Page 102 of Just My Fake Husband

Still, it’s light enough to cast a bit of a glow over the planes of Rose’s face, her sculpted, high cheekbones, straight nose, and glossy, pink mouth.

Like I said, radiant.

“I’ve been here a few times.” I don’t mention that I’ve seen her here before and haven’t ever been fortunate enough to be assigned to her table.

She steps to me, bending down so she can lower her voice. “I’m just asking because the dish you ordered?” She hesitates, checks over her shoulder, and then pulls a face, sticking her tongue out to the side and crossing her eyes.

I snort a laugh, nearly losing all the water I’d just swallowed.

“What should I have instead?” I’ll admit it: I was trying to impress her by ordering the pasta with sardines and Sicilian mushroom risotto, the most authentic of all the dishes. The most expensive.

Her face lights up in a smile. “Do you trust me?”

Before I can answer, she continues on. “Because I have something I think you’ll really, really like.”

I already know that she has a lot of things I really, really like. But since this isn’t about her and I feel out of my element trying to flirt with a server, I tell her to go for it. “Bring me whatever you think I’d like,” I say.

Her lips press together, and I realize when she does that, her mouth draws up like a rosebud, like her name—vibrant, alive, lush.

“Prepare to be amazed.” Her tone is so matter-of-fact, her eyes taking me in, that I can’t help but think she means more than just the food.

I shake my head to clear it when she leaves for the kitchen. I’m supposed to be strategizing a plan for what I’ll say to my family about my future.

I’ve been an open book until now. There wasn’t really any other choice. Having five protective older brothers means my life has been on display for them.

It could have gone another direction—I could have been mostly forgotten about in the shuffle. But that’s not how the Tates roll, and for better or worse—each of my brothers have taken a shine to their youngest brother. I’ve never doubted that they love me. In all honesty, I’m close to each of them.

In a lot of ways, I feel like the luckiest of all the Tate men.

Except, I have secrets of my own.

And that pressure keg that holds these secrets inside will eventually have to burst open.

When it does, when my father and Sebastian find out I don’t want to work for either of them, I really will feel like an amputee. Their disappointment is going to be a phantom pain I’ll never be able to shake.

When Rose returns with the food she chose for me, her brows knit together and she’s frowning. At first, I wonder if it’s because the plates are heavy. But even when she sets them down on thetable in front of me, she seems preoccupied, maybe even a little shook up.

“You okay?” I venture, thinking she’ll probably wave me off with a quick smile and anI’m fine!

But she doesn’t. Tilting her head to the side, she twists that rosebud mouth to one side.

“Can you keep a secret?”

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