Page 34 of Boss's Baby: A Fake Fiance Romance

“You’re right—totally insane. But it worked, right? Melody got the hint and left me alone.”

“I mean, it worked in the sense that we straight-up lied to someone’s face. But yeah, it worked.”

“And I can’t help but think about how damned good you were at it—pretending to be a fiancée.”

“Guess it’s a skill I didn’t know I had.” I was still curious as hell to where, exactly, he was going with this.

“But you definitely have it.” He appeared cagey, which was strange for Josh. The man was nothing if not always confident. “How would you feel about doing it again?”

My jaw nearly hit the table.

Chapter 15

CASSIDY

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Josh went through every step of his situation—his company, his dad, his brother, the terms of his taking over. At any moment I expected him to stop and tell me he was only screwing around. But he never did.

“So let me get this straight—you want me to pretend to be your fiancée until…what? Doesn’t that mean we have to get married at some point?”

He grinned. “If you’re asking about that part of the plan, I assume that means you’re down with the rest.”

“Not even a little. Out of all the insane parts of this thing, that happened to be the one to stand out for some reason. But like I said, it’s all totally insane.”

“Yeah—insane enough to work.”

I narrowed my eyes in skepticism. “Is that right? Or is that something you’ve heard in a Hallmark movie or something and thought it sounded good?”

Pretty sure the same expression of total surprise flashed on both of our faces at the same time.

“Uh, Hallmark movie?” asked Josh.

“Um, never mind.” I cleared my throat and went on. “Seriously, that’s…I’m still trying to figure out if you’re only screwing with me. You have to be, right?”

“Not even a little. And I probably should’ve said this before, but this needs to stay totally secret. Whether you want to go along with it or not.”

“Risky move. I could go right to your father and let him know about this thing. Might even be the right thing to do, considering I’m a Taylor employee now.”

“No—you can’t do that.”

“And why not?”

“Because this might all sound like I’m doing it for totally selfish reasons.”

“You’re not?”

“Don’t get me wrong—I want to be the head of the company, sure. But this isn’t only about that. It’s about my dad.”

“You mean the dad you’d be telling the lie of the century to?”

“That’s the one. I’m doing it for his benefit.”

“This I’ve got to hear.”

“I told you about his heart attack. Anyway, the doctor said that he needs to take it easy, not have so much on his plate. And with this year coming up, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. We’ve got mergers and expansions and everything else that seems like it’s tailor-made, excuse the pun, to set him up for heart attack number two.”

“And you want to…what? Take over for him before that happens?”

“That’s exactly right. What I’m thinking is the faster I show him that I’m ready to settle down and become a family man, the sooner he starts the process of handing things over. And that means the more I can start doing around the company, and the less stress on his ticker.”

“Very altruistic of you.”

“Hey, you might think I’m being selfish, but truly I care immensely for my Dad. I already lost my mom too soon, and I don’t…”

He glanced away for a moment, as if not sure how to finish what he’d started. I’d heard about Josh’s mom, how breast cancer had taken her suddenly and nearly without warning. Seeing Josh think about her, watching the cockiness and self-assurance vanish from his face, it was enough to give me pause.

But it was gone nearly as quickly as it came. “Anyway, that’s where my head’s at. I know I need to do this right at some point, but there’s no way I’m going to find the right woman now, not with everything that’s going on.”

“But what about the whole ‘getting married’ thing? How do you plan on faking that?”

“Not going to. We get engaged, start planning the wedding. Me and Dad work together to begin the process of handing the company over, and then once that’s done, you and I have a falling out.”

“What, like a fight in front of everyone?”

“Nothing so dramatic. Maybe we go out of town for a few days and come back broken up. Not like you’re going to have to brush up on your acting skills.”

It was still all so freaking weird. But then an idea flashed into my head—what about me?

“Now, you’re probably wondering what’s in this for you.” It was like he’d read my mind.

“I am most definitely wondering what’s in it for me.”

He grinned. “Too much to think that you’d only want to help out your good pal Josh, I suppose.”

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