Page 14 of The Fake Family Deal

A wave of nausea rushes over me. Is that really the life I want for my daughter? For her mother to be infamous as the wife of a billionaire — and a liar? My head is spinning with moral dilemmas that I can’t answer and the knowledge of an NDA that I’ve signed and can’t back out of.

Fortunately, I’m snapped out of my spiral by Ellis introducing himself to Lila. “Hello,” he says awkwardly, as if he’s addressing an adult. “My name is Ellis. How are you?”

I bite my lip to suppress the smile that’s threatening to break. I guess it’s sweet that he’s trying, but he clearly has never spoken to a baby before in his life.

Lila squints at him then shuffles round to bury her face in my chest again, gripping my shirt as if to hide from the scary new man.

“It’s okay, baby,” I say again, gently prying her hands open from the grasp she has on me. I encourage her to turn to face Ellis, but she just covers her face with both hands again. Carefully, she peeks out through her fingers at him, like she’s trying to assess what to do next.

I give her a tickle, trying to encourage her to engage, and that makes her giggle loudly, flailing her limbs around. Relaxing, she sticks her hand in her mouth and stares at Ellis.

He looks back uncomfortably. “Is this good?”

“You’re doing fine,” I say, aware that I’m soothing the feelings of the billionaire again. “Here, why don’t you hold her?”

“Is that a good idea?”

“I’ll take her straight back if she’s not happy, or if you’re not happy. It’ll be totally okay. Anyway, you have to get used to her sooner or later.”

“What if I drop her?”

“You won’t. Just hold on tightly. She’ll be okay.”

“Okay,” he agrees uncertainly, his eyes fixed on Lila in my lap.

He sits straight up, opening his arms stiffly as he prepares to receive her, grimacing like he does not want to do it at all. This man has got a lot to learn in a week if he thinks he’s going to be able to act like a family man by the time the cameras roll in.

After all, fathers are supposed tolikeholding their children.

I scoop Lila up and place her down in Ellis’s lap. Automatically, his arms close around her like he’s holding on to something incredibly precious. I don’t say anything at all as he settles down with her. I’m interested to see how this is going to play out.

That doesn’t mean I’m not watching closely, though. Lila frowns, looking down at Ellis’s arms robotically clamping her in place. Her lips start wobbling like she’s about to cry. Silently, I beg her not to. If anything is going to turn Ellis off this plan, it’ll be a wailing baby getting bodily fluids everywhere.

But she doesn’t. Instead she looks up at him, blows a raspberry, then flops down into his arms. “Oh, she’s dribbling,” he says, not taking his eyes off her. “Is that normal?”

“Yes,” I say with a smile. “One thing about babies is you cannot stop them from leaking.”

“Gross.”

Lila wiggles around in his arms, getting comfortable, babbling at him like she’s trying to say something. “Oh, I see,” he says in response. “That’s very good.”

I feel my smile widen. For all that he doesn’t seem to want to do this, he’s doing much better with her than so many other people. Sure, he’s awkward and weird, but he’s actually treating her like a person. You’d be surprised how many people don’t recognize that babies are people too.

Both of them get more comfortable and start making faces at each other. I sit back and watch, delighted by how easily they’re acclimatizing. I was so worried that Ellis was going to be weird about my baby, but it is delightful to see them actually getting on okay. Plus, it’s nice to have someone else entertain Lila for a while.

I love playing with her more than anything, but sometimes it is nice to let someone else have a go as well.

Eventually, Lila gets tired and starts sinking down into his lap, her eyes fluttering shut with the exertion of being awake. “Looks like you’ve got a new friend,” I say with a smile.

With that, Lila promptly bursts into tears.

“What do I do now?” Ellis asks, flustered.

I glance at my watch. “Oh, she must be hungry. This is usually the time I feed her.”

“Right…” He stares at me, grimacing as he tries to figure out how to stop Lila wiggling out of his arms. “What do you need?”

“I’ve brought formula; I just need to mix it. Can you hold her while I do?”

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