The Fake Engagement

This was bad.

So very bad.

He didn’t like the way his thoughts were going.

Just then, Eliza stepped into the office, holding a takeaway cup of coffee.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said.

Staring at Eliza, he knew he shouldn’t. Eliza was his employee, one of the best ones he ever had. This was so wrong.

“It is more than fine … darling.” He had never said anything of the sort to his employee in his life. He’d berated her, told her she did good work, but terms of endearment weren’t easy to say. But this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. If he appeared to be dating someone already, his sister would report the news to his parents, and there wouldn’t be any pressure to go on a date. It was stupid, irrational, and the moment he called Eliza darling, he knew he’d regret it.

She paused and looked at him, still wearing the sunglasses.

“Mr. Aguire is due to arrive any minute. I’ve got people setting up the conference room, including all of his favorite snacks and treats.”

“Yes, that’s good.” He reached out, taking Eliza’s hand and pulling her close, not too close. “I want you to meet my sister.”

Eliza tensed up.

This was so wrong on so many levels. She could slap his ass with a sexual harassment lawsuit or something like that.

“Preston, what’s going on?” Trudy asked.

“Trudy, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Eliza Drake. Sweetheart, I know we wanted to keep our love a secret, but my sister is on a need-to-know basis.”

“Fiancée?” Eliza and Trudy both snapped together.

Eliza turned to look at him. She pulled the glasses from her eyes, and he saw they were a little bloodshot. Someone had too much tequila last night. He would tear into her about that later, for now, he needed her to focus on the problem at hand.

He cupped her cheek, trying his best to be earnest. “I know you wanted to keep our relationship a secret, but she’s family, and I can’t keep something so big from family.”

She glared at him, and he was willing to give her anything if she named her price.

Eliza spun away from him, looking at his sister. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be introduced this way.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Trudy said.

“You know I don’t like to date employees, but our feelings wouldn’t disappear.”

“Is this why you hired her?” she asked.

“No, no, no, no,” Eliza said. She started to laugh. “Of course not. I am good at my job. I guess it was all the late nights, you know.”

He put his hands on her shoulders. “That’s exactly right. It was the late nights. We were constantly working together, and one thing led to another.” He didn’t know why he was elaborating on this lie any further. “So, as you can see. You can tell Mom and Dad not to bother with anything else.”

Trudy smiled, and he hated that look on her. It meant she was conspiring. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll let them know. I take it you will be bringing Eliza with you to Westcliffe Heights? The whole family is going to want to meet the woman who has captured your heart. Do I get to see the ring?” Trudy asked.

Eliza slid her hand behind her back, and he sighed. “I had to get it resized. It was too big for Eliza’s finger.”

“Right, of course. This totally sounds legit.”

“Trudy, I’m needed for my first meeting. Can we take a raincheck on this conversation and continue it later?”

“Yes. I won’t get in the way of work, but I cannot wait to get to know the woman my brother has fallen for.”

Trudy pulled Eliza into a tight hug.

“We are going to be such good friends.”

Chapter Two

What the hell just happened?

Eliza took the necessary notes, but the meeting with Mr. Aguire was turning into a complete disaster. She offered reassuring smiles and tried to help the meeting run smoothly, but inside, she was reeling.

Fiancée?

What the hell had just happened? She had no idea what was going on. Was it some kind of joke? Was Preston pissed off because she was late? It made no sense for him to call her his fiancée.

Clearly the tequila had messed with her head.

The meeting came to an abrupt close when Mr. Aguire said he’d heard enough and walked out of the conference room.

This wasn’t good.

She’d never had a meeting go this appallingly. Not in the last three years.

Eliza turned to look at Preston, but he’d also left the room. She was the only one inside, and she was more than happy to collapse into the nearest chair and just take stock of everything that had happened that morning.

First, her alarm didn’t go off.

Juliet was always up two hours before everyone else, so there was no reason to expect a wake-up call from her. It was Mackenzie, who had a half day, who finally woke her up at eight-thirty, giving her thirty minutes to change, grab coffee, breakfast, and get to work. It didn’t work.