Page 25 of The Marriage Playbook

“You’re coming to dinner,” she told him. “This is important. This is our first chance to display our relationship in public. So you’re going to put on the nicest clothes you have, escort me to dinner, and act like you’re madly in love with me for two hours of your life. Remember, we’re doing all this for your sake, so the least you could do is get on board.”

He got to his feet, his eyes narrowed. “It isn’t all for my sake,” he told her. “I’ve overheard you talking on the phone with your boss. I know this is huge for your career…or that you’re going to get fired if we don’t pull it off.”

“I’m not going to get fired,” Cara bit back. But she wasn’t completely sure about that. Liam was right in that this was an all-or-nothing proposition for her. When the marriage ended, she would either be hailed as a resounding success or consigned to utter failure. She hadn’t realized that he had absorbed so much of that, but given their close quarters, it made sense. “Okay, you’re right. I do have a lot on the line here, just like you do. So if you can’t tear yourself away from the football game for your own sake, do it for mine.”

She expected more scoffing, but to her surprise, Liam just nodded and got to his feet. “Okay,” he said. “Fine. We’ll go to dinner. Since it’s free anyway, we might as well.”

An hour later, they stepped out of the elevator on the top floor, where the hotel restaurant was located.

Cara’s clothing had made it to her, thankfully, including her favorite little black cocktail dress. It hung to her mid-thighs and fit her miraculously, hugging every curve as if it had been made for her. Every time she put it on, she marveled at the fit, at how sexy it made her feel.

It didn’t hurt that tonight she was on the arm of a devastatingly handsome man. For all her struggles with his personality, Liam’s looks couldn’t be denied. His suit probably had been made for him, and she found herself falling a few steps behind him every now and then so she could get a look at the line of his thigh or the curve of his butt.

Completely unprofessional. But then, when it came to professionalism, they were off the edge of the map already. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen him checking her out the other day when she’d been forced to wear that sexy bathrobe in front of him.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t spent every waking moment since then wondering what he had thought about it.

Their table turned out to be in a secluded corner next to a wide window that overlooked the city. The waiter presented a bottle of wine. “This is our Burgundy,” he explained as he uncorked it. “We take great pride in it, and the owner wanted to share it with you.”

“That’s very kind,” Liam said with a smile.

The waiter smiled back, poured the wine, and inclined his head. “We’re bringing you our chef’s choice menu tonight, if that’s all right, so I’ll be back with your appetizers.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Liam agreed.

The waiter retreated. Cara waited until he was out of earshot. “So is that all completely fake?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Liam swirled his glass of wine, studying the liquid, and then took a drink.

“You do know what I’m talking about,” Cara countered. “When we’re around other people, you’re as nice as can be. But we both know you aren’t like that all the time. If you were, you wouldn’t be in this predicament.”

“Nobody is nice all the time.” Liam didn’t seem to have taken umbrage at her comment. If anything, he looked amused. “I’m nice more often than you are.”

“That isn’t true at all.”

“It is,” he countered. “I’ve never seen you be sweet to anyone. I’ve never seen you smile when I didn’t think it was pretend. You’re always serious, and you’re usually bitter.”

“I am not bitter.”

“You are. You’re being bitter right now, snapping at me instead of enjoying this nice meal you wanted to come to so badly,” he pointed out. “Why can’t you put your weapons down and just have a good time for a few hours?”

“We’re not here to have a good time,” Cara said. “And in case I have to remind you, you didn’t even want to come, Liam. If we had gone with what you thought was going to be a good time, you would still be sat on the couch watching your team lose.”

The smile dropped off his face.

Just then, the waiter returned with two plates of salad. “This is our award-winning pear and goat cheese,” he announced, setting a plate in front of each of them. “And as a special treat for your honeymoon, the chef’s bacon-wrapped dates as well.” He placed a single plate of the dates in the middle of the table.

Liam’s smile was back as if it had never left. “Thank you so much. Everything looks delicious!”

Cara was hard-pressed not to roll her eyes, but she knew she needed to keep things professional. She smiled at the waiter. “These look wonderful.”

“You know, I’ve been a Stingers fan for years,” the waiter confessed. “I hope you don’t mind me saying that. I was devastated when you were kicked off the team, but…well, now I’m thinking that was just a story the team put out in order to save face, right? Because you really broke your contract in order to get married?”

“That’s right,” Cara said.

“No,” Liam said at the same time.

She stared at him. What had made him answer no? This was perfect. Public opinion was swaying back to his side. It was exactly what they’d wanted.