Page 71 of Things We Fake
When the phone rang, I jumped. Slowing my breathing, I picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Susanne, Mr. Jones and Ms. Dawna Sands are here to see you,” Olivia said, the excitement in her voice hard to ignore.
“On my way.”
I walked down the stairs to Mrs. West’s office, surprised to find it filled with enormous boxes of computer equipment with the Omega Software logo on them.
I looked at Cam. “What’s all this?”
He gave me a charming smile. “I had some extra inventory, figured the school could use it.” He reached for my hand, eyes twinkling. “Honey, this is Dawna Sands—she’ll be taking over as liaison.”
I held out my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Dawna, tall and confident in a sharp gray suit with black trim, wore spiked purple hair and thick glasses. She smiled warmly. “Likewise. And congrats. I went to school with Cam and have been with the company since the beginning. You’ve got a great guy here.”
“Agreed,” I said lightly.
Cam turned to Mrs. West. “I thought it best Dawna take over. She’s my right hand, and I didn’t want any hint of favoritism with Sue here. I heard a few teachers stuck around today... catching up on work.”
Yeah, right. The open doors and shameless glances made it clear: gossip was alive and well.
“I suggested a quick tutorial,” Cam continued. “Mrs. West can introduce Dawna as the liaison—and me as your fiancé.”
“That’s an excellent idea,” Mrs. West said with a smile far too familiar. She picked up the phone and made the announcement. “All staff: a brief computer tutorial in the library in ten minutes. Anyone is welcome to attend.”
Within seconds, the tap-tap of shoes, all headed in the same direction, told its own story.
The session went smoothly—Dawna was a natural—but I barely watched the screen. Cam sat beside me, holding my hand in full view, playing his part a little too well.
Afterward, Cam and I left together. His car had arrived from Denver, and I slipped into the warm leather seat of his sleek Mercedes. It was a welcome upgrade from my usual train ride home.
As soon as we were inside, he turned to me. “That went well, didn’t it?”
“Better than my wildest dreams. Mrs. West was all smiles as she congratulated me.” I shook my head. “It was creepy. Thanks for doing this, Cam. I still don’t know how we got in so deep.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but I stopped him with a gesture. “Never mind, I do know. The important thing is to deal with this one day at a time.”
His eyes roamed my face, studying my features. “So if all went well, what’s wrong? I can tell you have something else on your mind.”
I gave him a half smile. “For a fake fiancé you know me pretty well already.”
I had debated telling him about the ad. It was humiliating, but if I didn’t manage to figure this out I would rather tell him than risk him finding out on his own.
“Someone posted a fake ad in my name on a dating website. It’s got a fake photo of me, my name and my phone number.” I quoted the ad. “I know you’re good with computers. Maybe you can hack that website and delete the ad? I don’t know who would do something like this, Cam. No one hates me. Well, maybe except for…”
“Brittany.” His jaw was tense, his fist clenched on the steering wheel as he started the engine.
I glanced up at him. The possibility had tickled the back of my mind for a few moments.
“Do you think she’s capable of something like this?” I asked.
“She’s capable of anything.”
“How would she get my phone number?”
He shrugged. “Your online resume, a job application, maybe an ad for tutoring... Few things are private online these days. I’ll talk to her.”
