Page 34 of Fake To Forever

“Yeah,” she agrees, her voice a little steadier now. “One step at a time.”

Chapter Thirteen: Evening Swim

Haven

The next few days are a whirlwind. After accepting Christian’s proposal, he doesn’t waste any time and tries to convince me to move in with him and Oliver out at their acreage. I resist and compromise by promising to spend time out there to at least make it appear as though we’re a couple, and then once I’m not feeling so overwhelmed, I’ll start planning to move. After all, that will have to happen, but I really need things to slow down just a bit so I can catch my breath.

Christian and I also need to figure out how we’re going to tell people about our engagement, and that prospect causes me the most stress. I want to go about it carefully. My mom is in a delicate state, after all, and I don’t want to shock her too badly.

But I guess in the end we’re going to have to tell her.

Pulling up to the front of his house, I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself for the evening. He’d suggested that I come over just to hangout. His reasoning that spending time together will make things easier and while I can see the logic in his reasoning, it still seems a bit much.

Like everything is moving very fast. Faster than I guess I expect it to.

Stepping out of the car, I make for the door. Only to see him open it dressed head to toe in a navy blue suit and white shirt, completely catching me off guard.

“Um… what’s going on?”

He gives me an apologetic smile, followed by a soft sigh. “I’m sorry. I meant to call you and completely got sidetracked. Something came up, and I need to go into the office at the local site for something.”

“Oh,” I reply, feeling slightly awkward. “Well, I can head home…”

I wish you would have freaking called me.

“No, no, you stay,” he says firmly. “I want you to start getting used to this place, so you hang out and relax and I’ll be back soon.”

Get used to the place. The idea that he wants me to hangout around his place without him seems a little out there. Though it shouldn’t considering we’re supposed to be engaged.

“Um, okay. What about Oliver?”

“His new nanny is watching him,” Christian explains as he grabs his keys off a small table by the front door. “They’ll likely stay upstairs until Oliver’s bedtime, so you’ll have the run of the place. Feel free to go up and say hi if you want.”

“I really don’t think…”

“It’ll be all right,” he assures me as he hurries past me to leave the house. “I promise, I’ll just be an hour. Maybe two. We’ll talk about the wedding and stuff once I’m home. See you later.”

“Christian, wait!” He’s out the door and gone before I can finish calling him back.

What in the absolute fuck?

I slowly turn and look around the large entryway, totally at a loss for what to do. This isn’t exactly how I planned for my evening to go, but I guess there’s no point in leaving now. Slipping my bag off my shoulder, I set it on the floor. I’d brought a change of clothes and my swimsuit after Christian had insisted, though I don’t know why we would go swimming when we have so much we need to discuss.

Swallowing, I slowly make my way further into the house. I can hear small noises coming from upstairs, which I assume are Oliver and his nanny. Every part of me is screaming to just stay downstairs, but another part of me wants to make sure Oliver is okay.

Paranoia be damned… might as well go see what he’s doing.

Making my way upstairs towards Oliver's room, I stop in the doorway and smile at the sight of the little boy chatting animatedly with an older woman, who’s trying to get him into his pajamas. When Oliver notices me, his eyes go wide and a squeal of delight escapes him.

“Miss Haven!”

“Hi, Oliver,” I say, squatting when he rushes toward me for a hug. “How are you, little man?”

“Good!” He leans back from the hug and stares up at me. “It’s almost bedtime.”

I nod, a smile falling across my lips. “Yes, it is. I just wanted to say hi before you went to sleep.” Standing back up, I smile at the nanny, who’s standing in the middle of the room, watching me curiously. “Hello, I’m Haven. I’m Oliver’s daycare teacher, and… Christian’s fiance.”

Her expression instantly shifts from confusion to realization. “Oh, of course! Mr. Tallow said you would be stopping by. I’m Edna. Pleased to meet you.”

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