Page 34 of Faking It with my Small Town Billionaire

When we both return to the living room, Lily just sits there for a long time and doesn’t speak. I’ll admit it; I’m getting a little frustrated.

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” I ask eventually.

“I know this is a fake marriage, but would you ever be unfaithful to me?” she asks.

Her question blows my mind, and I can only gawk at her. “What?” I blurt.

She eyes me suspiciously. “Is that too hard to answer?”

As much as I’m reeling, I’m the one who wanted us to talk, and so, though the question is ridiculous, I answer it. “No, Lily. It’s not too hard to answer. I would never be unfaithful to you. Yes, this is a fake marriage, but to me, it’s still a sacred agreement of sorts. That’s why we drew up the contract.”

She’s still eyeing me, but her expression has changed a little. Less suspicion, more confusion.

“What is this about?” I press, now dying to know how on Earth she has jumped to such a strange subject. One that I now realize didn’t go into the contract. I make a mental note to rectify that.

“A guy came into the bakery today. He seems to know you very well. After he bought his pastry, he told me that I was your latest conquest.”

My eyebrows crawl past my hairline in response to that remark.

“He told me to keep an eye on you. That you’re known for having a few girls in tow.”

And now, I’m incensed.

“Who was he?” I growl. “Did you get a name?”

“He called himself Marcus. I didn’t get a last name.”

She didn’t need to get a last name. I know exactly who he is.

“Dirty blonde hair, tall, looks a bit like a rat?” I snarl.

Lily nods, now looking a bit wary of my obvious anger.

I push myself from the chair as my anger grows. Pacing back and forth again, I need to get rid of this pent-up, unhealthy energy. “Marcus Riley is a snake,” I spit. “We’ve been business rivals for years. He’s tried every trick in the book to undermine me in an attempt to win contracts and steal my clients. The truth is, he’s held a grudge against me for years.”

“But why?” Lily asks, her brow furrowed.

“I’ve always been better than him,” I reply.

She’s a little taken aback by what sounds like a self-righteous brag, but I shake my hand at her. “I don’t mean me personally, though that’s part of it. I mean my business practices. Marcus takes shortcuts; he doesn’t put the work in, and he thinks of himself first and the client second. I work the opposite way.”

“Oh, right,” Lily says, clearly understanding my meaning a little better. “So, he’s trying to hurt you in your personal life because he can’t touch you in your professional life.”

It was a pretty astute inference, and to be honest, I couldn’t have put it any better myself.

“Exactly.” I nod. He went to Lily’s place of work, which fuels my rage, and my pacing gets a little faster.

“Orson. You need to calm down,” Lily says, standing from her chair and approaching me. I have no choice but to stop when she takes hold of my arm. If I don’t, I’m likely to hurt her, and I wouldn’t dream of doing that.

“He had no right to come to the bakery,” I bark. “He had no right to say those things to you. To upset you like he did.”

“I know, but it’s all right now. And I’m sorry,” she says, her voice as calm as a soft breeze. “I should have talked this through with you, instead of letting my feelings rule me.”

“I can’t blame you. It’s not your fault. It’s his.”

“Still,” she says gently. “That’s exactly the reason we have that clause in the contract. Open communication is key if we’re not going to kill each other over the next four months.” She smirks and lifts her eyes to mine.

I can’t help but let out a light chuckle.

---