Page 74 of Just One Fake Date

He opened the door to the corridor to wait for her to step off the elevator, wanting to make a guess at what was bothering her before she put a good face on it. Her head was bowed when she appeared, her long hair obscuring her features, but he was sure that when she glanced his way, Lauren blinked back tears.

Her smile was certainly forced.

“What’s up?” he asked, keeping his tone light.

“I need a reason to visit you now?” she asked, a break in her voice.

“Of course not, but it’s been a while.”

“You just don’t like having family in your cave.”

“There is that,” he admitted, then made a guess. “How’s Mark?”

“Fine.” Lauren seemed to bite off the word. Mark might be fine, but Lauren’s view of him wasn’t. She slipped past Ty into his apartment, avoiding his gaze, and stopped on the threshold to survey it. “Why are there no signs of female habitation?”

“Why should there be?”

She perched on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, crossing her legs and bouncing one foot. “Because Shannyn is going to be my sister-in-law any minute now, by all family reports. I actually thought I might be interrupting something and that’s why you were as cross as a bear.” She surveyed him and he wondered how much she saw of the truth.

“I’m not as cross as a bear.”

Lauren pointed a finger at him. “Guilty as charged.” She spun in the chair then counted options off on her fingers. “So, is the issue that your relationship with Shannyn is a fiction, that she isn’t here, that sheishere and hiding from me, or that Mom is pressuring you about matrimony, as usual?”

Ty dropped onto the other stool and counted them back. “Shannyn and I met at college together, just like I told Mom. She’s not fiction. Derek met her.”

“True, but your relationship could be fiction.” Lauren gave him an intent look as if she knew Ty would have to lie.

“It’s not,” he said flatly, then continued before his sister could ask. “She’s not here, much less hiding from you, and yes, that could be a contributing factor to my current mood.”

“Not Mom’s questions, then?”

“I’ve been ducking her calls a bit.”

Lauren laughed then leaned forward, eyes sparkling. If nothing else, he’d managed to improve her mood. “I should warn you. Mom is seriously hot about this. If Shannyn comes to the shower next Sunday, be ready for the Mommy Test.”

Ty let that go, thinking there wasn’t much chance of Shannyn being there.

Lauren studied him. “What’s she like?”

“Small. Cute. Ferocious and unpredictable.”

“So totally not your type.”

“What do you mean? I like women. She’s a woman.”

“No, you likegorgeouswomen. Women buffed to a sheen, women who could be models. But they’re not. They’re all super-ambitious career machines with hearts of ice.” Lauren made a face. “Barracudas, every one of them.”

Ty was startled. “That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

Lauren shook her head. “Take Giselle. She had you in her sights like nobody’s business.” She made claws with her hands. “I think you were the airline retirement plan. What made you finally realize that I have shoes with greater empathy?”

“I knew almost right away.”

“Really? Yet you brought her to Grandma Trixie’s eightieth birthday? Strange choice for a first date.”

“It was an act of pure desperation.”

Lauren pointed at him. “That I understand.”

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