Page 51 of The Fake Dating Plan

“A little too young for me like you said.” He slapped my shoulder and left to talk to mom.

“What’s going on between those two?” I asked Tiago.

He thrust a bottle of brandy into my hands. It looked old and well distilled. He shrugged. “They’ve been in each other’s business lately.”

“Interesting.” Though, when it came to my parents’ relationship, on and off was the default setting.

“What happened to Ava?”

“She’s left him for one of his friends. He took it a little hard after it happened, but he’s fine now.”

“I thought they had a good sugar daddy/sugar baby relationship.”

“She wanted a ring and he wouldn’t give it to her.” His gaze landed on Emilia, “Speaking of, fancy seeing her here.”

“Don’t look at me Francie is the one who invited her.”

“And I’m sure you had no qualms with that at all.”

“What are you trying to get at?”

“That you are still in love with her and you’re lying to yourself if you think otherwise.”

“Please.”

“Am I lying?” He turned to Caiden, who had joined us.

“About him having a thing for Em? Nope.”

“Yes. A thing. That’s all it is.” And the sooner I purge the thing, the better for me. They both laughed, and I left them as I went to make sure dinner was ready.

Pretending to not want to fuck her was hard. Everyone, mom, Tiago, and dad had come and now we were all gathered around the dinner table, and training my gaze to not wander to the woman sitting next to me was difficult. I could feel her presence, her every movement as if we were connected. I turned to Mom who sat opposite me. She could not stop smiling. I don’t think I had ever seen her this happy. My father too couldn’t stop darting his gaze between Emilia and me.

To her, he said, “So I heard you have a booming jewelry company.”

“Yes,” she said, “your son has been helpful. Our sales have grown ever since we partnered together.”

“They have wonderful products,” I said. “They only needed a little exposure to the right markets.” And it was true. Her pieces were unique and had designs that were difficult to replicate, which was great in a world of counterfeits and copycats.

“A good designer is one to keep, as Shepard liked to say.” I tried hard not to lift my brow or show any surprise. It was rich hearing the one man who had a hard time supporting my decision to go a different route be all about the luxury goods business, now that she was around. And all this love for her was rich too.

Mom went the extra mile by pointing at the heavy metal gold chain necklace she was wearing. “You make such wonderful items.”

“It looks heavy, but it’s very light,” Hailey said.

“Thank you.” Emilia seemed touched, and the whole thing made me want to hurl out of my chair. Where was this new kindness coming from? The last time I dated her, mom ignored her. When I asked for her ring so I could propose to Em, she went all hysterical and eventually said she had lost the ring. Days after breaking off with Em, she had the ring back on her finger. Now, this. Even Tiago joined in on the praises, probably as a jab at me. Only Hailey was excused. She wasn’t into fake flattery. She was the only person here I could trust to give an honest opinion.

“So is that all that’s happening?” Dad said.

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Between you and my son. You said you two are business partners. He’s never brought a business partner to a Christmas dinner before.”

He was obviously baiting me. I took it. “We’re dating.”

“They’ve been together for a while now,” Mom said. “You would have known if you cared about yourallyour children.”

“I knew! I wanted to hear it announcing it themselves and not just make assumptions!”

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