Page 13 of Fake It Till You Break It
“I know. I’m so brilliant that I surprise myself sometimes.” She smirked. “You know when this is over my mom won’t be around to fawn all over you anymore. Can your ego handle it?”
“Well, you know that might be pretty hard. But finally having you out of my life will make it all worthwhile.”
She rolled her eyes so far back that I could see the whites of her eyes. “You just reminded me of a million and one reasons why us being together forrealis such an awful idea.”
“Hey, I’m just stating the truth.”
Mia stood up so quickly that the ends of her hair almost hit my face. The faint smell of her shampoo drifted over to me. Some kind of sweet fruit and flowers. Lilies? Apples? I took a deep breath but couldn’t really figure it out. Would it be weird to ask her? Probably.
I climbed to my feet, too. “So we agree.” Reaching out, I grabbed two champagne glasses from a passing waiter and handed one to Mia. I held it up between us. “We’re going todateso we won’t have todate. To no more Sunday brunches.”
Her eyes twinkled, and she clinked her glass against mine. “And separate dentist appointments.”
As I downed the glass, I couldn’t help thinking that if this actually worked out, then I’d be free of both Finn and Mia from my life. Two birds with one stone.
What started out as a shitty night just turned into a pretty awesome one.
MIA
MOM’S FINGERTIPS BRUSHEDagainst my forehead. “Are you sure you don’t need me to stay home with you? I could make you some soup. How about chao ga?”
Man, chicken congee did sound pretty good. All warm and filling. Especially since this freak cold front blew through overnight and it had been drizzling all day. Still, I mustered up a pathetic little cough and shook my head. “No, you should get dim sum with the Adlers. I’ll probably just sleep or something.”
“It’s actually just Mrs. Adler. Jake suddenly had to work.” Her hand froze and she narrowed her eyes at me. “Which seems suspicious now that I think about it. Are you actually sick? Or is this just a ploy to get out of dim sum?”
Crap, was she onto me?
I laughed. “If Iwantedto get out of something, it wouldn’t be something like dim sum. You know my week is screwed up if I don’t have my steamed pork buns.”
She still looked suspicious, but luckily she pulled away. “All right. Well, I’ll be home in two hours or so. Probably going to talk to the florist about the Wilson wedding before I come home. Let me know if you need anything.”
I snuggled into my pillow and pulled the blanket up to my chin. “I will. Have fun.”
A couple of minutes later, I heard the front door slam shut. I waited at least thirty seconds for her to walk to the car before I jumped up to peek through the blinds. Mom pulled out of the driveway and picked up Mrs. Adler, who was waiting for her on the sidewalk. After they left, Jake popped out of the front door, and my phone immediately buzzed.
Pressing the speaker button, I tossed it on my bed and yanked my baggy T-shirt over my head. “I’m coming out now,” I called out before he could say anything. I rummaged in my dresser and grabbed the first shirt I found to pull on, a dark blue tank with ruffles on the hem. I pulled on a gray cardigan. “Don’t turn the engine off. I’m literally walking out the door right now.”
“Which means it’ll be another five minutes.”
“Ha. HA. Has anyone ever told you how hilarious you are?” I grabbed the phone before slipping on a pair of sandals. “Because they’re lying.”
He snorted. “Don’t be mad just because you can’t appreciate all my awesome qualities.”
“Sorry, there was static. Awesome or awful?”
“Now look who has all the jokes. Can you just get out here so we can get going?”
“Fine,” I said, just to have the last word, because that was important.
As I slipped out the front door, I made sure to pause to fix my hair right in front of the doorbell. It was pulled into a high ponytail that somehow emphasized my ears. Damn. Still, Dumbo ears were better than having my hair in my face all day. And I didn’t need to try too hard to look good for Jake anyway. I tugged on the tendrils around the side of my face to cover my ears for at least a minute before hurrying down the sidewalk.
“What was that for?” Jake asked when I jumped into his car.
“Just making sure my mom saw me leave on the doorbell camera,” I said with a grin. “She should get the notification in a minute or two.”
“You should have told me. I would have parked closer so she could see you get into my car.”
“Don’t worry. The range on that camera is pretty good. We could even see people stealing fruit from the house across the street.” My mom was so observant that she should have been a spy. If she wanted to, I’m sure she could give James Bond a run for his money.
