Page 50 of The Boss I Can't Stand
Lord, please don’t let this be about her wedding dress again. “No, I was just about to head off though.”
“In my fancy, high-tech, Sierra-proof car,” Finn added.
“Quiet,” I mouthed, shoving at him and moving to the other end of the island so my mom wouldn’t hear.
Finn clutched his arm, pretending to be injured. I smirked at his dramatics, covering the speaker. I hadn’t told her about the…situation yet, because fake or not, I knew she’d freak out.
You’re sharing a penthouse with a gorgeous billionaire? He kissed you in his super private art studio? You kissed him back and it’s all you can think about but none of it is real?Mom would hound me endlessly for updates.
“What’s that?” Mom said.
“Nothing, nothing.” I said, turning away from Finn. “Just talking to Ro.”
“How’s she doing?” Mom asked.
“She’s really good,” I said. “Busy with work. The usual.”
“So good!” Finn piped up, his voice pitched into a squeaky falsetto.
I shot him a glare, eyes narrowed. “Knock it off!” I mouthed.
“Or what?” he mouthed back.
Boy, he was in a rare mood this morning. I tried really hard to find it annoying, but I couldn’t help being helplessly endeared by the chance to see the guy he was when no one else was looking. “Hey Mom, I gotta run. Can I call you later?”
“Sure thing, honey. Have a good day.”
I hung up, put my hands against the island, and clicked my nails. “Really?”
“What?” he said, all faux innocence as he sent off a message on his phone.
“I would like not to have to explain this complicated dynamic to my mother,” I said, gesturing between us.
“You don’t want your mother to know about your fiancé?” He waggled his eyebrows. “Does that make me your dirty little secret?”
“Are you going to make a habit of being this annoying in the mornings?”
“Only on days that end inY, Cinderella.” He walked toward me, reaching for the file he’d left on the counter, momentarily pinning me in place as he gazed into my eyes. My blood ran hot.
Damn, he shouldn’t be allowed to smell that good, to wear that cologne that made me want to bury my nose in his neck and spend an hour or so just breathing him in. “It just really doesn’t feel like a good morning until I’ve made you huff in frustration at least once.”
I swallowed hard, my eyes falling to his lips for a second. Then he grabbed the file and stepped away, and I could breathe again. I stuffed half the muffin in my mouth to give myself something to do other than staring after him—and yet somehow, I found myself staring after him anyway, even as I chewed.
I couldn’t help it. I wasalwayslooking at him. And Lord Meowington was always looking at me. The cat sat on the counter across from me, giving me a slow, judgy blink. I rolled my eyes, thoughts drifting back to Finn.
Part of me had been content with becoming an old maid, working until my fingers were too arthritic to sew and my vision was gone. But I was starting to think that something like this—silly mornings and evenings spent discussing our day and steamy kisses—might not be so bad.
Not with Finn, of course.
This business arrangement was to make sureEvery Daywas a raging success, that I got to stick it to Trey, and that Ro got her big directorial debut. But someday, with the right someone…Maybe this sort of thing wouldn’t be so bad.
I swallowed a heap of emotion as Finn scowled down at his phone, sending off a flurry of messages.Poor Brenna, I thought, more fondly than usual. Then I caught myself. No fondness. Nope, not here. Not from me. Because soon this would all be over, and I’d go back to my real life where there would be no more scripted kisses or Ro-directed dates.
“You almost ready?” Finn asked without looking up from his phone.
“Just let me pop the coffee in a to-go cup.” I turned to the counter only to find that he’d already done it while I’d been on the phone. My heart lurched against my chest. In many ways, he played the part of fiancé perfectly, even when there was no one around to see it but me.
And I kind of hated that.
