Page 17 of Dirty Secret Love

One day, when he’s ready and Wren approves, I’ll get him a pet that’ll be all his. I know he’ll be great with either a cat or a dog.

Leaving Daisy doesn’t take long. Apparently, we’re on some kind of timeline. As fast as we get out of the car, we’re now back on the road heading toward … who the fuck knows?Maybe to the bar? Then why did I have to bring extra clothing?

When we pass Lake Lane, I know we won’t be doing this dating thing in one of the local places.

“So what else did you plan without telling me?” I ask as we take the highway.

He smirks, a mischievous glint in his eye. “You’ll see.”

Rolling my eyes, I quip, “Doesn’t your ankle bracelet start sending electric jolts when you’re beyond town limits?” I adjust my seatbelt, trying to sound serious and yet using my most sarcastic voice, “That could cause a car accident. I don’t think my insurance covers fugitives.”

He laughs. “For the nth time, I’m not serving a jail sentence.”

I lean back in the seat, my arms folded. “Your words might say that, but all signs seem to point in a completely different direction.”

He takes a moment, focusing on a particularly tight turn, then responds, “Oh? Like what?”

“You have to do grunt work at the ranch,” I point out.

With a feigned sigh, he retorts, “If I came all the way from the East Coast to help my uncle with the ranch . . .” He pauses, letting the statement linger in the air between us, a smirk forming on his lips. “Isn’t that precisely the sort of thing I should be doing?”

Leaning a tad closer to him I say, “Drake works at the clinic. How do you explain that?”

“He’s a doctor. It seems more important that he donates his time to the clinic—and let’s not forget that he fell in love with the owner of said place,” he shoots back, the corner of his mouth twitching upward in amusement. “Why would he work with us when he needs to be with his woman?”

River isn’t wrong, but that’s not how it happened. Drake begged to work for Wren and yeah, they fell in love but . . . “That’s not the story.”

River chuckles, flicking the indicator as he takes a turn. “Clearly you haven’t heard the rumors swirling around town lately. The truth isn’t always straightforward in Heartwood Lake.”

Brushing an imaginary strand of hair behind my ear, I give him a mock-solemn look. “I don’t pay much attention to what they say about your family since everything is obviously a lie.” I shift in my seat. “But why does it sound as if you’re controlling the narrative?”

Shrugging nonchalantly, he answers, “Callahan and Magnus came up with the idea of doing some PR around the family,” he states. “Mag is good at that. Donna makes sure things spread slowly, and the way it’s needed.”

I shake my head in mock disapproval. In reality, I’m impressed. “That’s . . .”

“Genius?”

“Mmm, I was going to say deviously clever,” I quip.

His laugh is genuine, deep, and warm. “No argument there. It was part of his job back where we lived.”

“So when did the PR start?” I ask.

A heavy sigh leaves him, and he runs a hand through his hair. “I’ve no fucking idea. Just found out about it today.”

My eyebrows shoot up in exaggerated surprise, my lips curling into a playful smirk. “Oh, so they just let you in on their little secret? I’m thinking they don’t trust you yet.”

He shoots me a dramatic glare before his gaze goes back to the road. “Our family is . . . not very close. They only told me because I’ve done something extremely messed up—Mag’s words.”

I feign innocence, batting my eyelashes dramatically. “Do they consider our fake engagement stupid?”

“Cal described it as such. Mag and the rest consider it a fucked-up move—worse than the time I tried to buy a company that was already bankrupt and wasn’t worth more than five cents,” he sighs.

“This isn’t that bad,” I say reassuringly, because he won’t lose money with me. I’m definitely not an investment.

Should I pay him? No, the guy is loaded. Why am I feeling bad for him?

“Callahan and Magnus came up with this plan when Drake began to date Wren. Mag is usually the one who comes up with the ideas, since in our other life he took care of controlling the narrative—he’s a genius at that. Bach fine tunes things sometimes because this isn’t a company, it’s about dealing with humans. It was supposed to be kept a secret, so the rest of us don’t think we can wreak havoc, and they’ll fix it. Which is how it used to happen in our other life.”

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