Page 17 of Faking Ever After

“Those aren’t our guests, darling,” Alicia said.

I lifted an eyebrow. “They’re at your beach, though.”

My fake mother-in-law-to-be smiled. “Nobody can own a beach, darling. And even if we could, what would we do with it all to ourselves?”

I probably should have known that, being a billionaire’s boyfriend and all, but it hadn’t crossed my mind that there was something on Earth Percy couldn’t buy. After all, he had a flying hotel at his disposal.

Lawrence, with his pencil mustache and his hair combed back like some modern version of Gomez Addams, joined us onthe pool terrace. His arms wrapped around Alicia as he pulled her in, his front pressing her back. I looked at them, then promptly looked away because Lawrence buried his face in the nook of Alicia’s neck and kissed her with a growl.

Even my cheeks reddened with the loudness of the smack of Lawrence’s lips, his hands on Alicia’s stomach. She laughed merrily and scolded her husband, but she also turned around and planted her lips on his.

I glanced at them again, totally unsure what to do with myself. It was like the entire world fell away and the two of them remained on a patch of ground all of their own.

I cleared my throat and stepped back, lifting my gaze at the beach and the endless azure sea, wisps of foam scattered over its surface.

“I see you’re getting to know my parents,” an amused voice said. I turned to look at Emily, who wore a somewhat contemptuous look for the very public display of affection taking place three paces to my right. The giggles and growls heated my face.

“Ah, hm, yes, they’re very…passionate.” I tilted my head to follow the now horizontal position of Alicia Davenport while Lawrence held her and lifted her back to her feet, dancing to the sound of nature around us and humming some old tune I’d never heard before. They danced like it was their wedding day.

Emily chuckled, a hand resting on my shoulder in comfort. “You get used to it.”

“No, no. Thank you, Aunt Judith,” Percy protested, lifting his hands and diverting his gaze from Aunt Judith’s phone. She was tapping the screen and displaying something that made Percy eligible to compete in the national beet lookalike competition if someone had the brilliant idea of putting such a thing together. “How on Earth did you even get that?”

“He sent it to me, of course,” Judith said as if speaking to a child who didn’t have the capacity to understand that the Earth was round.

Percy glanced at the screen. “Dear Lord, those speedos areverysmall.”

“Oh, don’t be a prude, Percy. It’s today’s fashion. Isn’t it wonderful? Here. Look.” She thrust the phone at Percy and he jumped back as if it was an angry viper.

“Ah! Thank you, Aunt Judith, but I’m perfectly happy with Finn. No offense to…erm…”

“Brayden,” Judith supplied helpfully.

I looked at Emily, who was unperturbed. “Is this…?”

“Normal? Oh yeah.” Her nod made her fuzzy brown hair swing. Now that I was near her, I realized just how much she looked like Percy, minus the hair color. Her eyes were blue but with a slight touch of gray, and her features were sharp, defined, and elegant, as if she had been born to some European royalty. “And if you’re thinking we’re all mad as hatters, your assessment won’t be far from the truth.”

“That’s not at all what I thought,” I said, but my mouth was dry. I wasn’t sure if I was terrified out of my pants or if I loved every second of this chaos. All we needed were clay plates to smash against the floor and the evening would be complete.

Emily leaned in to conspire with me. “Shouldn’t you be rescuing your boyfriend?”

Lawrence and Alicia were busy with an improvised tango and I didn’t want to witness where it led them. Emily nudged me quite literally with her elbow. Judith made a gesture with her phone as if she was zooming into a photo very liberally. Percy won the beet lookalike race.

Inhaling a deep breath, I marched over to Percy. “Won’t you show me around the house, baby?”

Aunt Judith waved her hand down at Percy as if to urge him to be discreet about this and to promise to continue later. “You go on, my dears, I’ll just finish my Prosecco.”

“Of course, Aunt Judith,” Percy said, turning to me with immeasurable relief washing over his face. “I’ll gladly show you around the entire island if it gets me off this terrace.”

“I’m game,” I said with a wink.

The sun raced toward the horizon, spilling its orange glow over the surface of the water, and Percy led me away from the terrace of terrors.

The chatter faded away as we walked through the immense open space of the central area of the ground floor. One wing was clearly for sitting and lounging, the other was for dining, but with the weather so perfect and all the terrace doors wide open and separated by thin, silk curtains, the interior looked like it hadn’t been touched in some time.

“Your family seems very passionate,” I said as Percy led me to the wide staircase.

“Not the word I would use,” he said.

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