Page 40 of Single Dad's Fake Bride
My fingers hovered over the keyboard.
I could've ignored the message, pretended I had never seen it.
Gone home that night to my empty apartment and spent the evening figuring out how to stretch twenty-seven dollars until next payday.
Or I could take the leap that terrified and tempted me in equal measure.
Before I could second-guess myself, I typed out a response.
Sadie: 3:52 PM: Can we talk again tonight?
I hit send before courage abandoned me.
The answer came immediately.
Harrison: 3:52 PM: Of course. My place, 8 PM? Or would you prefer somewhere else? I’ll send you my address.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
This was happening.
I was actually considering this insane proposal from a man who could buy and sell my entire life without noticing the expense.
Sadie: 3:53 PM: Your place works. See you then.
Harrison: 3:53 PM: Looking forward to it.
I slipped the phone back into my pocket and returned my attention to the classroom, but everything felt different then.
The children's laughter sounded brighter, even though they should've been focusing, and the sunshine was warmer on my face as I looked toward the window.
For the first time in months, possibility existed beyond mere survival.
That night, I would sit across from Harrison Vale and decide whether to sign my life away for five years.
The terrifying part wasn't that I might say yes.
It was that I already wanted to.
9
HARRISON
Ihad never been good at dinner parties.
The realization hit me as I stood in my kitchen, staring at the table I'd set three times already.
The plates looked wrong—too formal for a Tuesday night—but my normal stuff was too casual for what I was trying to accomplish.
I moved the wine glasses again, then stepped back and wondered what the heck I was doing.
Sadie would arrive in twenty minutes.
Eloise was at her sitter's house for the evening, giving me the first real privacy I'd had in months.
The chicken was in the oven, the salad was tossed, and I'd somehow managed to find a playlist on my phone that didn't sound completely ridiculous.
But standing there in my own dining room, I felt more nervous than I had during any board meeting or client presentation.
