Page 25 of Fake It For Him

“It will if you keep this up.” To give effect to what probably looked like a relieved exchange between a happy couple, I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

I didn’t know if that was taking things a step too far, but when I glanced down at her again, she was still freaking smiling. “You really are too fucking good at this.”

“I’m a relationship person,” she murmured as she took both my hands and squeezed them. “It turns out that this is just like being in a real relationship.”

I chuckled, knowing that even if anyone had overheard her, they’d think she was just joking. No one was anywhere near us, though. The bartender was mixing us our drinks, but the rest of my family already had theirs and they were making their way to the table.

When we went to join them, Freya was laughing easily while she chatted to our mom. As we sat down, she turned to Ella and charmed her right away, the two women falling into conversation like they’d known each other for years.

I watched them quietly, really fucking taken by the way Ella was interacting with everyone, until the inevitable finally happened. Freya started asking a ton of questions and our answers to them would determine if this relationship of ours lived to see tomorrow morning.

“What do you do for a living? Where were you born? How did you meet Cal? Was it love at first sight?”

Ella giggled, but she didn’t skip a beat. “I’m a travel writer, but I was born right here in New York. Calan and I met in the city one night when I ended up at one of his bars, and yes, for me, it was love at first sight. I just didn’t admit it to him right away because I didn’t want to scare him off.”

Freya laughed and Mom chuckled, nodding her agreement. Finn, however, jumped on the fact that she was a travel writer. “Doesn’t that mean you’re away often? Long distance doesn’t really seem like something Cal would be interested in.”

Ella smiled at me. “Well, I have been traveling a lot, but⁠—”

“Where?” Finn asked, unashamedly interrupting. “When? For how long at a time? Do you really trust him when you’re gone?”

“I do,” she said, looking him right in the eyes. “Trust him, I mean.”

I slid my hand onto her thigh under the table. “She’s a travel writer, Finn. It’s part of the gig, but we’re good. I’ve even done some traveling with her and we’ve got a few more trips planned.”

Ella swallowed, clearly affected by having my hand on her thigh. A tremble passed through the muscles, and I felt her squeeze her legs together. “Yep. It’s been great. We’re good. It’s all working out pretty well for us so far.”

Unable to help myself after her initial reaction, I ran my hand higher up her leg, loving the way she looked at me with lust and surprise in her eyes. I was also really fucking loving how easily I could wrap her around my finger.

I’d had her on the hook in Edinburgh. Why should now be any different? This whole thing could end up being a lot more fun than I’d thought.

Freya asked a few more questions, but our exchange with Finn seemed to have knocked the wind out of her sails. Eventually, the twenty-one questions ended and Ella could come up for air.

The conversation shifted to the wedding, and Freya was so excited about it that her eyes were shining like the damn stars, reminding me that even if I got to have no fun with this arrangement, I hadn’t entered into it for myself.

“It’s going to be so special and so beautiful using the distillery as a venue,” my sister gushed. “It’s going to be a black-tie event with an outdoor ceremony. We’re getting a clear tent with heaters for the guests and then the reception will be inside.”

“We just have a consult with Swarovski,” she continued as she’d lost the need to even breathe. “I can’t wait for the guests to see the crystal décor we’re going to have. It’s going to be nothing short of magical.”

I found myself smiling—and glancing at Ella. I wanted the best for my baby sister, but I was looking at Ella because Freya had said the word magical, which was kind of how I was starting to think about Ella. She has to be a unicorn in the world of fake dating.

On the note of wanting what was best for my sister, however, I needed to know more about Jim. The rest of my family seemed pretty comfortable with him, which meant they’d gotten to know him well, but I’d been estranged from them for so long that I’d only met the guy once.

My turn to ask the questions. “So, Jim, how did you meet my sister? How did you propose?”

“Well, we met when I helped her get her shopping bags into the car,” he said thoughtfully, smiling at the memory he was obviously having. “She must’ve had, like, a dozen bags with her and she was trying to get them all in the trunk without having to put them down on the wet ground. I offered to help her and I haven’t looked back since. I’ve known from the first moment that I saw her that I loved her.”

A likely story.

Before I could ask anything else, Freya shot me a playful warning. “Back off, Cal. You don’t need to vet my fiancé. I’m perfectly capable of making my own choices. Besides, we’ve done the threatening of the boyfriend bit with Finn. Jim is fine. I promise.”

“Sure, but he hasn’t gone through it with me yet.”

Finn backed her up. “Stay out of it, Calan. Or did you really only come home to cause more shit?”

Immediately on edge, I felt like this was a me vs. them situation, and I really didn’t like that even Freya seemed to be on his side. “She can fight her own battles, Finlay. Why don’t you stay out of it?”

He scoffed, but his jaw hardened and he kept his mouth shut.