Page 51 of Matched with Her Fake Fiance

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis,” Dani says, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

“I’m Miles Clark.” I step forward, with my hand outstretched for her to shake but she doesn’t see it as she takes a seat at the counter.

Harper chews on a piece of gum loudly and nods. “Nice to meet you. You’re the one willing to put up with our sister for life?”

“Harper,” their mother crows. “Marriage isn’t a life sentence.”

She sits down and leans on the table. “For some it is.”

“Where’s Mal?” Dani asks, turning her focus to her mother.

“She should be here in a minute. We ran out of sugar and asked the neighbors if we could borrow some.”

Running footsteps sound along the hallway and I turn to see who I assume is another sister of Dani’s.

“Is dinner ready, Mom? I’m starving. I think I could eat a whole elephant right now.”

I start to chuckle and the girl looks up at me. “Hey, new person. I’m Sami. Youngest but coolest of the Higgins siblings.”

I laugh harder at that. This family doesn’t lack for confidence. “Miles. Nice to meet you.”

The door opens and in walk two other women, one of whom doesn’t look like she is part of the family. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a room with so many women. And that was only for a business meeting.

“Ah, this must be the mystery man Dani is going to marry,” the one on the left says. “I’m Mallory, second youngest in the family. And this is Rachelle, Landon’s wifey.”

“Ugh, why do you have to say it like that?” Harper says, twirling her gum around her pointer finger.

Dani rushes over and throws her arms around Rachelle’s neck. “It’s so good to see you. How was your honeymoon?”

The woman smiles and I feel like I’m in the dark with all this. We need a longer discussion about our families and our past to put all this together.

“It was so great. Perfect, even. We just got back this morning when we got the call. Apparently, Dani getting engaged is enough to hold two family game nights in one month.” Rachelle smiles wide, but there’s no malice in it. “I’m so excited for you.” She leans forward and whispers something, to which Dani responds back.

Landon comes back in, walking over to stand next to me. “I have to say, man. Dani keeping a relationship quiet is kind of a big deal. How’d you do it?”

I pull at the collar of my t-shirt and say, “I’m just as surprised myself.” Then, figuring I might as well get more information about the members of the family, I say, “Where did you two go on your honeymoon?”

And just like that, the hard exterior softens and Landon grins over at his wife. “We stayed at a resort on one of the islands where our ship stopped on the cruise. It had a lot of meaning, since it was our second attempt at getting married. I recommend it if you want a tropical honeymoon. And they have amazing room service.” Landon winks and it takes me a second to understand what he means.

“That’s great,” I say, glancing over to make sure Dani isn’t listening in. "You were engaged before?”

He nods, his smile falling a bit. “High school sweethearts, a month out from the wedding, and Rachelle’s sister convinced me I would ruin Rachelle’s life if we got married. We were apart a year before reuniting on the cruise.”

Maybe that’s why Dani’s sister had thought Dani would get back together with her ex. “Congratulations on the nuptials. What line of work are you in?”

“Real estate.”

Then everything starts to click as I remember Oliver talking with Dani at dinner. “I think I remember that. Roman is the owner of the company, correct?”

Landon’s surprise makes me smile even more. “How’d you know that?”

“I’m good friends with one of his frat brothers from college. We made the connection when Dani was talking about the PopCandy earbuds you brought her from London.”

There is pressure near my elbow, and I look down to see Dani’s hands resting there and surprise on her face. “You remembered that?”

I shrug, not wanting to blurt out that I’ve carefully listened to everything she’s mentioned in the past two weeks. Sure, I might’ve forgotten a few things, but I want to get to know her more, wondering if she’s starting to feel the same way I am about our relationship.

“All right, everyone,” Mama Higgins says. “We’re so excited to have you all here tonight. We’ll go ahead and begin with the food and then pull out the games.”

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