Page 159 of The Temporary Fiancée
Shane meets my gaze as our father pulls me aside, toward the country club’s entrance hall. He grimaces, then mouths,we’ll talk later.
Once we’re out of earshot of the rest of the party, my father wastes no time getting down to business. “What the hell was that about?”
“What the hell was what about? I was talking to Shane.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” my father snarls. “What were the two of you talking about?”
I steel myself. I was going to have to do this eventually, and there’s no point in drawing it out any longer than I have to—I might as well tell him the truth.
Besides, I’m not sure why I’m assuming that he’ll take this news poorly. I’m a grown man—I make my own decisions, and live my own life. He may have told me to find a fake fiancée for PR reasons, but he doesn’t get to dictate what’s real about my feelings.
And anyway, this will only make things easier, from a PR standpoint. If I only want to be with one woman, it’ll be even more clear to the media that I’m not the same man I once was. He has nothing to complain about.
Still, this entire time, I’ve gotten the sense that my father isn’t exactly Olivia’s biggest fan.
“I want to marry Olivia,” I say. “I want to make this official.”
My father stares at me as if I’ve grown a second head. “You want towhat?”
“Marry her. For real.” Before he can say anything else, I add, “You should be happy about this, right? This will definitely kill my reputation as a playboy, won’t it?”
My father’s scowl deepens, but to my relief, he doesn’t argue the point further. Instead, he nods, unenthused. “Well. So be it, then.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
Stiffly, he shrugs, turning back toward the party. Over his shoulder, he says, “Just be careful, that’s all. A man like you can’t always afford to trust a woman like her.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I can feel my hackles starting to rise—my protective instincts urging me to defend Olivia.
“She might be in this for the wrong reasons, son. Plenty of women are just digging for gold. Don’t be naive enough to let her take advantage of you.”
Anger flares in my chest, but I force it down. There’s no point in starting an argument here—it’ll just create a scene.
As my father heads back into the party, I call after him, “It’s not like that. She’s not like that.”
“We’ll see.” He shrugs again, but doesn’t turn to face me.
Chapter 36
Olivia
By the timethe evening is over, I’m ready for it to be done.
I always feel awkward and stilted around Reed’s parents, and tonight was no exception.
My own parents couldn’t stay for long because of my mother’s health—she’s been doing a lot better lately because of the treatment program, but her doctors have encouraged her to take it easy nonetheless.
Honestly, I was just glad that they were able to come at all. My mother has been doing really well these days. I have plans to meet them for lunch in two days’ time—now that I’m not working constantly, and she’s feeling better, we have the opportunity to spend more time as a family.
But after they leave the country club, there are few people I feel comfortable talking to. I linger in the corner of the room, spending all of my time with Reed if I can help it—or with Shane, whenever he gets drawn into conversations. I try to avoid Cecily and Lionel, but it’s somewhat difficult.
Eventually, Reed ushers me out of the party and into a waiting car in the parking lot. The moment the door closes behind us, I let out a sigh of relief.
Seeming to sense that my social energy is drained, Reed rolls up the partition between us and the driver, giving us our own space in the backseat. He smiles at me wearily, his thumb running over my knuckles on one hand.
“Did you have a good time?” he asks.
“Of course,” I say. I rest my head against the window; the cool glass keeps me awake as I watch the frosted landscape of Long Island slide past. “You’ll have to thank your parents for inviting my family.”
