Page 7 of Faking Ever After

I wasn’t sure if that was a question or a statement. “It’s not the most common situation.”

“Of course,” Percy said in asilly memanner like he had just remembered something embarrassingly obvious. “I would imagine you don’t often get hired to play someone’s boyfriend for long periods of time.”

“Hired?” I asked before I could stop myself. “Am I getting paid for this?” I’d assumed this was just my ticket out of the city for a bit.

“Aren’t you? I mean, that’s normally something Kim would have taken care of. I’m sure you are going to be compensated generously, especially since this is not the kind of service I imagine many, er, clients request.” Percy rambled on as I lifted a finger to stop him. When he didn’t notice it, I lowered my finger again. “Look, I just want to say, although Kim has probably looped you in, this isn’t the, um, standard order.” His gaze searched for help around the cabin while I set my drink on a secured table and crossed my arms. I was starting to have astrange, foreboding feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Not that I’m unhappy. Don’t misunderstand me. You are very attractive. And I’m not a caveman, Mr. Connolly. I think everyone should have a right to do whatever they want, so long as we’re not harming anyone, and I have, in the past, been an advocate for the legalization and stronger protection of, erm, your industry. That being said, I don’t normally hire, ah, professionals for these things. This is a very particular situation I found myself in. Having you join me was the only solution at such short notice. Kim has probably told you this, but I’ll risk repetition and underline that we will keep this strictly fake. I’m sure you are skilled in what you do, but I am only interested in silencing my family by bringing a date to this thing. So. There. I hope you understand.”

He smiled with relief at having gotten this off his chest. Then, as he discovered the horror on my face, his eyebrows rose curiously.

“Oh. My. God.” The words tumbled out of me without restraint. “Ohmygod. No, no, no.” I shook my head and uncrossed my arms so I could shake my hands, too. There wasn’t enough of me to shake in denial. “Percy, I’m not an escort. Ohmygod.” I slapped my face in embarrassment and squealed. “Do I look like an escort?”

“P-pardon?” He was as surprised as me, except we were surprised by totally opposite things.

I ran my fingers through my thick, dark curls and stared at him. “Did Kim tell you I was a prostitute?”

“I’m sure she…suggested…or maybe…” He frowned, deep in thought. Then, after a heartbeat, his eyes widened in pure cosmic horror. “Actually, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll just go and jump out of this plane.”

“Not if I jump out of it first,” I declared.

“Gentlemen, we are still grounded,” the pilot, who had opened the door of his cockpit, informed us in a voice that said he had been intently following the entire exchange.

“Hank, please,” Percy cried, turning partially away from me. The pilot chuckled and pulled his door nearly shut. In a dry, horrified voice, Percy spoke to me without looking into my eyes. “I amsosorry, Mr. Connolly. It seems that I have made a mistake. No, Kim hasn’t suggested that you were an escort. I believe I made that mental leap myself.”

His handsome face was becoming a screaming scarlet. “No, no, I apologize,” I said in a voice that was just as strained. “Hell, I was spread out on your bed when you arrived. Now that I think of it, it’s probably the easiest mistake to make.”

“Oh, dear God, I spent two days looking for ways to politely refuse your, erm, services without offending you.” He pressed his glass against his lips and drank like he was hoping to black out and forget this had ever happened.

I was tempted to do the same. “You certainly found the right way to do that.”

Percy choked on his booze. Clearing his throat, he finally looked at me. “I think I overdid it.”

I pinched my finger and thumb together. “Eeh, by this much.”

He laughed softly. As if he needed to be more attractive, Percy Davenport’s laughter was a warm, rich fountain of melted chocolate. You simply wanted to be near it, to reach toward it, to dip your fingers in it. “I hope that you’ll forgive my ignorance, Mr. Co…”

“Finn,” I interrupted him. “Just Finn, please. After all, you can’t call your attentive, loving boyfriend Mr. Connolly in front of your entire family.”

Percy’s smile was shy now. He looked at me with an innocent expression that said he had assumed he would call me by myname when others were around but that he owed me some kind of respect in private. “Finn.” There was firmness in the way he said my name.

“And there’s nothing to forgive,” I added. “Percy.”

Something about me saying his name widened his smile. He walked over to the nearest chair and set his glass on the small table in front of it. Before he sat down, he looked at me again. “I imagine playing a boyfriend isn’t your day job, then.”

“It’s never too late for a career change,” I pointed out, earning another sweet laugh from this increasingly more radiant man I would soon have to sleep next to. Something in my stomach felt hollow when that thought crossed my mind. “But no. Kim told me that her boss had a family reunion and, as these things happen, accidentally made up a boyfriend he promised to bring along.”

Percy shot me a tight smile as if to scold the teasing tone I used. “Who hasn’t made up a boyfriend now and then?”

“My thoughts exactly,” I agreed. “And it sounded like a cheaper way to tan now that inflation is driving up the price of sunbeds.”

Percy, whose confidence had been steadily returning since we cleared up whether I was a hooker or not, nodded. “Let me get this right, then. We’re not paying you?”

I shook my head. “It’s endearing that you have no idea,” I teased him. This approach seemed to work best with Percy Davenport.

He smirked as he sat down and strapped in. “This will be hard to believe, but I am lost without Kim,” he said conspiratorially.

“You don’t say.” I sat in the chair so I would face him directly and I followed his lead. With my belt fastened, I lifted my glass to my lips.

“How do you know Kim?” Percy asked in a purely conversational tone.

---