Page 22 of No Rings Attached
Hope that I could get through this wedding intact.
That I could survive my family.
That I’d still have a job when this was over.
Drew smiled at me and I couldn’t help but feel that all was right in the world. That with him by my side, I could do anything. Which was admittedly strange since this was only the second time we’d ever been in each other’s presence.
How could I feel closer to him than a guy I’d dated for two years?
His dad cleared his throat, and we both turned toward him. “So, let me get this straight … Ellie’s family is … challenging, and she needs help navigating them before they descend on our town. And while they’re here, we pretend you two have been dating for …”
“The past few months,” Drew filled in.
“Got it.” His dad slapped his hand down on his knee and chuckled. “Well, I was just saying to your mom that things were getting a little boring around here. Little did I know.”
I wanted to say,be careful what you wish for,but I didn’t want to jinx anything.
Robert stood. “We have our weekly family dinner coming up in a few days. Why don’t we hash out the details then? Make sure you come, Ellie.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. Kingsley. I can’t begin to express how grateful I am to you and your family.”
“You should probably call me Robert if you’re dating my son, don’t you think?” His sweet grin continued to put me at ease.
“I will. Thank you again.” Heat gathered in my cheeks and quickly spread at the reminder of my fake relationship. One that I wasn’t so opposed to being in. Especially not when Drew and his entire family were this amazing. And it didn’t hurt that I was definitely attracted to him
Even without Bad Eleanor’s help, I could admit it.
When his father reached the doorway, Drew shifted away from me and stood. “Hey, Dad. I forgot to ask what it was you wanted to talk about? That was the reason you came by, right?”
Robert stopped. His fingers tapped against the door frame as he thought. “Ah. Yes. I almost forgot, what with this new scheme of your grandmother’s.” He chuckled. “I’ve been thinking a lot about how the company is viewed by Ruby River and our community of Rhode Island at large. We’re highly regarded in our field, but our community engagement could improve. I had our team poll our employees on local causes we could assist and one in particular popped up numerous times. There’s an animal shelter in town. It’s close enough we can be there physically to help and we can work on fundraisers to create a steadier stream of money for them.”
“And the publicity could help our upcoming expansion, too. Are you thinking of this as a permanent charity we support or a one-time thing?” Drew mused.
While they chatted, I grabbed my notebook from my desk and jotted down reminders about the community service project and who we might need to reach out to for support.
“Permanent,” Robert said. “I don’t think it’s fair to take on a project like this, promise the hours and additional funding and then walk away. This is a place that will constantly need support, not just a one-off donation. And even when our news-related interest has died down, we’re still there to support them.”
Drew agreed. “It can be another place for our employees and their teams to connect with each other. I’ll be sure to run it by HR so that we can pay for time spent there and what needs to be put into place moving forward. If it goes well, we can consider other places to help support in the same way.”
That was one of the things I liked about working for the Kingsley’s—they actually cared about their employees: their well-being, compensating them well for the jobs they did, and they appreciated our work and ideas. It wasn’t surprising that we had such a low turnover rate here in the office and the manufacturing facility.
With a final goodbye, Drew’s dad left and the two of us returned to work. It was easier than I thought it would be to slip into our normal routine, especially after the conversation we had this morning. It was like Drew sensed I needed this normalcy instead of rehashing or discussing our fake relationship.
But no matter how easy it was, a small fissure of fear wormed its way into my thoughts. I liked this job. Ineededthis job. At least until I could start making money writing romance novels. And that was at least five to ten years in the making.
What would happen if things went to crap between us during our fake dating charade? How could I keep working for him if it went south?
And where would that leave me?
Chapter Six
DREW
After my father left, we returned to our work, but I struggled to concentrate. I glanced over at Ellie, sitting at the desk Grace had chosen for her. Watching her face light up when she saw it did funny things to my insides. Working side-by-side with her had been effortless so far. Even though our communication hadn’t been in person, we were in sync with whatever next moves needed to happen and how to handle tasks.
With Ellie in my corner, I didn’t have to worry about things falling through the cracks. She anticipated what I needed before I did. I may have hired her through an agency, but she was a perfect fit for me.
