Fake Marriage Box Set

“And you think I'm just like he was,” I surmised, feeling surprisingly bitter about that.

“I don't, actually,” Lexi said softly. “That's the thing. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I'm only projecting my fears onto you. And that's not very fair.”

I ruminated on that for a moment. “I didn't have the best relationship with my own father,” I admitted at last. “Or with my mother, for that matter. Both cold, but in their different ways. The closest thing I had to family, growing up, was my sister Katherine.” I cleared my throat. “But I don't want to be that guy, Lexi. I want to be better than them. I really want to try.”

“Okay,” Lexi said simply.

We sat there in silence. Finally, I laughed. “You're going to have to forgive me, though. I'm still new at this. Where do I even get started?”

Lexi laughed as well. “Spending time with Emma is a great start,” she said. “I know you're busy with work, but even if you could spend some time with her in the evenings, that would be a huge step in the right direction. She already likes you, but I want her to trust you, too. And maybe, once she trusts you some, we can go ahead and let her know that you're her dad.”

“I am busy with work at the moment,” I agreed. “But this is important.” I frowned, thinking over my schedule for the next day. There was nothing critical, nothing that I couldn't delegate. “Why don't I make some time tomorrow, and we can do something together? Just you, me, and Emma.”

Lexi sighed. “Don't go making promises that you can't keep,” she said. “And spending time with Emma doesn't count if you're on the phone to work the whole time that you're there.”

“Nah, don't worry,” I told her. “There's nothing big on my schedule tomorrow anyway. I can push some of those meetings off. This is important. Getting to know my daughter is important.”

“Are you sure?” Lexi asked dubiously.

“I'm sure,” I said. “It won't be anything too big, just something simple. Something fun. Just something where we get to know one another a little better.” I paused and rubbed at the back of my neck. “To be honest, I don't really know what kids like to do. I wouldn't know the first thing to suggest for tomorrow.”

Lexi laughed. “Well, what did you like to do when you were a kid?” she asked.

I frowned, thinking back. “That was a long time ago,” I said. “And I never really had time for fun, once Dad really started getting me into the business stuff. I went to school, and then I came home and had private tutors so that I could learn everything else that I needed to know. Every once in a while, we got to go to the park.”

“The park would make a nice outing,” Lexi suggested. “Emma loves going to the park. She likes to climb on the jungle gym, and if the weather's nice, we like to take a picnic over there. With some extra bread, so that Emma can feed the birds.”

I laughed. “Sounds like you have the day all planned already,” I said. “But come on, I want to do something special. You guys could go to the park without me. It doesn't have to be something special for every outing, but for the first one, maybe we could go someplace that she's always wanted to go but never been able to before?”

Lexi was quiet for a minute, and I wondered if I had offended her by reminding her that I was able to give our daughter things that Lexi had never been able to before. But when she spoke, she didn't seem upset. She just sounded like she'd been thinking.

“What about the Seattle Children's Museum?” she suggested. “Tickets are a little pricey, but maybe we'll qualify for a family discount if there's three of us. Or maybe Lexi is young enough to get in for free. I don't remember anymore. I haven't looked at it in a long time since it was so out of the question for us before.” She paused, looking uncertain. “I can research all the information tonight, if you want. If it's too expensive, we don't have to go.”

I reached over and put a hand over hers, squeezing lightly. “Lexi, relax,” I said gently. “I don't exactly know what a children's museum is, but I doubt it costs so much that a billionaire wouldn't be able to afford three tickets for his family to take a day trip there.”

She ducked her head, looking embarrassed, but I reached out with my index finger to tilt her chin back up. “The Children's Museum sounds like a great idea,” I told her. “But let's not spoil the surprise for Emma. We'll just tell her we're going somewhere and let her figure it out when we get there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Lexi said, smiling back at me. Then, she yawned, belatedly covering her mouth. “Sorry,” she said. “I think that's my sign to go to bed.”

“We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow,” I said, standing up off the couch and holding out a hand to help her up as well. Impulsively, I drew her into a hug, feeling her warm curves pressed against me. “Sleep well,” I said as I broke away, feeling sheepish.

“You too,” Lexi said softly, smiling as she turned to head back upstairs.

Chapter Nineteen

Lexi

I watched Lexi scamper through the fake landscape that they had set up in the Children's Museum, flipping over rocks in her search for “bugs.” I glanced over at Andrew, who was also watching Emma, looking amused but also a bit perplexed.

“Having fun?” I asked.

Andrew shook himself, turning towards me. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “Having fun.” He frowned, though, waving his hand towards the exhibit as though he just couldn't figure the place out. “To be honest, I didn't know that places like this existed.”

“You never came here as a kid?” I asked, feeling surprised. For someone who had grown up in the city, it was hard to believe that he had never been here before.

“Never,” Andrew said, shaking his head. He paused. “To be honest, running around tubes and frolicking weren't really big in my childhood.”

“You definitely missed out,” I told him.