Page 18 of The Perils of Pretending
“I’m quite the catch. Don’t be so certain you won’t love me by the end.”
She rolls her eyes and shoves my shoulder. “Not a chance. Well,boyfriend, should we head back to the gate?”
I hold my hand out to her. “Yes, Princess, let’s.”
She slaps her hand in mine. “You really have to stop calling me that,” she pouts. “You make it sound derogatory.”
After touching each other nonstop the last two hours, I should be used to Sadie being familiar with me, but her palm against mine is…nice. Warmth like the morning sun shining through windows runs up my arm. Man, I really need to start dating again so simple touches don’t make me react this much. It’s ridiculous how toasty and bubbly my insides are over a simple handhold. “Is this our first argument as a couple?”
“It’s only a fight if you don’t listen to me.”
I never meant it in a mean way. She legitimately reminds me of a modern princess with her long hair, big brown eyes, and cute black glasses. But it’s more how she’s not afraid to stand up for herself that makes me associate her with royalty. “I’m not ababeperson. Princess is better.”
“Whatever. Just don’t overuse it.”
I grin. “Anything for you, Princess.”
“Ugh,” she grunts, dragging me back to her grandma.
This is turning out better than I hoped. Alice will hopefully leave Sadie alone. Brody and Michelle know, so the people she cares about most are in on it, and we don’t even have to do anything except sit by each other for another flight.
If fake dating was this easy, I would have done it earlier.
Chapter 7
Sadie
“Grandma,thisisMax,”I say, pointing to my new pretend boyfriend. “Max, this is my grandma Alice.”
Grandma’s gaze rakes up and down Max’s body, assessing him like he’s an object. Her disapproval of his attire is apparent in her turned-down lips.
The first question out of Grandma’s mouth is, “What do you do for a living, young man?”
I hold back an eye roll. Her tone isn’t one of curiosity. She’s asking because she wants to know if Max is good enough according to her standards. Here’s the thing, Max works at a school just like Dad did. The moment she finds out Max isn’t a millionaire, she’ll push Dorian back on me.
I put my hand on Max’s stomach, stopping him from answering. (His abs shouldn’t be so hard under my palm. Really, this guy needs an exterior that matches his sarcastic interior.) “What Max does for work doesn’t matter. What you should ask is if Max enjoys what he does, and the answer is yes. Right,babe?” If he can keep calling me princess, I can totally say babe, especially since he said he wasn’t that kind of guy. Too bad for him, I’m that kind of girl.
“That’s accurate. I like my job most of the time.”
Brody and Mom arrive, holding out bags of subs, stopping Grandma from saying anything else to Max.
My shoulders deflate, relieved they interrupted the interrogation.
“Alice,” Max says. “I noticed you don’t have lunch. Would you like to share some of mine?”
My heart goes as soft as a puddle of syrup. Aw, that’s really sweet of Max to offer Grandma food, considering she’s been nothing but mean since she found me.
Grandma turns her nose up in the air. “I have a meal ordered through the airline.”
Mom’s head tilts to the side. “I didn’t know they still did that. Does it taste any good?”
“Max and I can go get you something else if you prefer?” Brody offers.
I should be doling out my services to Grandma, but I really don’t want to. I say nothing, holding on to Max’s hand.
Grandma huffs. “Really, you all act like I’m a toddler unable to feed herself. I said I have it covered. Leave it be.”
I keep my sass to myself.Sorry for people wanting to do something kind for you. Must be a foreign feeling.
