Page 54 of Ten Rules for Faking It
Chris glanced at Everly. “Boss and friend. It’s nice to meet you as well. You have a great home.”
Her father’s chest puffed up with pride. Of course Chris would be good with parents. “Thank you. We like it. Where did you go to school?”
Everly groaned, and her father looked down at her. “What? I can’t ask some questions of your boss and friend?”
Chris chuckled. “It’s fine. I went to NYU. Majored in business and communications.”
Her father nodded, clearly impressed. Everly found herself wanting to ask for more details. She realized that as much as they’d been growing closer, she didn’t reallyknowhim. Otherquestions popped into her brain: Did he miss New York? Did he like California?
“Excellent school,” her dad replied.
They chitchatted some more about schools and degrees before her father narrowed his focus.
“Do you like running the station? Is this where you planned to be?”
Everly’s curiosity tickled her skin. Did he like the station? Was it his dream job? Was it what he’d hoped he’d end up doing?This is exactly why you have to stop thinking you feel something more for him. You haven’t even asked him any of these things.She felt like she’d been self-absorbed and vowed to find out the answers to her questions. Friends knew things about friends, and he’d learned a lot of little things about Everly. She missed Chris’s answer but tuned back in to hear her father’s tone change.
“Well, I can’t say I’m crazy about this segment you’re running with my daughter,” her dad said. “As much as we want her to find someone who makes her happy, I’m not sure the last two men are anywhere near her league.”
“Dad,” Everly muttered.
“If Everly is in any way uncomfortable, I’ll pull it,” Chris said, matching her father’s serious tone.
She was ready for something stronger than water now.
Sensing her discomfort growing, her friends stepped up. “Have you tried Tara’s cream puffs, Mr. D.?” Stacey asked, moving toward her dad.
“They’re delicious,” Tara said, and Everly knew she was boasting for her benefit. Tara was a kick-ass baker, but she was hardly a braggart.
“Come on. You’ve got to try them,” Stacey said, looping her arm through his.
The two women walked off with her dad, letting Everly catch her breath.
“Wow. That was impressive. It was like a tag-team rescuemission. I feel like I made a narrow escape.” He stepped closer, a playful smile hovering as their shoulders brushed.
She laughed before she could count all the reasons she had to be nervous. “They’re well trained. The best in their field.”
Chris laughed, and the sound caused goose bumps along her arms. “Your parents are very invested in your life.”
She nodded, her ribs expanding fully. Some nights, when she got home from social functions, they actually ached from the pressure of standing so still and trying to be invisible. Or worse, from engaging in idle chitchat about things she didn’t care about. She realized, as she stood beside him, breathing normally, that it was becoming easier to be around him. To be her own version of normal.
“They are. They mean well, but they have a lot of opinions about how I should live my life and what I should be doing or should have done by now. Mostly, they just want grandbabies, and it sometimes colors their judgment.”
He glanced down at her, and their eyes held for a beat. “What do you want?”
Wow. Good question.“To survive the night without any embarrassment.”
He nodded like that was a perfectly acceptable answer. They both knew it was a cop-out.
“You?” she heard herself ask.
Chris shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced around her backyard, filled with cousins, aunts and uncles, and acquaintances she’d barely acknowledged.
“To be good at my job,” he said.
For some reason, Everly’s heart sank. It was a good answer, and she wanted the same thing, but part of her hoped for something more. For him to tell her something that would make her feel like she wasn’t imagining the little sparks of chemistry bubbling between them. The sparks that shouldn’t, and couldn’t, exist but flared up without warning. On her part, anyway.
“You are good at your job,” she said, looking away when his gaze came to hers.
