Page 13 of The Lie

“Are you enjoying this?” he asks.

I glance at the flooded kitchen, then back at him. “Somewhat,” I admit.

His jaw tightens, but then, annoyingly, the corner of his mouth twitches like he’s trying not to smile. “Of all the fake jobs you had to give your fake boyfriend, you chose a plumber?”

“Technically, my fake boyfriend didn’t exist, so I had no need to worry about him coming into my grandmother’s home and flooding her kitchen.”

“I’d like to point out that no one ever told me pretending to be a plumber came with actual plumbing requirements.”

This time, I can’t stop the grin that pulls at my lips. Because, as shitty as this situation is, I can’t deny it’s funny.

Bennett smiles back, almost sheepishly, and something strange passes between us. A tiny shift. A crackle in the air that I don’t quite know what to do with.

The moment is broken when Nolan returns. “Crisis diverted,” he says. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

Bennett rolls his eyes, and it’s only then that I realise how close I’m standing to him. I take a step back, followed by another. “Let me get you a towel.”

Heat floods my face as I move down the hallway towards the linen cupboard, my mind replaying the last few seconds on loop.

What in the hell was that?

We’re sitting at the dining table while an actual plumber fixes the leak under the sink. Nolan called someone while Bennett and I cleaned up the mess.

There’s a load of wet towels sitting in the washing machine while I wait for the water to be turned back on, and Bennett’s shirt is in the clothes dryer. Which is why I’m looking anywhere but at him.

I almost swallowed my tongue the minute he removed his shirt, revealing his sculpted abs. The man is cut like diamonds, all sharp edges and glistening skin.

“Is it true you’re not allowed to go home?” I ask my fake boyfriend’s brother.

Nolan lifts one shoulder. “I’ll go home after Bennett takes me to dinner.”

“I’m not taking you to dinner,” he growls. “And she has no right to keep you away from your own home. You own it, she just lives there.”

“It’ll be half hers once we tie the knot.”

“Along with all your other properties. That’s why you need to listen to me and let me draw up the prenup I’ve been begging you to do.”

“Why would I do that? It’s setting yourself up for failure. A prenup’s only useful if your marriage doesn’t stand to last.”

“Or it’s useful if you’re smart enough to protect everything you’ve built before emotions get involved,” Bennett grumbles.

“You make marriage sound like a business transaction.”

“Because when millions of dollars are involved, it is a business decision as much as it’s a personal one.”

Nolan shakes his head. “You know, for a guy who’s supposedly in love with Poppy, you have a very depressing way of looking at marriage.”

“It’s fake, you dick. I told you that. And I’m not against marriage per se, it’s just the woman you’ve chosen to betroth.”

“Leave my fiancée alone.”

“I will when she stops busting your balls and spending your hard-earned money.”

“She’s just prickly at times, and I wouldn’t exactly call my empire hard-earned. Thanks to Granny and the trust funds she left us.”

“Irrelevant. That woman you’re engaged to has horns. You know it, I know it, and so does our mother.”

“Mum’s just doing what all mothers do. Nobody is good enough for her baby boy. I’m right, aren’t I, Pop? I bet your mum is exactly the same.”