Page 33 of Fake Fiancée for Dad's Best Friend
He rolls his eyes. “She doesn’t trust my creative talent.”
I laugh and repress my urge to agree with his mom.
“So, what else have you done?” he asks.
A fabulous fake engagement.I almost blurt out. “Not much.”
“We should hang out more,” he says. “When are you going to Paris?”
“The end of August. A week before school starts.” I told him a week ago I decided to go to AFAP.
“Any way you can come sooner?” Cody asks. “I’m going there at the beginning of the month and plan to tour around a bit. You can join me.”
I’m tempted for a moment. “Thanks. But I have to do my internship.”
“C’mon,” he mutters. “I’ll pay for the travel expenses and the first month’s rent. Wouldn’t it be as good as the few weeks of internship pay?”
I consider. It sounds like a great deal, but I don’t have any reason to accept it even though he’s a good friend. And somehow, it doesn’t feel right just to quit the internship before it ends. Alex wouldn’t like it, would he? He so kindly offered me the job. Hell. What does it have to do with Alex? I’m sure whether I quit matters little to him. It’s over between us. He probably doesn’t even remember I’m working for him at the moment.
“I’ll think about it,” I say to Cody.
“Good,” he grins. “Let me know ASAP so I can plan our trip. I’ve been to most of France, but there’re places I think you’ll enjoy more.”
“Thanks, Cody. I appreciate it,” I say as I bite down on my sandwich although I have no intention of doing what he’s planning. I’ll pay for my own travel expenses. I know he’s the heir of a millionaire, and I’ve witnessed him using a hundred-dollar bill to wipe his shoe. But I don’t want to be indebted to him.
“Anytime,” he says and reaches a hand to wipe my chin.
I realize then that I have some sauce on my face. I blush, but it’s too late to avoid the intimate gesture. Shit. Cody can be quite charming at times. But I’ve never seen him as more than a roommate and a friend. He isn’t my type.
He looks up at something behind me briefly and then does a double take.
“What’re you looking at?” I ask.
“There’s a guy who keeps staring at me, and I’ve seen him somewhere before,” he says.
I turn to look, only see a familiar frame getting out of the restaurant. Alex? No way. Alex doesn’t lunch outside his office. At least I’ve never seen him doing it.
I’ve barely made it back to the workroom when Karl says to me, “Mr. Anderson wants you in his office.”
I blink, realizing he meant Alex. “W-what is it about?”
He shrugs. “No idea.”
I feel nervous when I get in the elevator. What does Alex want? I’ve never been in his office. He never even calls or texts me. After his secretary calls and informs him of my arrival, I walk toward his office with trepidation. What does he want? I pause at the door before I knock.
“Come in!” says a distant but familiar voice.
I take a deep breath to calm my anxiety before pushing the door open and step in.
The interior is so spacious and bright. It takes me a moment to take in everything within. A desk is diagonally facing the door, against the skyline of the city framed in the window.
Behind the desk, my boss and fake fiancé looks sharp in his business attire: A navy blue dress shirt with a silver tie.
My heart races even faster, and my thighs clench in remembrance of his touch. Oh no. All my efforts of trying to put him out of my mind are in vain now. It’s all I can do not to run to him and climb onto his lap.
As I’m gawking and fantasizing, he smiles and says calmly, “Hi Vivian, have a seat.”
I hesitate for a moment, not sure how I should address him. “Good afternoon, Mr. Anderson,” I speak formally.
