Page 26 of The Fake Dating Plan

“I’m sure he was, but he isn’t anymore.”

“Are you sure about that?”

I was as certain as I was that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. “Why am I here?”

“I want you to get back with Ax.” Okay. She has gone crazy. She truly has. That was the only reason she would take me out to lunch. And was this what Ax wanted me to say yes to? It made no sense. “I know you love him!”

“Loved. Past tense.”

“But you two are so good together.”

“Francesca, I’m grateful for the meal, truly I am, but this business of me and your son getting back together will never happen. I don’t know why you think convincing me would work when the other half would balk at the mere suggestion.”

Plus, even if I wanted to, I was still angry at her son. Ax’s treatment of me at the race was still sore and it still hurt. Instead of kissing and making up, I wanted to kick him in the balls.

“If you won’t work with me, then I will have to do it myself. You two deserve each other.”

Okay. The lady was getting coo-coo by the minute, and I had to bail. I made the pretense of looking at my phone and said, “Oh my god! The time! I forgot I had scheduled another lunch meeting. Would you forgive me if I bail?”

Before I left, she held my hand and said, “Will you at least think about it. It would make me happy to see you two happy again.”

“Um sure.” It was a half-hearted agreement. I felt like I had to give her something if I wanted to leave. She smiled and nodded.

When I got back to the office, another surprise was waiting for me. I hadn’t gotten into my seat when I got another call from one of them: The Reids. Santiago Reid specifically. I let it go to voicemail. I was about to shut down my phone when a message popped up. Thinking it’s him, I checked it, only to see a dick pic.

Heron:Does he give it to you this good?

Ever since the deal was announced, he’s been sending me texts like this. All of them had bark with no bite. I ignored it like I had done the others.

My phone rang again. This time it was Ax.

“If you people don’t stop bothering me, I might have to put a restraining order against your entire family.”

The honey-laced cadence of Ax’s voice responded. “You spoke to my mother, I understand.”

Should I tell him she wanted us back together? I would have if we had been one of those consciously uncoupled exes. We might have shared a laugh. Sadly, we were the opposite.

“You and I need to talk.” I said.

“Good, because that’s why I called you. Are you free tonight?”

“Yes, why?”

“Let’s meet for dinner.”

“Is it your family’s desire to feed me until I’m the size of a house? If that’s the case, it’s working.”

“Calm down, Emy, it’s only dinner. We can skip it if you want and head straight to my apartment.” His voice dropped low when he spoke the last sentence. I also couldn’t ignore that he had called me by my pet name, the only one ever to shorten my name to Emy. I cleared my throat after noticing the pregnant pause. “If you think I’m interested in your dick, especially after Singapore, think again.”

“I—I didn’t mean it like that.” He paused. “I’m sorry.”

That came out of nowhere, I almost slid out of my chair.

“I want to make it up to you with dinner if you don’t mind.”

“Fine.”

“Is that a yes?”

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