Page 11 of Her Inconvenient Wedding Date

“True.” Or maybe not. I won’t lie—the thought of Lily wrapping her arms around my torso and squeezing me tight kind of makes me wish I’d choked that day. Hopefully I won’t have to put my life in danger to experience being thatclose to her. Speaking of danger, I see some red flags in her plan that we need to talk about. “You said you’re going to talk your mom into letting your sister set a wedding date and send out invitations. What do we say when they ask aboutourwedding plans? I thought the whole point was for you to get married first?”

She nods thoughtfully. “That’s a valid point. The thing is… how do I put this? My parents, especially my mom, won’t be easy to deal with. They’re going to have some concerns when they meet you.”

“What do you mean?” Her ominous tone sends a shiver down my spine. “They don’t force prospective sons-in-law to eat pineapple on their pizza, do they?”

She smirks. “Not that I know of, but they do have a list of requirements for what they want in a son-in-law. Unfortunately, you meet all of them except for one.”

“Which one?” It’s not beneath me to work on myself if it will earn me brownie points with Lily’s parents. “I’m open to changing.”

“This isn’t something you can change.”

“Try me.”

“They want me to marry a Chinese guy.”

“Oh.” My insides twist into a tangled knot. Forget red flags, we’ve just entered sirens and flares territory. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised about this requirement, given what I’ve learned about Chinese culture, but it’s still hard to swallow. Forcing out a smile, I joke, “And I thought being forced to eat pineapple on pizza would be hard to beat.”

“Yeah.” She sighs, her expression pained. “It’s a silly requirement and not fair at all, if you ask me. I wish it wasn’t like this.”

“So, how is it going to work then? How do I get their blessing?” Our engagement may be pretend, but my question is asreal as can be. I have faith that God can do the impossible. I’ve seen Him change hearts before.

“Well, I’m hoping that once they meet you and see what a good guy you are, they’ll bend the rules. They’ll have to approve of your heart.”

I’d like to bask in the glow of Lily’s compliment, but I can’t shake the concern tightening my chest. “That’s kind of you to say, Lil, but what if they don’t?”

“I guess the next step then would be to elope.”

“Elope?” I can’t tell if she’s being serious, but I’m afraid to ask. It’s one thing to agree to marry her, but another thing to cross her parents by eloping. I’m pretty sure I’d never earn their trust and respect that way.

“Don’t worry,” Lily says, “I’m kidding. My mom would never forgive me if I didn’t give her the chance to throw a ten-table wedding banquet. We’ll cross that path if—when—we come to it. For now, let’s focus on you meeting them first. It’s like writing code. We’ll take it one line at a time.”

One line at a time—right. I can write code in my sleep, but meeting my fake fiancée’s parents? I’m going to need a crash course for that.

It’s time to call in the experts on Chinese culture—my parents.

CHAPTER 7

Lily

“Obviously,if I was serious about having a relationship with someone long-term, the last people I would introduce him to would be my family.” ~Chelsea Handler

“Eloping doesn’t seem like such a bad idea right now,” I murmur to Jasmine under my breath.

“You can still escape, Jie. It’s not too late.” She gestures over her shoulder. We exchange cringe-filled looks as we hide in the far corner of Pearl Bay, an upscale Chinese restaurant that serves dim sum for lunch. “I’ll create a diversion while you sneak out the back door.”

“You know I’d have to go into the witness protection program if I did that. Ma would never forgive me.” I slump against the wall, not even caring that my blouse is getting wrinkled. My gaze flits over to the large fish tanks beside us and their unsuspecting seafood residents. The poor fish and crabs have no idea they’re the ones on the menu, just like I had no clue my mother was going to turn our casual meal into a glorified engagement party. And I’m the one who’s about tobe fed to the wolves—aka my Chinese aunties. “I should’ve known something was fishy when we walked in here and a third of the restaurant was empty. That never happens on a Saturday.”

Jasmine nods. “Right? I have no idea how Ma was able to reserve five tables so last minute. Or how she got so many of our relatives to come. You only told her about Hunter yesterday!”

“Never underestimate our mother. When she wants something done, any-fin is possible.”

“Uh-oh. You’re talking in puns. You only do this when you’re stressed out.” Her perfect brows furrow as she sighs. “Are you sure about this, Jie? I don’t want you to marry a random guy just so I can start planning my wedding. It’s not worth it.”

“Hunter’s not a random guy, he’s my coworker. And it will be so worth it to finally see you and Bruce get married. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I am fine,” I reassure her and myself. “I’m more than fine. I’m fin-tastic, just fin-tastic.”

“Yikes.” She shakes her head, giving me a pitying look. “That’s two puns in the last minute.”

“Three,” I correct her. “You missed the first one where I said something was fishy.”

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