Page 22 of The Fake Family Deal

I shrug, suddenly self-conscious, like a thousand eyes are unpeeling me. “I’m just treating her like a person. It’s not hard.”

That little crease between her eyes comes back, and the thought of her attractiveness comes back unbidden. I take in her cutebutton nose, the auburn hair that frames her face perfectly, and her soft-looking lips.

Without meaning to, I wonder what it might be like to kiss them.

Marina hums in a gentle agreement, then heads back to Lila to bundle her up in a tiny raincoat and place her in the stroller. Lila doesn’t seem to be in the mood to sit quietly, instead wiggling around as Marina tries to get everything together.

“Say bye-bye,” says Marina, crouching down to wave at me as if to show Lila what to do.

Lila squeals something that could be loosely interpreted as saying goodbye and waving, then flops down in the stroller, giggling to herself. Despite myself, I smile back.

“Bye, Ellis,” smiles Marina.

As I shut the door behind them, a pang aches in my chest, almost like I wish I’d asked them to stay.

Almost like I’m getting attached.

CHAPTER 12

MARINA

We show up nice and early the next day, and finally the crew gets some of the candid shots they wanted before — ones of Ellis and me going about our pretend daily business as if we really are in a long-term relationship.

It feels more comfortable than yesterday somehow, like we’ve finally understood the assignment and figured out how to act it.

I’m starting to think about lunch when the director comes up to us and says, “All right, so we want to go through the bedtime routine.”

“But it’s only midday,” I say.

“Yes, it’s calledacting,” says Simon, patronizing me far more than I think he has any right to.

It makes me just grumpy enough to dig my heels in. “Lila will be confused for later if we do this now. I want her to be able to sleep tonight.”

“Yes,” sneers Simon, looking at me like I’m a speck of dust, “but the guys don’t want to stay until seven. So we’re going to do this now, all right?”

No amount of arguing is going to change anything, so I decide not to waste any more energy on it. “Fine. Whatever.”

Beside me, Ellis bristles, squaring his shoulders and taking a deep breath. For a second, it looks like he’s about to slap the director, but instead he lets his breath out, pursing his lips as he tries to calm himself down.

Would he really have jumped to my defense like that? Or am I just imagining a world where he cares about me?

I take Ellis to one side and run him through the bedtime routine. For the sake of the cameras, I want to do things properly, and if I have to confuse Lila like this, I want her to at least sleep well for a while. There’s only so much going to bed in the middle of the day that I think she’ll be able to handle.

He nods attentively as I tell him that we’ll bathe her and then read her a story until she falls asleep. She refuses to settle without a story. Even at this age, she knows what the proper routine should be.

We all make our way into the bathroom, followed by the crew. Simon has that expressionless face again, the one that seems to always be telling us we’re doing something wrong. I’m learning to just ignore it.

The second Lila sees Ellis’s giant tub, she starts wiggling around in excitement. Fortunately for me, she loves bath time. At least that’s one thing that makes my life easier. She’s already difficult enough with her sleeping, without more complications.

But her wiggling is almost too excitable, and she starts trying to get free of my arms. I don’t want to drop her, but I don’t want her to crawl around on the bathroom floor either.

“Ellis, can you come entertain Lila for a second?” I ask, not expecting great things from him.

To my shock and relief, he swoops right over, takes her carefully from me and sits on the floor beside me, rocking back and forth to soothe her.

I lean over the bath, turning away from them for a second to run the water. The tub fills quickly, and I swirl in my hand in the water to make sure it doesn’t get too hot.

Meanwhile, Ellis is bouncing Lila around and she’s grinning like she’s having the time of her life. “Now, Lila,” he says. I still find it amusing how he has full conversations with a baby who can’t say a single word. “What’s your favorite bath toy? I’m sure you play with toys in the bath.”

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