Page 45 of The Charade

She was going to make me beg for this, wasn't she?

I sighed. "AndIwould be the one who would be lucky to spend the evening in the company of a goddess like yourself."

A slow smile lifted her lips. "Keep going…"

What? She wanted even more groveling?

I shook my head, not believing that this was actually happening to me.

Since when did I ever have to beg a girl to give me the time of day?

Since never, that's when.

Well, until I met Ava Cohen, apparently.

But I really didn't want to go downstairs alone and spend more energy flirting with some random girl only to have to tell her afterwards that it meant nothing. "You like shopping, right?"

All girls liked shopping, didn't they? At least Dawn and Cambrielle certainly ran up huge bills on their credit cards whenever they went out for a girls’ weekend in New York.

"If I'm the one doing the shopping, then yes, I enjoy it," she said.

"Okay, so how about if you help me put on a show so good that Sofia believes we're actually boyfriend and girlfriend, then I’ll take you to any boutique you want in Eden Falls tomorrow and buy you whatever you want for a hundred dollars or less?"

She studied me for a moment, pursing her pink lips like she was thinking things over. After the longest ten seconds of my life, she shrugged and said, "Add in lunch at the nicest restaurant in town and it's a deal."

"Seriously?" I asked. Spending the next two hours by my side was that big of a chore?

"Cambrielle said there would be a lot of cute guys here tonight. And according to our non-exclusive arrangement, I should still be able to go on dates with other guys. So if I'm going to miss out on flirting with them tonight and pretend that we're actually dating, I think I deserve some sort of reward." She folded her arms across her chest and shifted most of her weight to one foot to tell me that was her final offer.

This girl was the one to come up with the whole fake-dating plan in the first place, but now she was expecting a real day date?

But since I didn't want her to add any other requests into the mix, I sighed and said, "Okay, fine. A shopping date and lunch."

"Great. It's adate." A satisfied smile lifted her lips before she slid her arm through mine. "I can't wait to see you show everyone what a huge crush you have on me tonight."

The crushIhad onher?

I considered telling her that it should be the other way around—that Ava would be showing Sofia how amazing she thought I was—but decided it was pointless. Ava did things her way and only a fool would mess around with this girl.

17

Carter

"Should we grab some food?"I asked Ava when we walked onto the terrace behind my house. There were about thirty kids from school scattered around the stone patio and on the grassy area below, most with plates of food already made up as they sat and chatted happily with each other.

Our chef, Marie, had done a great job with the menu as always. We had decided on hamburgers and grilled chicken for the main dish, along with vegan burgers for our friends who didn't eat meat, and then there were various side dishes lined out on the banquet-style table to fit anyone's tastes.

"I haven't eaten anything since lunch, so yes, let’s get food now," Ava said.

I grabbed two thick plastic plates with a hammered gold design, handing one to Ava. We went down the table, telling the servers which foods to add to our plates.

After Sofia broke up with me, I'd decided to focus on building up my muscle tone as my own little form of revenge—hoping that when she saw me at school again, she'd regret casting me aside for Simon. So, I asked for extra portions of the grilled chicken because I could always use more protein. And even though Marie's famous strawberry pretzel Jell-O salad was calling my name as I passed it on the table, I had a server put a big helping of the green salad and grilled asparagus on my plate instead.

When our plates were full, I made a quick survey of the area to see where Sofia and Simon were. They must be still inside since I didn't see them anywhere on the terrace or at the grassy area below. I led Ava to a table near the edge of the terrace that overlooked the pool and gardens.

"Do you always eat so healthily?" Ava commented after glancing at my plate once we were seated.

"I try to for most meals," I said. "Why?"

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