Pretend I'm Yours (Pretend 1)

I can’t help but stop protesting when he looks at me like he is now.

“Thank you, Mr. Veil, for your toast, but I’d like to offer one of my own. My toast is to the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met. To a woman, I’m desperately in love with, and can’t imagine living without.”

I bite my lip to keep from grinning at his fake words. I don’t care that they are fake. I love hearing them. I could live in this fantasy world forever. Even deal with my stupid family and their friends if it meant hearing him say such wonderful things about me.

“I love you so much, Larkyn. You’re beautiful, smart, feisty, stubborn. And I couldn’t have built a more perfect woman for myself if I tried. I’ve been searching for a woman like you for a long time. And I kick myself every day for not finding you sooner, especially when you were this close to me.”

His words have a bit of truth to them, even though I know he means as friends. He’s sad we weren’t friends earlier. I am too, but I’m sure we will keep in touch after this day is over and make up for lost time.

Kade holds my hand tighter, as he bends down on one knee.

My eyes widen staring at him, and the crowd gasps all at once at the sight of him on one knee.

He pulls something out of his jacket pocket. But I can’t focus on the object, all I can do is stare into his eyes and try to figure out what the hell is happening.

“Larkyn Day, I love you. Marry me?”

Yep, he’s lost his damn mind.

He’s smirking, and I know he thinks he’s come up with the perfect plan to stop Anastasia. And he has. I just don’t think he’s thought this through. He’s making my dreams come true today, only to crush me tomorrow. We aren’t in love. We aren’t getting married. This is all a ruse. And tomorrow it will all be over. We can keep pretending for a while, but we aren’t getting married.

He winks at me though, and I can’t help but go along with his ridiculous plan. Even if it’s going to hurt me tomorrow, it will be worth it today.

“Yes,” I say, barely getting the words out.

“She said yes!” he shouts so the crowd can hear my answer.

Cheering and applause break out, and Kade stands up and slips a ring onto my finger. Where the hell did he get a ring?

And then he kisses me. Hard. Long. A kiss that makes me forget this isn’t real. That Kade King isn’t mine. And I’m not his.

But today, I am.

When the kiss ends, people begin hurriedly approaching us, bombarding us with questions, and ogling the ring I haven’t even had the chance to look at myself.

“Oh my god! Look at the size of the ring. Is it eight carats or ten?” the woman stares at Kade.

He smirks. “Ten.”

My eyes come unglued as I stare at him. How the hell does he have a ten carat engagement ring for a fake proposal?

He shrugs at me knowing I have a lot of questions for him. I know he’s rich and has a lot of friends. That’s apparently how I’m wearing this expensive dress right now. But I don’t care how many friends he has in the jewelry business. No one would lend him this expensive of a ring for one day, on this quick of a notice.

“Excuse me. I need to thank my fiancé. Privately,” I say winking at them, knowing I just caused a new wave of gossip as they think I’m about to take Kade into one of the bedrooms to fuck him.

I grab Kade’s hand, and I pull him into the house, but people continue to follow us in. As much as I like sticking it to my sister and family, I’m done with being the center of the attention and the reason for the gossip.

So I keep guiding Kade out the front of the house, and this time, he doesn’t argue or pull me back to the crowd that has now gathered outside of the house.

“Thank you all for coming to celebrate our engagement and Larkyn’s graduation. We would love some time to celebrate before we decide on a date. But it will be soon,” Kade says, winking at the crowd that is asking us questions about when the wedding will be.

Kade opens the door to his car and helps me inside, before jumping in himself and speeding off.

I hit him playfully on the shoulder. “You’re so bad. Why did you let them think there is going to be a wedding soon? And oh my god!” I grab the ring off my finger and thrust it into his hand.

“I can’t be wearing a ring this expensive. If I lose it, I’ll be paying you back my entire life. I’ll have to sell my kidney to make a down payment on paying you back.”

He smirks, pulls over abruptly, and shoves the ring back onto my finger.