Fake Marriage Box Set

“I did,” I admitted. “It was good seeing Emma that happy. It's been a while since I was able to take her to someplace fun like that. Going to the park is great, but she gets bored with it if we go there too often.”

“Are you hoping to get romantically involved with Andrew?” Misty asked.

“No!” I said, probably too quickly.

Misty's voice gentled. “There's no reason why you couldn't,” she said. “I know you feel like your whole life is in shambles at the moment, but Andrew doesn't seem to mind.”

I sighed. “I don't want to talk about this,” I told her. I frowned, trying to put the reason into words that would make sense to her. “The whole point of this is to make sure that Emma's taken care of. It's not about getting me laid or getting me, I don't know, anything more. I wouldn't feel right going after Andrew, under the circumstances. I wouldn't want to ruin things for Emma.”

“And you think that getting involved with her daddy would ruin things for her?” Misty asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

“What if it didn't work out? Andrew could kick us out, or he could refuse to ever have anything to do with Emma again, or both. I couldn't handle that.”

“Well, even if you're not trying to get back into his bed, there's no reason why the two of you can't be friends,” Misty said, shrugging. “It sounds like you're enjoying his company, at least.”

“Honestly, I'm not sure that I am,” I admitted. I frowned, puzzling it over. It wasn't that I was finding Andrew's company unpleasant, but at the same time, it wasn't as though we were hanging out. It definitely wasn't like that first night together, where we'd chatted about anything and everything. “Every time I've seen him lately, Emma's been there with us,” I slowly told her. “And it's been great, but it hasn't been like Andrew and I are hanging out. I've just enjoyed watching him interact with Emma.”

Misty frowned but nodded. “That makes sense,” she said. “Emma's kind of your buffer.”

“Yeah, exactly. We got into a disagreement at the breakfast table the morning after I arrived there, about those long-term plans, but neither of us wanted to bicker in front of Emma. So we shelved it to come back to later. I feel like that's what's happening with every point of friction between us: we're just kicking it all under the rug at the moment. But if we were going to start a real relationship, if we were going to start to be friends, we'd have to unpack all of that. I'm not ready to do that yet.”

“That's fair,” Misty said. “If you ever need a babysitter for a little while, though, just someone to take Emma off your hands for a little while so that you and Andrew could really talk”–from the way she suggested it, I could tell she wasn't just thinking that we'd talk–“you know where to find me.”

I giggled. “You're really rooting for the two of us, aren't you?”

“He's a handsome billionaire,” Misty said jokingly. “What's not to like?” She grinned at me. “Seriously, though, you know I just want you to be happy.”

“And you think Andrew would make me happy?” I asked, worrying my lower l

ip between my teeth as I thought about it.

Our life the past few weeks hadn't been horrible, that was true. It was definitely a big step up from the way that we had been living. But like Misty had said, I wasn't the kind of woman who was content with living off my husband's paycheck.

As much as I admired stay-at-home-moms and as much as I loved Emma, I wasn't sure that I wanted that for the rest of my life. I'd be much happier working, I was sure. Not that being with Andrew meant that I wouldn't be able to work. I just needed to sort my life out before I got romantically entangled with anyone, Andrew or otherwise.

“It's been kind of nice having more time to spend with Emma, now that I'm not frantically job-searching,” I mused. “Maybe I would make a good stay-at-home-mom.”

Misty laughed. “You'd be bored sick within the month,” she told me. “And what would you do once Emma started going to school? You'd go nuts.”

“You're right,” I sighed.

“I bet you just want to put in more Emma play-hours than Daddy does,” Misty remarked, grinning at me. “You're probably jealous because he's so good at handling her. She'll be Daddy's little princess before you know it.”

I stuck my tongue out at her, but then I frowned. “Do you really think that's going to happen?” I asked. I could almost see the signs of it, now that she had mentioned it.

Misty snorted. “No, I don't think that's going to happen, any more than I think that I'm going to be able to usurp her affections for you,” she said. “It's good to have a lot of different people for Emma to love and model her behavior on, isn't it? What's that saying: it takes a village to raise a kid?”

I smiled tentatively at her. “You're right,” I said. “I should be happy that she and Andrew are so taken with one another. I mean, I am happy that she and Andrew are so taken with one another.”

“Good,” Misty said. “I'm glad everything is going so well for you. I really was worried, you know.”

“I know,” I said. I shook my head. “But enough about me. How have you been? Did you find someone to fill that spare room?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, I don't have a place for you if Andrew kicks you out tomorrow,” Misty said. “Unless you wanted to sleep in my closet.” She grinned crookedly. “It's been good. The girl's name is Nicole, and she's a law student, so she's not around the apartment very much. Nice, though, and very clean. Probably the best living situation I've ever had.”

“I resent that!” I said. “I make a great roommate.”

“You do,” Misty agreed. “But the cranky baby wailing at three a.m. leaves something to be desired.”