Page 24 of Knot Really Engaged
I can still feel the weight of the ring in my hand, the way my heart raced as I looked up at her, her beautiful eyes wide with surprise, and something else I couldn’t quite decipher. In that moment, everything else faded away, and it was just the two of us, lost in a world of our own making.
I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. I can’t allow myself to get carried away, to blur the lines between reality and pretense. We have a role to play, and I need to focus on making sure that we pull this off without a hitch.
But as I sit here, watching Audrey as she flipsthrough the channels on the TV, her face illuminated by the soft glow of the screen, I can’t help but wonder what it would be like if this were real. If the words I were supposed to speak during the proposal had been real and meant something—a commitment, a future. Love.
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to push those thoughts aside. We have a long road ahead of us, and I can’t afford to let my thoughts become . . . Well, feelings. In general, I have a rule: never be with anyone more than once. It helps both parties since you don’t catch feelings and do stupid things like falling in love.
Yet, being with Audrey right now feels about perfect.
“Find anything good?” I ask, my voice breaking the comfortable silence between us. I take a sip of my single malt I ordered from room service, savoring the smooth burn as it slides down my throat.
Audrey glances over at me, a soft smile playing on her lips. “Not really,” she admits, tossing the remote aside. She shifts on the sofa, turning to face me fully. “Maybe we should start planning what we’re going to tell everyone. I have texts that are asking for all the details.” She holds up her phone as she scrolls through the messages. “Mom suggestswe get married this weekend while celebrating her anniversary.”
I choke on my drink, the liquid burning my throat as I cough and sputter. “Married?” I manage to gasp out, my eyes wide with shock. The word hangs in the air between us, heavy with implication.
Audrey nods her expression a mixture of amusement and trepidation. “Uh-huh . . . she says it’s perfect.” She groans, burying her face in her hands.
“This is not going to work out well. I can’t get married—not this weekend and not to you.” Her words are muffled, but I can hear the panic in her voice.
“Hey, what’s wrong with me?” I protest, placing a hand over my heart in mock offense. My eyes twinkle with mischief, trying to lighten the mood.
She shrugs, peeking at me through her fingers. “I don’t know. I barely know you, Liam Cohen.” Her words are teasing, but there’s an underlying truth to them that makes my heart clench.
“We’ve known each other since you were a baby,” I remind her, nudging her shoulder. The warmth of her body so close to mine sends a shiver down my spine.
“Sure, it’s been twenty-some years, even though I know who you were while growing up, I have no idea who you are right now.” She scrunches her nose, a gesture that’s both adorable and frustrating. “What if you leave the lid up after using the toilet or don’t like to share chores? I can’t live like that.”
“Hey, I stopped being that messy years ago.” I lean back, studying her face. “But your point is valid, Little McCallister. So what is it that attracted me to you in the first place?” I raise an eyebrow, challenging her to come up with an answer.
“My sense of humor?” she offers, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Her eyes sparkle with mirth, and I can’t help but be drawn in by her infectious energy.
“I don’t know if I find you funny,” I tease, flicking her nose. The scent of her shampoo, something floral and sweet, wafts over me, making my head spin.
“Obviously, you don’t, but there has to be something that attracted us to each other. A hook. How did we meet?” Audrey asks. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, a nervous habit that I find endearing.
“You mean re-meet?” I clarify, my mind racing with possibilities. The idea of creating a new beginning for us, even if it’s just for show, sends a thrill through me.
“Is that even a word?” she questions, her nose crinkling in confusion. “You meant to say, reconnected.”
“Who cares? The point is that we need a storynow, and I think that what Ethan said at the beginning was smart. We need to stick to reality as much as possible.” I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. My eyes lock with hers, trying to convey the urgency of the situation.
“Hate to admit that if Ethan and Max said it, it must be true. My parents never caught my brother on his lies—never,” she sighs, shaking her head in disbelief.
I don’t tell her that we were good. More Ethan and Max than Cal or me. They planned way ahead before they did anything, unlike Cal and I who just acted and then had to figure out how to cover our tracks. Which we were really good at. No one ever caught us, unless we were too messy.
Clearing my throat, I start, “So we met at the airport while I was arriving from somewhere, and you were going . . . somewhere?” I tap my chin trying to come up with something smart, but in the end, I realize that maybe the way it happened last night was just the perfect way. “What if we met while we were both going to . . .? Where do you usually fly to?”
“New York, but my family can’t know that because they’ll want to know why I don’t come to Boston. ‘It’s so close.’” Audrey rolls her eyes. “In the past year I’ve been to Seattle, Florida . . . There’s the trip I took to London a year ago.”
“London is perfect,” I say. That’s where I go at least twice a year, and my parents know about it. “I like that, and I went there about a year ago, too. So we both can say that it was an unexpected encounter. We sat together during the entire flight. I saw you a couple of times during the trip, but you left for San Diego early?—”
“But I stayed there for a month.” Audrey interrupts me. She sits up straighter, her hands gesturing as she speaks. “It was a small project but the client wanted me onsite.”
“Oh, then I left two weeks earlier than you,” I clarify, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth as it seems as if we’re coming up with what might be the perfect story. “We messaged each other every day after my departure and I surprised you by picking you up from the airport. And from that point forward, we became inseparable.”
“That’s too easy,” she protests, her brows furrowing in discontent. She crosses her arms over her chest.
“Why make it complicated?” I lean back, studying her face, trying to decipher the emotions that flicker across her features. “Not that I want what Eth has, but look at his relationship with Lily. They seem to work well and there’s no drama.”
