Fake Marriage Box Set

“Don't get me wrong, I'm still a workaholic,” Andrew cautioned. “I'm not going to drop everything just to spend more time with Emma and you.”

“Of course not,” I said quickly. “I wouldn't dare think that.” But I couldn't keep the smile off my face. “At least you'll get to enjoy this house of yours a little more often.”

“Hmm, yes,” Andrew agreed. “I was also thinking that maybe you and I could set up a date-night.”

I could only stare at him for a moment. Then, I giggled. “You really don't seem like the kind of guy who sets up a date-night,” I said seriously. “Unless it's Friday nights, because you want to go drinking at the club and then go home and fuck.” Then, I winced, hardly able to believe that those words had just come out of my mouth. “Sorry. I just mean—”

“You're right,” Andrew interrupted. “I've never been the kind of guy to have a date-night. But I was thinking about it, and it seemed like maybe it would be a good idea for you and me. Maybe it would lend a little normalcy to our relationship. Remember how we talked about how abnormal this all is, given that Emma is an integral part of our relationship? This would let us have that, and let us get to know one another better. If you're not interested, though, we don't have to. It was just a thought that we had.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking surprisingly uncertain.

“I really like that idea,” I said softly. I couldn't believe that he had come up with it, frankly. But it was a great idea.

“Good,” Andrew said. “I need to juggle things around with my schedule and figure out how I'm going to do this, but once I have that all sorted out, we'll give it a shot.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Andrew

I glanced over at Lexi as I chopped onions. She was fidgeting worriedly again, sliding first a plate slightly to the left and then adjusting a wine glass two millimeters to the right. I smiled. “Katherine's been to my house before,” I told her.

Lexi gave me a startled and somewhat guilty look. “Of course, she has,” she said. But she was clearly confused as to why I'd said that.

“So, Katherine knows that this place never looks perfect,” I told her, looking pointedly at the table. “I mean, it's a beautiful house, but it's not as though I have a caterer come by to set the table or make the dinner.”

Lexi looked sheepish. “Sorry,” she said. “I'm just nervous.”

“I know,” I said. “But for the hundredth time, you have nothing to be nervous about.”

“That's easy for you to say,” Lexi said, rolling her eyes. But she moved away from the table and came to sit at one of the barstools, watching me put the finishing touches on the dinner casserole that I'd been assembling. She picked at a loose thread at the end of her sleeve. “What if she thinks I'm just some gold digger trying to extort you?”

“Katherine would never think that,” I promised. “Even if she were capable of thinking something like that, she wouldn't tell you if that's what she thought of you. She's nice to everyone.”

“Great, so she'll be nice to me to my face, but then she'll tell you to break up with me in a few days?”

If anything, Lexi looked even more panicked.

“Of course not,” I said, abandoning my cooking utensils and moving around the counter until I was standing next to her. I put a hand on each of her knees. We were almost the same height like this. “Just be yourself. Katherine is going to love you.”

“How do you know that?” she whispered.

“Because you make me happy,” I told her simply. “And Katherine likes seeing me happy.” I leaned in for a quick kiss and then went back to the casserole, putting a few last touches on it and then sliding it into the preheated oven.

“So, do you always cook when Katherine comes over?” Lexi asked curiously. She paused. “I didn't realize you ever cooked, actually. I thought that was Janice's job.”

“Every once in a while, I like to cook,” I said, shrugging. “And while Katherine loves Janice's cooking, she appreciates when I put in the effort to cook for her. Plus, this is one of our mother's old recipes. I know how to make it better than Janice ever could.”

“Don't let her hear you say that!” Lexi said with a laugh.

I grinned at her and got to work on salads for each of us. In actual fact, I hadn't been planning on cooking that night, but it had been the only way to get Katherine to agree to come over for dinner rathe

r than going out to lunch with the girls. The closer it had gotten to my sister's return, the more nervous I'd gotten about the idea of letting them meet without my supervision. I wanted to make sure Katherine realized how special Lexi was to me.

Katherine arrived not too long after that, and she immediately swept both Lexi and Emma into hugs. “It's great to finally meet both of you,” she said warmly. She knelt down next to Emma and held out a small present. “I brought you something from Paris. I hope you like it.”

“What do you say?” Lexi asked.

“Thank you, Aunt Kat'rine!” Emma chirped, beaming at Katherine.

“'Aunt Kate' is good, and probably easier to say,” Katherine said.