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There was a flash of something in his dark eyes. Something that made me think, just for one second, that maybe he meant it. Maybe hedidhave feelings for me. I quickly checked myself. None of this could be real.
“Of course, I’ll fake marry you, Bryce.” I forced a bright smile and faked a swoon as I extended my hand. He slipped the ring on and stood up, bringing me into his arms and twirling me around. Despite myself, my heart was full of joy. If nothing else, this was going to be a fun adventure for a while.
Since the lighting was amazing, the photographer had us pose for a few pictures and we both played the part of love-struck partner very well. I knew my heart would break when I saw the photos at the end of all of this.
Bryce left me alone near the car for a few minutes while he tied up loose ends with the boat and the photographer. I twirled the ring on my finger and absentmindedly wondered how much it had cost him.
When he joined me near the car, he reached for my hand and gently kissed my knuckles before helping me inside. Sliding next to me, he grabbed my hand again and, this time, didn’t let it go.
“You left early this morning,” he said so quietly I almost wondered if he was even talking to me.
“I didn’t want to make things… awkward. You don’t seem like the type of guy who likes his evening activities to spill into the morning.”
Bryce frowned, his eyes looking concerned, and his hand squeezed mine.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know exactly what it means. I just didn’t want to overstay my welcome.”
I forced myself to look straight ahead, not at Bryce. But I felt his stare burning into the side of my head and finally gave in to the urge. His eyes were so dark in the dimly lit car they were almost black and gave nothing of his emotions away.
“Reyna. You could never overstay your welcome.” He gave me a crooked smile that didn’t quite reach his eye.
“Why did you do all of this today?” I kept my voice as calm and even as possible. I didn’t want to offend him.
“You know why. We needed to do the proposal so we can kick off…”
I knew it had all been for the photo op, and I couldn’t blame him for that. It was our agreement. But hearing him say it out loud…well, that kind of sucked.
“But why here? We could have just gone somewhere in the city. You didn’t have to get such an extravagant ring. We can keep this simple, Bryce.”
He frowned again and looked thoughtful for a moment. He rubbed a hand across his chin and stared out the window before turning his gaze back to me.
“I don’t know, Reyna. I really don’t. I have no answers. I just wanted to at leasttryto make this special. I know it’s not real, but I also know engagements are a big deal for women. I didn’t want you to just feel used and slap a ring on you at some overcrowded bar on Peachtree Street. Besides, this will make it look more real, more intentional, and more thoughtful.”
I sighed deeply. It all made so much sense and I hated myself just a little for thinking otherwise.
“But we do need to talk about everything and what to do going forward.”
“Before I came here tonight, I started working on an, um, proposal about this project.” I slipped my phone out and pulled up the document to show him. “It’s just a list of things we should do, some specific events that will be high-profile. I’m sure you have more to add to that section. It's just a starting point for general guidelines. I also drafted a questionnaire that we each need to fill out and study. I know we’ve been talking about some of this stuff, but if anyone asks us a basic question and we don’t have an answer, we’re going to look like idiots. We also need a backstory. The most obvious thing would be to talk about this as a whirlwind romance; that could buy us a lot of grace. There’s also the question of my working for you…”
Bryce squeezed my hand again, urging me to stop talking.
“I agree. Email me this proposal and I’ll look at it and fill out the questionnaire. That was a really smart idea. As for backstory, simple is best, right? Mostly the truth mixed in with a bit of fiction. We can say we met at your interview. Sure, it’s a little inappropriate, but not unheard of. Since you don’t actually report to me, I didn’t make a decision on your hiring. We hit it off, went on a few dates, and the rest is history. When you know, you know, right? We’ll tell people that the engagement was quick, but we’re planning a long engagement. We just wanted to commit to the next step.”
I nodded. Everything he was saying made perfect sense.
“We’ll make the engagement announcement on social media. I have a friend at ATL Lifestyle who could run a feature on us. We won’t tell him it’s fake,” he continued. “By the way, we should keep the number of people who know it’s fake to a minimum. And as for events and stuff, I do have several things coming up in the next few months that we can attend to be seen. For the timeline, I think six months should get the job done. That was in the original contract. After that, we can quietly break up – it will be a mutual decision – and I’ll hopefully have a reformed image and if I keep my extracurriculars out of sight, everything should be better.”
I nodded again and turned to stare out the window.
“That all sounds great and more or less what was in my proposal draft. I’ll write all of this up as well, so we both have it.”
“Should I have my lawyers draft another contract?”
I shook my head.
“This part probably shouldn’t go through legal. The original contract outlining the basic terms of reward for a special six-month project should be sufficient.”
