Fake Marriage Box Set

I sat up, swinging my legs over the edge of my bed, already contemplating how I was going to move all of my things across the city to Misty's home. It wasn't as though I had a car anymore. I'd been relying on the bus ever since upkeep on the car had gotten to be too much.

“You're right,” I sighed, dropping my head and sniffling.

“It's going to be okay,” Misty said gently. She paused. “And fortunately for you, I know a guy who has a trailer. He'll be at your place this afternoon.”

“Thanks,” I whispered.

Chapter Eight

Andrew

Although I sometimes appreciated the convenience of working from home, I really preferred being in the office, right in the thick of things. But that morning, Renée and I had woken up late, and it had seemed pointless to go into the office for a few hours just to turn around and go back home. Anyway, it was a Saturday, and Renée was always telling me that I needed to relax more on the weekends.

It was funny, coming from her, seeing as she was at the gym at the moment for her tri-weekly fitness class, which would be followed by a smoothie date with her friends, which would be followed by drinks with different friends. She didn't know the first thing about relaxing on the weekends. It was one of the things I appreciated about her.

I checked through my messages and emails, slogging through a myriad of inanities, while I munched on the lunch that Janice, my maid, had brought me. It was nothing fancy, just a small salad alongside leftovers from the previous night. But her meals were definitely tasty. I'd started eating at home a lot more since Renée and I had started getting serious, and I never failed to appreciate the woman's creativity and depth of cooking skills.

“Is everything okay with your lunch?” Janice asked as she began mopping the kitchen floor.

“It's great,” I said around a mouthful. “Just a shame that Renée couldn't be here to enjoy it as well.” I'd tried to convince her to blow off her class to stay for just a little longer, promising her a workout to rival the one she'd get at the gym, only far more pleasurable. But she'd laughed and untangled herself from my arms and gone to shower, locking the bathroom door behind her in case I got any ideas.

Janice snorted, bringing me back to our present conversation. “If you say so, sir.”

I grinned at her, knowing full well that Janice didn't share my love for my current girlfriend. “You think I should break up with her.”

“I never said that,” she said, pretending to focus on her mopping, even though I knew the woman liked to gossip.

“I know she can be haughty,” I mused as I continued to click through messages. “She rubs a lot of people the wrong way. But she and I get along well.”

“I can see that,” was all Janice said.

“I'm glad she makes you happy.”

“She must be wonderful if I've been able to date her for a few months!” I said, chuckling. “That's a new record for me, you realize.” I frowned at one of the emails that I'd received. “Of course, it hasn't escaped Katherine's notice that it's a record for me either, and she's gone and invited us for a double-date on Friday night.”

“That could be fun,” Janice said.

I laughed. “In what universe would going on a double-date with one's younger sister and her husband-to-be, be considered 'fun'?” I asked. “It'll be torture. I love Katherine, but I just know she's going to go on and on about her wedding preparations, making subtle hints to me the whole time. And then she'll probably ask Renée to be one of her bridesmaids, meaning that I can't break up with the woman until after Katherine's wedding, which won't be for months, putting undue pressure on what is still very much a fledgling relationship.”

Janice failed to hide her grin. “Well, if you're enjoying yourself with Renée, does it matter that your relationship is still young?” she asked. “It's about time you settled down anyway. You're at a good age for it.”

“I'm still in my prime,” I argued.

“And it's not like you need to continue to work yourself so hard. You have plenty of money saved up to last you for the rest of your life. You don't need to grow your savings anymore.”

I burst out laughing at that. “Janice, do you honestly think that the only reason I go to work day in and day out is because I want to earn more money?” I asked. “I enjoy the work that I do. Anyway, things would fall apart if I weren't there to make sure everything was on track.”

“Then you need to delegate more,” Janice said simply.

The doorbell rang, startling both of us. I didn't have a fence around the property because I didn't like the aesthetic of it. All the same, everyone knew I, Andrew Goldwright, lived there, and no one seemed to want to bother me. I wasn't expecting anyone, and I didn't have any friends who would pop over unannounced. They would never know if I was home or not.

I remembered Lexi's long-ago comments about security and grinned a little. She'd been worried about me being robbed, but I hardly ever even got solicitors.

I nodded at Janice. “Would you get that for me, please?”

She put down her mopping and went to answer the door. I turned back to Katherine's email, trying to think of some way to respond to it. There was just no good way to say 'hell no' politely.

I clicked out of the message, resolving to come back to it later, and got back to my work emails, wondering absently why Katherine had sent a personal email to my work email anyway. Probably she thought I was more likely to check that one. Maybe she was hoping my secretary would see the thing and schedule the dinner for me, without telling me about it until it was too late to cancel.