Page 1 of Fake Wife for Dr. Secret Daddy

Prologue

WINNIE

“Listen, if you’re going to complain this much, I could just drop you off on the side of the highway,” Dr. Ted Gates says, and I scowl at him.

As far as birthdays go, this wasn’t exactly how I thought I’d ring in twenty.

On my previous birthdays, I split one box of chocolate cake with my big brother, Austin, and our dad. But now, Dad’s gone, and Austin’s stuck in some foreign military base, barely able to call back. I would have been happy enough to stay in my apartment studying, but no, my big brother had to give me the most extensive guilt trip over FaceTime. Austin was all teary-eyed about how it was the first birthday since Dad’s death that I’d be alone and yada yada yada and now?—

I am sitting in Dr. Ted Gates’ far-too-fancy car on the way to a far-too-fancy restaurant.

“You can’t talk to me like that,” I snap.

Ted looks over at me, a quirk in his brow. “You shouldn’t be so ungrateful. Most girls your age would kill to go to La Roma for dinner.”

“Most girls my age would kill to have dinner with someone other than their brother’s best friend,” I grumble.

Still, he’s a little right. The restaurant is excellent, far above what I could afford, and there’s no real reason to be rude. It was nice of the guy to agree to do this for my brother.

Austin, Ted, and I were raised together on Ted’s father’s property. My dad worked for Dr. Sam Gates, Ted’s dad, as his driver, and we lived in his guesthouse. However, with the fifteen-year age difference between the boys and me, I don’t feel like Ted is someone I grew up with. By the time I realized he lived with us, he was barely around, already in college.

Or rather, we lived with them.

“Thank you,” I say belatedly. I’m aiming for genuine, but even I can hear how petulant I sound.

Ted glances over at me. His brows rise, lips twitching upwards. “You’re welcome.” He sounds like he is trying not to laugh at me.

It makes me angry. I slink in my seat, feeling… young. It’s my birthday! I should be feeling older, wiser, and more fun. But something about Ted makes me feel a bit… insecure.

Of course, Ted is handsome, with a sharp jaw and stormy gray eyes. He’s wearing a suit. He looks like a movie star, I think—not a doctor or a regular guy from Nevada.

He looks like he always did when I was younger, except… better. His crisp white shirt is unbuttoned, exposing his invitingly tan chest, a smattering of hair sticking out.

My crush on Ted, who showed up on holidays through the guesthouse windows, had been rampant a few years ago. I never told anyone, but Austin’s terrible choice of birthday buddy makes me think I was not as subtle back then as I had hoped.

“Tell me about yourself,” Ted says, eyes flickering over me before returning to the road. His glance fills me with heat. I fidget, shifting in the warm car seats. “I haven’t seen you since you were a kid.”

“You barely even saw me then,” I mutter.

“Exactly.” He grins, ridiculously handsome, and I scowl.

I don’t want to say anything, but the drive from UNLV to La Roma will take at least twenty minutes, probably longer if there’s traffic, and I don’t want this to be more uncomfortable than it must be.

I could tell him about how painfully single I am. I could tell him how my closest friends are the campus canteen workers. I could tell him about how I just got fired from my job as a virtual assistant because my client has gotten big enough to need a live, non-virtual assistant. Or, hey, I could talk about the late rent notice that my landlord posted yesterday, reminding me that if I don’t fork over a thousand dollars in the next three days, I’ll be evicted.

That sounds miserable, though, and is likely to get back to Austin, so I plaster on a smile.

“I’m in my second year at the University of Nevada,” I say.

Ted gives me a bored look. “That’s easy, I know that.”

“I’m studying Healthcare Administration,” I offer.

He sighs. I know he’s regretting this favor to my brother, but before he can do something like drop me off on the side of the road, his phone rings.

Ted answers without even looking at me. I sigh, pushing myself as far away from him as the front seat of his fancy car will allow, plucking at the blue blouse I’m wearing. It’s new, a gift from my brother, and it’s probably the nicest thing I own. Given how much it costs, I’ll probably have to keep it for the rest of my life.

“Son,” I hear. Dr. Sam’s voice is engrained in my memory after I grew up on his property. Instinctively, I sit up a bit straighter.

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