Page 21 of A Chance for Us
He grins. “Nope.”
I know that look. I grab Oliver’s hand. “I know this isn’t ideal, but . . .”
“I know,” Oliver says. “It’s not just about that. I agreed to this to help you too, so I’m going to do what I can to help you pull this off. Now, what about your colleagues who are coming?” he asks me, his voice softening.
“My work friends will be there, but they’re all really . . . good . . . at pretending.”
“What does that mean?”
Yeah, this part is going to be super fun. As much as I’d like to get into it, I can’t with his family here, so I kind of dance around the answer. “I work for a security firm, and we are good at adapting to different scenarios that may arise.”
He blinks. “That’s vague.”
“Yes, and as my fiancé, you would know that since you work there too. It’s fine. We’ll get the story straight. As for everyone else I invited, the only people coming from our mutual past are Devney and Sean.”
“Great, my ex-almost-fiancé and her new husband she left me for.”
I cringe. I knew that them seeing each other was going to be really strange, but now, he’ll have to be around them constantly. She’s the maid of honor and he’s the groom. It won’t just be in passing. I feel terrible. “Is this going to be weird and horrible?”
Stella laughs and then turns her head.
Oliver groans a little. “Yes. No. I don’t know. Devney and I were fine two hours ago, so I’m sure it won’t be a big deal.”
Even though he says it, I can hear the turmoil in his voice. I read the way his body tenses and how he shifts just the smallest amount. He may not love Devney, but the circumstances of their breakup still suck.
She cared for him, and I know that was difficult for them both.
Just one more thing for me to feel guilty about.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m over it, Maren. I really am.”
There’s a cough from somewhere in the room, so I drop it. “Okay. I’m glad.”
“Me too. Honestly, the biggest hurdle is that I have a lot of stuff I need to do at the resort while also playing groom.”
“No worries about that,” Grayson offers. “Since you’re now part of the bridal package, all the work things will be handled by Stella. All you need to do is be the doting fiancé and get a tux.”
All of Oliver’s siblings start to laugh.
“Fuck off.”
Grayson chuckles and turns to me. “Your dad arrives in what, two days?”
“Yeah,” I answer.
“That means you have forty-eight hours to figure out how to convince him that you’re madly in love with her, can’t keep your eyes off her, and that he should let you have the thing he loves most in this world. As a dad of girls, I can tell you that you’re not good enough.”
“I’m aware of that.” Oliver’s voice is so low I almost missed it, but then his voice grows to a normal level. “I’m not worried about her dad. Dads love me. Everyone loves me.”
“I don’t always,” Stella adds on.
“Liar.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine, you’re lovable, but that’s not what we’re talking about, and you know it.”
He turns to me. “Will you be able to find me irresistible?”
