He climbed out of the car and I sat there for a moment, shocked to my core.

He knocked on the window, shoulders hunched over in the cold. “You coming?”

“Oh, right. Sure,” I mumbled as I followed him out. “Let’s just go drop a few thousand dollars on clothes because you don’t like my jeans.”

He chuckled as he took my arm. “I heard some of that and trust me, it’s better this way. It’ll be worth it.”

I didn’t say anything in response to that. I had no idea why or how he thought this could ever be worth it, but hey, it was his money. As long as it wasn’t mine, he could dress me up just as much as he wanted.

As he led me into a high-end boutique, I didn’t even know where to begin. It turned out I didn’t need to know, though. He ended up picking out most of the clothes he wanted me to wear anyway, and all I had to do was try them on.

After spending a staggering amount of money in a very short period of time, we were back in his car and it quickly became clear that we were leaving the city. To keep myself busy, I adjusted my new outfit, a sleek pair of high-waisted slacks that highlighted my waist, a fashionable blouse, and peacoat, paired with sky-high designer heels.

Eventually though, when I’d tugged and pulled at everything I could and we still hadn’t arrived, I turned to frown at him. “Jeez. How far away do your parents live?”

“Our family compound is upstate,” he said vaguely.

I arched a brow at him. “Why do you keep referring to it as that? Most people just say my parents’ house.”

He chuckled and darted a quick glance at me as he shook his head. “I guess I could say that, but it wouldn’t be entirely accurate. The compound is also the location of our empire. The Isle of Reid distillery.”

I suddenly remembered the whiskey he had poured us the other night, and two and two slid into place in my head. “You’re the son of that whiskey guy? What’s his name again?”

“Ross Reid, and yep, I am.”

Immediately, I started doubting that this had been a good idea. I was ill equipped to be the girlfriend of a member of such an elite family. My table manners were pretty much limited to saying please before I asked someone to pass the salt and I had no idea if I was supposed to curtsy or shake people’s hands.

A shudder zapped down my spine. If I screwed up socially, would it give him grounds to terminate our contract and not pay me? I freaking hope not.

My stomach was a mess of nerves as we kept zipping down the winding roads in an upmarket area I’d never had a reason to visit before. I wanted to broach the topic with him, but before I could, we drove through a gate at the entrance to a grand property.

Once we were on the other side, we kept driving and he didn’t slow down, so I was assuming we weren’t that close to the actual house yet. We were surrounded by trees and greenery, and all at once, we rounded a corner and came to screeching halt in the center of several buildings, parking in front of the main one.

It was a mansion unlike anything I’d seen before and I was in awe that people actually lived here.

Calan climbed out of the car, surprising me when he walked around it to open the door for me again, and he looked up at the house as I took his hand.

“You grew up here?” I asked.

“I sure did. I’m barely here anymore now, though.”

I wondered why. He helped me out of the car and then kept my hand held firmly in his, twining his strong fingers between my own.

“Let’s get this over with.” After he knocked, he turned to me, his voice low and urgent. “Remember, you’re my girl and you’re head over heels for me. We’ve been together for two months. Act like it. There’s half a million dollars on the line.”

Oh, of course. Because that’s how you get a girl to relax before she meets your family. I swallowed hard. At least there’s nothing like a reminder quite like that to bring out the actress in all of us.

11

CALAN