Page 132 of The Faking Game

It was a place of quiet when I was growing up, then a place of anger when my parents fought. I loved parts of it—the nooks and crannies, the places I could escape to: the boathouse, the orchard, the sailing boat, the pool, the tennis court. I loved running around the grounds, the library and the space in the attic where she now works.

But now I’m starting to like all of it. Talking to her over dinner in the conservatory, catching her in the kitchen when she and Melissa chat. And I start to resent the obligations that take up too much of my time. Take me away and into meetings, and phone calls, and off the grounds.

One evening, I’m entertaining the board of Cal Steel. It’s by far the largest of Calloway Holdings’ companies, and the one that my great-grandfather founded. The board members sit around my large dining table and we shift from business talk to small talk.

Nora didn’t join.

I asked her if she wanted to come and told her, quite frankly, that it was going to be very boring. She kissed my cheek and told me that she’d rather be working on her clothing line.

I told her what a good girl she was for setting her own boundaries.

She danced out of my office with a smile that left me unable to focus for a solid five minutes. I’m constantly on edge around her these days—hard all the fucking time. After the other morning, when she gave me the most erotic hand job of my life, I’ve had to start jerking off twice a day. If not, I’ll go mad.

The relationships I’ve had have been short, pleasant, mutually agreed upon. With women who want the kind of fun I can provide—along with my wallet and my access. Smart. Educated. But it’s never gone deeper than that. The barrier has never fully come down.

And I never craved their presence the way I find myself craving Nora’s.

It’s late when the last few board members finally leave Fairhaven. I walk over to the library, rolling up the sleeves of my shirt. A headache pounds at my temple.

But there’s one last thing I need to look over before the day is over. My lawyers have a few more days to test our final approach, but if it doesn’t work, I’ll have to be married by September.

It’s that or lose Fairhaven forever.

When I was thirteen and angry, that would have sounded like the perfect solution. But now this place is home. I’ve reclaimed it, and I’ll be damned if anyone forces me out.

I open the door to the library and stop in my tracks. Nora is sitting on the couch. The gray cat is curled up next to her, and she’s wearing nothing but a thin silk dress. It leaves her arms bare, most of her chest. And those long legs.

“Hi,” she says, a glass of whiskey in her right hand. “Are you done with your dinner?”

If I have to get married, why can’t it be to her?The thought is traitorous, and I shove it down as quickly as it came.

Because I won’t be a good husband to her. That’s why. And because she’s not looking for a husband—she’s trying to learn how todate.

Because she’s my best friend’s little sister.

There are a thousand reasons why what we’re doing is wrong, and each one of them sours my mood. What we have belongs in the shadows. Rafe can never find out.

“Hey,” I say. “Have you been sitting here waiting for me?”

“Just for a little while, yeah,” she says.

Dark delight sparks through me at her words. “Did you eat dinner?”

“Yes, I ate up in the atelier. Melissa made really great lamb tonight.”

I frown. “You’re drinking Alex’s whiskey again?”

“Trying to get used to the taste,” she says. “And it felt cool.”

I roll my eyes. “It felt cool?”

“Yeah. I’m trying on what it’s like to be West Calloway,” she says, her voice grandiose. “It’s not that bad, actually.”

“And that’s all it takes to be me?”

“No, I think there are a few more things to it. But I haven’t learned all of it yet,” she says, and looks down at the cat. It’s male, Ernest informed me, and he isn’t chipped. “Like sailing.”

I head over to the bar cart. “I’ll teach you this weekend.”

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