Page 53 of Boss's Baby: A Fake Fiance Romance

Josh nodded toward the massive staircase, and together the two of us headed up to the third floor. A little more trekking down the hallway and we stood at a door. I took the chance to look around and take in the sight of the absolutely cavernous interior of the house.

“This place is insane. And it’s only your dad here now?”

“Well, it’s no one here, really. Dad lives in the city like Sam and I. We really only come back here for the occasional holiday or when we need to get away from New York.”

“A spare mansion. Pretty…not something I’m used to.”

He smiled as he opened the door to his bedroom. The interior was a slanted-ceiling space and, like everything about the house, huge. You could’ve fit my bedroom inside, along with Katie’s, and hell, probably our living room along with it.

I stepped in and took a look around. There were posters of fighter planes and video games and movies—very standard for a teenage boy. Trophies for various sports lined the shelves, along with some books that appeared to be military thrillers.

“Take it these aren’t recent decorations,” I said with a smile.

“Oh yeah, put them up last year. Thought they were very age appropriate.”

He sat down on the edge of the bed, patting the space next to him. I joined him, the bed surprisingly soft—likely a nicer mattress for teenage Josh than most adults had. But as I got comfortable a thought flashed into my head, that being how many girls he’d likely snuck up here over the years. It made me jealous, which I wasn’t cool with. But I put the thoughts out of my head as quickly as I could.

“This work fine? There are some spare guest rooms, but I thought this one would give you the full Josh experience.”

“Is the full Josh experience what I want?”

He laughed. “Well, according to this plan of ours, you fell hard for it. Couldn’t resist, in fact.”

“I’ll take that into account in my acting.”

He glanced over my shoulder toward the door, as if he half-expected someone to be standing there. “Really, though, we ought to keep even joking around about what’s going on down to a minimum. Never know who’s around. And you’d be surprised how voices carry in this place.”

“Good call.”

He regarded me carefully, thinking something. “How are you feeling, though? Last night was pretty intense. Wanted to check in and make sure you weren’t—”

“Having second thoughts? Wanting to back out? Trust me—I’m as in this to the end as you are. Can’t imagine how my family would react if they found out what I was doing.”

“More like wanting to make sure you’re still in a good headspace about it all. Probably good for us to check in with each other every now and then.”

“Yeah, good call. And thanks. But no, I’m still on board if you are.”

“Have to be—only way this is going to work.”

The two of us said nothing for a long moment, and there was something in the air. I found myself drifting into his dark eyes, as if I was losing all sense of the world outside of me and Josh Taylor. And judging by the serious expression on his face, he seemed to be feeling the same way.

But a knock at the door snapped us both out of it.

“Josh?” It was Sam.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Grub’s ready.”

I glanced away nervously, smoothing my hair and trying to look like I hadn’t almost, kinda, sorta, wanted Josh to kiss me. Was that really how I felt? Like the jealous thoughts before, I put it out of my mind as best I could.

“You hungry?”

“I could always eat.”

“Good—love a girl with an appetite.”

We opened the door and stepped out in time to see Sam disappear down the stairs. I thought about what Josh had said—how people might be listening. Sam gave me a strange vibe for sure, and I wondered if he was the spying type.

Together we headed down the stairs and down the first floor hall. I made a mental note to ask Josh for a tour sometime soon—both because I wanted to see the place and because the mansion was more than big enough for me to get lost in.

It took a few minutes, but we eventually arrived at a small, sunny room that overlooked the gardens in the back of the property. Walter was seated at the table, an iPad in his hands. His dark eyes flicked up to Josh and I as we entered. Only a glance from him was enough to make me feel put on the spot. Sure, he’d been pretty damn gracious toward me and my family so far, but he was an intimidating kind of man. Not to mention I was straight-up lying to him.

“Glad to see you made it.” He got up and stepped over to me, placing a soft, polite kiss on my cheek. Very charming in an old-fashioned sort of way. “Please, have a seat.”

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