Page 37 of How To Fake A Fiancé

“Depends on how big of a show you want to make.”

Knowing my mom, we’ll need to make this as realistic as possible.

“On Thanksgiving night, when everyone is sitting at the table, you’ll propose. I’ll be crying tears of joy, and everyone can go to bed with smiles on their faces. Easy peasy.” Fixing this now will help me deal with Ian later. One step at a time. One problem at a time.

“I’m assuming you’d want to break up, so to speak, once we get back to Dallas.” He looks almost crestfallen.

Right. Break up. We should do that. But why does that idea sound like crap?

“Yeah, we should wait a week or so before then.” A thought then comes to mind. “Does your family know about me?”

“My mom knows about you, and the only thing that matters to her is if I’m living my life the way I want to. She wants me to be happy.”

“It’s nice that she’s supportive.” The thought of parting ways with Ian is uncomfortable. It doesn’t feel right.

Chapter Ten

Ian

Kami’s expression fills with something that looks like confusion and sadness. “What will you tellyourfamily after this is over?”

Who says I’ll let you walk away?

Even though I see myself introducing Kami to my mother as her future daughter-in-law, telling Kami my plans won’t help anything. I fully intend on making her mine, but the last thing I want to do is freak her out before I’ve even had a chance to get her to truly talk to me.

“She’ll understand. There are tons of fish in the sea, I’m still young, and I’m just now beginning to live my life.”

She nods absentmindedly. “That makes sense.”

I’ll need to use my time carefully with her. The way through to her will more than likely be establishing trust. She doesn’t know me, so she’s cautious. But if I can get her to be comfortable enough around me to open up, things between us could potentially change for the better. Maybe then I’ll start to win her heart.

But before I do that, I want to understand her rationale for the things she believes in. What, or who, made her the way she is? It must all be connected to her family, somehow. And if that’s true, then why? She always seems to be frustrated with her mom’s overly enthusiastic outlook on relationships. Could her mother’s view of love be the reason for her cynicism? If so, then why?

I change the subject. “How long does your mom think we’ve been dating?”

“Since last summer.”

“And when are we supposed to head to Abilene? How long are we staying?”

“She’s expecting us from the twenty-first to the morning of the twenty-sixth.”

Five days. I can work with that.

We have five months’ worth of a relationship to create in less than three weeks that has to be convincing enough to lead to a proposal. On top of that, I have to convince Kami we should give it a shot at being in a relationship for real. No pressure or anything.

Bring it on.

It’ll be difficult but not impossible. “We’ll need to have a convincing story with photos then.”

She nods in agreement. “My mother is going to want every detail like some gossipy school girl.”

“And while we work together, I’ll be taking you out on dates. Nonnegotiable.”

She squares her shoulders. “You’re doing all of this so you can take me out?”

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

Her lips form a tight line as she stares at me, seemingly in thought. “Fine. How many dates are we talking?”

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