Baby For The Mountain Man

“Yes.” He dropped his hand. “Which brings me to a favor I need to ask from you.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

“I didn’t tell my parents that I’m working on a business project here, because if they knew, they would give me a hard time. They’re always complaining about me working too hard and whatnot. So I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend. Can you do that?”

7

Bryce

I waited for Chloe to come up with an answer, hoping I hadn’t crossed the line, although, if I were to be completely honest, that line had been crossed the moment I put my hands on her.

She mulled over my question for several seconds, and I crossed my fingers that she would agree to it.

I had thought about this a lot. I couldn’t quite divulge my plans for expanding my business to my parents because they had been clear about where they stood the first time I mentioned my plan to head along the entrepreneur route. They had thought I’d bitten off more than I could chew, failing to understand my desire to increase the zeroes on my bank account.

If I came to their house with Chloe as my assistant, they would press me to know all the details of my visit, and I was sure they would blow their top and drive me up the wall with their nagging comments and lectures about my excessive ambitions.

The only way to prevent this and get a shot at spending this dinner with them in peace was to present Chloe as my girlfriend. Pretending could be awkward at first, but it was better than bickering or something worse.

“I know this may be a lot for you, so I’ll understand if you don’t want to do that,” I told her, quick to assuage her in case I’d weirded her out.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s okay. After all, it’s just one dinner.”

“Yeah. We’ll just have to keep up the ruse around the table and nothing more. So is that a yes?”

She nodded, cracking a smile at me. “Yes.”

“Thank you.” I cupped her face and brushed my lips against hers, sensing her shiver at the contact. I felt warmth spreading through my chest, and I was more than ready to have another round with her, but we didn’t have much time. “As much as I want you, we should really get going.”

“Sure. Let me just dry my hair off and put some makeup, and I’ll be ready.”

I had to hand it to Chloe—she didn’t show a hint of nervousness when we reached my parents house, staying composed about meeting my parents.

“So, let’s go over this once again. We’ve met several months ago when you came to my hospital for a treatment. A few visits later, I invited you on our first date, and we’ve been together ever since,” I recapped our fake story. “We’re exclusive, but we still don’t have any plans for the future.”

“I work as an assistant in a real estate company, and I hope to become a real estate agent.”

“You’re allergic to peanuts.”

“I’m allergic to peanuts.”

“And I hate sports.”

“And you hate sports. Is all of this really necessary? I mean, with the way you’re describing your mother, it sounds like she is an FBI agent. I can’t help but imagine her firing all these questions about me and our relationship.”

“Nah, she’s not that curious, but one can never know.”

I rang the bell and snaked my arm around Chloe’s waist, putting a huge smile on my face. Not even ten seconds later, the door burst open and my mother appeared, throwing her million-watt smile at us.

“Bryce!” she squealed and pulled me into a suffocating hug, cutting my air supply instantly.

“Mom! You’re going to kill me if you keep squeezing me like this.”

She smelled like cookies and home, reminding me of all the things I’d been missing while I was away from home—reminding me of my empty penthouse that lacked any warmth. Pushing these gloomy thoughts aside, I stepped back to introduce Chloe to her.

“Mom, this is my girlfriend, Chloe Lewis. Chloe, this is Ruth Evander—the woman who will call me a thousand times a day until she gets what she wants.”

“Oh, shut up, you,” she said, keeping her smile on her face, and hugged Chloe. “It’s nice to meet you, Chloe, dear. Welcome to our home.”