Page 71 of Boss's Baby: A Fake Fiance Romance

“Make this thing a thing.” I repeated the words, knowing what they meant. “A thing. That’s what you want?”

“Something between us. We don’t need to be fancy about it. But we can give it a shot, see if there’s something more here than the pretending we’re doing.” He grinned. “Hell, might even help us sell the fake fiancée thing.”

I chuckled. He had a point.

“Listen, I’m not saying we need to make this anything serious. But I’m thinking it’d be a good idea for us to quit pretending like there’s not something between us. We can take it slow.”

“As in, not get engaged after a month?”

“Exactly what I’m thinking. And maybe put a hold on the whole ‘never seeing me again’ thing.”

The man made a good case. And truth be told, I wasn’t crazy about never seeing the asshole again.

I took a deep breath and spoke. “OK. We can try it. But no promises.”

He grinned. “Sounds perfect.”

I raised my coffee mug to take a sip, but then it happened again—the killer nausea. My face went pale, and it took all the restraint I had to set down my mug instead of dropping it onto the ground. Once it was out of my hand, I rushed to the bathroom as quickly as I could.

“Whoa, you OK?”

I didn’t answer before shutting the door behind me and bolting over to the toilet. Once there I let it rip, puking out all of the small plates I’d eaten at the party last night, along with the small amount of coffee I’d had. Once I was done, I waited for the inevitable knock from Josh, trying to figure out an excuse as I did.

But it never came. Strange. I washed up and brushed my teeth, trying to remove all signs of evidence that I’d thrown up.

OK, I thought. No more putting it off. I would be calling Dr. Shaw today. Maybe he can get you in for a last-minute appointment.

Being sick was the last thing I needed to be worrying about. After all, I’d agreed to have a…thing with Josh, whatever that meant. Between that and the fake engagement and the holidays and everything else, I couldn’t afford any distractions.

Once I was ready, I stepped out of the bathroom. Josh was on the phone, which explained why he hadn’t come to check in on me.

“…decided we needed to have some quiet time. Come on, Dad. We both needed a break from the party. But OK. We’ll be back in an hour.” Then he hung up.

“Dad pissed?”

“Dad’s not happy,” he said. “But if we hurry back to the house, I should be able to take care of some of the crisis.”

I nodded. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

Josh stepped over to me, looking me up and down. “You all right? Kinda flew into the bathroom at Usain Bolt speed there.”

“Oh, had to go really badly all of a sudden. No big deal.”

He regarded me as if he wasn’t sure whether to believe me or not. But the expression changed into something more sensual, more loving. Then he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my lips, one that made everything else in the world vanish into nothing. Like last night, for a brief moment it was only me and Josh.

When he took his lips away, it was like snapping out of a dream. He smiled again.

“All right. Back to the real world, huh?”

“Back to the real world.”

I had to admit I was a touch giddy about it all. But still, I couldn’t shake the lingering feeling that I’d made everything much more complicated. And maybe in a way I wouldn’t be able to handle.

Chapter 31

JOSH

Another car ride later and we were back at the house. I could tell by Dad’s tone that he wasn’t happy in the slightest with me. Hell, not only his tone, but his words. Well, everything about the call had made it clear he was pissed. Dad wasn’t the kind of guy to be shy about stuff like that, especially with me and Sam.

“Is your dad going to yell at me?” Cassidy asked as we walked up the stairs in the fancy duds we’d been wearing last night. “Because I don’t know if I can handle that.”

“Doubt it. I’m the one who should’ve known better. You’re new to this whole thing, remember? And believe it or not, I’m pretty sure he’s taken a shine to you.”

“No way.”

“Is that so hard to believe? You’re a pretty charming woman, Cass. And my dad loves charming women.”

She blushed and smiled, and I loved it. I opened the door to the house, and the two of us stepped inside. Of course, we didn’t have a moment to relax before I laid eyes on Sam. He was seated in the entrance hall, a cup of coffee in his hands and a small smile on his face.

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