Page 23 of Accidental Fiancé

Whatever was on his mind felt like a trap. “But if you’re about to ask me a favor, why would I agree to say no?”

“Because otherwise, I won’t be foolish enough to ask.”

“Your logic is unlike our earth logic.” We had binged Buffy the Vampire Slayer when we were kids, and I hoped he remembered the quote.

He laughed. “Nice. But I still need you to agree, okay?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

He took a breath and began. “In about two weeks, my grandmother will be turning eighty. Her birthdays are always a big celebration since she’s the oldest person in the family. Everyone will be there, their spouses, kids, all of us. It doubles as an annual family reunion because we’re too busy to get together otherwise. Yaya is the only person we’d go through the trouble for.”

“Yaya? That’s so cute. But I’m not hearing a problem yet.”

“I was getting to that.”

He pulled out his phone and showed me a picture of a precious little girl. Which seemed like an odd thing for him to have on his phone.

“Um, who is that?”

“This is Piper. My daughter.”

I blinked at him, my heart stumbling. “You have a daughter? Are you married?”

“Not anymore. We’re divorced.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”But only a little. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not much to say, really. My wife—ex-wife—had an affair with one of my former business associates. She moved to Beijing to be with him and left Piper with me.”

How could she leave her own daughter like that? I couldn’t picture my mother doing that in a million years. “That’s… what do you mean, she left her with you? She still sees her, right?”

He shook his head. “According to Britney, we’re in her past.”

“Wow.”

“Piper is four. She was one when the affair started and two by the time the divorce was finalized. She barely remembers her mom, and I doubt she will when she’s older. It was shitty of Britney, but at least she left instead of dragging things out. Small favors.”

I couldn’t wrap my head around it. “Why would she have a kid only to abandon her?”

“It’s funny, most people say something similar when they hear about it. Men do it all the time and no one bats an eye. But when a woman does it, people have all sorts of questions.” He chuckled sadly to himself. “I believe she didn’t want to be a mom in the first place, but she did it because that’s what was expected of her. I’m not trying to analyze my ex-wife any more than I already have, and that’s not why I brought her up.”

I swallowed. “Okay. Why then?”

“Since the day she left, my family has been on me about getting a new wife to take care of Piper. At first, I was understanding about it. But it’s been over two years, and they hound me even more now every time we talk. Honestly, it’s insulting.”

“Insulting?”

“Yes. I’m a single father with a busy schedule, but I am capable of hiring nannies and babysitters and ensuring she has all the things she needs. I want her to have a feminine influence, but they act like I’m some feeble man who doesn’t understand women. And it’s not like they even want me to get married forme, formycompanionship. They only ever bring it up as something to help Piper.”

I shrugged and smiled. “I can see both sides of it, to be honest. Not the feeble man part. Just that it’s good for a kid to have a variety of influences around.”

“I get that too. But they are really brutal about it. So that’s where you come in.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I show up to another family function with no one on my arm, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Oh. Oh! You want me to come with you?”

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