Page 17 of Her Fake Mate

Once I’m done, I turn. I have an idea, and I need to ask her about it.

“We should go out to dinner.”

She sips her coffee, her eyebrows raised. “Dinner?”

“With the alpha. And the beta. And their mates,” I clarify.

Hopefully, being seen together will help solidify our dating performance. If the alpha and beta can believe us… I think we could pull it off.

“Why?”

“Why wouldn’t I want my girlfriend to come to dinner with my alpha?”

I stop what I’m doing to look at Mia. She’s blushing. The flush of red at her cheeks is unmistakable.

“What?” I ask.

“What do you mean, what?”

“Why are you blushing?”

“I’m not.”

I point to her cheeks. “I think you are.”

“It’s just hot out here.”

“Fifty-five degrees is generally considered pretty chilly.”

“I’m used to it being colder.”

“In New Mexico?”

She flushes. “We lived in the mountains. Near Taos.”

“Ah,” I nod.

I could be remembering geography poorly, but I’m pretty sure the Sangre de Cristo mountains have a similar climate to our own.

“What will we eat?”

I raise an eyebrow. “Does it matter?”

“No. But. I mean, you didn’t even ask. You just thought it would be a good idea, so we’re doing it. I want you to ask me,” she says with a little toss of her hair.

I take her in. She’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt that’s so thin, I can see the flex of her muscles through it. Her hair waves, teased by the wind. It catches the morning light, and the effect makes her look like she’s glowing.

A crown indeed.

“Mia. Will you please go to dinner with me?”

The flush on her cheeks turns a bright, brilliant red. I smile as she ducks her head.

“Sure, Zander,” she whispers.

When Mia meets me at the alpha’s house later, I’m not prepared for how she looks.

She’s wearing… a dress.

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