The Fake Engagement

“Exactly.” She chuckled. She was not trying to draw attention to the fact he held some of the attributes to her ten items. “The next one is pretty easy. He’s got to be a family man who wants dozens of kids. That could be any guy, right? Most people want kids.” She tore off another pizza slice. “Loves to snuggle is another, and that goes into the next point of being good in bed. I think every woman should want that from her guy. No one wants a boring man in bed.”

He raised a brow.

“I’m moving way off topic.” She wasn’t about to tell him that so far, he had every single point. He was a family man, and he’d admitted to her wanting kids. “Intelligent.”

“You want an intelligent man?” he asked.

“Yes. A guy who is good in bed and who makes me want to talk out of it. That’s not so hard to imagine, is it?” She glared at him. When she’d been making the list, Juliet and told her she was stretching the imagination of believability. “He’s got to love dogs.”

“Dogs?”

“Yep. I love dogs. I’ve always wanted one, but my parents never got one. I think my mom is allergic. He’s got to be crazy about me. I don’t want a cheater.” She wrinkled her nose and finished off her pizza. “He has to not be a criminal, but I put it as do the right thing growing up. I just didn’t realize I meant not be a criminal.”

He chuckled. “You’re not into bad boys.”

She rolled her eyes. “The last two are to hold my hair back when I’m sick, and he’s got to love to dance.” She shrugged. “I was a kid. Don’t judge but the fact my mom is even bringing that stuff up.”

“Ten,” he said.

“Huh?”

“You made a list of ten things you want your man to be,” he said.

“I was a kid. It was some fun.” She shrugged. “Juliet and Mackenzie made the same list. I’m sure a lot of kids do it. I mean, that time in their life is crazy. List making is the bomb, and it’s ideal.” She was done with the pizza. “With Mackenzie and Juliet coming, what are we going to do?”

“I don’t know. How quick do you think it is to have a wedding?”

Eliza sighed. “Do you think we can pretend a company emergency?”

“My family would be pissed. I’ve done a couple of them to get away from here early. They wanted me to settle down a few years ago, and a parade of single women were pretty much thrust in front of my nose.”

She wasn’t going to admit the thought of other women wanting him bothered her.

“What are we going to do?” Eliza asked.

“I have no idea.”

This wasn’t helping.

****

Juliet and Mackenzie made it the following morning. Eliza had been with them since and Preston, well, he was still reeling from the list of ten. That had to be the connection.

“I didn’t think I’d find you out here,” Roger said, coming toward the pool.

Preston lifted his whiskey glass. “Just out here relaxing.”

“While they’re all inside deciding how you’re going to get married?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, I need to know what you’ve done with my brother. He would never allow anyone to organize anything for him.”

“I’m changing.”

“Not that much.”

Roger pushed his pants down, took off his shirt, and dived into the pool. “You know, when Trudy told me you were engaged, I thought it was a load of bullshit.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. It’s you. The only way to get engaged is for it to be some kind of elaborate event. You always went bigger than everyone else.”

Preston laughed. “It’s nothing personal that I do things bigger and better.”

Roger snorted. “So with us finding out from our sister, I figured you were doing some kind of thing to get her off your case, only it backfired.”

“And now?” he asked.

“I’ve seen the way you are with Eliza, and you’ve never been like that with any other woman.”

“How do you mean?”

Roger sighs. “I’m not a chick. I don’t have to explain everything.”

“Yeah, you do. I’m curious what you’ve seen.” With the fact his parents were arranging a wedding for a fake engagement, and his carefully organized world was going down the crapper, he didn’t see a problem in playing along.

“You notice her enter a room every single time. The way you watch her. She is all you can focus on. When she’s not near you, you keep looking for her. It’s like you’re both connected with each other. She’s the same, she’ll watch you. There were a couple of times I wanted to tell you both to get a room. There’s no faking that kind of shit.”

“Nope, I wasn’t faking.” Preston finished his glass of whiskey. The burn was welcome.

He couldn’t help but wonder if it would be so hard for him and Eliza to actually get married. They were not hurting anyone. They were great together.