The Fake Engagement

“It does seem fair.”

“Great. Great. I like this,” she said. “So three brothers. I’m thinking we stick to first names only. No one needs to know the middle name, and let’s not go with age, but where they rank in terms of oldest to youngest.”

“I’m the oldest, at forty.”

“And I totally can know your age, because we’re engaged.” She started to write and stopped. “A ring. What are we going to do about a ring?”

“Already got it covered. After yesterday with my sister, I get to pick it up for lunch. I’ve already booked a table at the Italian place.”

“Oh, I’ve arranged to meet my friends there,” she said. “We are … some of us … we need to do lunch.”

“Great. It will be a good opportunity for me to meet them, and learn more about them.”

“You want to learn more about my friends?” she asked.

“Sure. Do they know this is an arrangement?” he asked.

“Actually, yes, they do. They also had your side and felt I was overthinking everything.”

He smiled.

“That doesn’t mean you were right.”

“No, of course not,” he said.

“We’re sitting here now, cramming for a test on what we do and don’t know about one another, Mr. Boone, I mean Preston. Preston, it means that in this scenario, I was right.”

“I’m not disputing that, Eliza. You were right and I wasn’t. I am in total agreement.”

She nodded. “Yes, you are. I will call and tell Mackenzie and Juliet that they’ll be having lunch with my boss.”

“Your fiancé,” he said.

“Right, fiancé. That’s totally normal. You would meet my friends before we got engaged. You’re not just a boss.”

He liked how nervous she was. She talked a hell of a lot more, which he did find cute. Very cute.

He sat back and watched as she called Juliet and then Mackenzie. After she hung up with the latter, she nibbled on her lip, a slight frown pulling between her brows.

“What is it?” he asked, concerned.

“Oh, it’s nothing. You know. The same old. Same old.”

“You’re worried about them.”

She put her cell phone away. “It is probably nothing to worry about at all. I know they can take care of themselves. They have been doing it for a long time, you know.”

“It doesn’t stop you from worrying any less.”

“True. True. They’re like the sisters I never had.”

“An only child?”

“Yep.”

He made a note. “So you’re an only child and you went to college, I’m assuming with your three friends?”

“All correct. We’ve been living together ever since.”

He made additional notes. “See. This isn’t too hard.”

“So for you, I’ve got your parents’ names and your siblings. Is there any rivalry between them I need to know about? Any of them you don’t get along with?” she asked.

“Nope. I’m good with all of them.”

“Really?”

He lifted up from writing his notes. “Do you find it hard to believe I can be friends with my family?”

“Not that part, but I do find it hard you don’t have any bets going or some competition with your brothers. That doesn’t seem right.”

He put his pen down. “We don’t have any. I’m sure they have judgments of my lifestyle.”

“Why would they have judgments?” she asked.

“Simple, I didn’t want to stay in Westcliffe Heights, living off the Boone name. I felt compelled to make my own way in life,” he said.

From a young age, he’d hated being told that the only reason he was successful was because of his family. He made it his mission to build this company from the ground up. No help from his father.

“You seem defensive,” she said.

Without realizing it, he’d folded his arms. Quickly releasing them down to his sides, he forced a smile. “I’m fine.”

“Okay, let’s move on. You’re all a happy family, got it.” She kept her gaze on the notepad. “Anything else? Oh, I need those brothers’ names,” she said.

“Roger, Kian, and Andrew.”

“Awesome. We’re not going to go with middle names, just the first name. What about their spouses? Do you think we should talk about that?” she asked.

“All three are married, but would telling you their wives’ names be something an engaged couple did?” He rubbed at his temple. Since when did organizing competent lies become so confusing?

She laughed. “How about we go with their first names, and we leave it at that? Kind of like a drop in the conversation.”

He watched as she drew a line down all three names.

“Roger’s wife is Lydia,” he said.

She wrote it down.

“Kian is married to Grace.”

“Pretty name.”

“And Andrew is married to Scarlett,” he said.

Eliza looked up.

“Is that going to be a problem for you to remember?” he asked.

“No, of course not.” She made a note. “I think that’s a good place to leave that. We don’t want to delve in too deeply. It might look weird if I can write an essay on your family. What I need to know are all the intricacies that make you tick.”