Page 63 of Fake Wife

She questions me like this wasn’t the plan. I’d give anything to know what’s going on beneath her golden halo of hair, but I’m also not lying. I’ve got a meeting with the board and my father and I’ve taken long enough getting ready.

Not that it wasn’t worth it.

“Yeah. It’ll take the week to get this place packed up and on the market. After your meeting with Mom, we can move out there.”

Her eyes flare wide open and I laugh softly, walking to her. “I’d give anything to know why this surprises you, Teagan, but we’ll talk tonight when I get back.”

“Okay,” she whispers.

She looks stunned and beautiful with wide, confused brown eyes and her hair hanging down her shoulders. She’s in a simple sweatshirt, pocket in front of her like a hoodie but no hood. Pale pink yoga pants and bare feet, painted red toes poking out on the barstool.

So simple and pure. Easy and complex.

The kind of woman I never thought I’d like and now I can’t get enough of. The kind of woman I don’twantto get enough of. Ever.

“Have a good day, angel.”

Chapter 22

Teagan

William pushes from his chair behind his desk as soon as I enter his office at the library.

“Teagan,” he says, hugging me tightly. “How are you? Mary’s been so sad you haven’t called her yet.”

He pushes me back and I wrap my hands around his arms. The man knows how to bear hug.

“How are you? How’s life?”

He says it with a wink, which tells me he already knows. Of course he does. He does the grocery shopping for them, and he’s been known to throw a gossip rag or two onto the conveyor belt. He claims it’s to assuage Mary’s curiosity of what’s going on in the world, but more than once I’ve caught him flipping through the pages of those same magazines with all the intensity of a hunter in a deer blind.

“I’m good, William. I’m sorry I haven’t called yet.” I spin the ring on my finger. It’s become a habit. The thing is beautiful and heavy and a blatant, unforgettable reminder of what my life’s becoming. “There’s been a lot going on.”

Understatement of the year.

William ushers me into a well-worn and cozy leather chair in a corner of his office and takes a seat in the other one. “Tell me all about it. I have to admit, I was pretty surprised to hear about you and Corbin Lane when you’ve always seemed to be in love with Drake.”

I’d pay all the money Corbin’s supposed to give me to get out of this conversation. That is, if he’s still planning on giving me the money. The sex with him is an incredible, soul-altering experience, but it’s definitely muddled things between us and left me more confused than I’ve been yet when it comes to him.

Which is impressive, really.

I pick at my thumbnail and twist my ring again, then clasp my hands in my lap. Fidgeting doesn’t help anything. “After I left the library last time, I went home and caught Drake cheating on me.”

My cheeks burn. Not from the memory, but who in their right mind wants to talk about sex with a man old enough be their father? Not me.

“Oh.” William blusters, coughs to hide his surprise. “I’m sorry to hear that. And I’m still so very sorry—”

I raise my hand. “It’s fine. No apologies necessary.”

“And Corbin? How does he fit into this?”

You know what? Screw keeping it quiet. Trey and Caitlin know. William and Mary are the only friends I have, and I need someone to talk to.

Blowing out a breath, I look out the window of Portland’s downtown library. A grassy park takes up a city block across the street and there’s a sprinkling of picnic blankets and strollers, women and children playing in the grass, enjoying the summer we don’t get nearly enough of.

“It’s all an act, William.” I can’t bring myself to look at him. Shaking my head, because really, how did I agree to all of this? It sounded so simple, but now it’s all twisted and complicated. “I ran into his car, and he asked me to marry him. He has his reasons for asking, and I had mine for agreeing at the time.”

“I see.”

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