Their Save-the-Date Charade, page 4
After they ordered she squared her shoulders and faced him. “Just so we’re clear, I don’t want you thinking that I’ve made a decision because you’ve been paying for everything. And I plan to pay you back for all of it, eventually.”
“I know. Anything I can do to help you make up your mind?”
“Not really, though I do have a question.”
“Ask away,” he prompted.
“You know why I’m even entertaining this bizarre idea of yours, but I still don’t understand why you have to go through all this? I can’t imagine why your parents wouldn’t just help you. Why the condition that you have to be engaged?”
“Besides wanting grandchildren.” He rubbed his bearded jaw thoughtfully and smiled, only she sensed it was more forced than before. And she understood why when he said, “The only other reason I can fathom is they’re worried about me.”
“Because of that viral video?”
He gave her another tense smile. “Yes, there’s that, but I get the feeling they think I’m lonely. And that they believe by getting me married, that I’ll have someone by my side.”
“You’re clearly not happy about it though. Why not just tell them that?”
“Simple. I don’t want to disappoint them. You should’ve seen the way their eyes lit up when I told them I had a fiancée. They haven’t been that happy in a long while, and it feels cruel to snatch it away from them.”
She swallowed around the lump in her throat, relating more to what he’d said than she’d anticipated.
“Does that answer your question?” he asked.
Lulu nodded slowly. “I… I actually think I understand what you mean. After my divorce, I found the hardest thing to do wasn’t filing papers and packing my things and moving out of the home I shared with my ex. It was telling my parents, my family that my marriage had ended.
“All I could think about was having to face their disappointment when I’d moved back in with them.”
“And were they disappointed?” he asked, his attention completely riveted on her.
So much that he didn’t acknowledge the waiter who set down plates of amuse-bouches on their table. After filling their glasses with water, the waiter made himself scarce and, swallowing thickly, Lulu continued.
“They weren’t. It was actually the opposite—they were just really concerned. I didn’t mind it at first. But then, it got hard to be around them. No matter what I said, they worried about me. And it wasn’t just my mom and dad, but my brother and sister too.”
“Seems to be a shared trait of families. At least loving ones.”
“Yeah, I suppose,” she said softly and cast her eyes down at the artfully plated appetizer in front of them. “It’s just, I couldn’t take it anymore…”
“That’s why you’ve been traveling for the past year.”
She raised her head. “Is that what you’re doing too?”
“Which do you mean, hiding or running? Because it feels like I’m doing both right now.”
“So, what happens if I don’t agree to your proposal?” she asked. “Will you run and hide forever?”
“I could ask the same of you. What will you do if you don’t have enough funds for your repairs? Will you go back home and stay there, maybe pick up where you left off a year ago?”
“I don’t know. At least not yet. But I know what you’re still trying to do.”
“And what is it that I’m still doing exactly?”
“You want me to agree, but as I’ve told you I haven’t decided what I’ll do.”
He popped a small bite of flaky pastry in his mouth and chewed slowly and thoughtfully, swallowing before speaking. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want your agreement. But I’d rather you do it of your own volition. Fake bride or not, your consent is the only nonnegotiable factor here.”
Rendered speechless for a moment, Lulu watched him slice and spear a couple more bites of his profiterole. He ate neatly, all except for a small, mesmerizing spot of creamy goat cheese at the corner of his mouth. Though he wiped it away, she kept staring at where it had been, her own mouth going dry.
She knew she should stop, and that any second he would realize that she was looking at him weirdly, but she couldn’t.
At least not until he caught her.
Alwan lifted a thick, black brow and an amused sparkle glimmered in his eyes.
Feeling her face heat up, Lulu bowed her head, mumbled, “Well, thank you, I guess,” and picked up her knife and fork to try her own appetizer.
They lapsed into silence after that. And only once their plates were cleared and replaced with their entrées did Alwan speak up.
“So, how do you plan to spend the rest of your day?”
It reminded her that they were sharing a room. Even though the suite was expansive, far bigger than any hotel room she’d ever been in, Lulu knew it would still be hard to be near Alwan. Her body warmed all over at the mere thought of spending time in close quarters with him.
A part of her was regretting not taking Alwan up on his offer of a second suite.
“I’ll probably go for a hike now that the weather is better,” she said. “Take in the local sights and, um, clear my head.”
“I’m guessing you don’t want company?”
She shook her head and he smiled, his eyes crinkling with his genuine humor.
“What about you?” she asked quietly, her hand wrapping around her glass of ice water.
“Worried I’ll be bored without you?”
And just like that, the tension was broken. Lulu scowled, the prick of guilt she was feeling about not offering him to join her on her hike evaporating into a puff of smoke.
“Not really. I’m sure your ego will keep you busy.”
Alwan’s low laugh was husky, the sound of it revitalizing her blushing cheeks, raising gooseflesh over her arms and unspooling an illicit heat in her lower belly.
It made her want to skip their meal altogether and fast forward to the part where they went their separate ways for a little while.
* * *
Restraint didn’t come easily to Alwan, but he had mastered it.
And yet all his practice in patience escaped him when Lulu left for her hike after their lunch together. He might have been all right with it had she not looked relieved when they parted ways. Like she couldn’t wait to be rid of me.
In fairness, she’d asked for the time alone to think over the fake engagement, and not wanting to force her into agreeing, Alwan had let her go.
The first hour had been a brutal test in self-control. He’d paced like a caged animal in their hotel suite, hovering near the entrance.
When his legs finally tired of that, he briefly entertained the idea of heading out and trying to find her.
But one look out the window, at the immense sweeping landscape of forest, and he knew finding Lulu wouldn’t be easy.
Once he put that idea to rest, he’d grabbed his tablet from his duffel bag and stalked out of their suite to find somewhere to work.
That was two hours ago.
Now he opened the door to their suite and walked in, tablet tucked under his arm, key card in his hand. At first nothing but the faint hum of the central heating greeted him. She’s still not back… That realization tightened his muscles and had his thoughts racing to worrying scenarios, all of them centered around Lulu being injured.
What if she’s hurt and can’t get help?
Panic, hot and bilious, scorched up his throat.
Placing his tablet down on the entryway table, Alwan tightened his hand around the key card and was about to turn for the door and head to Reception to see if they could help when a flash of snow-white popped up in his peripheral.
Lulu’s cat stared back at him from around the corner of the hall.
As soon as Alwan made eye contact, the furry beast gave a warning growl and shot off deeper into the hotel suite. Realizing that Lulu wouldn’t have left her cat alone, as per the hotel’s rules on pets, he understood it could only mean one thing. She’s here.
Stuffing down the odd excitement surging up through him, he followed the direction her cat had gone.
It led him to the living-slash-dining room.
Striding in, he stopped short, a few things popping out at him immediately.
First, it was raining heavily again. Wind-driven rain splattered the windows, the sky full of dark, dense gray clouds now when it had been clear blue not too long ago. Second, the only other light source besides the pale natural light coming through the windows was the fiery glow of the electric fireplace. Finally, Lulu herself.
Curled up under a throw on the chaise lounge, and with a mug in her hands, she stared into the flames, either oblivious to him gazing at her or uncaring of his presence.
He had his answer when she said, “Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?”
“When did you get back?”
“Half an hour ago, just before it started pouring outside.” She turned her head to him then, the glow of the firelight casting off her lustrous dark hair and reflecting in her eyes as she looked him over. “Where were you?”
“Down at the bar, drinking my weight in drip coffee and working.”
Lulu hummed noncommittally before looking back at the fireplace.
“What about you? How was your trek into the great outdoors?”
“Okay” was her only response, and he got the distinct impression she was preoccupied.
He walked toward her, his glance flicking over to where her cat lounged on the armchair directly opposite where Lulu sat. The little beast growled low when Alwan passed a little too closely.
Safely crossing her feline guard, he gestured to the end of the chaise lounge and asked, “May I?”
Lulu pulled her legs up in silent invitation.
Alwan sat and only then noticed the paper between them on the chair. He picked it up and squinted, the darkness making it hard to read.
Before he had a chance to ascertain what it was, Lulu said, “It’s the repair quote.”
“Where did you print it?”
“I used the hotel’s printing service. I figured it would be easier to read than on my phone. Not that it changes the cost estimate.”
Alwan saw what she meant immediately. Though it wasn’t anything he couldn’t afford, the high four-figure estimate for her repairs garnered a low whistle from him. “That is a hefty sum.”
“Apparently, beyond the generator I’ll need to buy, there’s also an issue with the engine. I was expecting for it to be costly, but it’s even worse than I imagined.” She laughed bitterly and looked away, back at the realistic flames crackling and snapping in the fireplace.
He knew what was coming, sensed where the conversation was headed, but he needed to hear her say it.
“If…if I agree to your fake engagement, I need you to agree to some stipulations.”
Keeping a lid on his joy was challenging, but Alwan schooled his features into neutral as he said, “Anything to make you more comfortable.”
“I don’t think anything could make me comfortable with this,” Lulu said dryly.
“And yet still, your comfort matters to me.” Because it did.
Despite knowing each other most of their lives, for the first time Alwan felt like he knew her better after learning a bit more about how her divorce had worried her family and eventually led to her solo-traveling in her RV through the Canadian wilderness. Her motor home was clearly important to her in the same way this next step of his career was for him.
For that reason alone, her comfort was now his utmost priority. He would do whatever he could to alleviate any concerns she had before they embarked on this ruse together.
“Shoot. What are your stipulations?”
Lulu took a sip from her mug before she said, “First, to be clear, we can’t actually get married. I’m okay with an engagement, but it can’t go beyond that.”
What she said made perfect sense to him. Alwan didn’t actually want to be tied down, and he was betting that after her divorce neither did she. Besides, his parents never specified that he had to be married. In this case, a bride-to-be should suffice for all his intents and purposes and satisfy their clause to see him blissfully and—unbeknownst to them—momentarily engaged.
“Deal. There’ll be no official papers, and no wedding party as part of our agreement. Is that all?”
“No, we should also have a timeline for when we want to end things. I’m thinking a year. Is that enough time for you to open your practice?”
“A year should be plenty of time, so I’m all right with that.”
“Good. Also, when this ends, we let our families down gently together. We’ll simply tell them that it just didn’t work between us and that we’re on the same page with a mutual, amicable breakup.”
He cocked his head to the side, studying her for a quiet moment. “Does that part worry you?”
“Doesn’t it worry you?” She lifted her brows at him, frowning her incredulity. “I don’t want to hurt my family or yours. Even if we know this engagement won’t be real, it doesn’t mean they will. Besides, our parents are friends. This shouldn’t cause a rift between them.”
“Agreed. Anything else?”
Lulu wrung her hands around her mug, the nervous tell setting off alarms in him, and when she didn’t respond immediately his anxiety only shot up higher.
Finally, after a long pause, she said, “Since none of this is real, there shouldn’t be any…intimacy.” She avoided direct eye contact when she spoke, her shyness more than apparent now.
His relief quickly switched to amusement. Feeling impish suddenly, Alwan teased, “Intimacy?”
“You know what I mean,” she said, glancing at him before bowing her head and staring down at her mug as though its contents were fascinating.
“But just so we’re clear though, what are we talking is off-limits exactly? Hand-holding, hugging, and kissing—”
“Alwan!”
He held out his hands placatingly and laughed. “All right, I hear you. No PDA of any kind.” But not even a few seconds later, he drawled, “So…does that mean no late-night phone calls too?”
Her disapproving glower was swift, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
“Okay, fine. No intimacy, period. Is that it?”
“That’s all,” she said.
“Good. I have something I’d like to add, then. A final rule we both can probably agree to, but one that still needs to be said, we can’t confuse or complicate this with any kind of emotional entanglement.”
“You think I’m going to fall in love with you?” Lulu’s laughter was loud and unabashed. He should’ve been offended, but instead, he smiled.
Face glowing from her mirth, she wiped her eyes and laughed again. “Don’t worry. That won’t be a problem.”
He laughed too. “Then we have a deal.” Holding up her repair bill, he said, “And as per our agreement, I’ll handle this. The only thing left to ask is, when would you like to go ring shopping?”
“Don’t worry,” Lulu said, looking down at her hand. “I’ll have that covered.”
Baffled by his disappointment at that news, he tucked aside his strange upset and said, “I guess there are no more roadblocks. We’re officially engaged.”
“Fake engaged.”
Alwan simply grinned and said, “Whatever you say, my fake fiancée.”
Chapter Four
LULU HAD ALWAYS known she’d return home to Toronto someday.
She just hadn’t ever pictured that when she did, it would be with a fiancé.
Before they’d left Alberta, Alwan had done as he’d promised and paid the deposit on her repair bill for her RV to the mechanic. The remaining cost for the repairs he’d then transferred to her bank account. And with that he’d honored his part of their fake engagement deal.
Now it was her turn to uphold her end of their partnership.
Be his perfect pretend bride-to-be.
On the four-hour flight home, they’d hashed out their approach and gotten their stories straight. They’d decided to tell their families separately, but that had led to three days of nonstop questions, so she was grateful they’d be together with both sets of parents today so that answers could be given and worries soothed.
“Do you love our Luula?” her father asked the moment Alwan’s Maybach pulled away from the curb. He turned in the passenger seat to pin Alwan with a stern look.
Lulu groaned in Somali, “Aabo, please! Stop embarrassing me…”
Her mother swatted her leg and hushed her. “Aamus! Aabahaa dhegayso.”
“How can I listen to him when he’s being so humiliating, Hooyo?” Lulu complained, crossing her arms and flopping against the back seat only to gasp and jolt upright a second later when her mother gave her a pinch on the thigh. Seeing the warning in her mother’s eyes, Lulu rubbed her leg and clamped her lips together.
“We’ve known you since you were young, son, but still, we have to ask. Don’t be offended and please understand that we only want what’s best for Lulu.”
At a red light, Alwan looked at her father and, in fluent Somali, said, “I understand fully, and I’m not offended at all, adeer.” He turned his head forward and his gaze met hers in the rearview mirror, searing through her. “But your concern is unfounded as I respect and care for your daughter.”
She didn’t know how long he stared at her, but it was long enough for drivers to begin blaring their horns behind them. If Alwan heard the angry honking, he wasn’t doing anything about it.
Finally, just when she thought her lungs would burst from holding her breath, he looked away. Lulu let out a soft, shuddery breath and blinked furiously, her eyes dry from their staring match.
That was the state she was in when they arrived at Alwan’s parents’ restaurant. Dropping them off first, he peeled off in search of parking in the busy neighborhood. She watched his taillights disappear before turning to find her parents studying her.
“He’ll catch up. We should go inside,” Lulu announced and, hoping they’d follow, headed briskly for the entrance to the restaurant, a two-story sleek, steel, glass and black marble building. But not soon enough to miss their exchange of silent looks and secretive smiles.
