Page 11 of The Fake Fiance's Billionaire Adversary
Her eyebrows hit her hairline. “Are you trying to talk me out of it?”
Shaking his head, he said, “No, but I want you to know what you’re agreeing to. I don’t want you blindsided when we get there.”
“Fair enough. There’s one more thing I want.”
“What’s that?” he asked, eyeing her.
“I want everything in writing. That way we both know what is expected of the other.” She took a bite of food and washed it down with some tea.
While he mulled it over, he finished the last few bites of his meal. “That’s fair. I’ll need to know what will get you current, the tally of a year’s worth of payments, and estimates on the upgrades.”
“I’ll get the number together, and you’ll have them in the next twenty-four hours.”
“That’s not much time to get estimates,” he replied.
She smiled. “I know what things need to be fixed. Before the hurricane hit, my plan for the equity loan was to fix those things.”
“Then these estimates are a year old. They’re no good now.”
With a huff, she stood, grabbed their empty plates, and deposited them in the sink. On her way back to the table, she stopped at the fridge and fished out a pie. “I know, but I figure if I add fifteen percent to them, that’ll account for the storm damage or inflation.”
She cut into the pie, and his mouth watered. Chocolate cream pie? Either she was asking around about him, or she was psychic. She slid a plated slice toward him. “Hope you like chocolate cream.”
“Like it? It’s my favorite.”
The cute smile she’d flashed him earlier returned. “Good.” Once she’d plated her own slice, she took her seat again. “It’s tied as my favorite. I love coconut cream too.”
Just how much in common did he have with her? “Me too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, but then again, I’ve never met a pie I didn’t like.” He smiled sheepishly.
A giggle popped out of her, and she scooped a bite of pie into her mouth.
Man, she was irresistible. If the alarm bells hadn’t gone off earlier, they’d be wailing now. This woman was checking all his boxes, and they’d hardly spent any time together yet. How was he going to manage several days in a row…while pretending to be her fiancée?
While he contemplated that, he took a bite of the pie and nearly moaned. His mother had just lost first place as best pie maker ever. Not that he’d ever admit that aloud. He wasn’t that stupid. “This is incredible.”
“Thank you,” she said and continued eating.
As he watched her, he reassessed his risk factor. They’d be arriving in Caprock Canyon the day before Thanksgiving and returning that Sunday. That was a total of five days. As long as he kept a comfortable arm’s length from her, he’d be just as single when he got back as he was now.
Starting something with Reagan wouldn’t be the casual dating he’d done in the past. If he started something with her, it would be with the intent of reaching the finish line with her. And when he’d tried to purchase her home? Starting a relationship was hard enough, but add distrust and it was already doomed. Would she ever believe he wanted to date her?
Why was he even thinking about it? Like she’d even consider dating him in the first place. She saw him as the enemy. He had no problem keeping their relationship right where it was: frenemies.
A small voice in the back of his head quietly laughed as he played a game of chicken. He was pretty sure he was going to lose.
Chapter 6
Even though The Sandy Pelican didn’t have any reservations for Thanksgiving weekend, that didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be that lone guest needing a last-minute place to stay. With that in mind, Reagan asked her two best friends to keep it open.
In fifth grade, Kaylee Benson and Naomi Knowles moved to the island with their mom and dad. Their parents had married after they met through a support group for grieving spouses a few years earlier. Since they’d moved to the neighborhood, the three of them had been the three musketeers.
Naturally, they’d asked why Reagan needed them, and she’d dodged the truth until she and her overfilled suitcase were face-to-face with them. If she’d been smart, she would have asked Hunter what she needed to bring instead of stuffing her poor suitcase to the point of bursting.
“What?” Naomi asked after Reagan explained everything.
