Page 40 of The Fake Family Deal

At least it’s with Marina. I have to keep remembering that. This is for her.

When we finally get there, I let out a small whoop of joy. They’ve had my car driven down too, my nice summertime soft-top that I hardly ever get out. I had no idea they would do that.

I rush over to it — not quite running, but certainly not walking. One of the runners hands me my car keys and I swing into the driver’s seat, grinning as I slide the roof down, the warm summer breeze sweeping over me.

“I didn’t know you had a convertible,” says Marina, sliding into the passenger seat beside me.

“There’s a whole garage of my old cars downtown,” I grin, twining my fingers with hers. “I don’t get them out very often, but sometimes I enjoy going for a ride.”

“Nice,” she says. “We should go sometime.”

I just give her a hum in response, not wanting to commit to anything.

The crew bustle around us, setting up the screen and getting their angles, positioning mics and touching up our hair and clothes. It’s going to be weird being fully in charge of my ownappearance again. Lately, it’s been kind of nice to get someone else to do all the thinking for me.

We just sit around waiting, so to amuse Marina I reach down and turn on the radio. A crackly jazz station gets picked up, and Marina smiles sweetly at me, squeezing my hand. “This is really nice,” she says. “I can’t believe they set this up so quickly.”

I shrug. “It’s what they’re for, isn’t it?”

“Still, it looks great. It’s almost like a real drive-in.”

I look at her quizzically, taking note of the soft daylight highlighting her face, bright despite the clouds. “You’ve been to a drive-in movie before?”

“No,” she says, looking down at her lap. “I always wanted to, though. Oh, it’s silly, but…”

“But?”

She glances up at me, withdrawing her hand from mine. “I always had this stupid idea that someone would propose to me at one of these things. That it would be the perfect, romantic night — early fall, the leaves turning gold, the evening growing dark around us, and then, as the movie ended and the stars came out, he’d turn to me and get down on one knee.”

“You really have thought about this, huh?”

Embarrassed, she grimaces. “Yeah. It’s dumb, isn’t it?”

“No,” I say, though clearly too forcefully because it makes her recoil. I take hold of her hand again, pulling it into my chest as if that’ll make her see how close to my heart she is. “It’s not. You’re not dumb, Marina. It’s the kind of fantasy you deserve to have come true.”

She flushes, but before she can rebuke me, the director slams his hands down on the hood to get our attention. “All right, ready?”

We both nod. Simon looks us both squarely in the eye, then nods back. “Okay. Awesome. Everyone ready? All right. Cameras, good? Awesome. Then we’ll hit action.”

Despite our personal closeness, neither of us are entirely comfortable on camera, even after all this time. We settle stiffly back into the car, sitting up straight. This is the way it always goes, both of us stiff and unnatural until one of us breaks the tension.

I decide it’s my turn to today, and lean in to ask, “What’s your favorite movie?”

Marina shrugs. “I don’t really have a lot of time for watching movies. But Lila and I like anything animated. She likes musicals.”

“I can see that,” I nod. “Maybe she’ll sing when she grows up.”

“Maybe,” says Marina quietly.

Then she leans over to rest her head on my shoulder, and I wrap my arm around her, pulling her in tight. The movie starts rolling, and I get handed a bag of popcorn from nowhere.

It’s hot and buttery and makes my mouth start to water. I offer the bag to Marina, and she takes one of the popped kernels and throws it into her mouth. She hums in appreciation and takes a handful. “This is really good stuff.”

“We’re not doing anything cheap here.”

She grins. “Give me some more.”

I do without hesitation, and she shuffles so she can lie in my lap as best she can with a gear shift in the way. If the camera crew wasn’t here, I would kiss her hard — hard enough to make her feel electric. I’d let my hand roam over her body again, dipping beneath this gorgeous green dress until her legs trembled.

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