Page 10 of Sweetwater and the Witch

“Let me get this straight,” he said. “You want to satisfy the terms of the contract by asking me to escort you to a major family gathering.”

“That’s the deal,” she said.

“Just to clarify, it would be a fake date.”

“A date is a date, right? This is my best offer, Sweetwater. Take it or leave it.”

“I’ll take it.”

She was stunned. “What?”

“I said, I’ll take the deal. With one slight modification.”

“Modification?” She was still coping with the shock of his ready acceptance of her offer. She could not formulate a logical response.

“I’ll agree to act as your date for your grandparents’ anniversary event if you’ll act as mine tomorrow night.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You aren’t the only one who needs a last-minute date,” Ethan said. “I need someone to accompany me to a business reception at the Amber Palace. Think of it as a failure mode analysis date.”

“Failure mode analysis?”

“My dating techniques have evidently failed nine times in a row. I’m an engineer. I believe in conducting a failure mode analysis when things go wrong. Tomorrow night will provide the perfect opportunity for you to observe and assess my technique.”

“Hmm.”

“In addition, it will act as a stress test.”

“Pardon?”

“A catastrophic failure at the anniversary party would be a major disaster for you, much worse than showing up with no date at all,” Ethan continued. “It’s a long drive to the Silver Mountains. We need to know if we can survive a road trip together plus the pressure of trying to act like a happy couple in front of your family.”

“Hmm.”

She suspected she was being manipulated, but maybe a failure mode analysis and stress test date was not such a bad idea. Ethan had a point. It was an all-day drive from Illusion Town to the mountains, a long, tedious road trip across the vast Mirage Desert. They would be locked together in a car for several hours each way. And then there would be the stress of trying to pretend they were a couple in front of her family, the people who knew her all too well.

She gripped the arms of her chair, mentally bracing herself. “You said the event tomorrow evening is a business reception?”

“The Amber Research and Technology Association is holding its biannual convention in town,” Ethan said. “My family is in the amber business, in case you didn’t know.”

She made a valiant effort and succeeded in resisting the urge to throttle him. “Yes, Mr.Sweetwater, I am aware of your family’s little amber business.”

He surprised her with a quick laugh. “I happen to live here in Illusion Town, so Cruz asked me to represent Amber, Inc., at the reception. Between you and me, I have not been looking forward to it.”

“Cruz?”

“Cruz Sweetwater is my brother. He’s the CEO of Amber, Inc.”

“I believe I have heard the name,” she said very sweetly.

“I said I’d do him a favor and put in an appearance at the reception.”

“I see.”

Ethan gave her a dangerous smile. “Naturally, having signed up with one of the most elite matchmaking agencies in Illusion Town, I had assumed that by now I’d have a real date for tomorrow night.”

“All right,” Ravenna said, her voice very tight. She stood and faced him across the expanse of her desk. “I will do the failure mode analysis stress test date. I agree it would be a very good idea to see if we can be civil with each other long enough to get through a road trip.”

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