Page 41 of No Rings Attached
Shut up, Bad Eleanor!
But then, where would I be? Fired and having to live with my parents again?
No. Absolutely not. Never again.
My fake relationship with Drew had an expiration date, and ending it sooner was definitely the better choice.
Right?
Chapter Ten
DREW
Iglanced over at Ellie. Her chin was propped up on her fist as she stared out the passenger side window. After talking to her mother, she’d withdrawn into herself, and nothing I said seemed to shake the melancholy that had settled over her.
I hated the defeated look in her eyes as she ended the call. I especially hated the reference to the early demise of our fake relationship. And Ireallyhated that I hated that last one.
No matter how easy it was for me to slip into the role of Ellie’s boyfriend, I had to remind myself that none of this was real.
Having a fake relationship was probably the best I could do as far as relationships went. I worked long hours and was hardly ever home. There was no way I could prioritize a partner the way I’d want to—and the way she deserved.
And Ellie deservedthe very bestrelationship. Someone to take care of her and support her. For now, I’d do as much of that as I could. She wouldn’t like it, but I was bringing her back to the B&B instead of the office. I wanted to give her time to regroup before tomorrow. A chance to relax.
If she’d take it.
She turned to me in confusion. “Wait, the office isn’t this way.” Ellie’s voice was laced with concern as I bypassed the road to the office and continued down Main Street.
“I’m taking you to the B&B.”
“Why?” She touched my arm. “Drew, I can deal with my mother. I don’t need to leave work early today.”
“It’s not that,” I lied. “I have a doctor’s appointment.”
She shifted in her seat to face me. “You donot.”
“I, uh, forgot to put it on the calendar.”Shit.I hated not being truthful with her. And out of all the lies I could’ve told, I never should’ve used one when she had complete access to my calendar.
“Right.” I knew she wasn’t convinced based on her skeptical tone.
“It’s just, after everything with your mom … I?—”
“I know, my family is a lot. If you don’t want to deal with them, you could’ve just said so.” She crossed her arms.
“What? That’s not what I was saying.”Damnit.I just wanted to make things easier for her.
She shook her head. “It’s fine. I never should’ve agreed to our fake relationship. It’s not fair for you to have to put up with all of this.”
I pulled into the circular driveway in front of the stately, historic B&B and set the car in park just inside the property. Not ready to drop her off quite yet, I placed my hand on her arm to emphasize what she needed to hear. “Ellie, No matter how crazy things get when your family is here, I’mnotbacking out.”
Ellie pulled away. “Seriously, it’s fine. It would be better for both of us to go back to normal. And honestly, the longer we pretend, the more I’m afraid … ” She paused and cleared her throat. “I’m afraid it’ll make things weird between us. I don’t want that Drew. And I need this job. Ilikethis job.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. There’s no one else I’d want to work with,” I reassured her. “We won’t let any of this get weird or affect our working relationship.” She opened her mouth but I continued before she could protest. “We’ll make sure it doesn’t. Remember, open communication.”
She scoffed. “Open communication?”
I nodded.
“Like your doctor’s appointment?” she challenged.
