Page 67 of Matched with Her Fake Fiance

She shakes her head. “I’m not picky. Is there somewhere you recommend for under fifteen dollars?” With a laugh, she says, “Our paychecks were delayed until Monday.”

I shake my head. “You’re not going to need money. I’m buying.”

Blowing out a breath, Dani says, “Miles, I owe you so much already. You don’t need to buy me dinner. Let’s go to one of the chain restaurants.”

“No, I think I know of a place.”

We head outside and I take her hand in mine, loving the feel of her inner strength and the idea of it being like this forever. Tanya had never loved the physical touching in public, and now I can understand that I need it. The strength I’ve been able to gain from Dani, not in a magical woo-woo sense, but in a supportive situation, has been so important.

“So, is everything okay with you and your mom?” she asks.

I blow out a breath, not sure how much I should unload on Dani. “Not really. There’s a lot that goes into her personality. I think one thing she’s having a hard time with is control. I don’t do everything she says now and with this new research I’m working on with Oliver, I think she’s worried I’ll leave.”

“Is that what you want?” Dani asks, glancing up at me.

“It’s a thought. I mean, if she’s never going to retire, I might have to find or start something else in order to do what I love.”

“So, you don’t want to be CEO?” Her question has me turning to inspect her expression. Is she hoping that’s what I’ll become? Because she’s never worried about that or money before. But really, we’re getting close to the end of our fake relationship and I might be reading too much into every little thing.

I shrug. “Again, I don’t know. I mean, my life has been dictated in so many ways since I was a small child, that the freedom of not worrying about her disappointment is addicting.”

Dani lays her free hand on my arm and gives it a small pat. “I can only imagine how hard that’s been. But ultimately, you’re the one who has to live with you. And you can always set the boundaries necessary to keep you sane.”

I glance down at her and wonder what she’s thinking. “Do you have experience with that?”

She gives me a sad smile. “I didn’t realize it until after the fact, but yeah. I should’ve spoken up a lot more about my feelings and what I wanted when I was with Clay. Hopefully I’ll recognize when I need to set boundaries in the future.”

We change topics and head into a small diner tucked into a side-street near the campus. It’s been a while since I’ve been here and I’m glad they’re still open late.

“What’s this place?” Dani asks, pointing toward the restaurant.

“It’s the reason I graduated with a bachelor’s. I couldn’t study in the library because it was too quiet, and doing anything productive with my roommates distracting me was near impossible. This little diner is the perfect blend of commotion but zero people wanting to talk to me every five minutes.”

She laughs and the sound sinks into my chest. I hold onto it for an extra second as it turns into a longing I haven’t felt before.

“I would’ve been the distractor. I had to lock myself away in my room to get anything done.”

One of the servers, Stacy, guides us to a small table and I smile, trying to picture Dani stuck in her room. Everywhere we’ve gone together, she learns the names of people and remembers them, no matter their job.

“Hi Stacy,” she says, glancing down at the menu again. “I’m going to get the bacon cheeseburger combo. And can I get ranch on the side?”

“Of course,” Stacy says, taking the menu from her. I give my order and turn to Dani.

“Ranch on the side? What is that?”

Dani’s eyes go wide. “Have we not had a chill meal since our fake relationship began?” She blinks a couple times and shakes her head. “Ranch is my weakness. Fries, pizza, garlic bread.”

I laugh, thinking how we’ve been fake dating for six weeks and we’ve only had nicer meals in all that time.

“You can’t just use ketchup?” I say, teasing.

“No. That’s not an option.” She takes a sip from her glass of water and then says, “One of my roommates was from Idaho. They have this weird thing called fry sauce, which is basically ketchup and mayo mixed together. Now that’s weird.”

I’d heard about fry sauce but never had the chance to try it.

“Are you ready for tomorrow night? What else can I help you with?” I ask, studying her reaction. She’s glancing away, but I can see the pull of tension around her mouth.

“I’m about as ready as I can be. I mean, I’ve never actually been to one of these things, so I’m not sure how well it will go.”

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