Page 45 of Fake It For Him

She started sliding off the stool, but I shook my head at her as I poured myself a glass of wine from the same bottle. That moan of hers had made my mouth water, and while I didn’t usually drink wine, I suddenly wanted exactly what she was having that elicited that kind of response.

“No, it’s okay. I can handle pasta. Just relax.” Shit. I’m not supposed to be telling her what to do anymore. I cleared my throat. “What I mean is that you can just sit back if you want. I’m sure Freya had you on your feet all day. You must be exhausted.” I carried the pot full of water along with my glass back to the stove.

Ella’s green eyes tracked my every move. “It was actually really fun. We got along wonderfully and she spoiled me rotten, which makes me feel like absolute shit for lying to her about who I am to you, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Of course, she wouldn’t.” I chuckled. “Freya has a bit of a shopping problem, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Always has had one. I think she got it from my mother. Those two can destroy the inventory of any boutique they set foot in. Did you really have fun?”

“Does it matter?” she asked.

I turned on the heat and then leaned against the counter, waiting for the water to boil. “Yeah, it does actually. I’d be happy if you really had fun, but all I want to know is the truth.”

Ella stared back at me for a beat. Then her lips stretched into a soft smile. “We really did have fun. I actually had a much better time than I expected.”

Well, I hadn’t expected to like hearing that she’d had such a good time, but a strange flare of warmth in my chest said that I did, in fact, like hearing it. I ducked my head to take a sip of my wine, making sure that the frown that had tugged my eyebrows together at the realization was wiped clean before I looked at her again.

“That’s good news. I’ll admit, I was a bit worried about you earlier. And about her. I thought maybe I’d been too pushy about you joining her.”

She arched a brow at me, but since there was still amusement glittering in her eyes, I wasn’t too worried. “Oh, you were definitely too pushy, but it’s okay. I actually feel like Freya and I could have been close friends in another life.”

My heart gave a dull thud. “You don’t think it’s going to happen in this life?”

Her other eyebrow joined the first in being raised, a sad smile tugging at the very corners of her lips. “She’s a wonderful person, but let’s not kid each other. She and I can’t be friends, not for real. Not unless I can tell her the truth, which I obviously can’t do.”

As she peered at me, I sensed that there was something else that she wanted to say and I nodded at her. “Whatever it is, just let it out, Ella. You’ve already told me that my house is too dark and that it feels unlived in. You might as well tell me what else is on your mind.”

Her lips pursed as she thought it over, but then she took a deep breath. “Freya really misses you, Calan. I might be crossing a line here, but I think she really needs you in her life. To feel like you’ve still got her back.”

The words made me stop what I was doing and I nearly dropped the handful of pasta I’d just taken out on the floor. If this was what she wanted to talk about, then she was damn right that she was crossing the line.

Which begs the question, why am I not even a little bit annoyed by her right now?

24

ELLA

It was official. Spending all that time with his sister today had made me way too comfortable with the man himself. I’d definitely said the wrong thing.

It’d been at least a minute and I didn’t think Calan had so much as drawn another breath. He’d frozen while he’d been turning to drop some pasta into the pot, and he was still standing exactly as he had been, his body turned halfway toward the stove and his hand still clutching the pasta above the bubbling surface of the water.

Yep. I crossed a line. Damn it.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it,” I said. “I probably shouldn’t even have brought it up, but I sensed a lot of sadness in Freya today while she was talking to me about it. She still seems pretty heavily impacted by everything that happened between you and Finn’s fiancée. I just thought you should know.”

At the words, his shoulders stiffened and his eyes tightened at the corners. “Do you really think I don’t know that?”

Oh, there he is. Mr. Gruff is back.

I managed to bite my tongue at first, watching as he finally opened his fist and dropped the pasta into the pot. Once that was done, he strode over to his freezer and pulled out a package of premade, frozen sauce.

Since he hadn’t kicked me out yet and it looked like he was still going to cook me dinner, I decided to test my luck. My curiosity around his family and why he’d done what he had would continue to gnaw at me and I had to at least try to get some answers.

Otherwise, I might never know. While it was none of my business, it felt like maybe it was. Just a tiny bit.

“Have you, uh, have you had a conversation with Freya since it happened?” I asked before I could stop myself. “It just seems like she’s got a lot of unanswered questions and I think it might help if you talked to her.”

He grunted, but he didn’t tell me off. Instead, he emptied the contents of the package into a pan he put on the burner and persisted with his cooking.

“Have you really tried to make amends with them? I think you might be able to bring healing to your family if you do. Of course, making amends means taking responsibility for your actions, but they already know you did it. All they want is an explanation about why you did.”