Page 83 of Four Steps to the Perfect Fake Date

Snorting, Calvin crossed the distance to her desk and set the pint on top of it. Daphne cracked it open and smiled. “Mint chip. How did you notice the flavor I was eating in the dark on the side of the road?”

“I didn’t,” Calvin said, heading for the door again. “But you told me it was your favorite once in senior year.” He glanced over his shoulder to grin at her, then disappeared around the corner.

She stared at the pint until her fingers were numb with cold from holding it. He’d remembered an inconsequential detail about her from a couple of decades ago. What if ...

What if hedidcare? What if this thing between them wasn’t as doomed as she’d thought?

Then her grandmother sent her a text that saidLove you, honey, and Daphne set the ice cream aside.

Daphne was able to complete her report by Friday afternoon, the day before the vow renewal. She’d checked all the financial records and found nothing suspicious, apart from the renovation payments. Now it was up to the police to root out whoever was behind the lost money and falsified invoices. Daphne had done her job.

As she emailed her report to the man she couldn’t wait to be alone with, a wave of sadness washed over her. She was finished. Unless shehad loose ends to tie up, or the department decided to hire her to do more work, there was nothing more for her to do here. The job was over.

She wouldn’t get to see her coworkers every day, or enjoy the buzz of energy in the building. She wouldn’t get to have those leaning-in-the-doorway chats with Flint, because pretty soon, they wouldn’t be working together.

No more commutes together. No more detective work. No more pit-of-the-stomach excitement at being trusted with something bigger than herself. No more Calvin Flint.

Her feet carried her to his office, where she found him frowning at his computer screen. She watched him for a few moments, an ache building in her chest.

What now? After the vow renewal tomorrow—what would happen?

Did she stay on the island? How? With what money?

She’d built up her savings and gotten her feet back under her, but she hadn’t anticipated the fact that those feet might decide to grow roots. Could she really stay here and try to make it work when she wasn’t even sure that this thing between the two of them was real?

It was based on a lie, after all. And no matter what had happened between them in the privacy of his bedroom, they hadn’t talked about a future. For all Daphne knew, Calvin might be treating this as a casual bit of fun while they had to pretend. He was a good man, but that didn’t mean he was in love with her. She was the one who had gotten carried away—again.

He glanced up, the frown clearing from his brow as he saw her. “Just reading through your report. No other bombshells,” he said. “That’s good news.”

“As long as you can figure out what’s going on with the lost payments.”

He nodded, then tilted his head. “You okay?”

Daphne forced her lips to stretch into a smile. “I’m good. I might head out early, if you don’t mind. Stretch my legs.” She nodded to the windows behind him. “First bit of sun in weeks.”

“Sure,” he said. “See you at home?”

“Yeah,” she replied, then ducked out of his office and fled. As the exit closed behind her, Daphne couldn’t help glancing back. Her gaze caught on her own reflection in the glass door, the room beyond obscured by the glare of the sun, as if whatever happened inside that building was no longer for her eyes.

For the first time in many weeks, Daphne wished for stability. She wished she had a plan. She wished she knew what she was supposed to do.

She walked through Carlisle, all the way down to the water, and watched the waves lap at the rocky shore. The afternoon ferry was already gone, and the harbor was quiet. She listened to the cries of gulls and inhaled the scent of salt and seaweed.

Her feelings for Calvin had taken her by surprise, but she couldn’t let herself get swept out to sea. The last time she’d done that, the breakup had nearly crushed her. What she needed was some sort of lifeline.

So she took out her phone and emailed her old manager in Seattle, asking if he knew of anyone who was hiring. She didn’t want to leave. Not now. Not yet.

But she needed to be responsible and figure out her next steps. It didn’t hurt to have some kind of plan. After all, she didn’t know what would happen at the event tomorrow. Once it was over and he didn’t need her anymore, would Calvin change his mind about her? Would he decide that she was too boring, after all? Would he turn around and tell her that he needed more excitement and spontaneity and passion when the fire between them eventually guttered out into something less illicit?

She hit the send button and slid her phone into her pocket. A gust of wind teased a strand of hair from her bun, and she tucked it behind her ear as she turned toward the hill that would lead her back to Flint’s place. Guilt swarmed her gut like a flood of angry hornets at the thought of the email hitting her former manager’s inbox, of the job offers that might or might not come from it.

But why should she feel guilty? She needed a job. Tapping her network for a backup plan was the smart thing to do. The responsible thing.

And Daphne was nothing if not responsible. Once tomorrow’s event was done, she’d have no reason to pretend she was anything other than exactly what she was.

Chapter 32

Calvin didn’t like the shadows lurking in Daphne’s eyes. She’d been weird ever since she sent her final report through, and now, as she slid earrings in her ears and smoothed her hands down the tiers of her fluffy pink dress, it felt like there was something she wasn’t telling him.

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