Page 59 of The Fine Art of Faking It
“My family is still on the west coast,” Davis added.
“We were probably just going to do something quiet…” Eden trailed off, looking to Davis for help. Did newly dating couples spend the holidays together? What was the protocol?
“We’re hosting a progressive dinner at the farm. Drinks at Jax and Joey’s, dinner at our place, and desserts at Phoebe and Franklin’s,” Summer told them, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.
“That sounds like fun,” Eden said, thinking back to her family’s last Thanksgiving. Her dad had burned the tofurkey, and the pumpkin pie hadn’t set. After dinner, Atlantis’s kids had hosted a screaming contest in the living room.
“You’re more than welcome to join us,” Carter put in stretching his long legs into the aisle.
“You should come,” Summer said, more insistently.
“Oh, I, uh.” Eden looked at Davis. A fake relationship was one thing. Faking their way through an entire holiday with members of the Beautification Committee in attendance was something else.
“We were just planning something quiet,” Davis began.
“I’ll have Joey text you and tell you what to bring,” Summer said triumphantly despite the fact that no one had uttered the words “yes, we’d love to come.”
“Oh, but…” Eden’s protests fell on deaf ears. She elbowed Davis in the ribs.
“We couldn’t impose like that,” he coughed.
“It’s the opposite of an imposition,” Summer insisted. “The crowd is so big, it’s literally the more the merrier. And I’d just hate to think of you two alone on Thanksgiving.” She looked up at her husband. “Shall we get back to our quiet, child-free house?”
The look Carter gave his wife was positively sinful.
“It was great seeing you,” Carter said as he scooted out of the booth and took Summer’s hand.
“Can’t wait for Thanksgiving,” Summer said without tearing her eyes from Carter. They jogged out of the restaurant like two horny teenagers with the keys to the car.
“Uh, what the hell just happened?” Eden asked.
“I think we just got invited to the Pierce family Thanksgiving,” Davis said, stirring his minestrone.
“I was going to stay home and eat pizza in my pajamas while binge watchingGilmore Girls,” Eden complained. She had guests booked for the holiday, but they were all repeat visitors in town to see family and would require very little attention from her. Thanksgiving with her parents traveling would have been a much appreciated, quiet day off.
“I was going to work on some ad mockups for the wine trail and scan some expense receipts,” Davis grumbled.
His nerdiness eeked the attraction factor up another notch.
Eden sighed. “I don’t know if our fake love can hold up to the scrutiny of the family that accounted for most of Wilson Abramovich’s engagement ring sales for the last three years.”
24
“Well, crap. How are we supposed to rub our fake relationship in Blue Moon’s face if there aren’t any Mooners here?” Eden pouted.
Their big movie date was a bust. Besides the elderly ticket taker and the baby-faced snack stand staffer, the entire theater was empty. There was no one present to witness and report on their canoodling.
“I guess everyone must be at the high school basketball game,” Davis speculated.
Eden frowned down at her fresh popcorn. “Maybe we should just call it a night? Try to be a public spectacle when we have an actual audience?”
They’d gone out on the town three out of the last four nights, working hard to sell their romantic relationship. His social life had never been this active. A quiet night in would involve them going to their separate rooms. Davis looked her up and down in the dim theater lighting, pausing to admire the way the ice blue V-neck sweater hugged her subtle curves.
He finally had Eden Moody all to himself. He wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.
“If we leave now, Snack Stand Toby will report it,” he said, leading the way down the aisle. “Everyone will start speculating that we got into a fight—because what new couple doesn’t want an entire theater to themselves? And then the Beautification Committee will worry that this isn’t the slam dunk match they think it is.”
He picked a row, paused, and gestured for her to enter first. Eden hesitated. And Davis wondered if she was nervous about being so close to him in such an intimate setting. It was an idea he didn’t mind.
