Page 60 of The CEO I Hate

“Or maybe you can get him to use your pool,” Mia said. “I’ve read a lot about aquatic therapy recently. It can be great for balance and improving range of motion for wheelchair users. Even helps with pain management. Maybe he’d be up for it at your place versus a public pool. Lord knows when my mother mentioned it months ago, he said no immediately.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see if I can find a certified instructor willing to come out to the house first.” I cleared my throat. “Speaking of your mother, I was actually a little surprised Jake knew I’d be coming to dinner at your parents’.”

“Sorry,” she said. “Forgot to tell you I mentioned it to him. I just figured if Ihadn’ttold him, he’d have heard about it from Mom or Dad, and then he would have wondered why we hid it from him. Better to keep him in the loop so he knows it isn’t real.”

I nodded slowly.

“Because itisn’treal,” she said, her voice quiet…uncertain. “Right?”

Her question stirred up that guilt in my chest again. It couldn’t be real. Iknewthat. But I also couldn’t stop thinking about her. Fantasizing about her. And frankly, sitting next to her on her couch, while she looked so incredibly soft and kissable—and most definitely wasn’t wearing a bra—wasn’t helping me stay strong. At all.

“Liam,” she said softly. “Why can’t it be real?”

It wasn’t a joke, and it wasn’t a challenge.

This was just…Mia.

“Youknowwhy, Mia,” I said with as much conviction as I could muster—because looking at her now, I was having a hard time remembering why myself.

20

MIA

“Okay, how do you want to play this?” I asked, sitting in the passenger seat of Liam’s ridiculously fancy Porsche—the one Sophie had offered to help me throw bologna at. The car purred as it sped through Valley Village. It was gorgeous, yes, but I couldn’t relax in it at all, constantly afraid I was going to scuff the leather or get grubby fingerprints on something.

I’d wanted to take my old, reliable beater, but Liam hadn’t thought said hunk of junk wasfake-dateworthy. So, he’d picked me up in thisthing, revving the engine like some dude-bro, and I’d rolled my eyes as he’d hopped out to open my door.

“Practice makes perfect,” he’d said when I’d complained about the carandhim opening my door. “D’you want to sell this to your parents or not?”

Now we were about to pull up in front of the house, and I was wondering exactly that. Howwerewe going to sell this to my parents? Maybe we should hold hands or flirt or look adoringly into each other’s eyes. We hadn’t exactly discussed the logistics of this fakerelationship. And it was fake.Onlyfake. The butterflies in my gut needed to take a long hike.

“I figure we’ll go in there, I’ll look your dad straight in the eye and say, ‘Sir, I’d like to court your daughter,’ and then he’ll probably?—”

“Oh, you’ve got jokes?” I said as Liam cracked an uncharacteristically carefree smile. Seeing him like this warmed my chest in a way I tried not to think too hard about.

“Fine, fine, no more joking. I’m taking this seriously—I swear,” he said as the car swerved into the driveway. It was unnervingly smooth.

An unfamiliar vehicle was parked on the street in front of the house, and I glared at it, wondering what kind of terrible suitor my parents had summoned tonight.

“Think of it this way,” Liam said. “Whoever he is, he can’t possibly be worse than toilets.”

“I wouldn’t underestimate my parents.”

“Let’s put on a good show then.” He climbed out of the car, rounded the front end to open my door, and held his hand out for me. My heart raced as our hands touched, and I willed the feeling away.

None of this was real! It was all a show. I sucked in a deep breath as we climbed the porch steps.Here goes nothing.

“Hey!” I called, announcing our presence as we walked through the door. I toed off my shoes, lining them up next to Liam’s. “We’re here!”

“We?” my mother called from the kitchen. “We who?”

She appeared at the end of the hall, clad in her company-approved blush and frilly apron, wearing an uncertain smile. It relaxed the moment she laid eyes on us. “Oh, Liam,” she said. “What a surprise! It’s good to see you.”

“Hi, Harriet,” Liam said, flashing her a brilliant smile. “Whatever you’ve got cooking smells amazing.”

I glanced over at him. God, he reminded me of Finn when he laid on the charm that thick.

My mother beamed. “It was nice of you to drive Mia. Did Jake ask you to? I’m guessing Mia’s car finally gave up the ghost. I told you it looked like it was on its last legs, dear.”

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