Page 13 of My Fake Lover

»Are you feeling better?« I asked, and her head jerked towards me.

»Yes! Or... » She furrowed her brow. »No? Honestly, I have no idea!« She laughed as if she had just made the best joke of all time. I didn’t like the way the tranquilizers had taken such a hold on her. But James had assured me that they were harmless and the effect would wear off after about an hour. »I’ve never flown in a private plane before! This is so snobbish!« she said, grinning widely and defiantly. I liked that expression on her face and leaned a little closer to her.

»There’s even a bar and a bedroom in the back.«

»A bedroom?« she whispered, and her breathing instantly quickened. God, I immediately thought of countless things I wanted to do with her. But I remembered the conditions she had set. It was better for us to keep our physical distance. She was too dangerous for my self-control. So, I leaned back.

»In case the flight takes longer than an hour and goes overnight,« I said quickly as the stupidest excuse in the world.

»Of course,« she confirmed my statement as if she hadn’t caught on to what I was actually trying to say.

Her gaze wandered outside again as the pilot announced that we had reached cruising altitude. A flight attendant came out of the small anteroom near the cockpit and approached us with a friendly smile.

»May I get you something?« she asked, her gaze moving between Ivy and me.

»Scotch.«

»For me, too, please, with soda,« Ivy said, surprising me.

»With pleasure,« replied the stewardess and went to the back area to the bar.

»You assumed I’d be a Sex-on-the-Beach kind of girl, right?« She grinned widely and licked her red-painted lips. Since she had gotten into my limousine, I wondered if she also wanted to provoke me with her appearance. She looked fantastic.

»Actually, I did assume that.«

»My dad loved Scotch. It was the only thing that connected us. It’s kind of sad, really,« she said, and I was sure that without the pills, she wouldn’t have told me about her father at all. I felt as if I had robbed her of a part of her life, and it wasn’t my place.

»No family stories,« I replied, far too harshly, and she swallowed. I had hurt her. That wasn’t my intention, but the more I learned about her, the harder it was for me to keep a clear mind. And in this situation, at least one of us should have one.

»We’re going to your family, how can we keep to that condition?«

»You’ll only learn what you need for our agreement.«

»So, you want to stand in front of your brother and pretend that you’re in your first real relationship, but you basically know nothing about her?«

»We can stick to the standard facts. Favorite food, allergies, and things like that.«

»Wow.« The amusement vanished from her face, and she stared at me. »You’re an even bigger asshole than I thought.«

She fiddled with her clasp and stood up. »Is this our first fight, darling?« I asked, wanting to provoke her this time. She was right; I was an asshole, and it was better for her to find out sooner rather than later.

»Fuck you,« she growled, walking towards the stewardess to grab her Scotch before retreating to the back area. I wondered if I should tell her that alcohol might not mix well with James‹ pills. But I held back that comment, grabbed my laptop from the overhead compartment, and took my phone to work.

13

Ivy

The calming effects of the pills wore off as we touched down in Virginia, and throbbing headaches replaced the foggy veil that had settled over my mind. Damn it. Maybe I should have skipped that third Scotch and soda, but I had been so angry and needed to do something other than staring pointlessly out the window.

Throughout the entire flight, Max had been working, not even sparing me a glance after his ridiculous condition. It was just as I had assumed – I was a business deal to him, a means to an end, and nothing more. Why did I even consider telling him about my dad? Not even Low knew everything about my messed-up childhood! Only that my parents had died in a plane crash, which wasn’t even a lie.

We said goodbye to the stewardess and the pilot, and descended the stairs, where a black Audi awaited us at the bottom. One thing had to be said for Max – there was nothing he hadn’t thought of. He was as organized as I had assumed. After a flight, I would have headed to a car rental only to find out they probably didn’t have any cars left. But maybe all rich snobs were just like that – they weren’t used to waiting. I was so curious about his brother and his family that I could barely think about anything else.

A man took our luggage and stowed it in the Audi’s trunk before handing Max the keys and wishing us a pleasant stay. He wanted to open the passenger door for me, but Max stopped him.

»I’ll do it.«

The man immediately turned away and walked backward. As if Max would attack him if he broke eye contact. I rolled my eyes inwardly. Did he make such a dominant, lofty impression on everyone? As if the world were populated by his puppets.

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