Page 56 of Charming Deception

Maybe I failed to make that part clear. “You’ll have a home, access to any funds you need to get back on your feet. Without having to ask your brother for it or share an apartment with a bunch of people.” Wasn’t that what she wanted, ultimately?

She just keeps staring at me. “Right. So that’s what’s in it for me. What’s really in it for you?”

“Well… you. As my fiancée. Which, as I mentioned, I’m in need of.”

“And how do you know I’m trustworthy?”

“Cole trusts you.”

“But you must know other women. You just met me.”

I consider how to put it. “You’ve made a good impression.”

“How is that possible? I threw mud on your couch and made a scene and quit the job you gave me.”

“And in doing so, you impressed my brother.” I hate to say it, because it sounds so damn lame. But. Honesty. “Graysen is my oldest sibling and he’s my boss. He has a lot of say over what happens in our business. And in our grandfather’s estate. Granddad just passed.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. Were you close?”

“Yes. Very. But even so, when a person leaves such wealth behind, it’s not always straightforward what happens with it. There was a will, of course, but there were certain…” I struggle with how to put it without breaking the rules. “My brother has high expectations of me. If I don’t meet them… let’s just say I’ll lose his respect, and lose power and position in my family, much like my uncle did with my father. Eventually, my uncle got disinherited. Or more precisely, paid to go away. There were only the two of them. I have four siblings in line before me.” There. Now she knows there are big stakes on the line for me, without actually getting into the details about Granddad’s will or the game.

She still looks uncertain, though. “But wouldn’t your family prefer that you get engaged to some wealthy socialite or celebrity?”

“No. Because that won’t solve my problem.”

“What problem, exactly?”

I realize I’m being a bit opaque. But fuck.

Do we really need to go there?

I look at my wineglass, twirling it by the stem. “Graysen is tired of the drama he thinks I cause. Or my public image causes. My dating life, I mean. I’m bad for his blood pressure.”

“I know what that’s like,” she says softly. “My brother’s blood pressure probably hasn’t been great lately, thanks to me.”

I meet her eyes. “Then we have that in common.”

She takes another sip of her wine, studying me. “I don’t know you, Jameson,” she concludes.

“Your brother knows me.”

“That’s not the ringing endorsement you seem to think it is.”

“You’ll get to know me.”

“What if I don’t like you? Or you don’t like me? Couples usually need to like each other for things to work out. God. I can’t even believe I’m entertaining this…”

“Okay, first, I’m fairly certain we’ll like each other enough to make this work. Second, relationships aren’t always based on affection. Third, I’m not asking for an ongoing relationship, just a one-year engagement. After that, the will is settled, and I won’t…” Need you anymore.

That sounds… fucking bad.

So instead, I say, “After that, I won’t be so worried about my brother’s opinion of my love life anymore.”

“I see. But we’re not really talking about love. Are we.”

We aren’t, yet the whole time we’ve sat here talking, I’ve barely eaten the amazing food.

Neither has she.

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