Lauren turned, eyes wide, and watched as Caleb and his father entered the room. There was no way to mistake Timothy Turner. Caleb looked so much like him.
He was here, in Caleb’s apartment. She was right there for him to see.
The clothes Mike had purchased for her were hanging up in Caleb’s sitting room, and she felt like the worst fraud in the entire world.
“I apologize, I didn’t realize you had guests.”
“Er, actually, Dad, this is perfect,” Caleb said. He advanced toward her and she shook her head. No, this wasn’t the way she wanted to be introduced to his dad. They’d just shared a kiss and now he wanted to start their lies. This was all a little too much.
Caleb put an arm around her waist, pulling her in close. She didn’t fight him as he led her toward his father.
“This is my girlfriend, Lauren Wyatt. She will be my plus-one.”
“How do you do?” Lauren asked, cringing inside. Was that what women said when they met their fake boyfriend’s parents?
Timothy looked at her hand and then at the clothes.
“Girlfriend?” He shook her hand and she gripped his firmly. There was no way she was going to appear weak. These two were considered some of the strongest businessmen in the world, apart from his father’s ailing health, even though he looked really good from where she stood.
“Yes, girlfriend. We were waiting to break the news next week, but seeing as you’re here now, and there’s no point in hiding it, well, we’re letting everything out today.” Caleb laughed.
Timothy let go of her hand.
Caleb stroked her hip and she was acutely aware of his touch. Her lips had to be swollen and red. His dad would know exactly what they had been doing.
“Lauren, my son has never mentioned you.”
“Good.”
Timothy glared at her.
“I mean, er, Caleb and I, we’ve sort of struggled with our relationship.”
“Lauren didn’t want me to tell anyone about our relationship and we’ve had a bit of a time of it as late,” Caleb said.
“You expect me to believe you’ve got a girlfriend when less than a week ago, you were in the papers from one of your orgies?”
She looked up at Caleb. This was exactly why she didn’t want to get into any of this. It was wrong of them to even think they could get away with something like this.
“That was my fault,” she blurted.
“Your fault?”
“Well, you see, I’m … I know the way it might look. Caleb’s from a very wealthy background and I, I mean, I clean for him. I’m one of the best cleaners he’s ever had. Our relationship really shouldn’t be happening but feelings like ours, they grew. He wanted to introduce me to his family, but I kept saying no. We got into a big argument because I told him it wasn’t fair, and he went out partying. Nothing happened, though, and we talked and I decided to finally meet you.”
She wished Caleb would just jump in and finish this. Lies weren’t easy for her. She looked up at Caleb and he merely smiled down at her.
“So this thing is real?” his father asked.
“Yes,” they both said at the same time.
Caleb gripped her hip tightly.
She could do this. Lying was so easy. There was nothing wrong here. Timothy was ill and she was doing this for him.
“You’re a cleaner?” Timothy asked.
“Yes, one of the best.” She wasn’t trying to impress anyone, simply stating a fact. She was damn good at what she did. Nibbling on her lip, she waited, watching the man in front of her.
“Well, I look forward to hearing more about this. Caleb, you can’t keep having time away from the office.”
“I won’t.” Caleb let go of her waist and followed his father down the hall.
She stepped close and listened.
“If I find out you’re lying to me…”
“Dad, I won’t lie to you. Not about this. You know I don’t do relationships. I’m not going to lie.”
“You better not.”
“Why not try to show a little consideration for your son?”
“I know you, Caleb. Don’t let me down.”
“I won’t.”
The door closed and Caleb turned toward her.
“I can’t do this.” She turned toward the kitchen and opened his fridge, closed it, and then looked around, not knowing what to do.
“We have an agreement.”
“You heard your father. He doesn’t believe us.”
“I don’t care. He will believe us.”
“You know what this means though, don’t you?”
“That he’s going to be a little more testy than usual?”
“Stop trying to constantly crack jokes. They’re not funny.” She didn’t find any part of this even mildly amusing. It was all scary.
Caleb gripped her shoulders, forcing her to stand still. “Look at me.”
She shook her head.
“Come on, Lauren. Don’t be a baby.”
“I’m not a baby.”
“But I got you to look at me.”
She growled. “This isn’t a joke.”
“I’m not treating it as a joke.”